Usually, a farming game sees the player growing crops and using these to help build relationships in their community. FloraMancer: Seeds and Spells isn’t a usual farming game, however. In the upcoming farm sim, growing plants saves the world.

Unlike many farm sims that feature, at most, simple combat that serves the largely cozy atmosphere, FloraMancer focuses heavily on a combat struggle to preserve the last forest on Earth against the machine horde seeking to break nature down into its base resources, adding a sense of environmentalism to the title not commonly seen in farming sims. That means combat is actually a central focus in FloraMancer, Game ZXC recently learned as part of an interview with developer Joe Sullivan.

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Blending an action game with a tranquil farming sim was an interesting choice, especially as FloraMancer also eschews the typical NPC bond-forging so typical of farm sims. But according to developer Joe Sullivan, the seed of the idea came from his girlfriend Chloe Dougherty. The unusual blend of game styles came as a way to blend his more action-focused gaming tastes with the cozier tastes of Dougherty, with Sullivan explaining how the two ideas cross-pollinated,

“It was heavily inspired by the game Moonlighter , 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… These cozy games usually 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.”

The core gameplay loop features a cozy farm at the center of the forest where the floramancer can outfit themselves for the conflicts with robots on the fringes of nature, where fast-paced frenetic combat takes place. Combat, in turn, helps the player explore more of the post-apocalyptic Earth, beset by a machine swarm converting life to its base resources in a way reminiscent of Horizon’s Faro Plague. Defeating the machines furthers the goals of exploration until the titular floramancer is defeated.

Balancing death’s mechanics to be approachable both to action and farming gamers was something Sullivan spent a long time considering. In contrast to the unforgiving penalties action games might use when the player dies, FloraMancer adds a tactical layer to death: players could lose seeds, spell slots, or lose the spells they’re equipped with. Something, though, had to be lost to give defeat the kind of meaning it has in action games.

As for how to get spells, that’s where the farming mechanic comes in, says Sullivan. Without the sorts of towns and communities a usual farming sim has, crops needed a different purpose, and that means they equate to spells. FloraMancer’s farming is a means to empower the player, so they can explore farther, fight harder, and obtain new seeds to continue the gameplay loop. It was Dougherty who suggested the player might grow the spells on their farm, like crops in more traditional farming games.

“I just took it wholesale,” Sullivan explained. “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.”

Sullivan and Dougherty had imagined a system with even more complexity, that would allow players to cross-breed spells, but Sullivan won't be able to work out the issues with the process in time for release. He teased that it might make a debut in a potential DLC or sequel, however.

FloraMancer: Seeds and Spells releases on Steam in 2023.

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