Whether you're dealing with Dennis the Construction Guy for a chicken coop or bullying roughneck Jake out of extra chickens, the creepy denizens of Heartland provide plenty of comic relief. The character drawings seem condescending and caricatured however, this graphical presentation does maintain a certain levity throughout the game. Animation is fairly standard but suitable for the farming activities, but the static, text-based interaction with Heartland's shop-owners eventually grows stale. Harvest’s graphics are surprisingly crisp and charming. The touch-screen also acts as a venue for absurd farming games like milking cows, catching eggs, and shaving lambs, all with a reward of money. You can use the stylus for hand tools, which makes things easier once you get used to the movements. "A" is the action button, for farming, tending to animals, and confirming menu choices. You build irrigation systems with the help of the Heartland Construction Company, saving loads of time by not watering crops by hand. Once your tractor is in gear, it's a cinch tilling, planting seeds and harvesting crops. Overall, the game provides an accessible world for making farming dreams come true.Ĭontrols are straightforward and intuitive. I don't recommend buying chickens - the eggs aren't worth much, and scooping them up is utterly boring. You can buy cows, goats, sheep, pigs, and chickens. So visit Jim the roughneck who owns Heartland Stockyard. After working a few harvests, it might be time to buy livestock. You start with a small plot of land, but you can also buy adjacent property by doing business with Deb at the Real Estate office. The seasons and time of day play into running an efficient and prosperous farm. The game runs on a calendar system located on the top screen of the DS. Sometimes it's good to go to bed early, other times you will work into the dark. For example, you should be careful not to buy more equipment than you need before fulfilling the requirements of the land you already have. The challenges you face are authentic and require strategy to overcome. Once you accumulate some cash, you can visit Heartland's John Deere Store - with its spiky-haired, Boy Scout-looking dealer Scott - to buy tractors and other farm equipment. Ginger (looking a lot like The Food Network’s Paula Deen) provides you with all the hand tools, seeds and chemicals you need to get started. The first stop you should make is the Spades & Sprouts General Store. Heartland town, just north of your farm, provides many options. It's tiresome the first several in-game days, since you’re harvesting your first crop by hand and deciding what to do next. Once you accumulate land and a John Deere tractor, you can be the land baron you always wanted to be.Īs you build your farm from the ground up, the gameplay is unique and compelling enough to make the game addictive, especially if you're predisposed to simulation/strategy games. It’s rough going at first, as you do everything by hand to make enough money to buy John Deere equipment and make a proper farm that grows and grows. The farm is located below a town providing everything you need to grow your farm and flourish. The premise of the game is to build and manage a farm using John Deere equipment. The DS has seen its failures and successes in simulation and strategy games, but John Deere is definitely one of its successes. John Deere: Harvest in the Heartland is a veritable and bountiful crop.