I am in the progress on writing a few products reviews lately. However, thanks to my husband, I could not focus on finishing with the posts. I was introduced to a mobile and tablet game named "Hay day" by him recently. I downloaded the mobile app on my tablet a few days ago and has since been addicted to the game. I just couldn't get my hands off this!

Hay day is a very traditional farming game commonly seen on the social platform such as Facebook or many other mobile games apps available in the market today. However, unlike many other similar games, Hay day has many unique features that will provide players with different gaming experience. I believe this is why this game has managed to catch my attention and got me entirely hooked to it.

Basic Gameplay

The Sale System
To make the game interesting, there are various way for the player to sell their goods.


Secondly, player has the choice to place their products to sale at their road side stall. A player will have the choice to set the price of the goods they are intending to sell. I believe this is one of tbe thing that differs Hay day from any other farming game. However, there will be a maximum price which the player can set.

The only downside of this choice would be the player has not be given the option to remove or take back the product he placed for sale from the road side stall if he decided not to sell. There is an option to remove with a cost of an diamond. However, I do not really  know how this works as I have not tried it before.


Even so, the option to sell at the road side stall is still interesting due to an unique feature in the game. Products which are be put on sale on the road side stall will be advertised on an in-game newspaper every four hours. The newpaper acts as a  trading marketplace for any players around the world to buy and sell their products. I find this a really good concept as I do not like the idea of sending mutiples of requests to my Facebook friends asking for certain items I need. To make it worst, I don't even see myself enjoying and playing a game if none of my Facebook friends are playing.

Even so, just like any other real-time simulation games, Hay day also have the social aspect added into the game. The game allows the player to connect to Facebook or Google accounts in order to trade and visit their farms.

Thirdly, players can also choose to sell their products by orders received from external buyers. These orders will be shown on a board beside the farm house. Upon receiving, players would have to gather all tge goods and deliver the orders by a truck. After the goods are delivered, the truck will return with a pot of gold. However, fufilling such orders can sometimes be tough and time consuming. There are many specially made products such as cakes which requires some waiting time to be ready.

In Game Purchases

ITS FREE AND REALLY ITS FREE!!!

One of the major thing I hate about any mobile and tablet game is the in game purchases feature which are neccesary for advancing in the game. I dislike the idea of a free game to actually 'force' me to make certain purchases in order for me to continue the game. This is especially annoying when I am already hooked to the game.

However, Hay day does not give me the kind of feeling. For me, I don't think in game purchases are required. It is true that money and certain rare items are not easy to earn and get in this game, but these are what makes Hay day challenging.


Play at your own pace

Another annoying part I hate about real-time simulation game is I have to play the game every day or some, whenever I got notifications informing me that my products are ready to be collected. In the case where I forgot or have no time to collect, all of my products either rot away or expired. I have to produce them all over again. Imagine all the waiting time I have wasted. It does really make people feel pissed off sometimes. Luckily, for Hay day, this js not the case. If not, I might have lost a bit of my interest on the game.

Graphics

Not only the game play in Hay day is attractive, the graphics are beautifully and colorfully designed too. Everything in the game looks beautiful, detailed and cute. I believe this is also one of the main attraction point to attract people of all age group to download and play Hay day.

I especially love the behaviours of the animals, especially the cows and the pigs. They are just so adorable!!



Upgrades

As one advances to each higher levels, upgrades will be available for the players to expand their farms.  New features will be unlocked for every level the player advances. This makes the game itself more interesting.

Expansion of the farm does not require the player to purchase additional expensive land spaces as seen in many other real-time simulation games. The expansion is done in a more realistic manner by cutting down trees or bombing enormous rocks.

However, the annoying part comes from the expansion of the Barn and Silo storage. The expansion requires the player to gather a few of the rare items such as nails and woods in order to increase the storage size of the Barn and Silo. The items are hard to come by and are expensive to be purchased. For a new player like myself, this can be quite a challenge, yet another interesting part.

Ferris Wheel


To create something which will make the player to look forward to every day, Hay day has added a ferris wheel feature. This feature allows the player to spin the wheels once everyday and acquire various items based on luck.

Final thoughts

I am currently only at the level 14. There are still many interesting features I have yet to unlock. Of course, I am excitedly expecting more surprises from the game.

I am never a lover of such real-time simulation game because I always thought them to be boring, dull and time consuming. However, I must admit this really got my attention and didnt disappoint me.  I love the graphics, the gameplay and well-designed controls. I think the game controls are really one of the adds- on to player gaming experiences. Sometimes, I do feel as if I am really a farmer.

The only bad thing about this game would be it depletes my tablet battery life really fast. I see myself having to charge my tablet after half daynof continuous play.

For people who are looking for some casual games to kill time, try Hay day. It will never be a game that will bore you.