why the fuck didnt popcap think of this

oh right cause theyre stupid right right

yea so atomicrops is a funny roguelike game thats also a top down shooter thats also a farming tycoon game thats also a tower defense game that also lets you romance vendors that also has time manag- https://i.pinimg.com/originals/45/3a/d3/453ad39740e2e4ed39e2d7ff6977950b.gif

there's a LOT going on with this game and it flings you into it all with just basic understanding of it's mechanics even with the tutorial mode i feel it doesn TRULY capture the ranges that it goes. You play as one of WHOEVER survivors after some nuclear fuckshit happens and manage and harvest plants and get evaluated for it at the end of each set of days thatre bracketed by the four seasons
and these stretches adapt each Year if you will

you get things that can help you outside of the action like perks through passives you can choose to grab for each successful run, often starting off small and snowballing more and more till you can get over the hump a bit easier
yk standard fare with these types of games
what REALLY surprised me is how much shit is often goin on, to the point where even though there's a pause button in this game.. i didnt wanna stop! crack doesn capture the feeling of the screen being flooded with enemies all the while seamlessly multitasking laying seeds down, tilling soil and watering the plants and harvesting them all at the same time

and when you start a new day its like youre usually gonna up n think about what youre gonna do next yk!!!
like "damn i need to go raid those bases up top, i need to check n build that bridge, i need to whack all them fucking weeds and pray there's some animals out here" at First, this is all relatively chill
but it steadily gives you a meaty asf challenge to the point where i was genuinely startin to just save my beet hearts up
rng seems to really fucking hate my ass though cause i can almost never get pickaxes when i really need them for some shit </3

So yeah its up on pretty much everything, im probably gonna keep playing it even more even though im already pretty satisfied just because i think this fusion of farming tower defense and roguelike shit is genuinely one of the best things ever

also you can have black girl yuri in this game, and im kinning the deervil
oh yeah but the game is good too cya

Criminally underrated game with a unique twist and a good amount of content. The game revolves around balancing your time exploring the map to find items, seeds, and upgrades, and while also managing your farm to produce health and currencies (roses and cashews) that you can use to buy items from the town store. Your farm grows during both day and night, but can only be attacked at night. There is a lot of time management and risk-reward in the core gameplay loop that you don't find in many games of this type.

Just be aware that it's primarily a bullet-hell roguelike, and the farming elements are an extension of the gameplay and are often hectic and rushed, so don't expect some relaxing farming sim game. The game has permanent upgrades that you can unlock as well having progressively harder loops, where each time you complete the game you can advance a year up to year 10, with the game getting a bit harder with each year (you can freely choose between them before the run).

The game has also included numerous free updates that have vastly improved the quality of the game, with the Doom and Bloom DLC being a massive overhaul and major improvement.

The only downside is the artstyle is not that great and there can be an excessive amount of grinding, but there is a lot to see here so it rarely grows repetitive.

Very cool and unique take on a roguelite that mixes a top down bullet hell with some basic farming sim elements in the vein of Stardew Valley or Harvest Moon into the mix. In general I really do just find this to be a rather unique experience though, not just for any one element, whether it's the structure, the artstyle, the premise, everything feels like a rather fresh take on this style of game and as such it had me hooked for quite a while. This is definitely worth a shot if you're at all interested in this genre and it in fact is probably an easy enough place to start for the most part if you're looking to get into roguelites on the whole for a few different reasons.

One of the most interesting aspects of this game for me is the way that the scale feels extremely small, with the core gameplay loop revolving around leaving your farmland for stretches of 2 - 3 minutes at a time to collect resources and return to your farm to both grow crops and defend them from waves of enemies. Due to this limited time you are given with each day and night cycle, the world itself ends up being rather small and self-contained. This is further reinforced by the relatively small amount of items and upgrades actually present here, With 5 or 6 big runs likely being enough to have seen the vast majority of these rewards. While this limits variance, Atomicrops makes up for it by making almost every item a good choice instead, allowing for most runs to be viable to win in one way or another as long as the player properly sorts out their priorities on where to go from their current position. Any time you find an item, you're likely to be excited due to this as well, as you know that it is very likely to be getting a great upgrade that's worth the time investment to earn it.

The lower quantity of variable content like this also makes the game rather accessible as well thanks to not having to keep tabs on so many moving parts at one time. I also love the way the items are framed in this, as the only way to consistently get them is to devote time to scavenging through the various biomes that surround you, which not only makes each encounter feed into a strong risk-reward dynamic, sacrificing time and potentially taking damage for an item, but it does wonders for the atmosphere as well. The game is able to so potently establish the setting of a nuclear wasteland through this gameplay loop, forcing the player to go out of their way and brave their harsh surroundings time and time again just to have enough resources to generate basic income. Having everything tie into each other so nicely creates a strong feeling of cohesion to the point where I'd say that nothing is particularly out of place or frivolous, it all feels very thoughtfully put together.

While the lowered variance might help with this, I do think that the game has some issues with feeling almost as if you need certain upgrades to have any real chance of winning however. It feels like a run in this game is rarely able to get off the ground until the player has a few farm animals to help with the farming process, especially cows and pigs, but thanks to the random nature of this game, there are runs where the player will not get them early enough even if they spend their time aggressively exploring the landscape and doing nothing else until they're at a big disadvantage. While I understand that this can help craft a more dynamic experience and further contribute to the atmosphere, I feel like the borderline necessity of these animals is still frustrating nonetheless due to the fact that they're being put at such a steep disadvantage regardless, as I feel that in these sorts of games, the other items should feel more like things to improve your chances of winning or at least do something interesting, rather than being practically a requirement. Some of the enemy encounters also feel a bit rough, whether it's the worm boss with its strange hitboxes and absurd speed that can make certain situations undodgeable, or the mushroom boss that equates to running around your farm all night trying to meticulously track down every individual spore and wasting a lot of time without really acting as a threat, being far closer to a nuisance.

Overall, while this game is a bit rough in certain regards, I still really like it and think it's quite a unique take on this genre. The developers also seem to be in a constant state of updating and improving this experience as well, as can be seen with their most recent update completely overhauling the weapon system to be less RNG dependant and more strategic, which is always something I adore seeing in games. I love how every element of this feels tied back into the central concept of farming, all the way down to your HP drops being seeds that you need to plant and have grow, rather than just generic hearts on the ground, really goes a long way to making things feel focused, and it also usually contributes to its own brand of challenge in the process. A must have for fans of roguelites, and probably one of the better starting points for those looking to get into those games as well.