Cattle Country review

By design, agrarian life-sims are dawdling experiences designed to be savored rather than quickly devoured. Whether your goal is a romantic partner or a sprawling farmstead, each daily routine inches you toward that goal. But Castle Pixel’s Cattle Country slows that leisurely pace down further, delivering an experience that might even be too sluggish for fans of the genre. Even worse, the title neglects to explain it’s fundamentals.

After creating your avatar and riding into town, Country’s NPCs provides you with the tools required to work the land. Beyond a hoe, axe, and hay sickle, the local townsfolk provide a tent, mailbox, seeds, pies, and storage container. Settling in can feel idyllic, given the generosity and the charming pixel art, which offers plenty of pastoral detail. Cattle Country has far denser flora than its peers, providing an immediate impression of abundance. Soon, that’s complemented by a feeling of autonomy. Wisely, the game lets you loose in its Western-themed wilderness with few requirements.

Don’t Go into a Gunfight on an Empty Stomach

All this richness is accompanied by a restrained pace. Crops habitually take six in-game days to mature, while mining requires prudent planning and protracted equipment upgrades before venturing down into resource-rich depths. It can take the better part of a week to gather enough resources to craft basic equipment. Fortunately, the game stamina system is generous and rather forgiving, with only a $100 penalty for passing out. I’ve paid more for Ubers.

Not only can a cooked meal provide additional energy, but it can also bestow perks that are invaluable if you opt for a game with NPC adversaries. Yes, bandits are noncompulsory but highly recommended. Gunning down a trio of robbers by mastering the timing of a swing-meter is remarkably satisfying. Yes, even in this pastoral getaway, medical expenses can be a downer, so there’s tension in these elective shootouts.

Maple Sap Moves at One Drop a Second

For better or worse, you are able to work long days while equipment and skill upgrades can enhance your energy consumption even further. Undeniably, Cattle Country game favors a steady pace rather than rapid progression. The rewards of labor eventually come. And by the time they do, you’ll truly feel like you’ve earned it.

Despite this tempo, Country avoids some of the annoyances often associated with other cozy sims. Your basic tools don’t degrade and occasionally you’ll be able to find resource shortcuts. So instead of spending time crafting ammo and arrows, it’s possible to purchase a weapon that uses natural resources for ammo. Yes, I’m being strategically ambiguous here, since some of the fun stems from discovering ways to be a frugal cowpoke that enlarges their agricultural yields.

Yes, Cattle Country truly puts you into the role of a pioneer who’s forced to figure it out on their own. Occasionally, that approach can feel frustrating. While the endgame is to build up your own, the way to achieve that ambition is not (to my knowledge) ever directly articulated. Yes, I was able to get a modest chicken ranch going, but my hopes for expanding into other types of husbandries weren’t explained. Do I build a barn? Increase a stat that’s significant by an animal icon? I needed help, but Cattle Country takes an unapologetically approach. In other moments, I wished the game was more user friendly. When crafting, you’ll need to have all the items on hand, often necessitating a search through your storage facilities.

Gonna Make You Mine

The game’s mining system adds an additional layer of complexity as well as a conceivable delay to progress. Excavation shifts things to a 2D side-scrolling perspective. Here, you’re required to build a network of ladders and platforms to safely venture downward. Without proper preparation, you can get trapped and pass out, resulting in a disheartening trip back home. Mining demands patience and strategic planning, contributing to the slower, more methodical pace of progression.

Expectedly, relationship building also unfold over time, deepening as days pass and gifts are offered. But I had a hard time tracking my cowgirls down. Instead of displaying their locations on the in-game map, I had to follow them around to learn their daily routines. What followed were some cute conversations, but it’s difficult to become attached when potential partners repeat themselves.

For Patient Players

Cattle Country is a complex life sim that favors a relaxed, immersive experience over fast progression. A generous stamina system and lack of tool degradation reduce the grind, but the unhurried pace of crop growth and the methodical approach to mining won’t be for everyone. If you’re a fans of cozy sims, know what Cattle Country won’t offer much explanation. Instead, you’ll have to pull yourself up by the bootstraps, which is rather fitting for this Wild West expedition.

Cattle Country was played on PC with review code provided by the publisher.