I have some questions about this game

[Purno]

Hello there,

I've been looking for a game that me and my girlfriend can play together. Altough my girlfriend plays several games, we play different genres of games.

So far, the only game we can both enjoy playing a good few hours is Minecraft. It allows us both to do our own thing, and still contribute to the same world we're shaping. While it's possible to do things together, it's also possible to both go our own ways; I can be mining some stuff and build a house, while she goes exploring for more rare resources we can both use. Thing is, usually after a day of playing, we've kinda achieved what we wanted to achieve and both kinda get bored with the game. It so happens we usually start a new world pretty frequently.

I'm looking for a game that has a few more goals for us to pick from, and perhaps a somewhat slower progression. I've really enjoyed the Farming Simulator series, which would be my choice, considering it allows multiple people work together on a farm, while not everything needs to be done together. Progression is slow enough that you can sink some hours in it and 'unlocking' something new would feel like a true achievement. Unfortunately my girlfriend was not really interested in the Farming Simulator series. But it's the reason that Farm Together catched my eye.

I wonder if Farm Together is the game we could both enjoy, play together and sink some hours into building our farm. It seems to allow some creativity, but it looks like some items do require some time to unlock. That would encourage us to sink some time in it. It's hard to tell how big the map is though. I also wonder where the savegame of 'our' farm is stored.

The game gets good review though. But it wouldn't be the first gamble I've made. Assuming my girlfriend and I both need our own copy of the game, I'm careful to buy it at this point. Any advice or recommendations are welcome.

[Vexleigh]

This game might not be varied enough to catch the interests of the both of you. There are no exploration or fighting aspects to the game. That said, I'll try to explain a bit about the game, and you can see for yourself if it's something you both would enjoy.

First of all, the technical aspect. One of you will have to make a farm, and the other can then join that farm. The farm is stored on the computer of the person who made it, and is also saved to Steam's cloud. If the owner of the farm goes offline, the farm also goes offline, and no one can join it. (You should take this into consideration if one of you is more likely to play on the farm alone, that's all.)

Both of you do not have to own the game. There is split-screen co-op, but one of you will have to use a controller while the other uses keyboard and mouse. As far as I'm aware, the game also supports Steam's remote play feature, where the other person can play on their own computer and still doesn't have to own the game. (One of you may still have to use the controller, though. I'm not 100% sure about this.)

There is nothing that absolutely HAS to be done together with another player. That said, it makes it a lot faster to replant a field of crops if one harvests and another ploughs the land right behind them, then the first person plants the new crops and the second waters them.

Regarding map size, you start a new farm on an unlocked expanse of 40x20 tiles. (Most items take only one tile of space, but some take up to 3x3-tile area.) There are 48 other such expansions to be unlocked - all 40x20 - and your farm has to be (I think) level 97 to unlock the last one. This will likely take weeks, even if you know what you're doing. The size of the entire map, once unlocked, is 280x140 tiles.

As your farm levels up, you unlock new items to put on your farm: buildings that serve a purpose, purely decorative items, fences and roads, and plants and animals that can be harvested for resources. There are five types: crops, trees, flowers, animals, and fish. Some require just farm level to unlock, others also require leveling up another harvestable of the same type.

There are also houses that you can build, that one of you might enjoy decorating. You can also do "jobs" within the houses to earn another currency, which is mostly used to buy most things within the house, and also to pay farmhands. Farmhands can be put in the middle of a 13x13-tile square, where they will then take care of every type of harvestable within the square - they will water crops, feed animals, and water flowers (although unreliably), and harvest everything when it's ready.

There are frequently events in the game that also allow you to unlock new items - about two events each month. Most of the items are decorative, or outfits, but sometimes they give you a new permanent harvestable (permanent, because during the event there's usually a new temporary harvestable which you harvest to unlock the items, and it'll be gone after the event ends).

Finally, I'll tell you about the downloadable content for this game. None of it is necessary to get, but if you find yourself enjoying the game, the packs give a lot of new decorative items, some new houses, and a few new harvestable items. Some new outfits as well.

Wall of text. I hope it's helpful in any capacity :)

[Vexleigh]

I figured I'd use this second post to recommend some games that my boyfriend and I have enjoyed together, just in case Farm Together doesn't hit that spot for you.

If you like Minecraft, you might enjoy Terraria. There's mining, crafting, exploration, and fighting, but it's all in two dimensions.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/105600/Terraria/

If you're into automation, you might like Factorio. This is a game where you can do most things by hand, but if you're doing them by hand, you're doing it wrong. My bf is an engineer, and to him it's fun to optimise production lines. I lack that spatial thinking, so I do the quality of life improvements that allow him to focus on the important stuff.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/427520/Factorio/

Trines might also not be varied enough for you, but they are beautiful games with great story, and we've enjoyed playing them together - specifically Trine 2 and 4. (In the first one the devs were still finding their legs but it's still a fine game. Trine 2 just is better. In the third one they tried some new things that didn't go over too well. Trine 3 was supposed to be an episodic game, but due to the bad reception it was never finished.)
https://store.steampowered.com/app/35700/Trine_Enchanted_Edition/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/35720/Trine_2_Complete_Story/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/690640/Trine_4_The_Nightmare_Prince/

Nine Parchments takes place in the same universe as the Trine games, but it's a different experience. The game has lots of replayability, if you're interested in how the characters interact, and what is each one's specialty, and what all the different spells do.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/471550/Nine_Parchments/

[Darkness Vortex]

Edit: Ah, it takes me so long to type... xD Vexleigh has done a much better job of explaining everything in detail. ^_^

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Farm Together has a progression that can be both fast and slow, depending on the amount of work put into it. However, even if you put a lot of work into it, it will still take some time to unlock the higher level unlockables. ^_^ I think it has a decent balance in that regard. And everyone can work together on the same task or do their own thing...

I am skeptical about if your girlfriend will like Farm Together if she didn't like Farming Simulator... It sounds kind of like she may prefer adventure more? There's not really adventure in Farm Together and there aren't any enemies (except time during Events and Festivals if you have limited time to play) to defeat. The extent of the exploration is mostly limited to unlocking things you haven't seen before, including farm sections (each farm section is 40x20 squares roughly the size of your farmer with a new farm starting with one, center, section and I think 3 concentric rectangle rings around it of unlockable sections of the same size). Mostly, there is farming and building/decorating and gaining XP to unlock things. Unless you want to build or join a farm that is set up to do like an adventure RP. :D ...But if you were interested in that, you probably would have been doing it in Minecraft, where RPs are usually readily available? ^D^;

While I love this game and would love to recommend it to everyone, if you two don't like farming or building/decorating, it may not be the game you are looking for for you two to play together. If you are unsure about if this is a game you want to gamble on, you/your girlfriend can try the Remote Play Together (I think it requires the use of a controller on the part of the second party) with someone who already owns the game (I don't know if you have to be on the same platform for Remote Play Together). That may help you decide if it is something you want to buy and play longer. ^_^ I have never tried Remote Play Together, but I would be willing to give it a try with you and/or your girlfriend if you have a controller (I play on PC in case we need to be on the same platform). ^_^

[Besame]

Or...you can check out all the YouTube videos and Farm Together forums. I checked them out to see first hand what the game had to offer before I purchased. I bought the game first, my hubby watched me play and then decided to buy his copy. Fortunately, the game is not real expensive and the DLC affordable but not necessary nor pay2win. Farm Together has brought us many months of fun and relaxation so far. We need that break from the constant battles of FFVIX to a more laid back environment from time to time.

[golffox]

I will second the recommendations of Terraria and Factorio.

Terraria seems to be on sale atm... sort of a no brainer at 4.99 (well, one for each). You are guaranteed to get your money's worth. Terraria has excellent progression. I have 5000+ hours playing it, on another Steam account.

Factorio, I also recommend. They have a policy of never going on sale, so it will always be $30 x2. I would recommend checking out some Factorio vids before buying it. Factorio has some explaoration, some foes who get mad at your smog, and a tech progression.

Both games can have a server for the worlds, if you want.

[golffox]

Astroneer may also be worth a look. it's on sale now, too.

[Purno]

Terraria looks like a 2D Minecraft. What does Terraria offer that Minecraft does not offer?

[Vexleigh]

Originally posted by Purno:

Terraria looks like a 2D Minecraft. What does Terraria offer that Minecraft does not offer?

More involved tool, weapon, and armor crafting, for one. Drop weapons that are actually good. A variety of ranged weapons, rather than just the basic bow of Minecraft. Wings and other useful accessories. Mounts and vanity pets (kind of like World of Warcraft, but not that many). More boss fights. Events and invasions. And when you defeat the Wall of Flesh and enable hard mode for your world, a new biome will show up that will start spreading if it's not contained. There are also a couple of dozen NPCs that you can build houses for in or near your base, and they offer a variety of services.

Terraria may have started out as a 2D Minecraft copy, but it's very much its own game now.

[Purno]

Thanks for all the help people! We couldn't resist buying two copies of the full bundle with all DLC, and we've been enjoying the game all day. :)

Originally posted by Vexleigh:

Originally posted by Purno:

Terraria looks like a 2D Minecraft. What does Terraria offer that Minecraft does not offer?

More involved tool, weapon, and armor crafting, for one. Drop weapons that are actually good. A variety of ranged weapons, rather than just the basic bow of Minecraft. Wings and other useful accessories. Mounts and vanity pets (kind of like World of Warcraft, but not that many). More boss fights. Events and invasions. And when you defeat the Wall of Flesh and enable hard mode for your world, a new biome will show up that will start spreading if it's not contained. There are also a couple of dozen NPCs that you can build houses for in or near your base, and they offer a variety of services.

Terraria may have started out as a 2D Minecraft copy, but it's very much its own game now.

All that combat and adventure might be nice for the girlfriend, but not sure I'd enjoy it. Does Terraria also offer some friendly exploration and quiet creative building?

[Vexleigh]

Originally posted by Purno:

Thanks for all the help people! We couldn't resist buying two copies of the full bundle with all DLC, and we've been enjoying the game all day. :)

That's great to hear :) I hope it'll hold your interest long enough to be worth the investment!

Originally posted by Purno:

All that combat and adventure might be nice for the girlfriend, but not sure I'd enjoy it. Does Terraria also offer some friendly exploration and quiet creative building?

Maybe not "friendly" exploration, but building, yes. You'll want to build a base of some sort, and you can go as crazy with it as you want. Just like in Minecraft, there are only a few blocks that obey gravity, sand being one of them. You can also hammer most types of wood and stone blocks to have a sloped edge on them, and I personally used this method to make some Chaos gods' sigils in our world - Tzeentch, Slaanesh, and Khorne, specifically. They turned out pretty great, and I'd show you screenshots, but I haven't taken any yet and the world is saved on my bf's computer.

Exploring is best done during the day, as you can actually see and there aren't that many hostiles around. Only on the surface, though. There's vastly more underground to explore, and there are always hostiles underground, but you can find abandoned mining outposts, dozens of treasure chests, and probably plenty of other things I can't remember right now.

Something that might be interesting to know about Terraria is that you can't find all possible loot in the same world. This is because there are two types of "evil" biomes, and each spawns its own loot. They are mutually exclusive. However, you can transfer items between worlds as much as you can carry on your character.

[indigowulf]

I love Minecraft, I find Terreria mindnumbingly boring because it's 2D lol. I suggest Ark: Survival Evolved, or Atlas. Atlas was recently on sale and I nabbed it for $5. Both are huge immersive worlds that, like Minecraft, offer a variety of things to do. Ark can be modded so much it's almost not the same game anymore lol. Ark has dinosaurs that you can tame and/or fight. Atlas is the same engine and almost runs the same, but it's pirates and very interesting ship physics (wind, waves, cannons, etc)

I suggest watching some "lets play" of games on youtube before making any purchases of ANY of the games suggested here, reduces the risk of wasting money on something you won't love.