When I heard there was a game coming out that would let me run my own ranch, I couldn’t help but think that my Yellowstone dreams were finally coming true. After consuming all five seasons of Taylor Sheridan’s epic, I’ve fantasised about becoming a Dutton. Raising cattle, looking after my abundant pastures, and kicking back on my veranda taking it all in. Fortunately, The Ranchers promises all that and more.
I should caveat that I’m playing in Early Access and so what I was given to play is arguably nowhere near the scope of what the developers want for the final build of this game. And, to be honest, it does have a distinct flavour of limbo about it, but there’s still plenty to talk about. Put it this way, what it does offer is enough to make me very keen for more and that can surely only be a good sign.
The Ranchers is an open world sim that lets you become a country-living, ranch-loving go-getter (and apparently an overexuberant hyphenator). A plot of land is now yours to clean up and cultivate how you see fit, filling it with crops and livestock to your heart’s content. Like any good sim, I’m delighted to hear the soft, twinkly music from the outset, letting me know oh so delicately that I was in for a cosy ride. Flying in on Ranchers Airline, I watched myself descend into Sunvale City, eager to get to pastures new with hopes of abundant greenery and a quiet life. The Ranchers, though has other ideas.
While I set up my base in my very own ranch that I ‘creatively’ called Summerstone, I was also prompted to spend a lot of time in the city – and a lot of time driving between the two. More on this later. Fortunately, there’s still a pull to the country wherever you go with two radio stations full of twang to switch between ensuring the good times would keep rollin’.
As I arrived at Summerstone, I was given clear instructions on how to get myself set up, how to craft a tent to stay in for the night, and what to do next. Much like other farming sims, take Stardew Valley as a shining example, I was juggling a limited amount of energy to expend on my ranch tasks, as well as a limited amount of time to do it in. By 3 AM, I was at risk of fainting my way to an expensive hospital bill.
But it didn’t take long after a night in my makeshift abode that The Ranchers introduced me to some of its unique mechanics that got me pretty excited for my time in the game. Firstly, a smartphone full of apps to help me navigate Ranchers County. There’s a map I can use for GPS, text messages to keep me connected with the NPCs, and a very handy app that lets me track my energy bills, which lends itself nicely to another feature in The Ranchers, solar panels.
In The Ranchers, you can use solar panels to generate the electricity that your ranch runs on. Something I imagine would make John Dutton smoulder angrily into the middle distance, but something I found to be a very interesting part of the game. This wonderful contrast of modern and traditional doesn’t end with solar panels though; it’s actually intrinsic to the main story missions (so far) that wind through the game.
The one app I loved the most was the weather app. With growing crops a big part of ranch life, it was the statistical insight that told me whether I needed to water them and when there would be a day of rest. As the game starts in Spring, I was going to learn quickly that rainy days, especially into summer, were few and far between. And with a watering can only capable of 20 plots at a time (one-by-one) before needing a refill, it was repetitive work to say the least.
I could see that crafting a sprinkler would be possible at some point, though I was never told how to obtain the items needed to craft it. I could even see that buying water butts and water towers was going to be a part of the game, but no-one explained to me how. Why? Well, because for now, The Ranchers offers the beginnings of a main storyline that dries up not far into the game, prompting me to go it alone and open-world my way to a better ranch. But, I’ll admit, I missed the direction.
Yes, there were missions to begin with that introduced me to the intriguing storyline of modern farming, laden (and potentially spoiled) with AI, battling against the traditional world, but then… It came to a halt. I didn’t get a mission for hours, and I was coming up against a lot of walls that told me what I was trying to interact with wasn’t yet available. As is the case with EA, I needed to be patient. But I was worried that waiting for these updates might be spoiling my experience.
Keen to experience more, I whittled away at my farm, seeing if I could progress without any help. I made rows and rows of crops. I made an entire solar farm to see how much passive income I could earn. I even bought a barn. But no one told me how to get the cow back to my barn, so I spent some time figuring it out. Unlike the chickens, I couldn’t just pick them up. It was allowing me to think, but I’m a big fan of sim games because I want to switch off as much as possible.
Fortunately, I’ve been taught about the cash-in box conveniently located on my ranch where I could sell goods to make money. I was given the stepping stones to expand my homestead, enjoying the possibilities for customisation and creativity. I even began to delight in the abundance of basic materials accessible throughout the map to make crafting that little bit easier.
While I appreciated the moments to explore my land and come up with ways to expand, it began to feel like I needed to spend a lot more time in the city than I anticipated from a ranch sim. As I briefly mentioned, I found that spending a lot of time behind the wheel. Fortunately, driving a car isn’t the only way you get around. Cleverly and akin to Lime Bikes in London, you can rent a bike at several points across the map and use it for the day, dropping it off wherever you please. You can even ride the subway. For now though, there’s not that much to explore, and believe me, I tried.
I headed to the casino, but it’s not available yet. I headed to the car garages to see what I could buy, but some models weren’t available. I even headed to the port to explore the vast expanse of map that was tucked away there, but there was nothing to actually do. While I was a little disappointed, it was excitement that overarched my experience, keen to see what the developers will create in these areas, given time. It’s all on the way though, the developers say, with mining, wildlife and hunting just a little teaser of what’s on the immediate horizon.
Despite the brick walls I found myself hitting, there are certainly still some fun things to do. They might not sound ‘fun’ to some players. You’ll need to be into cosy sims to really reap the rewards. I’m talking about filling up your car with petrol, taking it to the garage, heading to Leafy Market to pick up your seeds and crops to try and earn some big bucks, even moonlighting as a Crazy Taxi driver as some of my personal highlights.
Yet, driving a car around still felt like a world away from what I expected to be doing on The Ranchers. Especially when a heavy police presence started messing with the vibe. Akin to GTA, for some reason, you can get chased by the cops with a wanted level that appears if you even dare touch bumpers with the po-po. In response, each vehicle releases a drone (or two) that chases you down. If you surrender, you can pay a fine and avoid literally getting shot to death. I just want to sit with my cows and wear cowboy boots, please?
After my second arrest for accidentally picking up a rabbit that didn’t belong to me, I just wanted to get back to my ranch and expand it, but the call of City Hall to buy some more solar panels was stronger. What it began to feel like was what I imagine may be a mirror to the reality of real-life ranching and less so what I imagined from my very own Yellowstone. Even Clarkson’s Farm has taught me that the future has a technological lean that could rub some people up the wrong way. There’s red tape to navigate and contracts to sign. Put it this way, if I wanted water on my ranch, I needed to make a deal.
And that’s on realism in The Ranchers. While some things may seem small, they’re actually really important touches that show the developers know their audience and want to recreate actuality – with sprinkles of farmyard fun. Fortunately, to my earlier critique of the driving, in missions you can skip it entirely, which is something the developers added after listening to the community. And that’s the whole point of Early Access, right? They’re going to add as they go, listen and adapt.
What I’m saying is that I loved my time with The Ranchers, but I’d argue that it’s more for its potential rather than what it exists as today. I’m eager for more. I want to explore. I want to raise pigs and goats. I want a goddamn sprinkler. But, for now, I can’t do those things as well as I want to, instead opting to stretch my creativity as far as the game will let me.
But the developers know that. They’re literally prioritising auto-harvesting for plantation crops as we speak. That’s the kind of innovation that will really make a game like The Ranchers shine. It’s a few hectares worth of fun that feel a touch fenced off for now, but through steady expansion, it really feels like a game that will bring a lot of fun, creativity and good ol’ ranching grit.
