An ancient adage dating back to the dawn of agriculture states that you ought to go hay-making when the sun shines. And it still applies even in today's hyper-connected 21st Century modern world.
Admittedly on a very much scale, the same holds for the mobile game, Hay Day.
If you've progressed past Old MacDonald but still daydream about having your own farm one day, you can indulge your dreams a little with Hay Day in the meantime.
It's an excellent game for kids and adults alike who want to build a farm, raise animals, go fishing, and explore the Valley.
As a sim, Hay Day does away with all the early morning start and back-breaking toil to concentrate on the fun bits of life as a farmer. You get to customize your little slice of the countryside by farming in a way that's fun and doesn't require breaking sweat.
There's no rain in the Valley, which is oka since the wheat and corn are drought-resistant and never die. While you have to suspend disbelief massively, the game follows a rhythm real farmers would recognize.
You harvest and then replant seeds to multiply your crop production, then make goods to sell. As your farm develops, you can diversify into growing animals like pigs, cows, and chickens to get bacon, dairy, and eggs. You can then either barter with neighbors or fulfill truck orders to make virtual coins.
The latest update introduced new animals and production machines. The Valley also got new winter and mountain areas. And baby gorillas were added to the bigger Sanctuary.
● Build your farm up to be bigger and better
● Customize your farm
● Grow crops
● Diversify into added-value products
● Go fishing on your downtown
● Visit town with your wares
While cute, there's a robust real-life element to the game. It's as much about building up your family farm into a full-scale commercial venture as it is about living out some rural fantasy.
When you get into it, Hay Day is quite detailed and nuanced. You can tinker away on your farm raising chickens. Or get your business head-on and develop the farm into a thriving and diversified business by investing in bakeries, grills, and a sugar mill to bring in more cash and revenue streams.
To a large extent, how your farm pans out is down to your imagination, strategy, investing, and trading.
It needn't be just you versus the app's software. You can take part in weekly derby events with your farm's neighbors to win rewards. And you can share in the fun by playing with friends and neighbors.
It's not all hard work and plotting your next move; you can take time to go fishing and repair your dock or visit town and help repair the train station.
● It's free
● Absorbing game
● An overly romanticized fantasy version of farming
● In-app purchases for some items
Hay Day is downloadable from Google Play and the App Store, where the game is highly rated by both.
