I've been teaching computer science for 20 years to kids. Right now, I have over 100 weekly students. I spend a lot of time thinking about how beginners learn programming, so I was excited to play this.

This game gets it right, and has a ton of potential for more great things.

The "tech tree" gives access to features of the programming language in a logical (and classically presented) progression. We learn to consider order and timing of execution. Variables are introduced, along with functions. More complex features, like lists, tuples, dictionaries and sets follow, along with utility functions like abs and min.

But what are we doing? We're planting and harvesting crops. We're purchasing buffs to make them grow faster, and using the produce to unlock upgrades to our speed, farming area, and other new crops. These crops grow in particular ways that lead to classic computer science problem solving, and those problems require the features of the language we gain access to.

We need to iterate the crops in our row, and later a grid of rows and columns. We're introduced to carrots, which require using conditionals and comparisons. Pumpkins require us to use an accumulator to create a massive single pumpkin that fills the entire field. We learn findMax to determine which sunflower has the most petals. Cactus introduces sort functions. Mazes lead us first to a brute force solutions, but the plot thickens when we start removing walls to increase the treasure. I haven't gotten to dinosaurs yet, but I have a hunch what the developer is going to do next.

What this game does well is present a set of problems that grow in difficulty and require features of the programming language as they are presented.

What's missing?

More crops that introduce more concepts. A crop that grows in patches and harvesting rules push us toward flood fill. Another crop with planting rules that uses the four-color theorem. Some of the classic turtle graphics like square spiral could be employed as a way of iterating a grid in alternative ways.

What didn't I like?

Some aspects of the code editor. I want enter to auto-complete suggestions. Sometimes it does, but usually it adds a line and I have to fix it. Also, Ctrl-Z should move my cursor back to where it used to be. I use undo instead of backspace, but it just doesn't work correctly in the editor. I don't mind the solutions the dev used for scaling and positioning of scripts, but the typing should be flawless and it isn't quite there.

As a programmer, this game made me realize it's not coding I no longer like. I just did an 8 hour shift in this game after buying it. It's the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ in the office that I hate.

I've been using python as my main language for, i'd say around 16 years, and in my honest opinion... this game is the best beginners teacher I could imagine, it doesn't give you some code and tell you to copy paste it like most learning systems.
It's finally a game that makes you learn the language, at your own pace, letting you experiment and evolve your style, admittedly it has no highly complex or hard to implement systems, but that's what makes it such an excellent beginner teacher.
In effect, it teaches you the fundamentals in a way that's enjoyable and a way where you can visually see your effort, I'll be recommending this game for people who want to learn to code in the future, that's for sure.

Brilliant little coding game that is a must buy for all aspiring programmers looking to learn Python, but also for experienced Python programmers looking for a fun innovative challenge.

https://youtu.be/-hdhyKf2aN8

Youtuber Call Me Kevin did a vid on this game, you can thank him for the influx of players including me!
I learned a bit of Python back in the days, and this game is a great way to revitalize my knowledge. It's nice how you can instantly see the effects of your code on the copter. Easy to see your progression and understanding of the programming language. I will show the farming industry what I can do with the power of my programming!

THIS IS THE WORST GAME
IT IS AN IDLER THAT YOU PROGRAM YOURSELF
HELP
HOW AM I EVER GONNA STOP PLAYING THIS GAME

Oh my god they made software engineering interview questions fun

Excellent intro to programming. Starting off from manually repeating the same action and working your way to complex state management, Farmer Was Replaced is an excellent guided tour into the world of programming.

Towards the end, there's a big conceptual gap going from "make sure you have the biggest pumpkin possible" and "only harvest the correct sunflower" to "learn and navigate arbitrary mazes" that needs something in between. I've been coding for 25 years so I know the different ways to solve it, but it's a fairly large jump over all the previous goals. A number of things are gated behind being able to solve this as well, which may frustrate younger players.

Overall an extremely enjoyable diversion, and I look forward to seeing how my kids handle it.

Saw this on Call Me Kevin, and as also a person with a (almost?) crippling ADHD, this finally made me start learning coding. And although I literally just began, it checks all the boxes I need:
- No "do this for no reason" to "get that for no reason"
- No copy/paste something without further explanation
- IMMEDIATE FEEDBACK on what I'm doing with funny drone with hat
- Immediate goals and immediate returns on what I'm doing and learning
- Farming drone with hat
- Learning and testing with my own pace without having to worry about other people or deadlines
- Silly hat on a drone