Despite my line of work (which involves quite a bit of research on Facebook), I’m not into the whole Farmville or Facebook games scene. However, my girlfriend actually found a Farmville alternative on the iPhone/iPad and got me playing that game in no time. Farm Story is a free to play app in which you tend to your farm by plowing the landing and planting a variety of crops, more of which are made available as your level rises.

Players also get to raise livestock (chickens, pigs, sheeps, etc) and add in ornaments to the farm such as fences, postbox, benches..my girlfriend’s farm even has an outhouse on it! Like a real-life farm, you farm needs watering, but unlike real-life farms, your farm in Farm Story will have to rely on visitors to water your plants. Visiting other farms is very easy on Farm Story as the social aspect of the game is integral to the entire experience.

Come harvest time, you get to harvest your crops and earn money. High gain crops like rice will take a longer time before they can be harvested but they are usually worth the wait. It’s important to harvest on time as well, as harvesting too late will end up with you losing money instead (since the crops will no longer be viable).

You’ll be wondering how a game like Farm Story would earn money. The answer would be “in-app purchases”. Aside the normal gold coins that you earn from harvesting (and spend when planting stuff), there’s another form of currency called gems. Gems allow you to purchase enhancements such as farm size expansion, fertilizer and additional coins. You start with a limited number of gems and you’ll need to pay for more  (e.g. USD 4.99 for 24 Gems).

In any case, Farm Story is quite enjoyable as a free-to-play app, and you don’t actually need to spend on Gems while tending to your farm. Check it out over here.