You play as Tara, who has just moved to Fairhaven to help her sick grandmother with her farm. Tara hasn't been back for about two decades, so she's getting to know the residents again, along with some new faces. She also stumbles upon a big secret, which is the real reason Grandma Hazel wanted Tara to come back.

The story is a WILD ride!

Visuals

I love the way Wylde Flower looks! Sure it has that distinctly mobile 3D game look, but it's so crisp and well done. Each character looks unique and there's a nice diversity among the NPCs. Their movements are also pretty fluid rather than clunky. Except some of them walk like they have a stick up their butt. It's actually kind of funny and cute.

There are multiple locations which all have their own distinct look, and the magical locations are especially lovely! And the animals are too cute!


Sound Effects + Music

A big plus for Wylde Flowers is that every single line of dialogue is voiced! Whenever you stop for a chat or get a cutscene, you hear every word spoken, and everyone has their own unique voice, accent, and speaking style. It really helped the immersion and getting to know everyone. Everyone is so expressive, and don't sound like they're just reading the script.

The background music is pretty unobtrusive and inoffensive. I honestly didn't even notice it most of the time. It really does just fade into the background. There are some ambient noises, but I mainly noticed those at the beach, since you can hear gulls and the waves. The other game sounds are fine, and thankfully none of them were annoying. Pretty standard. It's obviously the sound focus was on the character dialogue.


Gameplay + Controls

Wylde Flowers is a narrative driven life simulator. There are set story quests and side friendship quests which are how you progress through the game. There are no time limits, so feel free to take your time and explore. There's a ton to do, so never worry about not having something to work toward. You can't rush through most things, as some features are locked behind completing certain quests, or a specific day, or some other event. This keeps things fresh and moving along.

You'll guide Tara through fixing up her grandparents farm, which includes gardening, ranching, and a bunch of crafting machines. She can also build friendships with the villagers and a few are dateable! Of course, Tara also learns that she's a witch, so you'll have magic to play around with too. Plus a lot more! I was always surprised to continue unlocking new characters, locations, and craftables!

Tara automatically uses the appropriate tool for the object she's interacting with. I love this feature, since you don't have to remember to equip tools, or switch between them. However, there does seem to be a bit of problem with the hit boxes. You'll be right in front of one thing, but the object a little bit over will actually be selected. If you're not paying attention to what bubble is highlighted, you could waste precious energy on the wrong thing.

The game does continue past the credits. There's still a lot to discover and do even when the main story is over. I still haven't unlocked all recipes or ingredients yet! And the quests keep coming!


Replayability

Even though Wylde Flowers is a fairly long game, and one that you can continue playing past the credits, I do feel like it has replay value. Mostly because I wonder how long you can get away with playing just the first Spring to avoid a certain event as long as possible. Or if you just love the story and want to revisit it. Otherwise, just keep playing and exploring!


Overall

I loved Wylde Flowers! This game had me hooked from the very beginning because of the story and the gameplay! There's just so much to do, especially once you finish the story and have a bit more freedom to do as you wish. In fact, there's a lot of freedom even during the story, since you change the seasons yourself. Although there were a few timed events.

I’m not really quitting the game but I’ve been playing the Apple Arcade version and I just bought the PC version as part of a bundle. I have to start from scratch and will do so at a later date. Yes, the game is seriously THAT good based on the 10+ hours I spent. However, there are things to keep in mind. They might make or break it for some:

1. You can’t select your gender. You can only play with a woman because the story of this character is very involved and fleshed out.
2. The game starts very slowly, more than other farming games. You can’t mine for a while for instance. All of these aspects are introduced gradually and is part of the story. It’s done really well but it might put off the ones who are all about the freedom of farming asap.
3. The game is filled to the brim with LGBT characters and stories from their perspectives. There are some who will not be happy. Their dialogues are very natural and human like thanks to the excellent voice acting and writing. All of the NPC feel like actual people which is very immersive.
4. Some of the achievements are a big no no. There are 7 dedicated to marrying all the available candidates. And while you can do it all in one save, you have to divorce and go through the events again. That goes against marriage and feeling the love imo. Also I just found out that I can’t marry Thomas :( WHY?! You have to select from 7 NPC and can’t marry other NPC that you might like.

What you get is a very polished experience with a well told story, characters you actually care about as humans, wanting to engage with all the available options in the game because they’re introduced so well, very well explained, they’re fun and easy to engage with. The island feels alive. I went so far as remembering where everyone lives because each NPC (and their family) has their own house, you go to the school and see the kids being taught, you see them doing stuff and taking breaks etc. There aren’t many NPC compared to other farming games perhaps, but you feel like you know them and they’re all one big family. It’s really impressive. Also you can speed or slow down time, you change the season when you’re ready etc. Really love those QoL options.

The Apple Arcade version is a fine way to play the game. It runs well, has no issues and looks fine. I do think it’s 30 fps but it is consistent. Controller support also works well here.

Get it if you’re a fan of farming games and don’t mind the way this game does things differently or the potential flaws it might have in your eyes.

Played on apple arcade on ipad. This is another harvest moon style farming sim, made by an Australian studio. It's fully voiced, which is impressive, although tbh I found the constant talking a bit annoying. I never really play mobile games, as I don't enjoy the format, but on ipad this was enjoyable, and felt like a fully-realised game compared to some other mobile games I have played in the past that felt lacking. I just picked this up to see if gaming on an ipad was any more enjoyable, and to check out apple arcade.
I did find the character style a bit offputting, like the style in those crazy 'Merge Mansion' style mobile game ads, but I got over that in a few hours. Playtime to finish the main story was ~40 hours for me.

It also has a feature to adjust the day speed, which was great. If you have ever felt like days were going too fast in farming sims, here you can set it to a slower relaxed mode. I ended up switching the speed a lot, often multiple times in an in-game day.

Overall, it's pretty good for what it is. I'm not the biggest farming sim fan, although I enjoy stardew valley and classic harvest moon, but if you are this has some interesting features, and works wonderfully on the ipad if you're interested in using one for gaming.

This might be my favorite game of 2022. It definitely isn't for everyone, but people who love cozy games NEED to at least play the free demo.

The game is incredibly easy. Some people might not like how simple it is, but the beginner inclusiveness in this game is absolutely amazing. Even though there aren't any groundbreaking mechanics, I never found myself bored. I fully played through most every day of the year (except towards the very end when I had cheesed the game and made myself rich and I didn't need to worry about farming/mining), and I loved how the farming aspect didn't feel forced or rushed (You can farm/raise animals at the bare minimum if you find it boring).

I only encountered a few minor bugs here and there, and the load times/transitions in this game worked really well. All-in-all it was a stellar performance.

The real showstoppers in this game are the story and characters. The voice acting is superb, and really brought the town to life. I felt myself really feeling like I was friends with the villagers. They rarely repeated dialogue (except for some exceptions - looking at you Statue Ladies!) and I often found that I would spend all in-game day talking to different NPCs just to see what their thoughts were on any of the recent town events or gossip (I really loved the fact that they reacted differently to things that happened in the town - they didn't just repeat the same dialogue over and over)

Did I mention the representation? Almost all of the villagers are either POC, queer, or both! I loved how diverse the game was, and to me, it handled this perfectly. I love seeing queer media that's not centered on queer trauma!

In short, PLEASE play this game and support these developers. If you're on the fence, pick up the free demo and see if you like it (you will). I will be shouting its praises for a long, long time.

Meet Tara - a young woman escaping city life to help her Grandma on her rural farm. Not all is as it seems though as Tara is thrusted into a magical adventure. Farming by day and spellcaster by night Tara must navigate her new found powers with the new life she has found and the new friends around her.
This is such a charming game. Even the characters who seem unlikeable initially have a charm to them. The story takes a little while to get going, as do the mechanics needed to progress but stick with the process and you'll be met with a quirky game that no other game will compare to. This is the game I keep coming back to. The game which is like an old friend who is there when I need a pick-me-up.

I have mixed feelings here. It started off awfully, with the new mechanics coming too slowly to make the gameplay interesting. If you get past the first 5-10 hours and let the game really open up, though, it gets really fun. Unfortunately, that fun turns to endless grinding and waiting around for plot elements to occur for the last quarter of the game, which made me lose a lot of my enjoyment factor again. Overall, if you have played all of the other big name farming games and want a new one, it wasn't a wholly bad experience, but I'd definitely recommend others over this one.

Genuinely a surprising experience. My first impression of the game came from its rather "mobile" appearance, bearing a resemblance to cheap mobile games that lack a touch of passion. What the game does on the contrary is amplify the best parts of farming sims, with likable characters, a story that actually tries, and providing the players with an obvious sense of progression that is satisfying.
While this is a farming game, it operates more as a crafting game, with crops being used to help produce goods that are useful for other recipes. Another thing that separates it from its contemporaries is the use of magic in the game, which provides useful buffs and helps to act as landmarks to further plot progression.
The story has actual stakes as well, with the town becoming fearful of each other leading to conflicts that reveal deeper complexities, leaving the game to not be as mindlessly cheerful as other sim games can be. An issue is the lack of a cohesive "villain revealed" moment. While the player knows their is someone evil, the identity is revealed near the end of the first year with little fanfare and is resolved very shortly thereafter.
While the game has a fantastic sense of progression for the first year, the second year adds little to explore. By that point, relationships are likely maxed out, collectibles collected, and major plot points completed. There is not much to keep you playing afterward, but it never becomes stale, rather uneventful.
In conclusion, even with its faults, I found myself utterly addicted to the game playing it at any given opportunity and growing to love this fictional world and characters. The faults are not so grand to get in the way of what turned out to be a surprisingly excellent experience.

I was watching a few youtube videos highlighting new and fun farming-sim games and Wylde Flowers was on a lot of people's radar, so I decided to try it out myself.

I didn't fall in love with the game immediately. In fact, I stopped playing for a few months after the first few hours. Even now I don't really remember what turned me off initially. My sister was looking for a cosy game after a while and I recommended this game to her. She got absolutely addicted and told me to pick it back up and that I won't regret it. Turns out... she was right. What a truly magical experience this was.

The voice acting is so good and it really makes the characters come alive, you actually want to listen to what they have to say. Plus, I think it is just the right amount of characters, cause the social aspect can be a little bit exhausting in games like this one. Wylde Flowers also has a really good and surprisingly emotional story I got really invested in. Gameplay wise it's simple but a lot of fun. Altough I found it a bit frustrating to be stuck in the story because of some items I just couldn't find for ages. Also the beginning of the game is very slow because your stamina goes down very fast and money making is so hard (there are some tricks to solve those issues though, if you want to make it a really chill experience without any form of stress or frustration).

Overall I actually felt sad when the credits rolled. And even though there is more to do after finishing the story I am at the point where I am okay with putting the game down and I will look back at it with great memories.

This is an enjoyable game that falls into the same category and has similar gameplay to games like Stardew Valley, Animal Crossing, My Time At Portia, etc. You move to a new place and have to start your life. There is farming, mining, cooking, etc. involved. You can befriend (and romance) the people who live in the town. This game is unique in that it includes a main storyline revolving around the main character being a witch. That was a fun story to explore. Other than that, I would say it’s not too different from other games in this genre. What impressed me about this game was that I first discovered it as an Apple Arcade game and it was still a full game. It didn’t have that ‘mobile game’ feel to it at all. I played most of it on my iPad using a controller and it was a good experience. I know that certain other games in this genre have been ported over to mobile platforms as well, but I was impressed that this started out on a mobile platform and was still a full game. This makes me feel like mobile gaming is going in a good direction and we might actually see more “real” games available to play locally on iPads or even iPhones. My main negative point about the game was with the achievements. In order to fully 100% this game, you would have to go back and marry several different people. Although this can be done in one playthrough, it involves a lot of divorces and basically replaying the dating storyline over and over with each character, which is just kind of boring. It makes the choice of who you marry feel quite worthless. I wish they had used a general “got married” achievement instead of specific achievements for each person you marry. In my eyes, this was a HUGE oversight by the developers. But other than that, it’s a very solid and enjoyable game.