The Virtues of Farming Simulation Games

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Family Farm Seaside, like its parent game, Family Farm, is a Farming Simulation Game.  There are those who reject the entire concept of such games as dull or tedious, preferring games that allow players to kill and ravage imaginary creatures and landscapes, but to me, the Farming Simulation Game is a genre that offers a number of real benefits.

First and foremost for me is the fact that farming tasks and the act of creating a landscape even if it is 'virtual' is akin to the activity of tending a Zen Garden.  A sense of peace is attained as I plant and harvest Crops and Animals.  Although the harvests are 'virtual' and cannot translate into real money, there is a sense of achievement as well, of a 'job well done' in some cases.

As some one who suffers from severe chronic pain, Farming Simulation Games offer a very valuable distraction.  When the pain is too intense to allow me to concentrate on a book or even a film, the repetitive acts of planting and harvesting remain one of the few that I can perform.  Rather than suffering in the dark without any hope of respite, I can go to one of my Farms to WORK.

Farming Simulation Games can be a wonderful therapy tool not only for those who suffer from chronic pain, but individuals who wish to stop smoking or to lose weight.  The games are a distraction for these individuals as well.  Rather than taking a trip to the kitchen to find another sweet or lighting up another cigarette, one can work on the farm.   A few years ago, I wrote an article about Games as a form of Pain Management and interviewed a number of individuals who utilised games as 'therapy'.  It really can be very positive!

It has been shown that mental activity may be a method of slowing down the effects of Alzheimer's disease as well.  Farming Simulation Games usually are far more than simple farming activities such as planting and harvesting for the serious player.  They involve CHOICES and those choices can be predicated upon mathematical calculations of cost, time, and the size of the farm.   Most games include Quest Sequences that offer the Farmer rewards for completing specific tasks.  With more than one Quest Sequence available at any given point in time, the Farmer who wishes to take advantage of all possible benefits that the game offers must calculate and synchronise activities and the use of specific Items, whether Crops, Fruits, Animal Products or Finished Goods.

Many non-gamers laugh in derision when I speak of strategy guides for Farming Simulation Games but in some cases, the games are so detailed that a Player will not even KNOW many of the rewards,  detailed events or new options  that can be unlocked by specific actions.  I specialised in Harvest Moon and Rune Factory strategy Guides for a number of years.  Those games are interactive novels actually and without a Guide, the Player certainly can enjoy the basic Farming acts but may not even encounter half of the Characters that fuel the plot.

Games for Facebook or Mobile Devices are not in the same league as Harvest Moon or Rune Factory but they can be challenging in their own way.  Knowing which Items are needed constantly and how to balance the requirements for specific Quests with those basic, constant needs can be critical to success.

I have been playing various farming games on Facebook for about three years now, and I have discovered that there are two different types of dedicated players.

There is the Player who has infinite patience and determination and who refuses to spend real cash on the game if he/she can earn everything needed at some point.  In games like Family Farm, 1 unit of premium Cash is earned each time a Player reaches a higher Level.   One therefore arguably could play the game without ever investing real money in it, although time-restricted Quests such as the Easter Quests might be difficult to complete.

The second type of Player is the one who spends real money on the game.  Some of these players do so because they are impatient and cannot wait to 'earn' the items slowly through gameplay.  Others believe that a good game is worth an investment of real cash and that even 'free' games deserve the same investment that one would make in a game for a console such as the DS or PS3.   The biggest difference in terms of spending real money is that almost all Facebook and Mobile games are in 'Beta' which means that they are ever-changing.  A console game has a set price and once that is paid, one can enjoy the game forever, with access to all the options available, even if some must be 'unlocked' by specific gameplay.  Facebook games and other mobile platform games constantly update items and options and one may discover that an item needed for a Quest requires more premium cash than one has 'earned' through gameplay.  A Player still has the option to refuse to invest.   Indeed, many players never perform any of the Quest sequences but if a Farmer wishes to advance quickly, Quest rewards in the form of Experience Points as well as Coins can be of great value.

I would like to address the topic of investment of real money in any 'free' game.  Many of us, especially if we are living on a small, fixed income, experience a sense of guilt if we invest even a small sum in any 'free' game.

Consider, however, these points:  How much does it cost to eat at a restaurant?  How much does it cost to see a film at a cinema?  Entertainment of other sorts costs money.  Why should we balk at a small investment of real money in a game that is offered to us free of charge for the most part?

There is another very important consideration in the issue of investment.  When I wrote guides for Harvest Moon and Rune Factory, I became acquainted with the company that produces the English versions of these games.  It is a small company with few employees but both this company and the original Japanese company NEED money to survive.  There will be no new games if players refuse to invest money in existing games.  I was appalled to discover how many of the 'fans' of my strategy guides downloaded copies of the Harvest Moon and Rune Factory games illegally rather than paying the amount required to purchase an authorised copy.  These same players often were the loudest to complain if release of a new game had to be postponed or indeed could not be produced for another year or two.  Where do they think the company finds the money to pay the teams who work on these incredible games?  If a Player really loves a game and believes that it is a good game, he/she should be willing to invest at least a minimal amount of money in that game.

I understand the nature of the 'slippery slope', believe me.  Many players are afraid that, should they begin to purchase premium cash, it will become an expensive habit!  As long as they refuse to purchase ANY premium cash, the danger of overspending is minimised.  Fair enough, but please do consider in all fairness the cost of a dinner at a good restaurant or a seat at the theatre or cinema where the return for your investment is as fleeting or intangible as any virtual reward.

Family Farm and Family Farm Seaside are based as much on a sort of small industrial revolution as they are on the ancient acts of sowing and reaping.  Machines are very much a part of these games as much as Animal Husbandry.  The same Items often are needed to feed an Animal and to make Products in a Machine.  Milk, Eggs and Wheat are staples in the world of Family Farm as they are in the 'real world'.    Corn must be fed to a Chicken to produce an Egg.  Clover must be fed to a Cow to produce Milk.  It is like the old nursery rhyme of the Tree that grew in the Wood or the Farmer in the Dell where everything is connected.

The Grains can be used as Animal Feed but they can be ground into Flour of various sorts as well.  The Farmer needs to be aware of the Quest sequences and what is required at any given point in order to decide whether his/her finite supply of Wheat or Oat should be fed to the Animals who need them to produce specific Products or whether to grind them into Flour to use in a Machine to produce Goods.  One never has sufficient Milk, Eggs or Wheat Flour, especially if one uses the Coffee Maker and Cake Machine regularly!

Lack of space may be the greatest frustration for any Farmer in Farming Simulation Games.  There are a couple of methods by which one can alleviate this source of frustration.  Farm expansions are the first.  In Family Farm Seaside, one can purchase an Expansion with Premium Cash (RC) or one can complete a set of three tasks or requirements in order to achieve it.   One of the requirements is attainment of a specific Level.  Another usually is a specific Coin total.  The third may be a specific total of Items produced by an Animal or Machine or a specific Crop total.

Apart from Farm Expansions, however, there is another very useful option by which the frustration caused by a finite amount of space can be alleviated.  This is the Warehouse.  A Player should purchase and complete a Warehouse as soon as possible in the game.  The original Warehouse can hold a total of 20 items.  It can be expanded to hold more.  You will need 15,000 Coins to purchase an unfinished Warehouse.   To upgrade it to Level 2, you will need 10 Tiles and 10 Wood, materials that can be requested from Neighbours.

Trees cannot be stored in a Warehouse, either in the original Family Farm or in Seaside.  In the original game, one can purchase a special storage building for Trees.  In Seaside, there is no option for this, but perhaps that will change.  Squares of tilled soil on which Crops can be grown are only part of the equation in Family Farm.  Trees, like Animals and Machines, must be accommodated in the finite space that is the Farmer's domain.

These topics more properly belong in the sections of the guide that deal with practical matters.  I simply include them here as an example of the different considerations that enrich gameplay.

For me, another virtue of Farming Simulation Games on Facebook or mobile devices is the social, cooperative nature of these games.  Neighbours can be essential unless one is willing to pay premium cash for EVERY material and to skip Quest requirements that involve Neighbours' farms or requests for Items that only Neighbours can give.

It can be frustrating and annoying if one does not have enough Neighbours but fortunately Facebook usually is a venue for gaming 'communities' where one can find other dedicated players.  For Seaside, there is the 'Family Farm Seaside' community where members share Farm IDs and gaming tips.  Although I have over 200 Neighbours in FarmVille, only a tiny fraction of those individuals play Seaside.  The gaming community for Seaside, therefore, has been invaluable.