For most people, the most common drive to engage in video games centers around experiencing adventures and other fantasies that they do not get to experience in real life. Whether it be as a gun-toting soldier on a battlefield or a magic-wielding adventurer in a bizarre world, a huge chunk of the fun and excitement can often be attributed to how immersive the new experience can become in contrast with the usual activities people engage in real life.
Simulation games, particularly ones that focus on realism, also offer a unique experience for players who are open to new or even familiar experiences. Naturally, sim games are more hooked on reality but still provide creative ways to immerse players into their unique worlds and while these adventures may not necessarily be targeted towards the larger population of gamers, their unconventional designs have proven to successfully find a niche of players who become instant fans of the game as well as attract casual players who are open to exploring and immersing themselves in new experiences.
GIANTS Software’s Farming Simulator 23 Mobile is one such adventure that may not appeal to hardcore action enthusiasts. However, players who prefer relaxing and stress-free adventures are sure to find a home within the world of Farming Simulator 23 Mobile. Farming Simulator has been around since 2008 on PC and made its way to mobile platforms 4 years later. With new versions at least once every 2 years, there is no doubt that the current version has tremendously evolved from its predecessors not just in terms of graphics and map size but the variety of machinery and livestock as well.
If you have played any of Farming Simulator’s previous incarnations and loved the experience, then you will certainly enjoy what Farming Simulator 23 Mobile has to offer. For complete beginners, the machinery controls, coupled with the variety of available activities to engage in can appear overwhelming at first. With some time and patience, along with some adherence to the tips and strategies we will be sharing with you, you will be on an expeditious and efficient path toward growing your agricultural empire!
1. Go Through The Introductory Tutorial
Even if you have spent some time on any of Farming Simulator’s previous versions, the starting tutorial session in Farming Simulator 23 Mobile can serve as a refresher to bring you up to speed in terms of grasping all the basic controls and gameplay mechanics. Most especially for complete beginners, going through the quick yet informative tutorial session is a must.
The introductory tutorial does not cover everything but it sets you up perfectly for a proper way to start tending to your farm and earning money. This will initially involve a lot of driving around while utilizing the basic farming vehicles and setting each one up properly to execute the different tasks at hand. As far as directions are concerned, there will be an indicator marked on the map guiding you toward your goal and once the tutorial ends a full map becomes available for you to utilize.
As for the vehicles, the icons on the lower left side of the screen, which can differ from one farming vehicle to the next, are as basic as they come, and is rather easy to memorize what each function does.
Your agricultural venture is not expected to be fast-paced. Just as the farming vehicles and activities in Farming Simulator 23 Mobile do not go as hastily as their counterparts in loosely related genres, the adventure is designed in such a way that growth and development can exponentially increase over time. Starting with just a relatively small piece of agricultural land, expansion in terms of territory as well as reinvestment of earnings into more farming equipment and resources will eventually lead to a faster rate of progression.
After all, Farming Simulator 23 Mobile is more of an adventure aimed towards relaxation, so the pace at which you grow in the early hours of immersion comes in as a secondary incentive that follows the simple joys of tending to your virtual agricultural empire in the making.
The tutorial starts you off with the task of cultivating your land and utilizing your tractor with a plow as an attachment, you can easily accomplish the task. Managing to perfectly accomplish the feat will not come as easily for beginners, but you will be introduced early on to hiring workers to complete the task. Driving a tractor can be tricky at first, especially when pulling a cart or a tool behind.
Once the land has been cultivated, you can now begin the sowing process by using a Seeding Machine, which will again be provided at the start of your adventure. You will start by planting wheat, which stands as the most basic type of crop in Farming Simulator 23 Mobile. Later on, you can experiment with 13 other types of crops, each with different growth times and market costs and prices.
Once the crops have matured, you will then be ready to harvest them using a harvester. Harvesters, like the tractor, can be equipped with different tools or headers but you will first be introduced to a grain header, which is most suitable to the task at hand. Just like cultivating and seeding, the seemingly simple feat of perfectly harvesting crops inch by inch can be challenging for newbies but with time and practice, you will naturally be able to handle it perfectly.
Finally, you get to be able to sell the harvested crops and you will need to attach a trailer to the tractor to easily transport the crops to the market. It will naturally happen that you will have more crops than what the trailer can carry at once but for purposes of familiarizing yourself with the most basic operational cycle, a single trip to and from the market is all it takes to accomplish the tutorial task at hand.
Once you make it back to the farm after earning your first income from sales, you will be lightly introduced to your livestock before the tutorial ends. You will now have access to the map as well as the host of menus that you should peek into and explore at your own time.
2. Keep A Specialization In Mind
Farming Simulator 23 Mobile grants you absolute freedom as far as how you want to grow your agricultural empire. Even with just sticking to the cycle that you go through during the tutorial session, you can still make progress over time. However, if you are inclined to become among the top farming tycoons in the game, then it is important to find a specialization to focus on.
A focused effort on one of the 3 available specializations in Farming Simulator 23 Mobile will make it easier for you to get accustomed to all the concepts and processes attributable to that specific field. More importantly, the resources and tools you will have to purchase will be more related to one another and be used more often.
The most basic and perhaps the specialization virtual farmers are mostly familiar with is agriculture. Given that the introductory tutorial session walks you through the basic agricultural cycle already means that taking this specialization on will be simpler and easier for complete beginners. While the idea of growing and harvesting crops does seem simple, Farming Simulator 23 Mobile provides a wide variety of crops, 14 in total, for you to master farming.
One obvious advantage is that you will start your adventure with a few pieces of machinery to enable you to start earning income through agriculture. If you are also the type of player who enjoys cycling through different sets of activities while limiting them within a specific field of specialization, then agriculture is also the top choice.
Just like entrepreneurial interests in real life, working around crops and greeneries may not be your thing, Farming Simulator 23 Mobile leaves plenty of activities to engage in as well if you want to focus on animal husbandry. You will start off having a few chickens on your farm but you can also purchase and care for cows, pigs, horses, and even sheep.
Within the animal husbandry specialization, you can further focus on either breeding animals, and directly selling them to the market, or you can choose to instead capitalize on the products that your livestock can produce. Although it is a step away from realism, it is a nice touch that your livestock cannot die in Farming Simulator 23 Mobile, even if you forget to feed them. The major drawback or penalty from neglect is that your livestock will simply not produce resources for you to sell.
Finally, a mostly unfamiliar venture you can also engage in Farming Simulator 23 Mobile is forestry, which capitalizes on harvesting wood from logs. This option will not be as diverse compared to the other 2 specializations and will tend to be the most challenging for beginners. The machinery you need to have to be able to sustain and prosper from this venture requires more skills and precision than the others and is also comparatively more expensive.
Considering that money, as well as other basic resources needed to properly and efficiently progress with either animal husbandry or forestry requires a starting source of income, we recommend going through the most basic activities yet revolving on agriculture. By this, we mean continuing with exploring the various types of grain crops and determining their uses relative to your ultimate goal in terms of specialization.
Farming Simulator 23 Mobile provides plenty of room and flexibility for you to learn as much as possible about everything there is to know about farming. There will be idle times within the production cycle where you can explore the help section and be better informed about the adventure itself as well as the basics surrounding every resource, machinery, and gameplay mechanics you need to be aware of.
Again, while Farming Simulator 23 Mobile is considered a casual game, it holds plenty of information that you need to know by heart, and diving into its world a little less often should prompt you to revisit the help guide and review the items you may have forgotten about. On the main screen, you can simply tap the question mark (?) icon at the upper right side of the screen to enter the help menu. From there, you can access a lot of information about practically everything you need to learn.
3. Familiarize Yourself With The Map
The 2 locations of Amberstone and Neubrunn in Farming Simulator 23 Mobile are completely new and, even for veteran players of the game’s numerous incarnations, it will take some time and exposure before you get yourself fully familiar with every important location on the map.
Just as you have finished browsing and reading through the extensive help topics in the game, it is now time to familiarize yourself with the different structures and locations within and around your agricultural empire. The map icon can be easily accessed via its icon just beside the help icon. You should spend as much time carefully and consciously within it as doing so will positively impact your operational efficiency.
While the initial look at the map littered with a variety of icons may be overwhelming, you will get accustomed to it with regular use, especially if you explore the various views and options available to you through this feature. There are 5 main views separated by the different icons or tabs at the upper left side of the map screen and, at several instances throughout your adventure, utilizing each of them as far as practicable will tremendously help you in planning your expansion as well as organizing your business operations.
The first tab, which is all about Field Status, will be especially helpful for beginners. This is essential for farmers who want to focus on agriculture and given that animal husbandry and forestry will also require you to undergo the basics of the journey that starts with agriculture, it becomes important to understand and utilize the valuable tools in the map that are at your disposal.
Field Status is divided into 3 categories: Crop Types, Growth, and Soil Composition. At some point in your progression as an agricultural farmer, you will be tending to several different crops at a time. As it is a constant challenge to remember where each of your crops specifically are, checking this section of the map will be more of a necessity in a more expansive agricultural empire.
As each crop has different growth and harvest times paired with the fact that each plot of land will have different cycles, the Growth section of the Field Status serves as your guide in identifying the current stage at which each field plot is. It may not seem much with your starting possessions that include only 3 plots of land but as you invest in expansions through more land purchases, this feature becomes more valuable.
The last tab, Soil Composition, focuses on the current coil conditions of each plot of land, enabling you to make more efficient decisions as to how you may want to tend to the open lots in your agricultural empire. Again, this feature will be especially convenient to have once you have started expanding your farms through additional lot purchases.
Farming Simulator 23 Mobile may require a lot of invested time and effort for you to be able to have everything. However, the starting cash, lots, vehicles and equipment provided to you are more than sufficient for you to quickly work on building your rural empire. You will be provided with 4 vehicles as well as 4 tools or attachments for some of these vehicles.
First off, you have a John Deere 4755 Tractor that you will be using not just on your farm but on your early travels to the market. Tractors are naturally the most basic farming vehicle to have although your starting one has limitations on power, making it necessary to purchase more expensive ones later on. You also have 2 Massey Ferguson MF 3670 Tractors that are perhaps the most basic ones in the game.
Finally, you will also be provided with your very own Deutz-Fahr Topliner 4090 HTS, which is a basic combine harvester that you will get to test out within the tutorial. As the vehicle type name implies, this is the vehicle you use for harvesting crops in your field. Basic attachments are provided to these farming vehicles, ensuring that you can plow, seed, and carry your harvested crops to the market.
Even with just 4 farming vehicles, it can be a bit of a challenge to keep tabs on where you left them from time to time, especially if you are multi-tasking across different fields and activities. Given that the number of farming vehicles and tools in your care will only increase as you make progress in your adventure, using the map to determine their exact location and utilizing it as a means to “fast travel” to any of them is important. You can highlight the name of any farming vehicle and tap on it to see what it looks like. Before or even after tapping, you can choose to instantly enter the vehicle through the button on the map screen.
The exclamation icon on the map menu contains the various points of interest or important locations that you will have to visit several times throughout your adventure. Some of these will be familiar to you from the get-go like the farmhouse, chicken pasture, and your grain silo as these are all within the initial set of properties you already own.
Aside from the location involved in buying and selling resources and equipment, there are numerous production facilities as well that further expand the varieties of products you can capitalize on as you expand your agricultural empire in Farming Simulator 23 Mobile. There is a bakery, a cereal factory, a grain mill, a dairy, and even a grape processing plant.
On the next tab, you can see all 17 fields available in Farming Simulator 23 Mobile. You will start with 3 and you will have to save for and purchase the rest. Each field has a different land area measured by hectares and the prices are proportionate to the size. As a recommendation, the best approach is to go for the cheapest first.
The last icon on the map screen lists the AI workers who are currently working for you. AI workers are convenient to have but naturally have their costs. AI workers can plow, seed, and harvest crops on the field but even compared to your speed as a beginner, they will still prove to be slower. Additionally, AI workers can also load and perform delivery services for you provided that they have the equipment necessary for the task at hand.
The contents of the map menu certainly leave you with plenty of additional information to keep in mind as you make progress in your adventure. It may take a while to make a habit out of consistently utilizing it as among the most important tools of your trade. While again, Farming Simulator 23 Mobile is designed to be a casual game, there is always an option to master as many of its most basic features if you want to efficiently boost your agricultural empire’s growth and expansion.
4. Make Use Of Other Sources Of Information
The Help Menu as well as the detailed Map that serves as your initial guides in Farming Simulator 23 Mobile may require some effort for players who may not be too fond of reading and studying. But for experienced gamers in the genre as well as farming game and sim game enthusiasts, learning as much as possible ahead to make subsequent endeavors more efficient and profitable comes just as naturally.
In addition to the volume of knowledge to be acquired from these features, Farming Simulator 23 Mobile provides additional sources of information to help you make better decisions on how to operate your farm. All these can be accessed through the main menu button at the upper right side of the main screen. The main menu screen is also where you can exit the game and save your progress before doing so. It also contains the help menu that we discussed earlier along with 9 other sub-menus to aid you further.
To start, the weather forecast can help you plan out your planting and harvesting schedules. Although rain is potentially what you may worry about, you can still harvest crops at half the usual yield when it is raining. While the added realism the changing weather and seasons bring is certainly something to appreciate, Farming Simulator 23 Mobile also provides a way to speed up and slow down time through the Timescale Option under Settings.
By default, the timescaling in Farming Simulator 23 Mobile is set to 60x but you can drop it down to 2x or amp it up to 90x as you wish. You can also choose to scale time with actual time by choosing the real-time option. You can freely tinker with this feature to make adjustments in reducing or extending waiting times as well as avoid dwelling too long on unfavorable weather conditions. There are also plenty of options you can adjust under the general settings menu, so feel free to explore it.
Although production will more likely be experienced at a later time in your adventure given that manufacturing products require more preparation of raw materials, this is where you want to peek into when you have items currently waiting in the production line. End products like flour, sugar, bread, cakes, fabric, and even raisins and grape juice can be created through production and this is where you can monitor their status.
Another important feature of Farming Simulator 23 Mobile is the prices that apprise you not only of the current costs and values of the different products but also of price fluctuations attributable to each of them. Although you can always income by continuously working on the farm, being keen on buying when prices are low and selling when prices are high is a way to maximize profitability.
To some extent, having a good understanding of trends relative to fluctuations and seasons can help you predict shifts in costs and selling prices in the future. Ultimately, this can help you strategize around the mix of crops to plant each step of the way or what business venture to get into next.
You can also view all the vehicles in your possession and the equipment you have purchased. The vehicle page will show you how long you have owned them, the length of time they have been used, and their current market value. You can also opt to sell some equipment on this page although we recommend considering this option only if you are in dire need of extra cash.
Even if you are not entirely focused on animal husbandry as a specialization the Animals page can give you a lot of details on your owned livestock. Their age, health, food supply, and level of productivity are shown on the page along with the total count per type of livestock that you have. For chickens as an example, you can monitor the number of eggs each one produces once they are 6 months or older.
While the Statistics page may only present you with trivial information that does not necessarily affect productivity and actual performance in terms of profits, the Finances page offers data that gauge the profitability of your separate ventures.
As easy as it is to understand the numbers, what is important here is that you are made aware of costs and expenses that you might not know exist in Farming Simulator 23 Mobile. Property maintenance costs and miscellaneous costs, as examples, may surprise you with a sudden reduction of your capital. Keep in mind that some costs are still incurred even if you stay idle month after month.
5. Invest Carefully
Provided that you have spent a decent amount of time tending to your farm, earning profits in Farming Simulator 23 Mobile can be as easy as it might initially seem. As your capital continues to grow, you would naturally want to reinvest it back into the business as keeping cash idle is never a recommended action in any business simulation venture. There is always the notion that the more you invest, the more you earn but that is expectedly not as simple in Farming Simulator 23 Mobile.
One of the main reasons why we considered having a specialization in mind early on is to help you plan well ahead of time what to pursue as your general goal. Each step of the way in your journey towards it, you can strategize better on how to go about reinvesting the money you have earned in line with your ultimate goal. Investing in Farming Simulator 23 Mobile is not like investments you make in idle games where simply going for the least expensive choice of purchase is the best way to go.
To ensure that the reinvested earnings yield the most favorable results, it becomes important for you to consider all the requirements of the next step of your plan. For example, if your chosen specialization is agriculture or if you see it as a stepping stone towards entering your preferred specialization, make sure that you have the necessary farming vehicles and all the required tools before expanding on crop types.
Keep in mind that some types of crops require specialized tools to plant and harvest and that the presence of more powerful and specialized vehicles and equipment exists because the starting ones you own have their set limitations.
Additionally, Farming Simulator 23 Mobile is not a type of business simulation game that encourages you to empty your funds. As much as idle cash would be frowned upon in most business games, you should keep in mind that a working capital in Farming Simulator 23 Mobile is necessary not just for the usual operating expenses but maintenance and variable costs attributable to most activities you engage in as well. It is a much better experience to start off having an excess of extra funds than to be in a situation where you cannot move forward due to a lack of available funds.
Farming Simulator 23 Mobile certainly holds plenty more to be discovered as you make progress in your agricultural adventure. We are confident that the simple tips and strategies we provided, coupled with just enough drive for you to regularly work on your farm, will suffice to lead a steady and sustainable growth and development for your agricultural empire. If you happen to be an experienced or veteran virtual farmer and have some additional knowledge to share, we hope to see some of your tips and strategies down in the comment area!