Fae Farm combines farming, life simulation, and dungeon crawling with a cute, magical twist. The game comes from developer Phoenix Labs, which previously released the co-op monster hunting game Dauntless. Fae Farm's game director Isaac Epp is an industry veteran who in the past has worked on titles like The Sims franchise and the MOBA game Vainglory.
Fae Farm, which was first announced earlier this year at a very farming sim-focused Nintendo Direct, draws inspiration from fairytale aesthetics and themes to create a more magical spin on the classic genre. This comes through right away in the game's setting of Azoria, which is full of cute cartoonish characters and a lush landscape scattered with creatures to catch and plants to harvest. Fae Farm does have a main storyline, more so than other games of the genre tend to, but players will still be able to freely choose the activities they do each day and what goals they wish to focus on the most.
During the Fae Farm preview, developers showed off many of the different daily mechanics players will encounter, and went through snippets of early, mid, and late-game to demonstrate how players will progress. Something that stands out immediately about daily chores in Fae Farm is the game's intuitive tool system, a welcome feature rarely seen in simulation titles. Like in the game Littlewood, tools are auto-selected to fit the task at hand, whether it be watering crops, chopping wood, or other chores, eliminating any clunky equipment switching.
One of the first activities shown off in the Fae Farm preview was creature catching, first demonstrating catching butterflies with a net, which were easy targets, but developers stated some tougher bugs will need to be crept up on for a better chance at success. Fishing in Fae Farm bears some resemblance to games like Potion Permit, where players must manage pressure on the line while reeling in lest the fish escape. A funny fishing quirk of Fae Farm is that larger catches have the potential to pull players into the water, which is also a great example of the level of interactivity within the game's environments, as most simulation titles typically don't let players into the water.
Fae Farm aims to be a game that rewards exploration, particularly in the Fae Realm. The preview showed a player receiving both wings and a wand once entering the magical area, enabling double jumps as well as spellcasting. Developers stated that magic can be used both for combat and homesteading, with players getting moves like a "pickaxe MEGA SLAM" that allows them to harvest materials faster. These magical abilities were described as an alternative to the way some simulation titles have players create automated systems to increase efficiency, in an effort to keep players more engaged in the gameplay itself.
One level of a dungeon in the Fae Realm called Floating Ruins was shown in the preview, demonstrating how players can use both ranged magical attacks or fight melee style. Developers described the monsters in the game as more mischievous than menacing, with creatures like moving statues and sentient instruments populating the Floating Ruins. Similar to the dangerous mines of Stardew Valley, once players clear an area of enemies they will then be able to gather a myriad of useful resources within the dungeons to be used for future crafting. Players can prep for these Fae Farm dungeons by crafting lunchboxes and potions in order to keep their Health, Mana, and Stamina levels high.
Fae Farm offers players who aren't as interested in combat many different ways to mitigate dungeon difficulty, the largest of which is the game's Cozy Score mechanic. As players progress in the game, they'll be able to decorate their home with customizable furniture, each of which has its own Cozy Points. The more Cozy Points in a home, the higher stats players will have after spending the night there, allowing them to make much quicker work of even the toughest dungeons. The mechanic is somewhat reminiscent of raising a dwelling's Happy Home Academy rating in Animal Crossing, with each piece of furniture corresponding to one of three Cozy categories: Comforting, Relaxing, and Inspiring, which are each correlated to a player's level of Health, Energy, and Mana respectively.
Multiplayer is a big part of Fae Farm, offering the option for up to four friends to play together. Players can drop in at any time, with a thoughtful feature included to catch up any players who may be behind the host in terms of progression that will catch them up on the story and give them any important items they may need during their group play - a system that sounds more robust than the co-op elements of games like Stardew Valley. However, multiplayer isn't required for players to enjoy Fae Farm - developers emphasized that the entire game can also be enjoyed solo. On the in-game character side of things, developers were hesitant to reveal too much about Fae Farm's relationship mechanics in the preview, but did state that they "care deeply about relationships with NPCs," with more to be revealed at a later date.
There's still a lot left to learn about Fae Farm, as developers teased more details to come in the future not just about interpersonal relationships, but also things like an in-game event system and calendar, crafting, crops, and story progression. However, this initial preview has given players a firm idea of what they can expect from the magical farming sim. While it bears similarity to other games in some areas, like Wylde Flowers' magical simulation elements and Animal Crossing's decoration mechanics, Fae Farm looks to be a unique experience all its own that will combine fantasy adventures and charming homesteading.
Fae Farm is set to release exclusively for Nintendo Switch in spring 2023. Screen Rant attended a special preview presentation for the purpose for this preview.