When I hear “like Twin Peaks” anytime someone refers to their game, I sit down with certain expectations. For all its darkness, Twin Peaks is whimsical, even in its horror. Crop, the debut game coming from Carbonara Games in collaboration with 11Bit Studios, was said to have “Twin Peaks-style horror” by the pair from 11Bit presenting the game to me, yet Crop seemingly lacks any goofiness or some sort of grounded relief I’d expect in a Twin Peaks-inspired piece of media — and it may be better for it. In my hands-off demo, I saw how Crop clearly defines itself from its many idyllic farming sim counterparts by putting the hard, tedious work of farming front and center with a moody palette to match. And maybe some blood sacrifices too? Count me in.
What stuck out most to me is that Crop is a narrative-driven farming sim, meaning once you finish its story, you’re done. From my brief showing it’s hard to say whether or not that story is engaging as a psychological horror, but it does have a curious start. The unnamed player character climbs out of the trunk of a crashed car in the woods, finding themselves at an abandoned homestead.
For reasons unknown, they’re stuck burying the former farm owner’s corpse while a crop quota from the starving local village hangs over them, forcing them to take up farming and investigate their terrifying circumstances. I didn’t get a sense of the protagonist’s demeanor during my 30-minute session, nor why they’re able to work with a cop at some point yet can’t escape whatever brought them to the countryside. Still, I appreciate the protagonist’s design. Dead eyes, pallid, and disheveled — an interesting reflection of their new home.
The farmhouse itself is surprisingly charming, but the land around it is an overgrown dumping ground. This is where the core of the gameplay comes in. Each day, you have a limited amount of stamina to clear junk from the farmland, use a scythe to cut overgrown grass, use a rake to push and pull the grass together, carry said grass to a compost pile (or wherever else you want it) with a pitchfork, till the ground, sow the seeds, add fertilizer if you have it, and finally, water the seeds. Then, when they’re ready, attempt to harvest the potatoes, celeriac, or whatever you managed to successfully grow. In the demo, each action took substantial time and energy, meaning strategy for each day is important if you want to get ahead of the quota. This will not be a relaxing or cozy time, unless you find comfort in tension. That being said, it does seem the developers left some tools for recovering from mistakes. I was shown that foraging for things in the nearby forest, like mushrooms, can help if something goes wrong.
And a lot can go wrong. At least, more than has already. Like digging up a skull that triggers a jumpscare (I’m told there aren’t many of these at all, as Crop’s horror comes more from the general sense of dread), or if pests get into the fledgling plant. If you fail to properly care for the crops, they drop in quality and thus sell for a fraction of healthy ones. Plants can also die if their problems are ignored. If you happen to be out in the cold rain (weather is randomized), you might get sick and get a debuff, making it so that every action costs more stamina until you get medicine and rest. I’m curious to see how the horrors of the farm impact the lead in other ways and what happens if you fail to make the crop quota.
Then, in line with other farming sims, you can unlock other areas by building a bridge across a stream, or gathering the right items or knowledge to unlock ominous barn doors. I was told there is more to do on the farm other than tend to the crops, though those tasks weren’t shared in my demo. I did see that progression eventually leads to putting together an irrigation system to make managing the farm more efficient, but even the machine responsible for it needs to be watched for issues, like dirt clogging the pump.
In addition to all that, there’s the village side of the story. That part wasn’t shown much, but I did see that you’ll convene with villagers at their places of work — and in secret at night — to hear gossip and get other intel about what is going on in the strange place. Doing so contributes to a neat web of information called the Mind Root, the spot where you’ll see all the pieces of the story logged. This web-like mind palace of nodes has information shared from villagers and tracks time-sensitive information that needs to be acted on quickly. Important items are logged here too. The one I saw was a worn bible found on the farm with an ominous note scribbled inside: “Blood enriches the earth. I will finally achieve abundance!” Is there something of the occult afoot here?
I did have to ask, as this is a farming sim: Is there romance in Crop? The folks from 11Bit kindly reminded me that Crop is a very different kind of farming game, and while I acknowledge that, the journalism in my marrow compelled me to check. While romance bursts from the ground like weeds every which way in Twin Peaks, it seems like the protagonist of Crop won’t have a love life in their circumstance. The two showing me Crop also said they can’t confirm whether or not Crop will have multiple endings or if there are distinct seasons, but as mentioned, the weather is randomized between overcast and rain, at the very least.
As a fan of psychological horror and a fan of farming sims, I adore the idea of using farming mechanics to reach an end goal, rather than offering up another endless cycle. Crop’s prospective 15 hour-time-to-beat makes it even more compelling to try, especially with its intriguing opening. Whether or not its seemingly slow farming gameplay loop works remains to be seen, but at the very least, I know it’s something I want to dig into whenever it’s out.
Miranda Sanchez is the executive editor of guides at IGN and a member of Unlocked. She’s a big fan of stationery reading, and bouncing between forever games. You can sometimes find her on Bluesky.
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