Hay Day +4

I’ve been playing this game for over 5 years and even if I don’t play consistently, I always find my way back. (I’m Level 46) This game reminds me so much of the OG Facebook FarmVille game and I love it. Btw the crops do not wither away on this game! ;) this is not a pay to win game in my opinion, I’ve spend maybe $50 in diamonds in all my years of playing just because I wanted to, not because I had to to advance levels. Of course most of the decorations/houses/trucks that you can buy to make your farm look unique are for diamonds but it’s not necessary. I haven’t noticed many glitches when I’m playing, so I think the dev team is pretty quick at fixing issues. One complaint I have is I wish it was easier to be able to expand my farm. You have to collect SO many different items to get more space. 🫠 and that getting the colored tickets was a bit easier. All the extra animals like cats, dogs, and horses all cost a certain amount of tickets to get them roaming around on your farm. I’d also mention that I don’t like how the storage is set up, like I have so many different decorations/fencing that it’s hard to see what I have because you have to go through the store tab. Not big complaints but they do bug me.
But overall, this game is fun, once your high enough level it will keep you very busy!

I have had this game for over 2 years on and off. Overall I enjoy the game, there are plenty of individual tasks as well as “derby” or group tasks to accomplish with other online players. The game is updated regularly and during the holidays special tasks/in-game activities occur, which is a fun touch! My rating is 4/5 stars for the sole fact there are a couple of “improvements” I would love to see within the game: 1. An option to lock/close the farm store front to sell items to fellow farmers in our neighborhood. Sometimes we are not online at the same time and would like to sell specific items to another to help them out and although I don’t advertise these items in the newsletter, other farmers still intercept and purchase the items before my fellow farmers can. 2. The gift catalogue where we can purchase a package with tickets we have earned from helping other farmers outright makes me mad!! Although it shows potential items and then the possibility of a random item, it is ALWAYS a random item! If it is going to be random, just advertise it as such, not as a potential to get an item you would like, but never receive! 3. If a farm needs help/the advertisement is shown in the newspaper, it should only be shown if it isn’t an option for the neighborhood to fill. It is so frustrating having the “help” derby task and wasting time visiting a farm to only find out you cannot help/fill orders since it is only for neighbors to fill.

I have enjoyed this game for years. The obvious greed of the developers in the last several months is the reason I am reducing my rating. They are withholding previous deals to purchase the diamonds necessary to play at a high level, where hiring Tom and being able to speed up tasks require diamonds. They added a $4.99 per month feature that gives good benefit, but adds $60 to my annual expense. I used to be able to spend $70 to purchase 4000 diamonds twice a year, bringing my annual cost to $200. Now, I am not seeing the $70 offer.

In the Valley, they are making it impossible to complete all the tasks by not having needed resources available without paying diamonds to allow more movement. I settle for not finishing all tasks everyday. This session, my team may not make the requirements to gain benefits at the end due to lack of “chickens” to capture. An Easter production feature that is short-lived would require 20 plus diamonds to be more useful. There are increasingly frequent offers that would take more money now. All very off-putting and making me think of leaving the game.

Benefits of the game for me are the social interaction with teammates, interesting challenges to manage production and resources to maximize outcomes, and the beautiful graphics. I am 82 years old and able to play off and on during the day which makes achieving goals doable. I believe the mental effort I must expend keeps my mind sharp. I am a CoLeader on my team.