Today, as part of the Triple-i Showcase, publisher 11 bit Studios (Frostpunk, This War of Mine) and developer Carbonara Games have announced Crop, a gritty farming thriller game. The title is targeting a PC (Steam) release first, with console versions to follow, timing still to be determined. Wccftech checked out a press-only presentation ahead of the reveal, and there might be something interesting here.
A single-player experience with a main campaign estimated at around 15 hours, Crop opens with your character half-naked, disoriented, and stumbling out of a truck on a dark, eerie forest road in the pouring rain. You soon find yourself in a small, completely isolated village, cut off from the outside world by a terrible storm. The locals, desperate for food, basically coerce you into running a decrepit, decaying farm to prevent starvation while everyone waits for help that never seems to arrive.
Farming as a Survival Loop, With a Mystery Underneath
The farming gameplay is slow, deliberate, and laborious by design. Every action consumes energy and time, and both are perpetually working against you. You learn the digging mechanic by burying the previous farm owner. Energy levels must be carefully managed, since going to bed early means more stamina the next day. Core tasks include:
- Digging and planting crop patches, managing multiple crop types with different growth difficulties
- Producing compost and fertilizer to improve crop quality and fetch better prices
- Digging trenches, installing and fuelling water pumps, and manually watering plants on dry days
- Cutting waist-high grass to prevent pests and make room for new plots
- Placing scarecrows, spraying pesticides, and treating plant diseases that affect selling prices
- Managing a limited inventory that can be upgraded over time
Later in the game, parts of the farm expand into new areas. For example, the Alpha build showed an unfinished bridge that eventually opens a second field. Moreover, some degree of automation becomes available as the farm develops. The visual palette is deliberately muted: shades of grey, brown, and green set Crop clearly apart from the cheerful aesthetic of most farming games. Tiny immersive details, like dirt sticking to your boots, grass bending as you walk, and leaf marks left in mud, reinforce the atmosphere.
Beneath the farming loop, though, there's a Lynchian horror and Lovecraftian mystery. The village is populated by morally ambiguous characters: a local police officer named Astrid who takes a rational, investigative approach to the mystery of your abduction, and a woman named Greta encountered in the forest who hints at paranormal conspiracies. Villagers grow increasingly agitated as hunger mounts. One tries to bribe the player character into giving crops directly to them rather than the communal supply.
Clues are gathered through a "Mind Roots" map, which serves as a visual tracker of story events, character interactions, and unresolved threads. Some events are also time-locked, pressuring you to investigate while keeping the farm running. Players must find answers to questions like: why were you brought here? Why is no outside help arriving? Who is watching from the shadows?
Carbonara Games was founded in early 2023 by three experienced developers who are also friends. Despite the Italian-sounding name, they are based in Oslo, Norway.
- Frits Olsen — Artist; previously Art Director on Death's Door (Devolver Digital)
- Adrian Tingstad Husby — Designer; previously at Krillbite for 10 years, worked on communication, design, overarching story, writing, and story implementation on Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley
- Torstein Vien — Programmer; previously at Krillbite for 6 years
Crop is their first project together, supported by several contractors. The studio's stated philosophy is to stay lean and agile. 11 bit Studios found the game through their standard external development scouting process: attending events and receiving direct pitches from developers
At the time of the press preview, the game was in Alpha, with a full (non-early access) release planned likely before the end of this year or in early 2027 per the developer's estimate at the time of the press briefing, though no firm date has been set. Pricing had not yet been determined.
About the author: With over two decades of experience in gaming journalism, Alessio Palumbo has led the gaming vertical at Wccftech since August 2015. He started working at a young age for Italian websites like Everyeye.it, Gamestar.it, Nextgame.it, and Multiplayer.it before kickstarting the indie English-language publication Worlds Factory as its founder and Editor in Chief. In the last decade, he has coordinated the overall output of Wccftech's gaming section, managed PR relations, assigned reviews, produced daily news coverage, edited gaming content as needed, and delivered game reviews. Arguably, his trademark content is the long series of exclusive developer interviews that have been cited by Wikipedia and by the biggest news media and gaming publications. His passion for technology also makes him knowledgeable when it comes to gaming hardware and tech. His favorite genres include RPGs, MMORPGs, and action/adventure games.
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