Cattle Country

Okay, so, I was loving this game for the first hour or two, until I started realising how buggy/early access this game is. I can't recommend it in it's current state. [list] [*]No key rebinding. This game has some very strange controls, and there's no ability to rebind them. Actually, there's no ability to even SEE the controls. You just have to figure them out. [*]Splitting a stack doesn't exist. Or at least I can't figure out how it works. Meaning it takes a LONG time to grab 500 pieces of wood from a large stack to be able to take them somewhere for crafting/building. [*]Can't sit on stuff. This game has a TON of furniture to craft, and benches/seats all over the map, but I pressed every button and can't seem to sit. Then again, maybe it's some special combination, but we will never know without a control menu. [*]M opens the map, but M doesn't close the map. Why? When you plug in a controller, select opens and closes the map. So it's supposed to close the map, it just doesn't. [*]When you get the dog/cat, the game controls just screw up, and you need to REINSTALL the game to fix them. After I got the dog, I could use ESC to open the menu, but pressing ESC wouldn't close the menu anymore. And TAB would open the menu, but pressing TAB would not close the menu anymore, but instead start cycling through the tabs? Closing the game isn't enough, you literally have to reinstall it to fix it. Then the next day you get the cat and it breaks in the same way again.. [/list] And lastly, the developer doesn't really seem to be that open to help? I obviously have had a lot of trouble with this game, so I checked the Steam Discussions, and found posts where people have the same questions/issues, and every time the developer has responded, they've completely ignored the question. For example, someone asked what the controls were for the game, as they were having issues (like me) and instead of answering, the dev said they were THINKING about adding a controls menu. Ok. Cool. That paying customer still doesn't know how to play. Your thoughts and ideas aren't helpful. Or another post where someone asked when the game would be getting it's first bug patch, someone else replied said Playtonic laid off employees so maybe never, and the developer said they aren't employed by Playtonic, so they weren't laid off. Again, cool, but why didn't you answer the main question? You clicked on the thread for a reason. Why are you leaving us all hanging? The dev also created a bunch of Steam Guides for NPC schedules/hours/etc. Why not make one for controls? Or better yet, why not add all of those guides IN THE GAME? Maybe under the pause menu, or something. This game has potential. It just shouldn't be released in it's current state.

This game is what I’ve been waiting YEARS for! Finally, a farming simulator set in the Wild West!! I’ve been playing farming sims for nearly 20 years and I can say with confidence that this is already one of my favorites :) I wanted to wait until I had a substantial amount of playtime before I left a review so I can definitely say that Cattle Country is extremely fun and has TONS of playtime! A feature I love is that it can be as challenging or as laid-back if you want — they have a setting to toggle whether enemies appear in the over world and in the mines. I will say, this game does drop you in the deep end, but developers made a guide to help you figure things out (this can be found in the Community hub of the game’s store page). I’ve been using this a lot LOL ! Granted, it would be nice for new players not to NEED this, but as-is the game isn’t terrible by any means. Here are some things that I think could improve gameplay and hope to see in the future: • Have the crafting table use items from adjacent chests • More cutscenes and dialogue (but especially dialogue please) • A setting to slow time down (such as in Fields of Mistria) • More emphasis on horses (maybe more interactions and color/pattern selection) • A setting to toggle tree growth speed (I can’t keep up with all these trees!) !! A more interactive map that shows you where people are and which houses are whose Again, this game is amazing and I cannot wait to see where it goes in the future :)

I've played a full year of this game thus far and feel pretty confident in writing up my review now. I WOULD recommend this game with a caveat: if you have some extra dosh laying around. Otherwise the price feels a little steep for something that still feels somewhat barebones and requires you to read the minds of the developers to figure out what certain things are for, how to progress and what exactly each event entails. Now it's time for the breakdown (never gonna get it, never gonna get it-- ahem) Style: Acquired taste, it's giving Gleaner Heights in the squished pixel chicken nugget avatars. Not my jam, but forgivable for the immaculate pixel cowboy vibes. Overall I like all the other pixel art choices, but the character styles/avatar styles are not it for me. Despite being tiny, it definitely has detail rich environments and I'm here for that. + 1 for Red Dead voice actor narrating letters to you. Ace. The Not So Good: It's not intuitive. You go into it thinking it's like every other farming sim, which should - arguably - make progression relatively easy, but nothing is really in the formula you're used to, which is a double edged sword. It makes figuring out how to acquire buildings, unlock animals, etc more difficult because A) the game is new, and there is no proper wiki to fill in the gaps left by development, B) There are no in game tooltips, or even breadcrumb dialogue to even *hint* at what you're supposed to do. On the flip side, it can be refreshing to guess, but not at the expense of a whole day, or materials, etc. That gets annoying. EXAMPLE: I am STILL trying to unlock the barn, which I ONLY learned from someone in discussions was unlocked via Maggie at her 1 heart event that I cannot - for the life of me - actually trigger, and my girl is at two hearts. I don't need this stuff spoon fed to me, but I want some hints here and there. Breadcrumbs. Flat characters. All the characters have one line. Just the one. And they repeat it every time you chat with them. A year in and I'm invested in no one with the exception of Jim. Jim because he's just a derpy little mail bean. I know nothing about him past that. More variety would be great. Events. I've enjoyed most of them, I feel like improvement on this front would consist of a bit more flavor text a bit sooner in the mail about what to expect the day of, rather than getting it when the festival is supposed to start. A reminder on that day isn't bad, though-- who hates seeing the little mail bubble? Not me, I dig it. The winter feast secret santa lack of information was a bit of a bummer my first time through, but based on forum discussion, there may be a fix for that soon, so that's good. Machines and Furniture: Full rotations, please. Nothing makes my eye twitch more than to have to arrange my sheds with nothing but front facing machines, same goes for furniture. It seems like there are a few things you can fully rotate, but there's still a lot you can't for a game that's not in EA, and instead released fully. UI/Menu: This is a tough one for me, the menu feels.... meh? Like there should be more, more depth, more resources to pick through, notes, etc. This may just be a me issue, I'm not really sure, but something about the layout feels rushed. Overall I'd just like to see more information, as it is now, it feels like there's more I SHOULD know, that I don't, because I wasn't in the development of the game to know all the little secret pieces. The Good: This game gets a lot right. Chief being the cowboy homesteader vibe. I love it, and I think I could love the game even more with a little spit polish, you know? I love the bandit encounters, I love the music (but y'all could do with a little variety) and the clouds, and the little god rays you get some mornings on the farm, and all the critter life (and lack thereof during winter). Despite the game being frustratingly vague, I've still invested a good 30 some odd hours in it because it IS enjoyable to play, it just feels unfinished in a lot of ways. If my rating meant anything, I'd say it's a good 7/10. Needs some QOL work, tweaking, refining and it probably would be worth the price, as it stands right now, I'd probably wait for a better sale.

This game feels FAAAAR from being a product that should have been released already. 100% should still be in early access. Especially when comparing Cattle Country to Fields of Mistria. Comparing Cattle Country to Stardew Valley is unfair since Stardew Valley has been out for many years now. Simple things like rebinding keys (seriously there is no way to change key binds), and knowing what buffs actually do instead of just "Foraging" , "Cooking" , "Mining" is not in the game. You just have to guess. From what I can tell buffs do nothing. I ate food that gave me the "Foraging" buff for 5 minutes and I ran around everywhere grabbing everything I could and there was absolutely ZERO increase in the amount of forageables I got.. Flowers in the fields. Fruits in trees. Spices in the fields. Mushrooms on trees and on the fields. Nothing. Leveling up your skills does not tell you anything about what increasing your skill does other than unlock more items you can craft / cook. There also is no skill tree available for skills unlike other farm sims. Stamina management is horrid. If you mouse over your stamina bar it does not show any numbers at all. So, you just have to guess how many more times you can swing your pickaxe. Swing your axe. Water your crops ect... Or just don't take the risk at all and leave a little bit of stamina left. The game also doesn't tell you when you need to be in bed. The only indicator is your character yawns at 1AM and you need to be in bed by 2AM. If you "pass out" you're charged 100 gold from the doctor, and you wake up in the clinic at the normal time you would on your farm. No side effects. Even if you pass out on your farm area you end up in the clinic. Style and Art is good, and also terrible at the same time. All the pixel art for everything in the game is good enough but the character pixel art for them is horrid. It is at times hard to tell who is who while wandering around the map unless they have a VERY distinctive style. The sisters Mabel and Marry are particularly bad. Now. The REALLY bad. All the character portraits look the same-ish. What appears to be all the romanceable females are very very same-ish. There is also a lack of different character portraits based on what is happening unlike other cozy farm sims. Because the character portraits don't change at all you do not get any feedback such as if they are happy, sad, excited, mad, nervous, embarrassed ect... Planting crops and watering them is like every other cozy farm sim. So is chopping wood. Mining stone / minerals. Fishing is different as it is the type of challenge where an icon moves back and forth from left to right and you have to click at the right time (the green portion of the bar) to catch a fish. Harder fish require more successes to catch. Giving gifts isn't something you discover at all. The game just straight up tells you what the characters like and hate. There are no loved gifts or anything other than like or hate. Very uninspired and bland. We all know that some of the appeal of giving gifts is finding out what characters love, like, hate ect... is just not there. Not good. Going into the mines is interesting. It turns into a 2D side scrolling adventure where you must place torches, platforms, and rope ladders to move around the mine. You would assume space bar would make your character jump, but it doesn't. It took me a good ten minutes to realize that RIGHT CLICK, yes right click; was how you jump. With that said it is a fresh idea on descending down your mine shooting enemies with your six-shooter pistol and mining resources as you go. It is very unlikely I'll put any more time into this game until it receives many updates and patches. My main regret right now is spending 2.2hours so I can't refund it which requires under 2 hours of playtime.

Good game if you're looking for chill vibes. It's definitely lacking in the in-game information department (so many things are just not explained), but if you enjoy figuring things out on your own, then it shouldn't frustrate you too much. Games shouldn't need online wikis or guides to get through basic things, so I think a balance can be struck between keeping it chill and adding a bit more in-game info in future patches. That said, there's a lot of design stuff I really like: -You can buy most of the crafting machines with cash before unlocking the ability to craft them yourself. -The early game economy feels nice...not too grindy and lots of option on what to do/focus your time on. -I can see all the NPC likes/dislikes in the menu. -Water crops animation is fast (thank you!) -The fishing mini game is simple and fun. -The vertical mining is well done (I'm not usually a fan, but I'm liking it!) -EVERYTHING is foragable -Hunting is a cool addition (and kinda tricky!) -The starting plot is huge. -Characters seem cool. Haven't gotten far enough to know how deep they go, but so far they do say different stuff depending on location/conditions/etc. I'm into it. -The festivals are so unique and on par with the old west vibes I haven't gotten to ranching yet. And I love the easter eggs in the graveyard ;)

This review is more for the devs One of the better Farming Games on steam. Maybe best? Events -------- Thank you for making events worth attending. I'm so tired of most of them being nothing but cooking contests. The rhythm games is a breath of fresh air. Fishing even seems more fun. I was not expecting the bar to move a second time on certain fish. Pick Up --------- I can't thank you enough for designing a game where I don't need to sit through twenty minutes of intro where I have to hear that I either inherited a farm from my grandfather, lost my memory on an airship, or forcing me to plant flowers for a raccoon. I was looking forward to playing Fantasy Life I, and honesty just got tired of it because of the amount of cut scenes and stories I needed to sit through. This game is how most should be. Give me no longer than a two minute introduction, and get me into the game loop. You nailed this. Interface --------- The interface is top notch. The biggest complaint I have for most farming and life simulation games is that there is either color contrast issues making it difficult for me to read quests, or hidden affordance making it hard for me to know what I can interact with. My one suggestion would be to add the option to increase the font-size for people with poor vision function. Pain Points ------------ The pixel art is beautiful. You have a talented artist. It is a shame the game camera feels so far away from the player object. If there is a way to zoom, it is unclear. It is also unclear how saving actually works. Most games have a "Save and Continue" option on the bed. Users carry past experiences over (Jacobs Law of UX). Lastly, please increase the walking speed a tad. You should be proud of what you accomplished. It is a fantastic sandbox. In fact, my next game will probably never get finished thanks to this. Good job devs

9/10 game, my only issue is no co-op )-: Hoping the game will do well and devs will add it in the future! (Also let us romance a bandit!)

Devs, thank you so much for this cute and fun title! There has not been a game since Stardew Valley that has captured my attention until Cattle Country - and I've played so many similar titles. At first, I thought "meh, it looks cute, but it's probably mid." I'm glad that this game proved me wrong! It has many unique features that does set it apart from other relatable titles. And I still have much more yet to do in the game! [b] What I love: [/b] -[i] The wild west theme. [/i] It gives this genre a fresh perspective. -[i] The relationship building and events. [/i] In these games, I tend to focus on relationship building later because it doesn't seem like there's significant impact, or characters just seem bland. Although it is nice to see dynamic dialogue every day when talking with NPCs, I admit I don't pay that much mind these days. However, what really draws me about the relationship building in Cattle Country are the milestone heart events - they are meaningful and bring a unique aspect that I've not seen before. I actually look forward to the events and to see what unlockables come from them! I even started the game over after the first season just to make sure I balanced relationships with all the other activities, and it has been so worth it. Some of these unlockables are important for progression. -[i] The mining. [/i] I'm really enjoying mining in this game with the Terraria-like format. It is also a very lucrative activity early game while I'm waiting for better ways of making more money. I appreciate the fact that I get a generous amount of energy from the bars that I get from mining so I can spend all day in the mines if needed. Even though there are three added things you need to bring with you to the mines (torches, ledges, and rope ladders), I can leave all my tools minus the pickaxe behind to focus on this activity. -[i] The fishing. [/i] I am so appreciative of Cattle Country's simplicity with the mini game. I don't like spending all of an in-game day just fishing for a few catches. -[i] The hunting. [/i] This is actually challenging lol. I like having a new activity I don't think I've seen yet in other titles. Animals are fast as expected and scatter when you use the hunting rifle, and the bow makes this better, yet I still prefer the rifle. -[i] Buildings/craftables. [/i] I appreciate that buildings are in blueprints and if you don't like where something is after it is placed, you can pickaxe it back up to replace it before it gets built. I also like that the buildings don't take up a large amount of space so that I can have room for many buildings if I want. There are many different things to craft and I love that the decorative items you can make incorporate the things you forage, farm, or fish for. [b] What I don't like: [/b] -[i] Cooking sell prices. [/i] Many recipes do not seem calculated well in that the final price after cooking items together should be more than the items combined. There are some recipes where you actually seem to lose profit, despite it giving great buffs. I had to take a calculator out to see what would profit me most lol. I hope the devs could rebalance these recipe prices. -I love and hate the crockpot. It's like preserving jars/bins in other games. I love that it can make things after one day, but it's limited in what it can make. I hope in the future, the devs can make it to where it's not most vegetables put in only makes oil. Most of these lose their better sale prices after turning into oil. I'd rather most of these be pickled versions. -Getting enough ingots can take a while - I did have to set up 20 furnaces to be able to smelt enough ores for certain things. Like tappers take 10 copper ingots each. That is a lot to me, but I love the mining so I can get past it. But might be too tedious to others. -No auto-feeder currently. This is not so bad to be lacking, but it does make things easier. (I see that they plan to implement this and an auto-petter in the next update, so this will no longer be an issue- yay!) -The festivals are awesome and fun, but I do wish there were more! Misc.: -The backpack initially has two full slots of inventory at the start and the upgrade for this can be gotten easily within the first week or so with getting intial quest rewards. -Walking in this game is faster than Stardew. That game you're slow as heck and the speed in this one is much better. Yes, the map is big, but I don't have to do everything in one day. I can choose a focus so I get to what I need when I want. -I love the amount of resources I get from chopping trees or mining rocks. It's also so satisfying. I don't have to spend a long time at all getting what I need. -Tool upgrades seem very far and few between. However, when you do upgrade, there is a significant difference. Every game has its flaws and with a lot of games, I can overlook these to appreciate the hard work it must take to make a great game. Cattle Country has been compelling and captivating enough for me to be excited about progress and achievement in the game. It's what these games are about and I think Cattle Country captures these qualities well, despite the flaws or "annoyances." I don't feel like I need to mod this game to make it interesting, but I do look forward to their upcoming update(s). 9/10 for me.

I absolutely LOVE this game!! It's got such an addictive quality to it that makes you want to play it for hours non-stop. The art style is adorable and I love the Wild West theme. You don't see that in other games like this and it's refreshing to have something new after playing so many of these types of games that are so similar. I love how many different mini games there are throughout the game like in the hoedown festival, shooting bandits, fishing, go fish games in the saloon, etc. I love how easy the controls are and how smooth everything is. There is a lot of different things to do but I would love if there was more to do. Specifically more quests. I feel like there isn't that many quests to complete. I wish the villagers would give you more quests to do. I know some of them do but a lot of them don't so I find myself wishing I had quests to complete. There is still lots to do, for example I haven't even gotten any animals yet cause there is so much to do and explore and I've played for 4 hours, but more quests would be nice. I love the characters but I do wish they had more dialogue to cycle through. They mostly say the same thing all the time. Now I haven't gotten that many hearts with people yet so maybe there are special heart cutscenes that add more personality to the characters (I hope there is). At first I was thinking I would never be able to hunt anything because my gun scared everything away but the bow and arrows make it so much easier which is nice. I like the mining, it tends to be my favorite thing to do in these games, but it's definitely a different style than I am used to seeing in these games. It's like one big area to explore and mine rather than individual floors to explore one at a time. It's gonna take some getting used to but I'm sure I'll get the hang of it soon enough. Overall I love this game and I highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in it. It's a unique addition to the cozy farming sim genre and I love that. I streamed it on Twitch today if anyone is interested in watching some gameplay/my thoughts on the game. Here's a link to my Twitch account. I'm excited to play more of the game and see if there are any updates in the future or anything. https://www.twitch.tv/morganrocks28

Thanks to the "wah wah there's pronouns wah wah" crowd, I ended up buying the game. I like it, it's very chill. Reminds me of the good ol' old Harvest Moon games with a cowboy twist. It's not too overwhelming, which is nice :) I wish we could run though.

I've spent a good chunk of time playing this game and I've thoroughly enjoyed it so far. The western theme is cute, no "your Grandpa died so now you gotta take over the farm." The music is really nice and pushes the theme a great deal, (wish it would play the entire time, not just every few minutes.) However, there are a lot of QOL changes that would really solidify the game. PROS: -Fishing is fun and easy. -The NPC cut-scenes are great! Some are even interactive to complete the heart event. -Never felt like I was struggling to make money. -Animals are simple to take care of. -You can hunt but its optional, you can also turn off enemies in the over-world and mines. -You have a huge amount of land and can decorate anyway and anywhere you want. -Mining is different and unique. CONS: -The map is greatly lacking, doesn't have building labels, shop times or have NPC Icons. I have absolutely no idea where characters like Jim and Jeb even live. (Dev did say this is currently being worked on.) -The NPC's have nothing to say, they say the same line everyday. Which is a shame because the cut-scenes are great and considering you need to be friendly with several NPC's to unlock products/animals/buildings and town projects, its a huge let down. Relationships are a big deal for me in games like this. -There should be a popup when giving gifts or some things shouldn't be able to be gifted at all. I accidentally gifted a relic and my mining hat. I've only found 2 relics in my entire 10+ hours so wasn't happy when I lost that. -There is not enough bandits in my opinion. I've only gotten jumped by bandits twice so far. Bring out the bandits!! Overall, the game is fun and I'm looking forward to more updates. I like living this 1800s fantasy~

The controls are a nightmare. (right click for jump, you have to click DIRECTLY on doors, tool button and interact button are BOTH mapped to left click, etc.) The keybinds make no sense, and there is no way to customize them. Furthermore, there is too much going on at the start of the game, and there is a lack of tutorial. I'm very disappointed as the concepts in the game were interesting. Hope the devs polish the game more, but for now, play at your own risk.

Loving this game so far. Stardew elements, with it's own twist. I LOVE the western aspect and that it is taking place in the 1800s. Thoroughly enjoying and can't wait to see where they go with it. Trying to pace myself with the gameplay but its hard. :D

Feels like an ungraded version of stardew valley. The controls/interface is basically the same and so are a lot of the concepts; town projects, building relationships with NPC's, town events, foraging, farming, mining, etc. This is not a bad thing or a dig at Stardew Valley, it's actually a good thing. Having played Stardew Valley previously navigating this game was a lot easier. Some short comings: Very little guide/instruction available for new time players not familular with this or similar games, Object interaction can be limited (can't rotate some items, or interact with some like chairs). Over all i give it a n 8 out of 10.

There's way too many "Stardew Valley but INSERT MINOR DIFFERENCE" games and most of them are either inferior copies, usually because they're basically the same game but worse in most ways or because the differences they implemented in setting or gameplay make it a worse game in some way, or they're crappy half-baked games made in a rush to capitalize on the genre's popularity in recent years. This one doesn't fall in those categories and it reminded me of the better SV-inspired games, such as Fields of Mistria, to give an example. It's one of those games that resemble SV enough to be familiar from the get go because they wear their inspiration on their sleeve, but still make enough changes to the setting and game mechanics that manage to make it feel like its own distinct thing, even being "better" than SV in some specific respects, though they ultimately fail to stack up to it as a whole because, while SV does almost every single thing well, very well, or exceedingly well, this kind of game does usually have a few very clear flaws as far as bugs, clunkier game mechanics, and stuff like that are concerned, that ultimately make it not quite as good as SV once everything is considered. If you liked SV or Fields of Mistria and you like westerns, you'll probably like this one. I played two in-game years and managed to build up my relationship with almost all NPC's to at least 9 out of 10 hearts and experience their three events as well as unlock most crafting/cooking recipes, buildings, animals, etc, and Town Improvement requests, and I had a lot of fun with it. My only complaints as the game currently stands are either minor, such as not being able to sit on any furniture or sometimes running into a couple of mostly harmless bugs that were annoying but not game breaking, or related to things I don't quite get why they decided to implement this way, such as the way grinding for materials in the mines is a chore when you're specifically trying to farm the higher-value ore like silver o gold, or the fact that you can't sell furniture and equipment. I mean, why? What's even the point of being able to craft all this stuff and being able to see each item has a monetary value if you can't sell any piece of furniture or machinery you built? Other than using it yourself your only options are stashing it in some chest and ignoring it exists, gifting it to some NPC or throwing it away. Of course, none of that is anywhere near enough to ruin the game for me or anything of the sort, but having those minor issues fixed would make for a much more fun experience for sure.

I have played this game nonstop since i bought it. if you are a fan of games like stardew valley, you will adore this. i loooove the mining system. i love hunting even though im bad at it. i love the fishing minigame. i love how cute the art style is, and just how much resources are available either on your farm or elsewhere on the map. i love the holidays. my ONLY gripe is i wish you could craft from ingredients in chests, and sometimes i wish next steps were a little more clear to guide you to cutscenes to unlock parts of the story. otherwise?? this is a super fantastic and fun game.

I have played Stardew valley for quite a long time, but it reached the point that I achieved all I wanted to achieve, and did all I wanted to do, and I was tired of some of the game mechanics. But I’ve always had the itch to find another game like that, but with different, interesting mechanics. As such, I think this is a great game. Anyone wanting everything working the same was as Stardew Valley will be dissappointed, but if it worked that way, why would you play this game instead? So I feel there’s a lot of refreshing takes on the mechanics from Stardew, and that’s why I’m playing this and not Stardew anymore. I like the mining in this game. Rather than have levels that disappear forever, the mining is a grid of blocks that is persistent (so what you mined before doesn’t disappear as soon as you leave the mines). What rocks spawn depends on the depth of the mine, with things like diamonds only spawning down deep. If you undermine sand, it will fall down and crush you! There are enemies, but never anything too difficult (particularly once you have the rifle). If you’re really down deep, before you set up a network of mine carts, it can be a real challenge to get home in time before you collapse, so you have to keep an eye on the time. Maybe it’s not for everyone, but I found I liked it better than Stardew’s mining, and it feels a fair bit more natural and explorational. I also like the hunting in this game. On release, some kinks had to be worked out of the hunting system, but once you get the rifle (or possibly the bow now), then it’s quite serene to wander around the map hoping you’ll come upon deer, foxes, bears, racoons, vultures, bees, etc. The meat, pelts, and feathers they drop are pretty valuable, so you don’t feel like you’re doing it for no reason. The shooting controls are a bit tricky to get your hands around (the right shoulder switch, which usually goes to a different level of the visible inventory, is what fires, so at the beginning you do a lot of accidental firing, or trying to fire and not!), but once you get the hang of it, it’s pretty fun. It’s not overly violent or graphic, the animals always explode into a puff of pelts and meat, so it feels like the right balance for me. The fishing isn’t like Stardew, but I think it’s a good thing. If you don’t see a fish in the water, you won’t catch anything, so at least there’s no sitting there hoping there’s something as in Stardew. The actual fishing is a timing game, which I think is well done, and I didn’t struggle with in this game, but others have complained about the timing games. I don’t like the fishing where you have to mash the button repeatedly, as in many games, so this is a bit of a breath of fresh air for me. I found it reasonably easy to catch most of the fish with the basic rod. The odd one does get away, but the difficulty feels right for me. This game makes you realize that Stardew is much more a game of restriction (as Eric Barone himself has said). However, the world in this game feels much more vibrant. You can hardly shoot into the forest without hitting a bird, maybe too much birds for some, but it makes everything feel very alive. When foraging, even in winter there’s tons of stuff to get, it replenishes itself quickly, and you get a fair amount for it, so you don’t feel like there’s not much to forage. Farming too feels easier. You can get sprinklers fairly easily, so the manual labour of farming isn’t too bad. There’s tons of seeds in every season, so there’s lots to experiment with. With this is also a lot of recipes (more than I would have expected), which increase as you get to know people, so there’s tons to try out if you like that part of it. The friendship aspect is different than Stardew, which takes some getting used to, but makes sense once you understand it. You won’t build friendship with anyone unless you give them a lot of gifts in one week. Initially it was hard to track them down, but now there’s an icon of each character on the map screen, which makes finding them much easier. Once you make the initial gift investment, it’s relatively easier to “level up” your friendship, but you still have to work on it. Lots of unlocks, and most of the story are dependent on increasing this friendship, so it’s a big part of the game. Once you make it to 10 hearts, then you can focus on making friends with someone else! They all have things they like that aren’t too hard to get, so at least that side of it isn’t too hard. I didn’t really get as much into the relationships with other characters in Stardew Valley, but this one prompts you to do that so you unlock things you otherwise wouldn’t. Getting better equipment is dependent on mining, (later you can pan for gold, but it’s probably not the fastest way anyway). Once you get the best equipment, it feels pretty powerful, but nothing unusual compared to Stardew Valley. You get the six shooter early on, but in early builds it was pretty tough to hunt with, maybe now it’s easier (once I got the rifle I never looked back). The town events are pretty interesting, mostly with timing based mini games. I found them fun, but they may not be other’s cup of tea. I somehow managed to get chickens, but haven’t gotten to the point of horses or other animals yet (there’s a lot to explore in this game). There does appear to be a lot more options for decoration than Stardew Valley, which is interesting, though that’s not my focus for games like this. No matter what you do, it’s easier to get money in this game, as mentioned, so it feels less like a struggle to survive than Stardew. At first I wasn’t super into the chunky character sprites with huge hats, but they’ve grown on me. The art is pretty fun and vibrant, and the wild west theme (though it’s pretty lush for the wild west!) is quite fun. So it’s maybe not everything someone would be looking for in a Stardew Valley clone, but I think it’s great, and it adds a number of meaningful extras to keep a Stardew Valley fan who’s gotten bored with its mechanics entertained. It’s not a perfect game, and it wouldn’t be perfect for some people, but it’s worth a look if you’re into this kind of thing, and think the theme would be fun. The developers are still actively engaged on working on it, so it’s also not one of those games that is basically stuck however it is.

This is not a long rant, straight to the point this game is very fun and addicting! If you are a fan of Stardew Valley this will satisfy you. Imagine Red Dead meets Stardew Valley is the best way I can describe it. Do yourself a favor and buy the game, you wont regret it. So come on and saddle up partner!

Game needs some work, there seems to be an issue with the timing in the mini games that makes you miss the prompts, which is a big issue when the combat uses said mini game and if you miss even one prompt then bam your in the hospital and out 500 currency. Also if your in the mines and forgot to stock up on ladders n get stuck and try to use the whistle then your character passes out and ends up in the hospital and loses 250 currency. So atm i cannot recommend this until it gets some QoL fixes that make it more enjoyable, cus right now its way too punishing compared to other similar games.

Very fun! It rivals Stardew well, but with some updates it will be better in my opinion!

Having a fantastic amount of fun with this game and expect to have many hours more. I just hit the first day of spring in year 2 and it took me nearly 30 hours to get there. The game is deep and wide in all the best ways. Plenty of engaging NPCs, tons of daily work and activities to keep busy (even in the winter), a lengthy but attainable list of milestones to reach to "win" the game, the art style is charming and the gameplay is fluid and intuitive. The developer is responsive on the Discussion forums and has created several very handy guides that are updated regularly. Don't listen to the handful of reviews that got bent out of shape over the availability of a non-specific honorific (you can select mr, mrs, or mx) but honestly if that one tiny detail puts you off buying a game, the game was probably too good for you to begin with.

Cattle Country shows its heavy influence of Stardew Valley with a western theme. With LOTS to do right off the bat, the games charm, and bright lively atmosphere, you'll be sinking days and hours into this cute little game.

Great game! Looking forward to its future. I'll probably reach over 100+ hours with this one.

It's like stardew but with way more glitches that don't work in your favor.. I'm in year 2 and I was asked to help build a water tower... I gave all of the resources and I have enough money but it won't let me finish the project... I have $100,000 in game half in the bank and half on myself and I still can't complete the mission.. the games fun enough but they have a lot of issues

If you enjoy games like Fields of Mistra or Stardew Valley, then this is in that same vein. Currently one year in and still going. I really liked the overall ability to customize the farm layout. You can even move the buildings later on if you don't like where they are.

Cattle Country is a relaxing game with a twist at times with bandits and bugs attacking you. The Farming part is endless to how you can make your farm, more crops or more animals your call. The fishing aspects is not hard but you do need to pay attention to where to hit . The Neighbors are kind and all but I do wish there was more dialogue as time went on with them. Adding to the neighbors in all I wished it would show where they lived in the Map when you looked on it cause I had trouble locating where 3 of the people lived. All in all this will be a great game to play as time goes on.

Love the game so far, but definitely looking forward to some updates. I love the style, music and general ambience. The animations are also very snappy/smooth feeling which is satisfying. The fishing mini game is not nearly as annoying as others have been for me, and I love that the seasonal holidays/events are interactive, too (ex: the spring one had a mini game not just a cut scene). There are definitely some updates/quality of life changes I would love to see (like seeing the amount of stamina I have, not being able to rebind keybinds, explanations for what certain buffs do, etc), but it's cute and worth it if you love a good farming sim.

this got me hooked right away haha. i really like it and have been enjoying playing. my only things are : when you’re crafting it doesn’t include from chest nearby. such a small but crucial thing for me haha. some things in the game don’t really give you notice on how to do them/whats going on. when are the shops open??? who knows. i just have to run into town and check. how do i upgrade my fishing rod????? no idea. it would just be nice to be able to find that information easily. also i was trying to place a gate sideways and i couldn’t and idk if that’s a me thing or a game thing but if its a game thing please let me place my gate sideways <3 with all that being said, i do recommend giving it a shot and buying. its really good and i haven’t been able to put it down

Howdy Partner! I don’t often write reviews, but I feel compelled to share my thoughts on Cattle Country. This game possesses a unique beauty and charm that everyone should experience. As someone who played the original Harvest Moon games when they first came out, I’ve enjoyed my fair share of farming games over the years, with Stardew Valley reigniting my passion for the genre. Amid the recent surge of farming games, Cattle Country stands out with a charm that’s hard to find in many newer titles. It’s the small details that truly immerse you in its world. For instance, during my first encounter with the charming mailman Jim, I learned about his perspective on his job and its significance in the 1800s. He later shares his longing to send a favourite food of his to his sister and mother in another settlement, but worries it wouldn’t survive the journey. These little moments all accumulate to create a truly memorable experience. Of course, there are a few areas that could use some improvement, like the mini-map and shop opening hours. And oh my, the overwhelming number of trees, fruit trees, rabbits, squirrels, and birds. I now understand why the passenger pigeon went extinct; I too would want to manage their number. The inner hoarder in me struggles to progress because I just have to collect those lemons. Like traveling down a dusty trail, you might find a few grains of sand in your boots, and those pesky rabbits might outrun the last few bullets in your pistol. But you know what? It’s the journey and the memories you create along the way that make this cowboy adventure truly worthwhile.

after completing my first year in game i feel like i've played enough to write a decent review, so here it is! first of all i absolutely LOVE the wild west theme, its a refreshing and awesome twist on the typical farming sim and i have had so much fun playing. the gameplay itself is addicting and relaxing and i could truly sit and play for hours. i love the different take on the mines, having the freedom to explore and choose where i go instead of having to search around for an exit to the next level is amazing and makes the mining experience so much more fun. the mines also go super deep!! i also love the hunting in this game. its a feature i have not seen before and its honestly really relaxing wondering around the map hunting things, its also a really good money maker so it makes the effort you put into it worthwhile! the events are really cute, and i love that little minigames have been added to them such as rhythm games. getting to fight bandits is also really fun! gameplay aside, this game has a wonderful soundtrack and the artstyle is really cute. i love that little birds will sit in the trees on your farm and animals like squirrels will be wondering around on your farm too, it helps make the world feel alive and i think its a lovely feature. the devs are also lovely and very responsive :) overall this game is one of the best farming sims ive played in a while and im super excited to play more of it, and im excited to see where it goes in the future too. i definitely recommend giving it a go :) also as a huge fan of red dead redemption, roger clark having a cameo is incredible

This is one of my first ever reviews for steam. Overall this game gets a 8.5/10. It is your typical farming sim but I love the take on mining and the plot/story of the game. I would say my only issues are that there is a lot of events that are tied to friendship which is typically not an area I focus on. In addition, not being able to sell during the day was a little difficult to get around. This game is great and I would recommend it to anyone who liked games like Littlewood or Stardew.

Surprisingly very fun and not just another SV type game. The gameplay loop is easier for me to get into than SV though I’d love to see the socializing aspect deepening. Also… guns? The soundtrack? HOEDOWNS? I went to a cowboy university, I love this shit.

Very cute little game that fills the hole that Stardew left. Really enjoying at the moment.

I bought this game because I fell in love with all of the life options in the game. There's hunting with bow and arrow, shooting, cattle raising, homesteading and the list goes on. This game is not like all the other games in the genre, the differences are awesome (not intuitive, that may be because I play a lot of games like this) I had to ask a few questions about key game mechanics (once again they were not intuitive) But they work well and they aren't made hard just because, like in some games. There was full controller support and Steam Deck Verified. I've had this game for a few days now and boy am I having a lot of fun. I had the option of overworld and underworld enemies, which is a great plus. I usually hate combat in these types of games because I get anxiety with combat (yeah it's a me thing). But most games like this do not give you the option to turn off the combat completely, usually you get easy mode (which does nothing for my anxiety). The Devs have been nothing but nice when they answer my ever ending stupid questions about how to do something or where to go for something. This has been the best game that I've played so far this year.

If you love stardew valley, you will love this game. very similar game-play but set in the wild west. A lot of fun

I can't wait to see what they'll add in future. It's a game with great potential to become a Country Site Stardew Valley.

This game is fun! It kinda pulls some elements out of Stardew Valley like the shipping bin, but overall I think it is really fun and original!

Cattle Country is a very solid farming sim with a unique wild west twist. The controls feel very smooth, and it's really satisfying just gathering wood and other materials. (Also, it has pretty nice controller support, which is a big win in my book.) All the basics you’d expect are here, such as farming, ranching, crafting, marriage, etc. The Devs have also mentioned they want to add more things down the line, like having kids, for example. As for bugs, I experienced one crash in my roughly three-hour playtime, but nothing else of note. The Devs are active in pushing out fixes, so I’m not too worried about that. All in all, Cattle Country doesn’t do anything to reinvent the wheel, but what it does, it does well.

I'm really enjoying this game! Yes there are things I would add or changes- but they are all quality of life (such as adding people locations or more item explanation) the game itself has such a strong backbone!!! I'm excited for all coming updates and hoping it continues to be worked on in the future like many other farming rpg's For those who think it's still in its early stages or not polished enough remember that games like stardew had many many updates before being the game it is today! And FIelds of Mistria has been having active updates over the years! This game is great!

I highly recommend if like this type of cozy games it is a nice new take I would say on this type of game. Also I like the characters.

So far im really enjoying the game. Ive encountered no bugs and or crashes as of yet. I do wish we could pull from our chests when crafting. We really need a npc map icon. Its such a pain running around trying to find certain npcs. I wish there were icons or tags on items to indicate what can be donated to the town hall. The npc dialogue for everyday talking never seems to change. Its always the same line every single day, with each character having their own specific line.

super fun! been playing it for a few days now, if you like stardew valley this is similar. but less stressful.

This is a near perfect scessor to stardew vallley. It is an excellent chill and relaxing game, with cute and aweoms music. its not perfect there are some flaws, and it takes time to master the guns but once you do, its not too bad (I just wish you could turn from side to side holding your gun)

Not gonna say much because I want to get back to the game. This is fun and a blast to play. Mic Drop.

Love this game so far! definitely room for improvements, like a better map & being able to save your game whenever you want. but this game has a fresh prospective, and i love the hunting! although i find it a little difficult to actually get the animals with the gun they give you in the beginning, so you have to wait until you can make the bow. also the regrowth on your farm is WAY too much. i find i cant keep up. trees grow way too fast. i would 100% recommend trying this game out! Cattle Country & Fields of Mistria are my go-tos now!

Love this game! Would love more guidance with quests and advancing in the game otherwise it's perfect :)

This game is SO fun. It’s the closest I’ve felt to recapturing the magic of playing Stardew for the first time while still being it’s completely own game, with so much charm and the perfect mix of cozy familiar gameplay with new, novel experiences. The devs are super responsive in the discussions board too - it feels like all questions and feedback are answered within the hour, and with friendly, straightforward helpfulness. I can’t wait to uncover more of the features as the story progresses. I appreciate that unlike a lot of games in this genre, progression is linked to social bonds - you have to improve your relationships to move through the plot and to expand your homestead. Well worth the low price and hoping this game gets all the kudos it deserves in time!!

Nothing short of amazing. If you played Stardew Valley, you'll feel right at home. Controls are decent enough and it even has a bearable fishing minigame (I mostly hate fishing in farming sims). Characters aren't too well-written (yet?) because they only say one or two lines.. but I'm not that far into the game yet anyways. YEEEEEEHAW!

Stardew Valley is my most favorite game of all time (Kenshi is a close second). It was a game that I picked up on a whim during the pandemic when I was an angry "Cazuals are ruining gamez!" type Gamer (with a capital G mind you). I picked the game up on a whim ( because... pandemic) and it pretty much forever changed my perception on games as a whole. Now when a game like this comes out.... I get it (Unless it's anthro animals.... not that I have anything against certain... people... I just can't really vibe with it). Not just because I love the genre, but because I want to support developers trying to carve out their own niche in a market that is becoming increasingly crowded. But even with all these games, I don't think I ever ran into a 1:1 of SDV. This game in particular has probably the most fun version of mining I've played in a game like this, it has actual firearms and hunting which is a first for me (The My Time series excluded, closest I can find is Little Know Galaxy... but that's lazerz), the music is really flippin good and period specific, the crop selection is very diverse, you can actually make spirits and not just wine and beer, and the weather effects (especially the blinding dawn) are spectacular.

yes this is a great game love the farming and just on a whole its relaxing to play its cozy and the animals are so cute