Be a farmer for a day

The four things you protect as a Farmer

• 🌾
  Harvest

  If Harvest reaches zero, your day ends early with “The harvest failed”. The crop did not make it. The fields are brown and the sky is finally full of clouds.

  21% of the choices in this role lower it, and 58% raise it.

• 💰
  Money

  If Money reaches zero, your day ends early with “The money ran out”. Debts took over. The tractor, the bullocks and the pride are all in the shop.

  35% of the choices in this role lower it, and 23% raise it.

• 🌍
  Land

  If Land reaches zero, your day ends early with “The soil gave up”. The land is tired and cracked. It will take years to recover.

  12% of the choices in this role lower it, and 29% raise it.

• 🏡
  Family

  If Family reaches zero, your day ends early with “The family left”. Everyone has gone to the city. The house is quiet and the rooster sits alone.

  25% of the choices in this role lower it, and 46% raise it.

Tips for a better day as a Farmer

1. Do not chase one number. In every role, a day with all four meters between 50 and 70 beats a day with one meter at 95 and another at 10. As a Farmer, the danger is rarely the big mistake. It is the quiet neglect of one meter.
2. Watch Money most closely. In this role, 35% of choices lower it, which makes it the meter that slips away fastest. Land is the most forgiving, with 12% of choices lowering it.
3. Read your advisors as opinions, not answers. Each one backs the option that helps the meters they care about, so when they disagree, ask which meter you can least afford to lose today.
4. Look for the choice that gives you something back. Many of the best options cost one meter a little and help two others. The tempting “easy” option often costs more than it seems.
5. Remember that choices can come back. A decision in the morning may return as a follow-up situation later in the day, so a quick fix early on can be expensive at six in the evening.

A sample day, step by step

Here is one example of how a careful player might get through a day as a Farmer. It uses six of the sixteen situations, picks the option with the best overall balance each time, and shows what each choice did. Your own day will be different, because situations are drawn at random and some choices bring follow-ups later.

1. 7:00 AM

   The monsoon is late

   The first rains have not arrived. The sky is a cheerful, useless blue.

   Chosen: “Sow now and hope”. A gamble. Some seeds will thank you.

   🌾 Harvest +10💰 Money +5🌍 Land −5🏡 Family −5

   The road not taken: “Run the pump and irrigate”. It works and it costs diesel.

   Standing after this call: 🌾 60 · 💰 55 · 🌍 45 · 🏡 45

2. 9:30 AM

   A bank loan for a tractor

   The bank is offering a loan for a new tractor. The interest is friendly for now.

   Chosen: “Refuse”. The old bullocks nod in agreement.

   🌾 Harvest −5💰 Money +5🌍 Land +5🏡 Family +5

   The road not taken: “Take the loan”. A shiny red tractor and a heavy file.

   Standing after this call: 🌾 55 · 💰 60 · 🌍 50 · 🏡 50

3. 12:00 PM

   The tractor breaks down

   The village tractor you borrowed has broken down in the middle of the field, with half the ploughing done.

   Chosen: “Finish with bullocks”. Slow, traditional and calm.

   🌾 Harvest −5🌍 Land +5🏡 Family +5

   The road not taken: “Pay for the repair yourself”. Generous and a bit costly.

   Standing after this call: 🌾 50 · 💰 60 · 🌍 55 · 🏡 55

4. 3:00 PM

   A drone demonstration

   A company is offering a free demonstration of spraying by drone. The whole village has come to watch.

   Chosen: “Volunteer your field”. It works beautifully and everyone applauds.

   🌾 Harvest +10🌍 Land +5🏡 Family +5

   The road not taken: “Dismiss it as nonsense”. The drone makes a polite exit.

   Standing after this call: 🌾 60 · 💰 60 · 🌍 60 · 🏡 60

5. 6:00 PM

   The flooded corner

   Heavy rain has flooded a low corner of your field. Seedlings are floating.

   Chosen: “Ask neighbours for help”. A cheerful and soggy evening.

   🌾 Harvest +10🏡 Family +10

   The road not taken: “Wait for it to dry”. Patience, and a little loss.

   Standing after this call: 🌾 70 · 💰 60 · 🌍 60 · 🏡 70

6. 9:00 PM

   Organic certificate

   An agency offers certification for organic farming. It takes three years to qualify, and the price is higher at the end.

   Chosen: “Start the process”. Slow, patient and promising.

   💰 Money −10🌍 Land +15🏡 Family +5

   The road not taken: “Skip it”. Simple and unchanged.

   Standing after this call: 🌾 70 · 💰 50 · 🌍 75 · 🏡 75

Situations you may face

Every game uses six of these sixteen situations, so you will not meet them all in one day. There are also 3 follow-up situations that return after specific choices and 3 surprises that can appear without warning.

• The monsoon is late. The first rains have not arrived. The sky is a cheerful, useless blue.
• A seed salesman. A smiling salesman offers a new hybrid seed that “doubles your harvest”. It costs three times as much.
• Pests in the field. A cloud of tiny insects has settled on your best acre.
• The trader at the gate. A trader offers a quick price for your wheat today. The mandi price may be higher next week, or lower.
• A bank loan for a tractor. The bank is offering a loan for a new tractor. The interest is friendly for now.
• Your neighbour’s canal trick. You find your neighbour has quietly dug a small channel to take more canal water for himself.
• The weather app. Your nephew’s phone says it will rain tomorrow. The old village elder says it will not.
• A son in the city. Your son wants to study in the city. He has a place in a good college. The farm needs hands.
• A drone demonstration. A company is offering a free demonstration of spraying by drone. The whole village has come to watch.
• A protest on harvest day. A farmers’ group is holding a big protest for better crop prices. It is also the best day to harvest.
• The scarecrow. Crows are eating your seeds. Your scarecrow has been in the field for ten years, and the crows consider it a friend.
• The flooded corner. Heavy rain has flooded a low corner of your field. Seedlings are floating.
• Organic certificate. An agency offers certification for organic farming. It takes three years to qualify, and the price is higher at the end.
• The tractor breaks down. The village tractor you borrowed has broken down in the middle of the field, with half the ploughing done.
• A wedding in the family. Your cousin’s wedding is next week. The family expects you to attend and to help with the cost.
• Cattle in the field. Stray cattle are wandering through your best field.

Every ending (spoilers)