Harvest Days is an open-world farming simulation game currently in Pre-Alpha for PC via Steam. Developed and published by Family Devs, a father-son duo, Harvest Days uses low-poly graphics to create a vibrant, explorable world. However, there are many improvements that are needed to help Harvest Days stand up to other indie farming titles like Stardew Valley and popular AAA farming games like Story of Seasons and Harvest Moon.
The story in Harvest Days is similar to many other farming games. The main character spent time on a farmstead when they were a child, but they end up working the city grind as an adult. After seeing a cry for help from the town of their childhood, the main character returns to assume ownership of a farm and help restore the population living in the area. While this premise is fairly standard for games of the genre, there is a lack of believability in this narrative, as the player is simply given an expansive farmstead without cost. The buildings are in good repair, and the space comes with tools and plenty of room for crops.
Harvest Days offers players two preset character options for gameplay in its current pre-alpha state - a male character with a mustache and generic farm clothing and a female character with long red hair and more modern clothes. Both characters have one skin tone, and nothing can be changed to make them more relatable to the player. Because character creation and immersion are such an important part of farming simulation games, the addition of a well-rounded character creation process would greatly benefit gameplay in Harvest Days. While clothing can always be acquired later in the game, the ability to customize basic facial features and hairstyles would also help the game be more appealing to players.
While farming games like Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town and Stardew Valley both have limited maps for both the town, wild areas, and farmsteads, Harvest Days has incorporated an open-world map for players to explore. The vast world is designed with a low-poly art direction, making the environments colorful and unique. The overall look is similar to a vibrantly colored version of Valheim. Despite being in the early stages of playable development, the visuals are one of the best aspects of the game and are a refreshing change from the chibi styles of Harvest Moon and Story of Seasons, or the gritty pixelated world of Stardew Valley. However, while animals, flora, and fauna are all lovely to look at, the buildings in town and the homestead of the farm are boxy and could use embellishments to create a more finished appearance.
The biggest setback currently in Harvest Days is character movement and navigation. While the UI for the hotbar and inventory is seamless and intuitive, actually moving around the farm and outside areas can be a slow and frustrating process. With an over-the-shoulder perspective, the main character often blocks what needs to be seen when planting seeds or engaging with animals. The playable character also tends to stutter and slide through objects, and tilts heavily to the left or right when running depending on the direction the player is going. Interacting with objects and land can be just as frustrating as moving, with the target field not always engaging when players are tilling the land or watering crops. These quality-of-life issues make both daily chores and exploration sluggish, taking away from the enjoyment of building up a farm.
Another area that could benefit from improvements and balancing is the energy-use system. Like in other farming simulation games, Harvest Days uses an energy bar to limit what players can accomplish in a day. However, in an open-world setting with plenty to explore and do, this limitation actually damages gameplay. Currently, players can burn through a full energy bar just by tilling a handful of farm plots, planting seeds, and watering them for the day. Because Harvest Days is designed with exploration in mind, and offers players a large amount of space to farm and develop, having an energy bar that depletes more slowly is a must for balance.
While there is currently room for improvement in Harvest Days, the game does a good job of bringing fresh ideas to a genre with predictable gameplay. Harvest Days would likely appeal to fans of Garden Paws and other open-world simulation games, as well as fans of more linear titles like Stardew Valley. With improvements to character creation and navigation, Harvest Days could do well as a fun and experimental indie addition to the farming simulation genre.
Harvest Days is currently in pre-alpha for PC via Steam. A Steam code was provided to Screen Rant for the purposes of this preview.