WoMen in Science Review

Game: WoMen in Science
Genre: Farm Sim, Life Sim, Educational
System: Steam (Windows)
Developers | Publishers: LuanaGames
Controller Support: Partial
Price: US $7.99 | UK £5.79 | EU € 6,59
Release Date: March 16th, 2020

Review code used, with many thanks to LuanaGames.

WoMen in Science is a massive educational game with a lot of content for players to explore. It’s a surprising game, and one that is a standout in the world of edutainment.

Gameplay in WoMen in Science

WoMen in Science has the feeling of a Stardew Valley clone with all the heart and soul of the original. Players end up with a farm that they need to grow and take care of. They start with crops and cleaning up the farm, but they can add things like animals, automated farming, robots, and more. The graphics are cartoony and fun, and everything looks like it should in a family-friendly game that focuses on building the perfect farm.

But WoMen in Science adds a whole massive amount of extras to making the perfect farm, and these extras are immensely interesting. For example, instead of just planting all your seeds wherever in your farm as you would it a Story of Seasons or a Stardew Valley, players have to plan their plantings. Some plants have unique properties like the ability to keep away pests or supports other plants by infusing the soil.

Plants also need to be planted by season, but the game is very forgiving when a player makes a mistake. There is bug spray for if you miscalculate how far the anti-pest plants will reach, and a seed will just remain dormant in the soil until the season is right for it to grow.

Veggies, flowers, and fruits grown and foraged by the player can also be used to all sorts of items. This includes cooking food to eat, gifts, soaps, chemical compounds, and more.

It Takes a Village to Make a Robot

If you spend a few minutes in the village talking to the other villagers, you might notice something familiar about all of their faces; just about everyone in town is a famous female scientist, including people like Temple Grandin, Grace Hopper, and Marie Curie. I was really sad that there wasn’t an introduction for all of these women; they are all massively important people that everyone should learn more about!

Each of these scientists specializes in all sorts of plant and animal husbandry, and they all can help the player to come up with all sorts of amazing things for their farm. This includes drones, 3D printers, Hydroponics, and even modifying plants with things like grafting. As one reviewer for the game called it, WoMen in Science is “Stardew Valley for geeks.” Not to mention that this game is massively inclusive. There’s no timers or rush to get anything done. Players get to pick their looks and their pronouns, and the game seems pretty accessible to even those with colorblindness.

Some of My Favorite Features

• There is a really great map that points out where all the NPCs can be found.
• Days go by quickly without feeling like you’re being rushed.
• Did I mention that all these ladies are famous scientists!?
• This game is still in Early Access and some of the changes that have been made to the game are amazing.
• You have a pretty big inventory to start with; small inventories in farm sims is one of my pet peeves.
• There is a huge variety of things to farm.
• The game is adorably cartoony.
• The map is great.
• The character maker is simple, but you can make a lot of different characters the way you want.
• It’s an educational game that’s actually fun!

WoMen in Science is Beautiful

This game is wonderful. I’m not usually a fan of the way that edutainment games are built; a lot of them are just poor substitutes for games that aren’t thought through or are just plain not fun even if they do teach you something important. But this game is fun. It’s paced how you want it to be paced. There is TONS to do. Usually, I like to complete a game before reviewing it or at least get most of the way through, but its just too massive. I have a feeling there isn’t really a way to beat the game; it just kind of goes on forever in the way that only farm sims can.

I loved meeting and befriending all of the female scientists in the town and the fetch quests weren’t timed. In addition, I love the complexity of the farming is only as intense as you want it to be. I love that you can make your farm into what you want, or you can spend a lot of time in town socializing without feeling like you’re missing out.

Conclusion

WoMen in Science let’s you play the game you want to play. And I’m a big fan. The game has its issues; for example, the skill tree is a little bit lacking in explanations for how to get and use all of it, but when I played the game, WoMen in Science is still in early access. The bones that this game has built though are fantastic, and I can’t wait to see more.

Final Verdict: Two Thumbs Up: