Ancient Farm Review

Ancient Farm is a casual farming simulator allegedly taking place in Ancient Egypt. It was developed by A2 Softworks and released on the 8th of January by Polish publisher Ultimate Games. As someone who likes farming simulators and really likes history, I was drawn to this combination of the genre and Ancient Egypt.

Maybe fortunately, given I’m a history nerd and would have rioted if they captured Ancient Egypt wrong, the game doesn’t have any story. Due to that, it can get boring pretty quickly, and I couldn’t see myself playing it for much longer than the few hours I did for this review. Other than a trader who visits through the river (which I assume is the Nile), there’s not really anything there but nature and yourself.

Now, I wouldn't call the gameplay awful, but it is kinda bad. Structures are built using pre-programmed templates via the hammer tool, which you have by default. The first building is a workshop in which you can create tools to gather different materials. Once you start planting seeds, some problems can arise — unlike in real-life Egypt, the river does not naturally fertilise the soil. This means that if you have a lot of crops to water, you can be stuck in a loop of getting water back and forth for several minutes, especially if you want them to yield the maximum potential.

Now, the gameplay loop is pretty simple and doesn’t actually contain much else; you just have to gather materials, build structures, and use them to better your farm. You can get animals and even drive up the efficiency of the farm using oxen to plough, but it’s always just yourself, so no save file can last too long because at some point you reach the ceiling of actions you can do in a certain timeframe. The world is pretty small, too, as you only have the specific gameplay area you start in — you can’t even cross to the other side of the river.

I would say, though, that the game looks pretty nice. I’m not about to call it a cinematic masterpiece, but the graphics aren't half bad, and some structures are very beautiful. Nothing is actually historically accurate, which makes me a little annoyed, but given it’s just you there’s nothing being misinterpreted. Ancient Farm could have taken place literally anywhere else on Earth and nothing in the game would have had to change, except maybe the branding and Eye of Horus mark on the trader’s ship.

As for sound, there’s really not a lot going on there: actions have basic effects, animals make sounds sometimes, and that’s about it. There’s some simple Arabic-inspired music in the background, which is again soundly not close to historical because Egypt was only Arabised at around 640 CE. But putting my annoyance over historical accuracy aside, the soundtrack is pretty enjoyable to listen to and feels in place with the gameplay.

Overall, then, while it’s playable, and it’s clear the developers care about the game, I can’t recommend Ancient Farm to anyone, unless all you’re looking for is getting through a couple of very boring hours. Even then, for £12.79, you could probably do better. It’s not an experience you’ll hate, but there’s just no reason to play this game.