Country Life on Facebook Game Guide

Country Life is a farm game on Facebook. By know it is obvious to everyone that this is hardly a unique idea. There are already more farm themed games on Facebook than most people care to count, all trying to capture a part of a surprisingly large segment of virtual farming enthusiasts. Country Life addresses this challenge by introducing some deep gameplay mechanics that are aimed to set the game apart from the glut of similar games.

When you start a new farm in Country Life you will most likely be thinking 'been there done that'. The game starts out like every other farm game out there, plowing up your field and planting crops in hope of turning a profit. The game has one thing going for it though; you start out with one cow on your farm. In most farm games on Facebook, owning a cow is not a big deal. Typically you can milk them once in a while an make some money, but other than that they serve no purpose and in terms of gameplay there is very little difference between a fruit tree and a cow for example. Your cow produces milk in Country Life as you would expect, the big difference is that she will not produce anything unless she fed. This might sound like it is adding another level of annoying maintenance to the game, but the connection established between the crops you grow and the animals you keep is at the core of the experience that sets Country Story apart and makes the game a lot more enjoyable than most other farm games.

The cheapest crop to buy in the game is clover. Following the standard blueprint for these games it is also the fastest growing. The quick growing time of just 4 hours also makes it the most profitable crop to grow in the game. The real benefit of growing clover however is that it is the only food your cow will eat. So to take advantage of the resources you start the game with, it is essential to grow clovers consistently. As the game progresses a bee hive is unlocked that produces honey. The bees can't produce anything though unless they have access to nectar from a flower. So, not only are clovers required to make milk, you can make extra money from them by letting gees pollinate the flowers before you harvest the crop. At the cheap cost the profit potential of the clovers are excellent when considering this extra income. It will take a high level before you can start producing anything that is equally profitable.

Planting and harvesting crops works the same way in Country Life as in every other farm game. Plow, sow and then harvest. If you want you can play the game this way without refining the crops. While it is possible it would also be pointless. Since the game is a lot deeper it has very few crops compared to other farm games. In Country Life you have to make due with nine different crops. Obviously, if crop farming is all you are looking for the huge mounts of new crops in FarmVille or Farm Town will serve your purpose a lot better. Instead of selling your crops for a profit once harvested this game excels when the crops are refined into higher value products.

Refining crops can be done by animals or by machinery that can be bought at the higher levels. Corn can be fed to your chickens in their chicken coop to produce high value eggs. Clovers fed to a cow produces milk. Your carrots are excellent food for angora producing rabbits and so on. While crops can be harvested in unlimited amounts animals (and machines) can only produce three units at a time. Once you have three bottles of milk produced by your cow you have to collect them before any more will be produced.

Refining crops is very fast and is typically done in under a minute. This means that to keep production at optimal pace you have to constantly collect items from your various animals. To help with the tedium of constantly clicking on your finished items you can purchase automation points. These points can be used to collect items automatically. Automation points have to be bought with game currency. This currency can be bought for real money, but more reasonably you are awarded one coin for each level you gain. Hold on to your coins! If possible try to save 15 coins before purchasing automation points as they get progressively cheaper the more you spend.

To use automation points click the show 'automation button' in the lower left corner. This allows you to set which animals and machines you want to operate automatically. With automation active items will be collected and animals fed as soon as possible at the cost of one automation point for each action. Automation points are great fro letting the game run on it's own but they also run out quickly. Anytime you are actively playing the game you can turn automation off and do your own collection to save precious points. Keep in mind that crops are not refined when the game is not running, so for automation points to be useful you have to keep the game open and running.

Another big difference from other games is the slow leveling process. The game has relatively few levels and very few experience points are awarded. Typically most actions earn you 1 experience point up to a grand total of three experience points for purchasing the most expensive machinery and animals. While other farm games are primarily about making the most profit the key to success in Country Life is to maximize your experience points. Again refining your crops play a crucial role.

Experience points are awarded not only when a crop is planted but in some cases also when the crop is refined further. For example; you will receive one experience point for planting a clover, another when the clover is fed to a cow, and yet another when the milk from the cow is used to make cheese. The game has several similar value chains from basic crop to highly refined products that are much more valuable.

To level up fast planting crops and automation is the key. The short grow time of the clover makes it a great crop for gaining experience as well. All the crops give the same amount of experience when planted so the clover is the best crop for this purpose as well. (At least until you unlock the super fast growing berries late in the game). Automation is the other way of constantly earning experience. Leaving the game to run on autopilot for a while will produce a steady trickle of experience when crops are refined.

With so many advantages of growing clover, why would you ever consider growing any other crops? As mentioned earlier, every crop is at the base of it's own unique value chain. So while tomatoes might seem like a dud when looking at their stats, there is no way to make ketchup without growing some. In the same way carrots are not valuable themselves, but when used to feed rabbits who's angora fur can be made into cloth the value becomes a lot more tangible.

The true appeal of Country Story is in the continued refining of your crops and choosing how to use them. When you have grown wheat will you use it to feed your sheep or ground into flour to use in the bakery? These kinds of strategic decisions adds a dimension to the game that is completely lacking from other social farm games.

In my opinion Country Life is the most enjoyable Farm game on Facebook. The depth of the game has it feeling more like a real game than a click routine that the other games on Facebook have a tendency to become. The fact that crops and items won't expire or go bad means that the game can be played whenever you feel like it and not on a forced schedule. So, if you are burned out by other Facebook games but still looking for a fun farming experience, give Country Life a try. You will find unique features that makes the game distinctly different from the rest of the crop.