Game review: Farm Mania

I was told about Farm Mania at the beginning of this month. However, I really wanted to play the game for awhile before I talked about it. After all, this seemed like a game that could go either way. Well, I've now played the game for around two weeks and I think I'm ready to open up.

At first, I was very hesitant to play Farm Mania. I have so much love for Farm Frenzy that I was afraid this would ruin the whole farming time management genre for me. Luckily, my fears were unwarranted. Reallore Studios has a hit on their hands.

You play Anna, a girl trying to help get her grandparents' farm back on its feet. Throughout the game, you will plant crops, raise animals and sell a variety of goods while trying to keep crows and rabbits from destroying your work. Both of your grandparents help out so you aren't totally left on your own to tend the farm.

I am still having tons of fun playing this. Granted, it gets harder to juggle everything as you get into the higher levels but, to be honest, that is what keeps the game fun - deciding what pieces are really important to keep up with and what pieces can be ignored for a little while. Definitely give this one a try. You won't regret it!

Game review: Sunshine Acres

It seems that farming games have become pretty popular lately. Sunshine Acres is one of the new time management games based on raising crops. It is not a difficult game but it does get a little tedious after awhile since it is the same motions over and over. Due to this, it's hard for me to judge how fun the game is. I enjoyed the one hour demo but I can see it getting boring in higher levels. This is one you'll just have to try out for yourself.

Game reiew: Farm Frenzy 2

Do you remember how much I loved Farm Frenzy? Well, this is a company that knows how to make an awesome sequel to an awesome game. They didn't try to make the gameplay different; they didn't try to jazz up the graphics. All they did was change a few things to make it a little more difficult. In the original game, you were raising geese and sheep in order to make money. This time, you have chickens, pigs, cows and ostriches. Yes, I said ostriches. I worked my butt off to be able to buy some ostriches because their feathers bring in a lot of money! Not only that, but you can make hats and dresses out of them as well. I love this series and I hope everyone else has as much fun playing it as I did.

Game review: Ranch Rush

I found myself falling desperately in love with the Farm Frenzy series so I've been trying other farm games to see how they stack up. Ranch Rush is quite different from Farm Frenzy. Instead of caring for a ton of animals, you are caring for a few animals and a lot of crops. While I enjoyed the beginning levels of the games, the higher levels felt like they needed something more. The problem is that the crops and animals all need to be "harvested" quickly and your character just doesn't move fast enough to do everything. Perhaps this is fixed in an even higher level of the game but I couldn't bring myself to go past the hour demo. It was an entertaining hour at least.

Game review: My Exotic Farm

My Exotic Farm is a real-time simulation farming game. You begin your exotic farm with a single ostrich. It is your job to build a big farm with happy animals. I found this game to be very annoying. Since it is in real time, everything goes extremely slowly unless you pump up the speed. Once your animals are fully fed and happy, there isn't a whole lot for you to do except wait for them to get hungry again. You can resell the animals once they grow a bit but I kept having to buy expensive food for the more expensive animals so it was really difficult to get ahead. Personally, I ended up just buying a bunch of ostriches. They lay eggs that you can sell in the market. Granted, they don't sell for a lot of money but it's enough to keep your animals fed for awhile. But, really, the game was just too boring to keep my attention for long. I'd rather spend my time on The Sims.