+ v2.0.0-2.2.1 Demo Update notes

Hello everyone!

It’s been a while since the last announcement, but for good reason. Development has been in full swing, and the game is better than ever. The demo has also received major improvements, and I'm super excited to show you what’s new!

But, before anything else, I want to personally thank every single one of you who played the Demo, shared feedback, and supported the game.

Your feedback and encouragement have been incredibly valuable, and it’s one of the biggest reasons I enjoy working on this project every single day.

Now, let’s get into it.

The Early Access release will be moved from April 7th to April 21st, giving two additional weeks to polish and improve the game before launch.

The focus is on polishing and expanding the experience with more gameplay depth, additional plants and animals, new farm buildings, improved progression systems, and many other improvements.

Let’s take a look at what’s new!

The entire plant system has been fully rebuilt and polished, making farming deeper and more satisfying than ever.

Key improvements include:

• Crops & Trees now offer real-time stats.

  • Crops and trees now show live information such as Name, Moisture, Growth Stage, and Health through a small indicator above each plant.

• New watering system.

  • Watering now requires a Watering Can and stored water resources. No more watering magically from the sky.

• Tool-based watering mechanics.

  • The watering can must be equipped like other tools and uses water from your inventory. When used, it spills water that increases moisture for nearby planting spots.

• New growth logic with Health systems for all crops & trees.

  • Crops now grow through 3 stages, while trees progress through 5 stages, with smoother and more reliable growth behaviour.

  • Every crop and tree now has a Health value (0–100). Plants that are underwatered or sick will gradually lose health.

  • If health reaches 0, the plant dies and can be harvested for plant remains, which can be used for composting.

• Fixed and tuned growth times and harvest amounts.

  • Growth times and harvest yields have been reworked for better balance and predictability.

  • Harvest amounts are much more fair and logical now.

  • Harvesting plants can now also produce Crop Remains, which are valuable for compost production.

Early Access will feature 17 unique Crops & 15 Trees!

Early Access will feature over 20 different animals that you can raise and care for on your farm!

Build their homes, expand their facilities, look after their needs, and collect valuable resources in return.

Animals are also receiving continuous improvements, with the goal of creating lifelike behaviour and deeper interaction systems that make them feel truly alive on your farm.

The full feathered family!

• Just like in the demo, you’ll be able to raise chickens (3 different breeds) and keep a rooster to lead the flock.

• Chickens are already stable, fully functional, and ready for farm life, with more behaviour improvements and interactions planned as development continues.

• All three will be available at the Animal Market, while the demo currently includes only cows and calves.

  Each animal has unique behaviours and needs, adding more depth to livestock management.

  • Calves are cheaper to buy but require time to grow into adult cows that produce milk.

  • Adult cows can be purchased directly, but at a much higher cost.

  • Bulls increase cow productivity and allow breeding and reproduction on your farm.

• All three will be available at the Animal Market, though they are not included in the demo.

  Goats require a Sheepfold on your farm, which serves as their home and main shelter.

  • Goats are hardy and adaptable animals that produce Goat Milk.

  • Goatlings are cheaper to purchase but require care, bonding, and time to grow into adults.

  • Bucks are male goats that increase productivity and milk production, and allow breeding and herd expansion.

  

• All three will be available at the Animal Market, though they are not included in the demo.

  Sheep require a Sheepfold on your farm, which serves as their home and shelter.

  • Sheep are gentle, social animals that produce wool and milk.

  • Lambs are cheaper to purchase but require care, bonding, and time to grow into adults.

  • Rams are male sheep that increase productivity and enable breeding and herd expansion.

    

• These water-loving farm animals will be available to purchase at the Animal Market. While originally planned, ducks are not included in the demo and will arrive with the Early Access version.

  Ducks require a Pond Enclosure on your farm and produce Duck Eggs.

  • Ducklings are baby ducks that hatch at the Pond Enclosure.

  • Hatching requires a Nesting Area upgrade at the enclosure.

  • Ducklings require time and care before growing into egg-laying adults.

    

• Rabbits will be available to purchase as adult animals at the Animal Market. While they are not included in the demo, they are planned to be added soon.

  Rabbits require a Rabbit Hutch on your farm, which serves as their home.

  • Rabbits produce fur and wool, which can be collected and sold for profit.

  • Rabbits themselves can also be sold at the Animal Market.

  The game focuses on ethical and non-violent farming, which is why livestock in the game does not produce meat.

  

• Horses are intelligent and loyal companions that can be purchased at the Animal Market once the required farm level is unlocked. They are also one of the most expensive animals in the game.

  Horses require a Horse Stable on your farm, and you’ll need to take good care of them to keep them happy and healthy.

  • Horse riding is one of their main purposes, providing a fast and flexible way to travel across the map.

  • Horses can navigate terrain and paths where vehicles like trucks may struggle.

  • Future updates will focus on deepening the relationship between the player and their horse, adding more interaction and bonding systems.

Your best friend on the farm!

• Dogs are acquired at the Animal Market as puppies. They require care, time, and bonding before growing into healthy adult companions.

• Puppies grow for around 30 in-game days and can learn up to 4 skills during their puppy stage. Adult dogs can eventually unlock the full skill set.

• Dogs live in the Dog House, located on the porch of the Farm House. The Dog House can also be upgraded with fun additions such as a Ball Launcher.

Dogs can learn a variety of useful abilities through the Training Knowledge Tree, found in the Dog Management Menu.

Each skill requires 1 Paw Point, which is earned whenever your dog levels up.

• Available commands include:

  • Follow – your dog follows you anywhere.

  • Sit / Stay – the dog waits in place until given a new command.

  • Home – sends the dog back to the Dog House.

  • Fetch – retrieve selected items.

  • Dig – digs a new planting spot in nearby soil.

  • Locate – helps find items in the surrounding area.

  • Guard – watches for predators and protects the farm.

  • Calm – calms nearby animals when they become disturbed.

  • Herd – helps herd groups of sheep or goats (breed dependent).

  Dogs will continue to receive new behaviours, skills, and interaction systems throughout development.

The best rodent exterminators on the farm!

• Cats can sometimes wander onto your farm and decide to stay. These are known as Barn Cats, and they will naturally live around your farm buildings.

  • Kittens are the adorable baby cats of the farm and take a few in-game weeks to grow into adult cats.

  • Barn Cats can also reproduce over time, so keep an eye on your feline population… unless you want to end up with 15 cats running around the farm!

  

The world around your farm is alive with ambient wildlife and dangerous predators. Some animals simply bring life to the environment, while others may become a real threat to your farm.

These animals live in the surrounding forests and fields, adding life and realism to the world.

• Deer & Does

• Wild Rabbits

• Boars

• Squirrels

These animals are currently ambient wildlife, roaming the environment and enriching the atmosphere.

Not all wildlife is harmless, some animals may try to attack your livestock!

Sneaky predators that may attempt to steal your chickens. Protection such as dog guarding and coop predator upgrades can keep them away.

The most dangerous predators in the game. Wolves hunt in packs and may target multiple farm animals. Proper farm defences and tools are required to scare them off.

Your farm ecosystem also includes insects and pests, some harmless and some requiring management.

Insects like bees, butterflies, and fireflies add life and atmosphere to the farm and surrounding environment.

• Bees, Butterflies & FirefliesVisual ambient insects that bring life and atmosphere to the environment.

Pests such as rats, mice, and snakes can threaten your farm, requiring traps, cats, or other protection to keep them under control.

• Rats & Mice – can infest barns and buildings, causing damage. Best countered with cats or mouse traps.

• Snakes – may sneak onto the farm and target eggs or smaller animals. Can be handled with cats or snake traps.

Early Access introduces dozens of new building blueprints available through the Construction Menu.

With the Hammer Tool and your Building Notebook, you’ll be able to construct over 20 unique structures, allowing you to expand and shape your farm in many different ways.

A small livestock building designed to house up to 10 sheep or goats. Like other farm buildings, it requires proper care, management, and upgrade options to run efficiently.

A medium-sized livestock building that can house up to 3 cows. Like other farm buildings, it requires care, management, and upgrades to operate efficiently.

The Cattle Barn has received significant improvements, with expanded mechanics and upgrade options.

The Water Tower has received a major upgrade, featuring a new 3D model and improved management mechanics.

Water Towers play an important role in farm infrastructure, especially when powering automatic watering systems across your fields.

Each Greenhouse provides 7 planting spots, allowing you to grow every crop available in the game. It also unlocks rare crops that can only be cultivated inside the greenhouse.

In Early Access, the Greenhouse will also feature a Management Menu displaying important environmental stats such as temperature, moisture, and humidity.

A small, simple building that serves as a storage space. You can open it and store anything you want in it.

Large, tall buildings that serve as a storage for Grains & Crops. They feature very large Inventories, and keep the contains healthy!

Additionally, many other such as: Composting Station, Horse Stable, Chicken Coop, Beehive Garden, Duck Pond, Dog House etc. I don't have images of those on hand so we will leave them for another announcement!

One of the most important improvements is the freehand placement system, allowing players to place and move many items freely around the farm.

These objects can be picked up, moved, and interacted with, giving them real gameplay purpose rather than being purely decorative.

Some of the currently available items:

• Flower Pots

• Buckets

• Storage containers

• Sprinklers

• Compost Bins

• Fences

• Lights

• Switches

• Generators

• All Furniture

The goal is to make every item fully interactive and useful, similar to how objects would function in real life. This system will continue expanding over time, giving players the tools to create a truly unique and personalized farm.

Place them anywhere and choose from 10 different flowers to plant.

Portable mini-storage containers that you can carry with you and place anywhere on the farm.

The Compost Bin introduces a brand new composting system to the farm!

Located near the Chicken Coop, the Compost Bin allows you to process organic materials through a dedicated composting menu, where you can monitor the process and manage interactions.

As compost develops, it will also visually progress through four different stages, showing the transformation over time

Final reward is Fertilizer you can use just as Plant Booster to speed up growth of your plants!

Each building features a dedicated Upgrade Menu, allowing you to improve your farm infrastructure and make daily farm work much easier.

Buildings such as the Chicken Coop, Cattle Barn, Sheepfold, and others now include an Upgrade Section with up to 10 unique upgrades that directly affect the productivity, efficiency, and happiness of your animals.

Every upgrade provides a clear gameplay benefit. For example, the Auto-Feeder upgrade increases the Food & Water storage capacity to 200 and automatically refills feeding trays when they drop below a set threshold. All you need to do is keep the feeder stocked.

This same principle applies across all building upgrades, allowing you to gradually automate tasks, improve efficiency, and create a more advanced farm setup as your farm grows.

With the growing amount of content in the game, creating a clear and rewarding progression system has become a major focus.

To guide players through everything, Early Access will introduce over 50 quests, designed to gradually teach mechanics and encourage exploration of everything the farm has to offer!

Early Access expands the Knowledge Tree with new unlocks and additional levels, giving players more meaningful ways to develop their farm and specialize their playstyle.

• 45 available levels to Unlock. Each unlock costs 1 Leaf Point which you get when you level up.

• Yellow leaf levels will be Limited and changed with updates as Special Plants!

(all menus in game are now much more polished and easier to use, especially this one!)

Both the Player and the Farm now have their own progression levels.

Every time either one levels up, you receive 1 Leaf Point which can be used to unlock upgrades in the Knowledge Tree.

Almost every activity on the farm contributes to progression. Actions such as harvesting crops, cleaning areas, constructing buildings, or selling goods will reward XP, helping both you and your farm grow over time.

A new Farm Management Menu has been added, accessible from the Study Desk in the Farm House bedroom.

By interacting with the desk, you can view important information about your farm, including statistics, progression, and overall farm status.

This is the first version of the system, and it will be expanded with deeper management features and additional information in future updates.

The farm economy is expanding in Early Access, offering more ways to sell products, earn money, and grow your farm business.

Currently, players can sell raw crops and harvested goods directly at the Farm Sell Stand, or process them into higher-value products such as food and other crafted items that can be sold at locations like the Vista Diner.

Early Access will expand this system significantly, introducing more places to trade goods and more types of products to sell.

Players will also be able to buy and sell livestock, creating additional economic opportunities as your farm grows.

Another major addition is the Farm Reputation system, which represents the standing and success of your farm within the local community. As your farm develops, you will gain access to contracts, special opportunities, and new economic interactions with nearby businesses and residents.

The goal is to create a living farm economy where harvesting, crafting, trading, and expanding your farm all work together.

The people living around your farm are just as important as the farming itself, and this part of the game continues to grow and evolve.

Early Access will introduce the first version of the Neighbours system, alongside version 3 of the NPC system, bringing more characters to the world and expanding the ways players can interact with them throughout the map.

The goal is to create a living world and a connected community, where the people around your farm play an important role in your journey.

Players will encounter unique characters, special quests, rewards, and fun interactions as they explore the area and build relationships with nearby residents and local businesses.

This system will continue to expand over time, with more characters, stories, and interactions planned for future updates.

More details about NPCs, neighbours, and community gameplay will be revealed closer to the Early Access release.

The entire world map will be fully explorable, featuring many new Points of Interest (POIs) where players can discover quests, meet characters, and unlock new opportunities.

Early Access introduces several new locations and facilities that expand the world beyond your farm. These places offer services, interactions, and progression opportunities that help you develop your farm and explore the surrounding region.

The world itself has also been improved visually, featuring beautiful natural environments with rivers, lakes, and real-time waterfalls, making exploration across the map feel more immersive than ever.

New locations include areas such as Kindale Village, neighbouring farms, and additional facilities that provide shops, services, and quest opportunities.

More details about the world map and its locations will be revealed closer to the Early Access release.

Phew. That was a lot of typing. And we are still not done! Let's go over the Demo Update notes and overall plans for the Demo.

v2.0.0 – v2.2.0

The goal has always been to make the Demo as polished and enjoyable as possible, and over the past six months we’ve made significant progress toward that goal. Much of this improvement has been driven by your feedback, which has been incredibly valuable during development.

Here’s a quick overview of the current state of the Demo.

Version 2.0.0 introduced several major improvements and gameplay systems, including:

• Complete overhaul of the Save System

• New management menus for multiple game systems

• A large polish pass improving gameplay flow and usability

• New animals and updated animal models

• Expanded gameplay systems for deeper farm management

• Water Well and new watering mechanics, including watering cans and real-time water physics

• Improved animal behaviour systems, making animals feel more stable, alive, and realistic

A large number of bugs were also fixed during this update, greatly improving overall stability and playability. While some edge cases still exist, the Demo is now very stable and fully playable.

Updates 2.1.0 through 2.2.0 focused mainly on bug fixes and refining the new systems introduced earlier.

Key additions and improvements include:

• Compost Bin system, allowing players to produce fertilizer to boost plant growth

• Quest improvements, polishing and finalizing the existing quests in the Demo

• New tree models across the map, with big variety and fitting visuals

• New tree chopping mechanics with a real-time physics destruction system

• New crafting recipes and a reorganized crafting system for easier use

In the Early Access Release announcement, I will share the full development roadmap for 2026, outlining the planned updates leading up to the 1.0 release.

The vision for Hillshade Farm is big, and Early Access is only the beginning. While the Early Access version will already offer a fully playable and enjoyable farming experience, there is still a lot planned for the future of the game.

The goal for Early Access is to deliver a rich and polished foundation with enough content and systems to give players dozens of hours of gameplay without friction.

From there, development will continue with new content, animations, mechanics, quests, locations, and many other improvements as the game grows toward its full release.

All of these plans will be revealed in the Official 2026 Roadmap.

And with that, we can wrap this one up!

A lot has been covered here, but trust me when I say there’s still much more coming in the next few weeks as we prepare for the Early Access release.

Development is moving forward every day, and seeing the community grow around the game has been incredibly motivating. Your feedback, ideas, and support continue to help on this journey together.

If you enjoyed the Demo and want to follow the development of Hillshade Farm, please consider adding the game to your Wishlist and following the page to stay updated on future announcements.

Thank you again for all the support, and I can’t wait to show you what’s coming next!

Have a great week, and see you all soon on the farm :)

Hi everyone! We’ve got some big news to share this time.

Over the past few weeks, development has been going great, both in terms of adding new content for the full game and polishing the upcoming Demo v2.0.

As a result, the gap between the demo and the full game has become much clearer, and the overall quality bar has been raised. This means every aspect of the game now needs to meet that standard.

The Early Access release has been delayed until April 7th, 2026. This additional time will allow to bring the entire game to the level of quality players expect, with stable systems, polished gameplay, and no issues that break progression or enjoyment.

This will be great. With newly acquired development time, the work on the demo will be done this month, bringing the biggest update yet! The goal is to offer up to 30 hours or more playtime for the demo.

v2.0 will include:

These are the culprits dragging most of the bugs since the beginning, and now they are being fixed at any cost, even if a full reconstruction is needed.

No more water from the Heavens, instead there will be a new tool, Watering Can!

• Simply equip, fill up and water the plants. This also opens up doors for other tools to implement hands-on approach with interactions, bringing more depth and immersion.

• Water will also be stored, not infinite. Each watering will take some water, and to get more you will need to use the Water Well.

• Automatic Watering system will also get a makeover, since it is an important asset in-game.

• Other tool improvements will mostly be about satisfaction factor and immersion. Meaning better animations, sounds, 3D models and usability.

This one is big and some menus are already remade and live in current version of the Demo!

• Completely new designs for all menus; More depth, information, order, and functionality. Important menus such as Crop & Building Selection will be greatly expanded and reorganized.

• Multiple tabs telling you all you need to know; Each menu now has bookmarks with icons to quickly switch between Categories or anything else.

• Brand new UI for Grocery Store (already live)

• Updated Farmers Store & Animal Market Menus

• Redesigned Inventory & Quests UI

new design examples:

Implemented in: Building Blueprints notebook menu and Animal Management menus.

This design and layout will be expanded to all menus in-game

Last animals to enter the Farm for the Demo. You will be able to unlock, buy and keep these new animals on farm!

• Horses: As one of the most expensive animals, it is also one that can replace you car! Horses require a Horse Stable on farm & daily care, and are very worth it in travelling the map due to high speed and agility. Horses will also get big improvements down the line.

• Ducks: Brand new animal in Hillshade! Ducks require you to build a Duck Pond which is a first water-themed structure in game! More on ducks soon :)

• Dogs & Puppies: As seen few months ago on Hillshade, we had a German Shepherd puppy on farm. Now he's back, and he's not alone! You will be able to choose from 2 dog breeds at the Animal Market for purchase. Aka: a puppy closure inside the Animal Market!

  Dogs also receive a big makeover due to their highly important role, you will love this!

Crafting is an important part of the core game. And now it will be crucial. All crafting recipes will be revisited and improved. Meaning more complex recipes, logically correct and fun to make!

• All Crafting Benches will get a bunch more new recipes, accounting to over 150 recipes in game! This is all possible thanks to newly added Grocery Store offering ALL recipe items for sale!

• More depth for quests and progress. With such a big library of craftable items, quests and player progress will be much more satisfying and interesting to play through.

• New Crafting animations; All benches will get new or improved crafting animations for better immersion.

• Movable Component: All crafting benches will be fully movable, just like the furniture.

One place, all information. Whenever you are confused or have a question about something, just open the Wiki. It will include EVERY single system fully covered. It will also have its own button in each Menu for quick access.

• 16 categories to choose from. Plants, Animals, Buildings, Vehicles, Tools, Items and so much more! Each category covers itself perfectly explaining each system in simple detail.

• Integrated in each menu; If you are confused about any menu, you will be one click away from opening its section inside the Wiki and getting the information you need!

Knowledge tree wiki page

Current demo version does not offer enough quests to properly teach the game. Therefore, all current quests will be much improved, with another 20 to give you a real sense of the Hillshade world!

• This will be sprinkled into 10 farm quests, and 10 outside farm quests. Either at the Vista Diner or other Points of Interest on the map.

• These and old quests will be carefully planned to create a sense of progress and satisfaction.

• New Quest UI & Quest rewards: The Quest Log will be redesigned to match other menus better, and new Quest Rewards system will be added!

At last, Controllers are getting some love. Demo 2.0 will have full Controller Support, as well as Key Bindings for Player Movement and some interactions.

• Full support for all Controllers.

• Key Binding for Player Movements (more bindings coming later)

This will be 3rd iteration of NPCs in the game, this time expanding to basic Interactions and Dialogue with any NPC in game world.

• Basic Interactions with NPCs: can include, Trading, Quests, Buying & Selling.

• Basic Dialogue: Ability to make small talk with NPCs with Dialogue Trees.

The winter is over on the Farm! The Holiday Special has passed, and sunny Spring is here! With many other in-game improvements and new content!

What's new in the demo?

Large fields on the farm have been redesigned, as well as farm surrounding areas, now have much better visual composition, layout and atmosphere. Also the path to the waterfall has been finished and unlocked for the current Demo version.

• Large flat fields on your farm have been carefully redesigned, and are mostly there for mass planting, and late game. But also much more pleasing visually and geographically.

• Surrounding farm areas such as Waterfall Area, Hill Lakes, Forests and Cliffs have been polished and enhanced.

• Water bodies improved: All lakes and rivers now look much better and have an enhanced underwater effect when swimming or diving.

• Waterfall Area unlocked: Now you can go all the way up to the Waterfall source near your farm, with beautiful nature scenery!

  path to the waterfall source

hill lakes above the farm

One of the most important locations in game, offering over 100 different items for sale to help you with crafting and progression!

• Located just by the Farmers Store, Grocery Store is a large market with lots of categorized items for sale. It covers almost all required items for Crafting in the game.

• Unique approach to buying: Simply walk up to the shelf that has what you need and Interact with it. This will instantly open up the Shelf Menu where you can choose what to buy! Grocery store has around 6-7 unique handcrafted Menus!

  

Already on farm: Greenhouse & Silo, fully usable!

• Leftover from Winter season is the Greenhouse, 2 exactly on farm. Each greenhouse offers 7 planting slots and protects your plants from bad weather conditions!

  • There are 2 versions of Greenhouses in game, current one is sort of a placeholder offering same plants as normal planting, while proper in-depth greenhouse will be included in Demo 2.0, offering exotic plants, and Greenhouse Stats.

• Silo: Preparation for Mass Planting systems, now stand 2 Silos on the large piece of land on your farm. Currently only purpose is storing large amounts of items, offering 100 slots each.

Available at the Animal Market, Baby Calf!

• Calf is basically a baby cow, which takes around 20 in-game days to grow into an Adult Cow that can produce Milk. Calf costs greatly less than a Cow at 500$.

  • Calf systems will be expanded in coming updates, such as Parent Relationships and Bonding & Care.

Huge performance improvements, game runs smooth as butter right now!

• Not much to say here, as improving and optimizing systems went on, so did the FPS increase! The game is super stable and smooth. In theory, it should run on any machine with proper in-game Graphics adjustments!

Players with under 1000$ in-game now start with additional 3000$ for a fair start! This can get you few chickens and a cow, and even some saplings! ;)

Sound effect for Hover and Interact have been changed, as well as new improved Background music and Main Menu music.

• The old annoying Hover Sound Effect has been removed and replaced with new, subtle and satisfying click. Same goes for interactions and Menu buttons!

• New background music and main menu music! Much better and more fitting, non intrusive and relaxing music while farming ;)

This delay was the smart choice. As polishing and improving the game went on, it was clear it will take more time to bring everything to the level we all expect. Especially for something players pay for!

Therefore, for the next 90 days until release, the development will be on full power! And with a clear goal in mind, it should be a breeze.

The Demo 2.0 will be releasing January 28th, and will be a proper representation of the game we all imagine in our minds. It just needs time to cook!

And most importantly, this is all thanks to YOU! Your feedback was priceless in discovering what needs most attention and improvement in the development, and what set this bar we aim for. So thank you all for each comment, positive or negative review, it opened lots of viewpoints!

As for me personally, I am super excited to see what the game will look like in April :) Until then, we keep on moving forward!

That's it for this one everyone, see you all soon with the next update! 💚

New Acre Games