by Anne Davey

Created on: April 07, 2008   Last Updated: November 04, 2011

This is a PC game that you can download from Arcade Games and many other places. It costs somewhere between $13 and $40 depending on where and how you buy it. You can also download a free 60 minute trial to see for yourself if you like it enough to pay for it. I looks at first glance like a game only for children, but as you progress through the levels you realise that there is plenty here to interest an older child or an adult.

Basically the point of the game is to run a farm and meet the objectives set at each level - there are dozens of levels.

You are setting up and looking after a farm and you have to do things like milk the cow, churn the milk to make butter and turn the butter into cream in the dairy. You can buy animals and sell your produce, but watch out for the bears who pop up from time to time and eat your animals. Luckily you have a cage to catch a bear. It starts very simply, with a duck which lays eggs and eats grass. You have to water the grass and collect the eggs. As the levels go on to get more complicated, you end up making egg powder with the eggs, and cakes with the egg powder. You need to make enough money to buy water for your grass, and you do that by selling your produce. You get $10 for each egg you sell, but $20 if you sell the egg powder and $40 for each cupcake. So there is quite a lot of strategy involved in deciding when to sell your eggs because you need cashflow now, and when to wait until you've made cakes with it.

As you accumulate money you can buy various upgrades to make your life easier, like a larger storage yard, a faster van to take things to market, better irrigation for your grass etc.

The graphics are cartoonish and cute, and when the buildings are in use, making cakes, weaving wool skeins or churning butter, they kind of shake which is quite sweet.

This is an absorbing game, with loads of different levels. You can play each level as many times as you like, and depending on how quickly you meet the goals set, you are awarded either a gold or a silver star, or just a tick. So the temptation to play lots of times is there to try and get every level at gold.

You get awards when achieve certain extras like killing so many bears, or getting every type of goods in your storage yard at once. You can buy upgrades in between levels, with the bonus money you win for completing each level in time.

Most of the things you do are done with mouse clicks, and though it is a bit intense clicking to catch the bear, it's not too bad the rest of the time - not one that should give you RSI then.

I tried the 60 minute trial, and liked it enough to buy it on a package where it cost me effectively $13 because I bought a bundle from Arcade Town. It is probably not something I would play for years, but I played it a lot for a couple of weeks, then again a couple of months later.

Overall, it's an entertaining, engaging game which requires a bit of strategy and is not dependent on mouse clicking skill. Cute graphics and a nice storyline mean this game was one of the best downloads I've come across. I often play the 60 free minutes trial of a game and then don't bother again, but this one had more play value than that and I feel I got value for money for my $13. Ooh and my children did enjoy it too!

Advantages: Easy to download, nice little game requiring skill, good storyline, cute graphics

Disadvantages: You might lose a few days of your life to this one

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