Fae Farm Game Director on bosses, building mechanics, & potential DLC

Phoenix Labs' beautifully charming farm-sim RPG Fae Farm is just around the corner from release, with the title scheduled to arrive on September 8, 2023.

During our preview, we got the chance to explore the enchanting world of Azoria, customise our very own homestead, and even check out the game's combat.

Now, in the hopes of taking a deeper dive into some of the game's key features, GGRecon spoke to Fae Farm's Game Director Isaac Epp about the main story, building mechanics, bosses, and even potential DLCs.

Direction & progression in Fae Farm's main story

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While previewing Fae Farm back in June, one aspect of the game that we didn't get a chance to see was the main story.

As a result, we wanted to know whether the narrative is a central part of Phoenix Labs' upcoming RPG. So, we asked Epp whether the story is tied to a player's progression and power during their adventure through Azoria.

"It’s a bit of both, actually. You will encounter certain areas of the map that are inaccessible without the
right tool or spell, and those things get unlocked or discovered by progressing through the main story," he explained.

"You’ll unlock a number of things through the story, including recipes, potions, spells, homestead decor,
and much more.

"There are also a number of tools that you upgrade over the course of your adventure, which allow you to gather resources more efficiently, and also access certain types of materials that might require a stronger tool."

Designing the dream building mechanics

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While exploring the beautiful world of Azoria is a key part of the Fae Farm experience, so is building your dream homestead. To make this possible, the team at Phoenix Labs had to create a set of building mechanics that are intuitive, and easy-to-use, as well as having enough depth to give players plenty of customisation options.

We asked Epp to shed some light on the process of creating Fae Farm's building mechanics and the quality of life improvements they chose to incorporate.

"In terms of the building mechanics in construction mode, the designers and artists spent a lot of time
and effort making those systems feel really clear and simple to use, but also deep enough to give you a
lot of expressive flexibility we think you’ll enjoy. For instance, it’s really easy to move furniture around,
change the tint, etc. as you customize your homestead from top to bottom.

"When we started thinking about the design for our various systems in the game, we first took a step back
and looked at how we could take mechanics that feel familiar to fans of the genre, but add as many quality-of-life improvements as possible to address mechanics that can feel laborious at times.

"For instance, a few of your most-used tools like the shovel and axe are assigned to a single space in your inventory, and the game recognizes when you’re close to a resource that requires a specific tool and switches automatically.

"In terms of the actual crafting and customization, I think the way many of the systems feed into other
systems is really natural, and enables you to customize your homesteads to make things as efficient as
you like.

"One example would be putting your food prep table next to your cooking hearth, so you can take
those ingredients right from one crafting station to the next."

Bosses with a cosy twist

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Bosses are an exciting aspect of any RPG, so we wanted to know if Fae Farm had any and if so, could Epp give us any teasers on what creatures we can expect to encounter?

"Yes, but they’re not what you might expect from a typical boss. As with all things in Fae Farm, we
wanted to instil every element of the game with a cosy, feel-good vibe, and that extends to our closest
analogue to a boss encounter.

"I don’t want to give too much away, but let’s just say these creatures are HUNGRY."

While details of Fae Farm's bosses remain a mystery for now, it's great to see the devs have added a cosy twist to the encounters. As for the clue, "hungry" suggests it could be something big. so keep your eyes peeled when you jump into Azoria!

Is there a potential for future Fae Farm DLCs?

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The nature of Farm Farm and its customisation mechanics means the game has an immense amount of room to grow in the future. Whether it's new areas, costumes, furniture, or quests, we asked Epp if there's potential for Fae Farm DLC after release.

"I think players are going to be surprised at the level of depth and breadth of gameplay on offer in just
the base game. We found that people who got hands-on time during any of our various summer demo
sessions were quite stunned at how much game there is!

"That said, we couldn’t fit every single idea into the final product, and we’d love to explore future expansions down the line, but no news to share at the moment."

Epp shared some incredibly interesting details about Fae Farm and it's only got us more excited to start customising our very own homestead. Now, the countdown begins to September, when players will finally be able to delve into the cosy world of Azoria.