Atomicrops

Very cool and unique take on a roguelite that mixes a top down bullet hell with some basic farming sim elements in the vein of Stardew Valley or Harvest Moon into the mix. In general I really do just find this to be a rather unique experience though, not just for any one element, whether it's the structure, the artstyle, the premise, everything feels like a rather fresh take on this style of game and as such it had me hooked for quite a while. This is definitely worth a shot if you're at all interested in this genre and it in fact is probably an easy enough place to start for the most part if you're looking to get into roguelites on the whole for a few different reasons.

One of the most interesting aspects of this game for me is the way that the scale feels extremely small, with the core gameplay loop revolving around leaving your farmland for stretches of 2 - 3 minutes at a time to collect resources and return to your farm to both grow crops and defend them from waves of enemies. Due to this limited time you are given with each day and night cycle, the world itself ends up being rather small and self-contained. This is further reinforced by the relatively small amount of items and upgrades actually present here, With 5 or 6 big runs likely being enough to have seen the vast majority of these rewards. While this limits variance, Atomicrops makes up for it by making almost every item a good choice instead, allowing for most runs to be viable to win in one way or another as long as the player properly sorts out their priorities on where to go from their current position. Any time you find an item, you're likely to be excited due to this as well, as you know that it is very likely to be getting a great upgrade that's worth the time investment to earn it.

The lower quantity of variable content like this also makes the game rather accessible as well thanks to not having to keep tabs on so many moving parts at one time. I also love the way the items are framed in this, as the only way to consistently get them is to devote time to scavenging through the various biomes that surround you, which not only makes each encounter feed into a strong risk-reward dynamic, sacrificing time and potentially taking damage for an item, but it does wonders for the atmosphere as well. The game is able to so potently establish the setting of a nuclear wasteland through this gameplay loop, forcing the player to go out of their way and brave their harsh surroundings time and time again just to have enough resources to generate basic income. Having everything tie into each other so nicely creates a strong feeling of cohesion to the point where I'd say that nothing is particularly out of place or frivolous, it all feels very thoughtfully put together.

While the lowered variance might help with this, I do think that the game has some issues with feeling almost as if you need certain upgrades to have any real chance of winning however. It feels like a run in this game is rarely able to get off the ground until the player has a few farm animals to help with the farming process, especially cows and pigs, but thanks to the random nature of this game, there are runs where the player will not get them early enough even if they spend their time aggressively exploring the landscape and doing nothing else until they're at a big disadvantage. While I understand that this can help craft a more dynamic experience and further contribute to the atmosphere, I feel like the borderline necessity of these animals is still frustrating nonetheless due to the fact that they're being put at such a steep disadvantage regardless, as I feel that in these sorts of games, the other items should feel more like things to improve your chances of winning or at least do something interesting, rather than being practically a requirement. Some of the enemy encounters also feel a bit rough, whether it's the worm boss with its strange hitboxes and absurd speed that can make certain situations undodgeable, or the mushroom boss that equates to running around your farm all night trying to meticulously track down every individual spore and wasting a lot of time without really acting as a threat, being far closer to a nuisance.

Overall, while this game is a bit rough in certain regards, I still really like it and think it's quite a unique take on this genre. The developers also seem to be in a constant state of updating and improving this experience as well, as can be seen with their most recent update completely overhauling the weapon system to be less RNG dependant and more strategic, which is always something I adore seeing in games. I love how every element of this feels tied back into the central concept of farming, all the way down to your HP drops being seeds that you need to plant and have grow, rather than just generic hearts on the ground, really goes a long way to making things feel focused, and it also usually contributes to its own brand of challenge in the process. A must have for fans of roguelites, and probably one of the better starting points for those looking to get into those games as well.