Guess what I stumbled upon? A game called Cattle Country. Yeah, the title sounds super Wild West, but I’ll tell you what — it’s more like hanging with pixel art cowboys doing chill stuff. Anyway, people call it some kinda “Cozy Cowboy Adventure Life Sim.” Cozy’s become the catchphrase for cozy games, right? But okay, cowboys add a little twist to the familiar mix.
Picture this: you’re in the 1800s. Well, supposedly. You pick a name for yourself, your land — sounds thrilling, right? At first, you meet a few folks, some NPCs, and then bam! You’re on your own. Horses are tied up here and there, buzzards are doing their flying thing, but the whole Wild West vibe? Meh, not so strong. Almost felt like it could’ve been any generic time period. Conversations with characters? Not screaming cowboy at all.
Here’s where it gets slightly more “yee-haw”: Bandits lurking around. You’ll be strolling along, then out of nowhere, bushes rustle and bam! Bandit ambush. Take ’em down quick or just turn them off if you’re not in the mood for trouble. Maybe the game loses some charm, but hey, it’s your call.
Graphics? Retro, pixelated — quite nice actually. Day turns to night, seasons do their thing, but yep, sometimes the game jitters a bit, especially on the ol’ Switch. Music? Way too shy for a Wild West theme. Even at full blast, it seemed like someone forgot to turn up the volume.
Tasks? Loads of them. Clearing land, planting seeds — the usual life sim stuff, y’know? You can craft sprinklers, cute furniture — even a hard-boiled egg! Farming, fishing, expanding your plot with animals… You name it. Fishing is tricky though, got a tiny room for error, a bit like the bandit battles.
Mining, though. Now that’s intriguing. Down you go into caves, hunting treasure while dodging bats and snakes. At least you can switch off the enemies if they’re too much for your peace. But man, make sure you’ve got torches ’cause darkness is no joke down there. Oh, and food — can’t have that stamina bar running on empty.
But let’s chat relationships. Getting all buddy-buddy with townsfolk is how you grow your settlement into a town. Help out the banker, and maybe your cash stash increases. The saloon gal? Yep, she can build a restaurant. Sounds like Animal Crossing vibes, doesn’t it? But here’s the kicker, giving residents what they want is not super satisfying.
Trying to befriend these folks isn’t as easy as it sounds. You hand them gifts, and they throw hearts and compliments back, but friendship doesn’t seem to budge. And finding these wandering souls? A task on its own. So, where does that leave us?
Lack of direction drives me nuts. You’re 25 hours in and still clueless about hitting the next big milestone. My partner’s into life sims, and even she had a hard time. Pacing? That’s where Cattle Country misses the mark. We enjoy it, sure, but won’t hesitate to ditch it once something shinier comes along.
It’s easy to leave because, well, glitches happen. Personal gripe: user interface needs work, and come on, no touch controls or screenshot abilities? Drag. The bugs? Those can be game-breaking. At least some got fixed, but others? They’re still hanging around.
Honestly, even with a Wild West flavour, not much feels super new here. If only it was more polished. Maybe hold off for a sale if you’re a genre fan. You might wanna wait till it’s less glitchy. That’s all I’m saying.
