Armed with a strange name and Nintendo exclusivity Funky Barn enters into the farming simulation genre, challenging players to build a farm of cute animals and while managing your farm economy on your handheld Nintendo device.
Starting at the basics as one would expect players are given a fairly barren plot of farm land, limited resources and only a small number of tools which is built upon slowly throughout the story. Taking over after your uncle Hatsworth’s who died from staying out in the cold for to long it is up to players to achieve his vision of an automated farm using the wonders of robotics.
It’s a strange way for your uncle to pass away and the strange funky elements don’t stop there with over the top automated contraptions and strange animal interactions that will have your cows crashing through fences to be with their pink pig friends.
Funky Barn presents players with three different farms to conquer (easy, medium and hard) which will allow you to master farming before being challenged with harder map layouts that require you to leverage your farm experience gained beforehand. The game also includes a number of specific challenge scenarios to explore that require very specific objectives with challenging setups.
In the three story modes though your first action is to talk with helpful Farmer Rufus, your steady guide throughout your farming adventure providing a rough suggested structure to keep you expanding and thriving. Soon after introductions players will have their first chicken delivered via a stalk before being able to access other animals such as cows, sheep and pigs delivered in a similar manner.
To help build an additional layer of connection Funky Barn gives each animal in your farm it’s own randomised name and can be renamed if players are so inclined, farmers are also encouraged to give animals individual attention by patting animals to boost their happiness. Caring for animals involves more than just gently stroking them though with food, water and shelter also being important to the long term health of your farm. Achieving this requires players to build water and food troughs while also constructing an appropriate barn for the animal type that they wish to house as you would in a real farm.
Additionally players will need to place decorations, trees and plants to keep their animals happy. Happier animals create produce faster (such as eggs from chickens) and prevent unhappy animals from leaving your farm entirely. By achieving all these requirements players can improve their farm quality over time which unlocks farm levels and additional game items to use for further expansion.
The simple nature of Funky Barn makes it ideal for a casual title and feels very much like Viva Pinata in design given the focus on individual animals rather than mass production. Unfortunately some clunky elements in the interaction and building can make it a little frustrating to reach your full farming potential.
Summary:
- Build a dream farm in memory of your uncle.
- Advance through 7 different levels, unlocking new animals and items along the way.
- Play with your animals to boost happiness and productivity.
- Use robots to automate the harvesting of your farm produce.
- Conquer 3 different farms and various challenges.
Links:
Videos:
Review Platform: 3DS
