A lush green garden, lots of farm animals and endless hours of gameplay! Plantera is a farming simulator and clicking game that has generated a category of its own in the gaming universe since its release. Developed, released and marketed by VaragtP Studios AB, the game is a unique clicker which introduces all the elements of a great farming simulator along with enough content for those who have a flair for micro management. Plantera holds a respectable reputation and a dedicated fan following due to its presence on all the major gaming platforms including the oldest PC version. The current version of the game is available to download and play for free on iOS devices from the Apple iTunes App Store as well as on devices running Android through the Google Play Store. In addition players with Desktop Computers and Laptops can also join in the fun by downloading Plantera for 2.99$ from the Steam Store.
Plantera provides cute and attractive graphics and an almost infinite gameplay width in a small package size of only 98.7MB. The game is also regularly updated and has special events introduced by the developers. While playing Plantera, you will not have to worry about any bugs or glitches as the game has an active fan base which constantly reports such errors. The most recent update to Plantera occurred on November 21, 2016 and brought about small new features and more bug fixes from the previous versions. In addition to eye catching graphics and cute characters, the music in Plantera syncs perfectly with the actions of the player and provides a deep feeling of true to the core farming simulation.
The main concept of this game is very simple; grow as many crops as you can while keeping your plantation safe from predators and pests. You start off with a strange looking blue creature which is your primary farmer in the game. At the beginning, you have very few gold coins which are the main in- game currency so you can plant a small carrot growing patch only. However, the game gives out exponential rewards and soon after playing the game for around half an hour or so, you will be able to plant multiple fruit trees and crop plantations on your piece of land slowly turning your humble starting patch into a beautiful garden.
Plantera is a very friendly game and will make you feel at ease while playing but as with any other simulator you will have to work hard in order to benefit from your garden. Regardless of the welcoming atmosphere and the relaxing background music, the game will challenge you as your progress further and further introducing new predators and trouble makers to join into the foray of the creatures you must be wary of while playing Plantera. The learning curve for this game is very carefully adjusted to help even the newest of players make significant progress but if you want to really cement your name into the hall of honors, you will need some guidance. Follow the tips mentioned in this article and you will be able to succeed in making your garden a living representation of the hard work of a true farmer.
1. Click To Succeed
Plantera is a farming simulator but it is very much of a clicker title at its core. Put short, you can progress very fast to higher levels just by committing your fingers to simple clicking for an hour daily. If you do not like the idea of smacking your thumb across the screen of your smartphone, Plantera has many idle perks which you can use to ensure your idle production while the game is not active. However, if you rely on idle production only and ignore the clicking production altogether, you will be left with a very slow progress rate not to mention the excessive amount of coins that you will have to spend upon upgrading your idle resource perks.
Therefore, clicking once in a while is the best way to go in this game because unlike other primary clicker games, Plantera makes you focus more on paying attention to your garden rather than just mindless tapping on the screen. This enables you to link with your garden on a personal level until you care about the crops and fruit trees like a real farmer would. Not only this, but clicking in Plantera is made even more fun and engaging by the feature of predators and mischief makers like Moles, Magpies and Foxes which can be sent away if you are vigilant enough to spot and click on them. This guarding of your garden comes with great rewards in the form of extra coins when you click on the predators and of course with the obvious benefit of your plants being safe and healthy.
Progressing to a respectable idle production also requires a dedicated clicking response from the start of the game as idler features like the scarecrow and guard dog are quite expensive and you will only be able to purchase them once you have amassed enough coins by good old clicking on the screen of your smartphone. You need not worry about the production that comes from the plantations in your garden because your farmers will auto harvest them but you will have to pay attention to the fruit trees because the little blue farmers are not tall enough to reach them. For the fruits, you will have to click on them when you think they are of a ripe color and this feature brings a great learning experience for the players because you will have to practice your clicking timing to coordinate with the ripening of the fruits. Therefore if you have an interest in farming and gardening which is why you probably downloaded Plantera in the first place, you will keep on clicking and clicking until your garden becomes a wonder for all farmers to behold and praise upon.
2. Divide Your Land
Plantera is a farming simulator and as such the game expects you to take on the role of a real farmer for which you will also need to think like a real farmer would think about the land that he has available. When you begin the game, it appears to the casual player that a huge patch of land is available and it might never run out. However to the serious farmer, that land is still too small and in order to make sure that your farm is producing the best yield of crops and fruits you will need to divide the land according to your style of play.
In the previous tip we discussed the two main styles of gameplay that players tend to follow. If you are one of the idlers, it is suggested to plant as many crop fields as possible and a small number of fruit trees just for the look of a garden. Fruit trees are not viable for the idle style of play because they require you to pay attention to the ripening and are dependent upon seasons among other factors. Crops are self- harvested by your little blue farmers so you can just log in to check how the production is going and plant more crops as needed if you have the coins available for it. In the case of an idle player, the ideal land division would be 3:1 which means that you would approximately keep a third of your screen space for fruit trees while giving all other space to carrot and turnip fields. Keep in mind that crop plantations take up more space than trees and have a lower produce rate so you should replace lower yield crops with higher yield crops whenever you have the coins available to do so. This replacement operation can be easily performed through the trash feature in Plantera using which you can delete any patch that is unwanted. After clearing up space just follow the basic planting procedure to get a brand new crop patch with an increased yield.
On the other hand, if you are a really passionate farmer with time to spare and energy to donate towards many hours of clicking, there are many more options for you to choose from. The land division for an active clicker is based upon the total number of hours that you are willing to dedicate towards the game during the course of a day. For example if you can spare around 2 to 3 hours a day for Plantera, the ideal land division for you would be half crops and half fruit trees. Giving half the land to fruit trees is more efficient because trees take up much less width than crop patches which means you can plant nearly twice as many trees in the same land space as taken up by the crops like carrots and turnips. However, giving up all the land to fruit trees is definitely not recommended because that will cause you to become too addicted to this game and could result in possible adverse effects on you and your social interactions not to mention the rest your body needs. Therefore the ideal land division hits the sweet spot for clicker farmers when you leave just enough space for two crop patches and rest of the space for fruit trees. This division will ensure that you are able to satisfy your clicking impulses and produce enough coins while you sleep peacefully in preparation for the hard work of another clicking day.
3. Farm Helpers and Destroyers
Plantera is a farming simulator that teaches you about the different scenarios that real farmers have to deal with every day in their lives. Farming seems to be the most relaxing and quite job in the world but what most players fail to realize is the dependence of successful farming produce upon factors controlled by nature. Plantera also introduces these natural factors into the game to make the gameplay more interesting and relatable to real farming. Just as you would expect on a real farm, your crops are prone to attack by pests and all sort of creatures ranging from moles to the most dangerous foxes. Plantera gives you control of your farm land by providing you the option to use farm helping creatures on your land which perform many diverse functions including protecting your precious crops from mischief makers and predators. Let’s have a look at which creatures you should keep on your side for the best possible farming experience and the trouble makers who you need to be wary of.
Chief among the farm helpers are of course creatures from the tribe of your main character. When you reach level 4, you will notice that another strange blue farmer becomes available for purchase against gold coins that you have available in your balance. Add this to your farm and you will have another helper who will be working alongside the first creature on your farm. This little blue guy will help your first farmer by collecting crops faster from the plantations and ultimately lead to an overall increase in your idle gold coin production. It should be noted that adding the blue farmers beyond 3 on a single farm decreases the total efficiency of the farm because they will be more prone to predator attacks as you progress to higher levels. Therefore it would be much more productive if you invest your precious gold coins in purchasing other farm animals and keep an ideal number of 3 blue farmers per farm only.
Another great helper for your farm is the occasional butterfly that starts to flutter around your plantation patches. Don’t be afraid of these because they will start to glow after some time and once you click on them you will receive 1 gold coin. This coin boost comes in very handy when you have planted lots of fruit trees because the butterflies are attracted to the fruit and will come in hoards to flutter around the trees. Just spam click on them and you will have collected around 50 to 100 gold in no time. When you reach level 5, a small red ladybug will also start to appear although this will be much rare than the butterflies. You can click on the ladybug to receive coins as well.
Some farm animals in Plantera can help increase the crop yield from your farm. The cows and pigs are examples of this. The cow when left to feed on your farm will consume some crops but will in turn produce manure which is an excellent booster for the growth of your crops. Purchasing a cow might feel expensive at first but you can be assured that it will definitely pay off in the long run. Similarly, pigs can till the ground for you, making the fields much more fertile and giving your crop yield a boost. Pigs are not much use for fruit trees however so double check your field division before purchasing one.
Moving on to the destructive category, we have the mole as the first creature to disturb your otherwise relaxing progress. This critter will pop in and out of your fields and you have to click on him to make him disappear back underground. Unlike the other critters, the mole is the only trouble maker in the game that cannot be dealt with using a guard dog and will require you to be present and clicking. It doesn’t do any damage to your farmers though so you need not be too concerned about this critter. Next we have the chasers. These mischief makers come in increasing difficulties as you progress to higher levels and are the ones you should definitely be worried about. The bunny comes at early levels and steals your crops and fruits. So does the magpie which swoops in from the skies. Both of these thieves are quite easy to handle and you can install a scarecrow in the field to ward off any magpies from coming near your precious crops. You can also send the bunny scurrying off with one click. However it is NOT recommended to install a guard dog so early in the game just to combat the bunny and magpies. This is because you will need the 1000 coins it takes to purchase a guard dog for building and expanding your farmland.
The Hunters are the elite predators in Plantera and can make your farmer’s life a living hell. The fox is a moderate hunter which you can deal with using 3 taps on the head but if left unnoticed, the fox will proceed to chase all your farmers around the field leading to no crops being harvested and a huge decrease in the overall yield from your farm. The Wolf is an upgraded version that cannot be tapped away as easily as the fox and it is recommended to purchase a guard dog at this stage to help scare all kinds of predators away from your field. If left unchecked the wolf can eat your farmers as well and you do not want to waste all your hard work in exchange for a lazy nap without installing a guard dog on your farm first.