Rusty’s Retirement Review: This Automation Farming Idler Is a Masterpiece!

And I really don’t say that lightly either!

Every once in a while, I run into a game that really makes me go Wow. And Rusty’s Retirement is the most recent. This farming idler was introduced to me by a friend, who is also hugely into cozy titles, and after getting a “highly recommend” from her, I decided to swipe it up during Steam’s Farming Fest, which actually ends TODAY (May 6) at 10 am PT. So if you love farming sims, this is your chance to pick up some of the best ones, including Rusty’s Retirement for $6.29!

What makes Rusty’s Retirement so unique is it’s actually designed to sit on the side or bottom of your screen. Although I’ve already plugged 80+ hours into this game, majority of the time I’ve had it open, but idle, on the right side of my screen. My bots and villagers do their best to manage Rusty’s farm while I play FFXIV, watch Bojack Horseman, or check emails. If you’re busy, working, or studying, you can turn on Focus Mode, which doubles production times, allowing you to safely ignore the game while washing dishes or getting a short workout in. That doesn’t mean I’m not looking at it often. In fact, I love watching Rusty water his carrots while the robot-spider harvest bot follows behind him.

For a $6 game, Rusty’s Retirement offers a generous amount of content. Not only are there different maps you can unlock, but there’s so many different crops, berry bushes, decorations, and even farm animals. What I really love the most about this game is how relaxing it can be. Although it may require a little strategy, especially as you unlock and start a play-through on the Desert map, it’s still relaxing and idle enough where you can multitask. If you’re like me, and you love to multitask, and you love being engaged my multiple different stimuli at once, you will really love Rusty’s Retirement. Now, I find myself checking Rusty’s farm, while playing another game, while also scrolling through Spotify playlists.

Another special feature is how much room for customization there is. You start with a nearly blank slate and it’s your job to design the perfect farm. Can you balance efficiency with aesthetics? That’s the challenge I’ve given myself! To help with your task of efficient automation, you can unlock and build “houses”, which are the equivalent to villagers. These villagers come with a variety of perks including access to decorations (which provide a wide variety of flowers, bushes, rocks, paths, mechanics, cacti and even fungi), bot upgrades, bee keeping, and animals. Another villager allows you to view statistics, while another replants seeds. There is also, supposedly, a secret villager. An Easter egg. Or so I’ve heard…

With already 3,800+ reviews on Steam, and a Overwhelmingly Positive rating, it’s pretty clear how much the community loves this game! Also, after selling 100,000 copies within the first 5 days, it looks like this indie developer has inadvertently started a new trend too!

Developer Nine Finger Games also recently announced their Tamagotchi-inspired life sim that operates on the bottom of your screen called My Little Life. Similar to the farming sim, players can idly play the game while getting on with other things, or be completely distracted by it and neglect any work they were supposed to get done.

I’m super excited to see where this trend goes, and I’m also excited to see more pixel farming sims, with a little bit of automation, and a lot of adorableness – as far as I’m concerned, there is never enough of them :’)