There are a lot of farming sim games on the market, from classics likeStardew ValleyorStory of Seasonsto more modern ventures into thegenre likeHarvestella. One upcoming take on the formula,FloraMancer: Seeds and Spells, takes a more active turn on the typical farming sim.
The game is a fusion ofa relaxing farming simulatorand a high-energy action game, set after the end of the world. There, a Floramancer is tasked with defending Earth’s last forest against the machines humanity left behind by growing spells in their garden and taking them into the fray against the robots. The developer, Joe Sullivan, explained to Game Rant that the idea came from blending his action-packed game tastes with the cozy game preference of his girlfriend Chloe Dougherty.The following interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.
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Q: Where did the initial idea ofFloraMancercome from?
A: It was actually my girlfriend’s idea. It cameheavily inspired by the gameMoonlighter, which we had just finished playing. We both really love that game and the cyclical nature of going out and fighting, then doing something peaceful, and then fighting, and then doing something peaceful. I just started straight from there.
Q: What are some of the other inspirations behindFloraMancer?
A: I would say some of theoriginalZeldasare in there a little bit. I would also say, twin-stick shooters. In general, I feel like there’s a bit ofGeometry Warsin there, as well as top-down 2Dfarming games likeStardew Valley.
Q: Could you shed some light on what Floramancy is and the history of it, because it’s noted in promotional materials that the player is the last one?
A: The lore of the game is that humans were on their last leg, so they built these machines to go get the last resources on Earth. The machines outlived the humans and quickly just conquered the whole globe until they reached this last forest that is defended by nature itself. Nature would summon stuff to defend the forest, but it’s on its last leg. So, it summons one last Floramancer to use flowers and nature to defend the forest, and that’s who you play as.
Q: Were there other Floramancers in the past?
A: Yeah, yeah, there were. We’re working on building that out more currently. But yeah, the idea is that the reason this forest lasted longer than all the rest of them on Earth is because there’s something living in there that is spawning things that can spawn Floramancers and protect the forest. But that thing is near the end of its life, and you are the last Floramancer.
Q: The world is on the brink as you were describing. Could you give me an idea of what that looks like?
A: Actually, it doesn’t look apocalyptic at all when you’re at the center of the forest. You’re at your home base and the machines haven’t reached it. But as you go out to the outskirts, you see dead and toppled trees, you’ll see fires going on inside the mine, and you’ll see more chaos, explosive oil, things like that. You’ll see what the machines have left behind. But when you’re standing at the center, it looks extremely peaceful. You live inside a giant tree, there are mushroom friends, but the further you go out, the more you see the damage that they’ve done consuming all the resources.
Q:FloraMancer’s story and settingfocus heavily on ecological preservation. Is there a deeper message behind that?
A: I mean, protecting the forest is definitely there, but it’s not targeted at a specific corporation or ideal. It’s just, in general, that the beauty of the forest needs to be protected.
Q: What makes preserving nature so important to you?
A: Well, I just grew up loving it so much. I grew up as a forest kid with my friends, hanging out, you know, having sword fights with sticks, hanging by the lake,and crossing rivers. I think it’s important that we don’t lose it for parking lots or industry or start selling tickets to it. I’ve just loved nature forever. I just feel it needs to be protected.
Q: Getting very bigBig Yellow Taxivibes from that description. You know, paved paradise.
A: Yeah, yeah, that’s very true, but it is a very disappointing thing for your forest to become. So I guess that’s why I came to mind.
Q: Action-style combat isn’t very common in farming sims. What made you decide to include it inFloraMancer?
A: That was kind of always central to me.These cozy gamesusually end up with combat that’s kind of simplified or made to just look great and not challenge as hard as I’m looking for when I play video games. I was looking for something to make a cozy game with a little more crunch and action than you’d usually find. I ended up with a game where I think there’s a good amount of challenge and crunch to be had.
Q: The combat serves both that purpose and the narrative purpose because you’re protecting the forest. Narrative and mechanically, what is combat in the game trying to achieve?
A: Exploration is a big part in that you have to gather a certain amount of seeds to open an area. It’s also destroying these generators–essentially many bosses will open the doors that they’re connected to and let you progress further into the game. They also drop resources that you could use to buy rare seeds. So combat is very essential in this game, but so is the farming as well.
Q: Speaking of farming, growing spells is such a cool mechanic! Where did the idea come from?
A: Thank you. I appreciate that. That was my girlfriend’s idea, I just took it wholesale. She plays a lot of farming games, I play a lot of action games, and we’re just trying to combine them in an interesting way.
Initially, I had the idea of having it more complex, where you’re able to crossbreed these seeds and flowers to make unique spells. But after play testing, and trial and error, it didn’t come out to be as fun as I had expected it to be. Maybe later in the future, I’ll try something like that.
Q: Maybe a DLC orFloraMancer 2idea there?
A: Yeah, that’d be awesome.
Q: How does the farming in this compare to other farming games likeStardew, or maybeHarvestellais a more apt comparison?
A: It’s quite a bit different. A lot of other farming games are just a means to connect with people in the village, you know, to grab these crops and give them out to progress. But in this game, there are no humans or animals. So farming is more a means to an end of growing to empower yourself, and getting rarer, more powerful seeds in order to go out and continue the cycle and grow in power and explore more regions until you may finally defeat the machines.
Q: The Death mechanic seems very forgiving. What was behind that thought process?
A: I was hung up on that idea for a while thinking “Do I really just clear out the user’s inventory completely? Because that doesn’t feel like what would happen in a cozy game. Or do I do nothing? Because that’s not really what it feels like would happen in an action game.” So I tried to give the player choices and give a little more strategy to death. InFloraMancer,you can decide whether to lose a spell slot or lose all your spells, lose your seeds, and have them randomly selected, so there’s a bit more strategy. And it’s not as unforgiving. Some action games aren’t as forgiving as some cozy games. I tried to split the difference.
Q: Is there anything else you’d like to add about the game?
A: Thelink to the Steam page? Wish lists are everything. You have to wake up and check that every morning. It’s the bread and butter.
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FloraMancer: Seeds and Spellsreleases on Steam in 2023.
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