‘Farming Simulator 19’ Is Trying Desperately To Be Cool, And It Kinda Is

Farming Simulator 19, a video game with all the work of growing crops without any of the reward of eating them, launched yesterday on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC. To commemorate the occasion, publisher Focus Home Interactive have released a new launch trailer. How do you make a simulator for literally watching plants grow seem exciting? You throw on some sunnies, blast some rock music, and include a shot of a cool dog.

There’s a special type of person who enjoys the Farming Simulator series. I used to think I was one of them. I enjoyed studying agriculture in high school, and I recently cultivated a crop of cherry tomatoes to moderate success. I even drove a tractor once, even if my agriculture teacher insisted on dangling off it and grabbing at the wheel.

However, the Farming Simulator games are not for mere amateurs. They are for people who have a preference between John Deere or New Holland machinery. Who can speak with authority on crop rotation. Who aren’t foolish enough to name their chickens because they understand and respect the inescapable mortality of birds. In short, people who aren’t me.

In a first for the series, Farming Simulator 19 now lets you ride horses, a timely addition considering the success of rival horse game Red Dead Redemption 2. It is unclear if Farming Simulator 19 one-ups Red Dead by allowing you to eat the horses, though I suspect I will continue to be disappointed in that regard.

However, Focus Home Interactive and its partners have donated $50,000 to Australian charity Drought Angels in order to help Australian farmers, somewhat compensating for my sad lack of tasty virtual horse flesh. “Working with Drought Angels allows us to give something back to the Aussie farming community for which we have the deepest respect,” said Martin Rabl from Farming Simulator 19‘s developer GIANTS Software, speaking to MCV Pacific. I’ll take that.