You Think my Tractor's Sexy--Farming Simulator 17

I have officially dipped my toes into the shallow end of the simulation pool and am now finding myself playing games that I would never have considered in the past.  The door to the simulation genre opened when I grabbed a massive pile of Truck Simulator games on sale during the Steam summer sale.  After finding those games oddly enjoyable (am I getting old?) I decided to peruse another branch in the simulation genre--Farming Simulator.  If you secretly have a yearning to drop everything and spend your hours peacefully steering your tractor this series is perfect.

Farming Simulator 17 is the newest entry in the Farming Simulator franchise and was released in November, so it's still somewhat of a new release.  If you pay attention to the Steam Top Sellers list you probably noticed it oddly jutting out among the Civilization VI's and Dishonored II's of the Steam charts.  There's a reason for that--it is an amazingly enjoyable experience.

One of my tractors.  It's the starting model, so not that sexy.

In FS17, players start off with a small farm--three fields, a house, some chickens, a few pieces of machinery, and the basics required to get things up and running.  You also start off with a small pile of debt--gotta pay for those tractors somehow.  Your overall goal in the game....well, that's basically up to you.  You can opt for farming domination--to make enough money to buy out all the fields and become a farming mogul or you could settle with having the best tractors and machinery available.  If you're some kind of tractor or farm machinery enthusiast there is an extremely wide variety of hulking machines to choose from (watch this trailer--I've seen it termed "tractor porn").

New players should start off with the multi-step tutorial which covers all the basics you will need to effectively run your farm.  You learn how to plow, plant, fertilize and harvest your fields.  There are also many handy tips which are not directly pointed out in the core game.  So, if you're thinking of skipping the tutorial, I would say don't.  Once you've mastered the tractor skills you move on to the animal related part of the game.  Your farm can support a number of critters--namely pigs, cows, and sheep (you start off with chickens which require no care and produce eggs that can be sold).  Each animal has basic needs--they all need a source of food and water as well as clean bedding--but all differing care requirements.  The tutorial will teach you the basics of caring for you animals but doesn't go into great depth.  I have spent considerable time looking up details that are not covered in the tutorial.  The good thing is that there are plenty of good sources of information to find answers.

Once you have finished the tutorial you dive into starting your personal farm.  Your fields start in a variety of states--one field is ready for harvest, one field is partially grown, and the last field has just been harvested and needs to be re-planted.  Harvesting is probably the most enjoyable of the farming tasks.  You just maneuver your harvester (very slowly) and watch as all that sweet, sweet moola flows in.  Another aspect of play is keeping an eye on the prices for the crops you are ready to sell.  You can opt to find the best price at the moment or to load your crops into a silo and wait for a higher price to come along.  There are also demand spikes which last for short periods but see drastic jumps in prices.

Each task proves to have its own challenges.  Plowing is slow and methodical (and, thankfully only has to happen every three harvests), planting requires attention so you're not wasting seed and fertilizer, and harvesting requires watching how full your bin gets before you have to dump it.  Once you've completed the tasks on your own farm and are waiting for your crops to grow, you can perform odd jobs on other farms.  These odd jobs are timed tasks that pay a bonus if you complete them quickly.  If you're too slow you won't get paid so plan accordingly.  Doing odd jobs pays surprisingly well (you almost make more than just focusing on your own fields) and are a good way to save some cash.  Your farm needs a good source of cash flow because vehicle maintenance costs and loan interest are debited from your account every day.  Plus, your farm also has operating costs related to purchasing seed, fertilizer, and fuel for your tractors, harvesters, and other vehicles.

Once you've accumulated a decent amount of cash you have to decide on your next steps--do you save up for a better tractor?  Do you buy a new piece of machinery that could help boost your yields?  Do you buy some animals?  Or, if you're really boring and overly responsible like me, you pay off your loan.  I also bought a plow in an effort to boost my yields.

After seventeen hours of play I feel like I've barely scratched the surface of Farming Simulator 17.  There's still logging to do and animals to raise!  When will I ever find the time?  Even if you're skeptical about a game that is about farming, FS17 is a peaceful journey through simulated country living.  It doesn't have the best graphics (there's some online grumbling about that), but it's not a game about the best graphics--it's a game about the joys of growing things.

If you're looking for something more exciting than the basic crop cycle you might want to pass on this one.  Fans of casual, peaceful and relaxing simulation games will enjoy the complicated web of tasks required to run a successful farm.  Pick Farming Simulator 17 up on Steam for $34.99 (or wait for the upcoming Winter sale and grab it for slightly less).