Wild Season: A farming sim with friendzones, same sex marriage, and more

What kind of game would blatantly tell you that it is based on or inspired by popular simulation game Harvest Moon? A game that offers more, that’s what.

When I first came across Wild Season by Philippine gaming studio Quickfire Games, I thought it was going to be just another simulation game that tries to be different. I often stay away from games that say they are ‘based on’ or ‘inspired’ by another popular game because more often than not, they turn out to be the same or worse. However, upon reading more about Wild Season on its Kickstarter page, I found out that this is not your usual farming simulation game.

Farming to survive and possibly save the world, too.

Although it has multiple features, farming is the core feature of this game. After all, Wild Season is inspired by Harvest Moon. According to Quick Fire games, they wanted to give players freedom to decide how to run their farm. For this reason, they made sure that the farm you will be managing is huge, so players will be able to build what kind of farm they want. You can choose to raise different kinds of crops, build a greenhouse for different kinds of herbs, and even set up barns and stables for animals like cows and horses. And you have dogs, too! You have the choice to balance all of these features on your farm or incline to just one or two, like breeding animals and growing crops.

Wild Season promises freedom, but not without having the player know that it comes with complications. Of course, a big farm would mean so many responsibilities and many different quests, so how are you expected to juggle all that? Quickfire Games say that they have a feature that will help players manage the farm easily, although they didn’t really explain how that worked.

As for the story, the interesting (if not weird) part is that you get a farm that’s located near a town that has a dark secret. Aside from worrying about all aspects of your life with the farm and other side tasks, you also have to worry about the rest of the population. Are you lucky or unlucky? That really depends on how much of an RPG this game is and how much the farm will be able to do. Right now, we are given the hint that ‘worlds will collide soon’, but it really doesn’t seem to be talking about the politics and elections in your in-game town. Am I going to end up as a blacksmith and forge weapons? Or am I going to fight them with my crafted elemental socketed farming tools? Unfortunately, the Kickstarter page doesn’t say much about that, too.

Relationships: This is where it gets interesting.

I was never fond of games that involve wooing or relationships. Dating simulation games are rarely fun for me because I don’t like how everything can be figured out. It’s pretty much a cycle of responding according to obvious hints. So how did this relationship system pique my interest?

Wild Season’s relationship system runs on what they call the ‘Friendzone Engine’. Interesting name, huh? According to Quickfire Games, the Friendzone Engine is trickier than most relationship systems. You need to balance how much attention you give to a certain character in the game. If you are overeager, you become labeled as a stalker. If you are too subtle, you won’t get anywhere. But finding the balance between all that makes you a Casanova.

But that’s not all about the Friendzone Engine. What’s even more interesting is that it supports same sex relationships. I think this is rather bold for a studio from the Philippines, considering how Filipino people tend to react to homosexuality. This feature makes me think that this game targets a wider and more mature audience not just in age, but also sexuality and culture. This could be a positive or negative thing for the game and I’m honestly looking forward to see how it turns out.

Aside from developing romantic relationships, I like how you’re also going to be able to forge in-game bonds with best friends, enemies, rivals, and even crazy exes. Now that’s a relationship web. I mean, if you’re willing to have a virtual lover anyway, why not get friends, too?

Not necessarily for kids