YvoCaro Plays: Summer in Mara and Farm Together

Time to sit down for another YvoCaro Plays. As always, these blurbs are mostly about the video games I’m currently playing. Unedited thoughts that spring up in my mind, mostly game related. And sometimes a random train of thoughts starting with the game and ending somewhere completely different.

It’s only fair to warn you that spoilers might sometimes be included. If you like these bits of gaming thoughts you can find the previous ones here

Summer in Mara Kickstarter funded within 43 hours

Hard to believe that not so long ago, asking the general public to fund your project was very novel. After all, why would people invest money into something that they weren’t guaranteed to actually reap the benefits of. Although the idea had been around for longer, and the first actual crowdfunding platform was born in 2007 when Indiegogo launched. The recession and the problems small companies faced in getting funds helped spur the idea along. In 2007 Kickstarter appeared, and actually funded. And I don’t know if anyone predicted this, but Indie gamers really benefitted from crowdfunding.

Today, it’s not strange to add a pledge for $ 10 or more, in order to get digital wallpaper, updates about the game, in-game extra’s when the game is released. Or even, when you shell out a bit more, your own copy of the game. I’ve done it a couple of times already, but do be aware it’s a long process: I have pledged for A Time at Portia (waiting for the game to make it to the Switch), Farm Folks (not sure yet if the game will make it to the Switch) and A Fold Apart (which didn’t meet the required total amount needed, so my pledge didn’t lead to me spending money).

And now my latest pledge is for Summer in Mara. A game made by Chibig that looks very, very promising. It’s already in more advanced stages of development and needed extra funding for some more tweaking. They asked for € 20.000 and the Kickstarter started on February 5 at 18.00 CET. And amazingly it’s already fully funded!  Within 45 hours € 21.640 by 949 backers)!

The backers on average pledged amounts of on average € 23, but that doesn’t matter to the developer. The money is in, work can progress. Now, several stretch goals are added for extras. Here’s to hoping we won’t have to wait too long for the actual game on Switch. I wrote about the Kickstarter campaign this week, find it here.

Farm Together with friends

Steam game Farm Together made a surprise entrance in the Nintendo eShop. And a nice surprise it is. I had hoped for a review key, but alas. And as I couldn’t wait any longer, I decided to buy.

Im still finding my way around the game. If you’d ask me of what it reminds me, I’d really have to think. Of course, every farm game makes you instantly remember Harvest Moon. But here, you don’t have to regenerate every night. You don’t live in a house…you use keep on working.  There’s no market box to put put your produce in. You have to put them in special market stalls.

New crops, livestock and buildings enter the shop in a high rate. And the customization options of your farmer are plentiful. You know, if I were pressed to make a comparison I’d go more for HayDay. Although in Farm Together you are an actual person in the game.

A good indicator for me to gauge if I really like a game is when I think about gaming while I’m not actually hold my Switch. That’s the way it is for Farm Together. The fact that my good gaming friend has joined in the game, is only adding to the fun!