The King's Farmer arrives on Android, 40 years after the original Agricola
Took you long enough
- The King's Farmer revives the classic Agricola formula.
- Farm, trade, breed livestock, and survive tough seasons
- Premium release with no ads or microtransactions
Forty years is a rather long time for a Commodore 64 game to wait around for a sequel. Agricola got one anyway. Cologne studio kann zaubern has brought The King's Farmer to Android today, and it's barely sanded down any of the original's edges.
You start small. A scrap of land, next to nothing in the bank, and the eventual goal of becoming king, which is a lot to ask of someone who currently owns one field and a few chickens. Getting there means working through cultivation, livestock, horse breeding, hunting, and finances that can fall apart if you're not paying attention.
You can trace the DNA straight back to Kaiser, Die Fugger, and Winzer, the C64 and Amiga strategy sims that made a sport out of not letting you win. Agricola hasn't softened any of that. There's just more scaffolding holding it together now.
An XP system unlocks bonus cards as you go, and there are several starter decks if you want to shape your approach before a run even starts. Up to four people can play locally in hot-seat mode, passing the device back and forth. Whoever's not currently farming gets to sit there judging everyone else's decisions, which is the most fun anyway.
Each in-game year throws something new at you too, shifting weather patterns, markets that move whether you're ready or not. Plan badly and a single bad harvest can set you back further than you'd like. That's the point, really. The originals weren't kind, and this one's following suit.
The hand-drawn visuals are closer to an illustrated board game than anything sleek. Sascha Poloczek, also from Cologne, scored the soundtrack. Agricola - The King's Famer features no ads. No microtransactions. You buy it once, you own it, full stop.
If you fancy a bit of medieval graft, check out our list of the best retro games on Android.
