Spending a night on a farm doesn’t sound all that bad. The animals will be locked in their barns, there’s likely little in the way of noise pollution, and doubtlessly the fridge will be filled with fresh produce. Just think of the breakfast options! Then again, farms are known for housing potentially dangerous equipment and chemicals, and if something were to go awry, there’s probably nobody for miles to hear your cries for help. If someone wanted to conduct shady business, a farm would be an ideal place to cover up tracks without fear of anyone snooping around.
This is where our silent, non-descript, protagonist comes in. After running their car off the road and into a fence post, they find themselves at the gates of a large farm during sunset. There’s nobody around – not even a single lowly farm animal, much to my disappointment – but soon a paper trail of events starts to emerge. By finding keys stashed away, you’re taken from the storeroom to the shed, and into the farmhouse all while reading notes left by the farm’s inhabitants. Cardboard boxes filled with people’s belongings clutter every room, fuelling intrigue, and it isn’t long until an entrance to a dimly lit underground facility is found.
To say anything more about the plot would spoil the experience. In summary, though, this short story is presented using low poly PS1 style visuals, only the field of vision is far wider and there’s a bit more detail within the environments. It does an excellent job of expanding the backstory, right until your arrival, allowing you to piece together events bit by bit. This is achieved not just through computer terminal entries and notes, but also cassette tapes with voice-acted dialogue. These tapes are missable, so it pays to scour rooms fully – and thankfully, anything interactable is highlighted with a white outline. Collectable robot toys are another thing to look out for, with the final ending screen tallying off how many were found.
Although handled confidently, nothing here feels particularly ambitious. There’s no combat, ergo no means of failure, and it has a noticeable lack of puzzle elements too. Perhaps we should be thankful for the absence of generic fuse box teasers. It mostly boils down to looking for keys and passcodes, before becoming a bit more abstract towards the end after another individual makes themselves known. I had to increase the brightness a few times, with one location plunging the screen almost into total darkness. Incidentally, it’s also possible to toggle running and turn the UI off completely. Surprisingly thoughtful touches for something relatively straightforward.
This is a game mostly carried by its storyline, which is captivating enough to hold interest until it ends. The two locations are very clear-cut in respect of their tone, making for something with a distinctly different start and finish. It takes just over an hour to complete and has a handful of endings to discover. Handily, it’s possible to load the last save and make different choices, allowing you to see every ending one after another. The voice acting is decent, and although slightly truncated, the diary entries add much to the experience. Due to the presence of collectables, there’s even a degree of replay value here.
At the same time though, A Night on the Farm can’t really be considered unnerving. There’s an odd lack of threat or danger, with a sole instance that could be considered a jump scare. Quite an ineffective one at that. With this in mind, it’s recommended to anyone seeking a short story to become engrossed in, but horror fans may want to get their shocks ‘n scares elsewhere.
Frozen Flame Interactive’s A Night on the Farm is out 18th September on all formats. Published by eastasiasoft.