This Stardew Valley-like farming sim plays at the bottom of your screen so you work and play at the same time

Rusty's Retirement
(Image credit: Mister Morris Games)

Stardew Valley and Animal Crossing are among some of the best choices out there if you're looking for a game to get swept up in for hours at a time. But, if you're a fan of management sims and a multitasker as well, this upcoming farming sim will likely pique your interest. 

Developed by Mister Morris Games, Rusty's Retirement is an idle-farming simulation game that runs at the bottom of your gaming monitor, allowing you to focus on other tasks like working while you tend to your crops.

Set to release in Q1 2024 on Steam, the idle sim puts you in the shoes of a wholesome robot as you grow crops and use them to produce clean and energy-efficient biofuel. Having gathered this "vital robot power source," you'll then need to sell your harvest to the other machine inhabitants of your settlement. This, in turn, will let you reinvest the money into expanding your farm.

If you're a terrible procrastinator (like me) this might not sound like your cup of tea, but Rusty's Retirement is described as a zen experience that features automated robots that you can deploy, assisting you with planting, watering, and harvesting; all so you're won't get distracted constantly while doing other things. 

From the Steam page, it looks like, if you've got a dual monitor set-up, you'll be able to extend the game across both screens and zoom out for an expansive view of your farm. 

The zoom feature aims to make the game less distracting on your desktop. Alternatively, you can look closer in order to manage your crops more accurately, or you can use a 'Focus Mode' which slows down crop production altogether.

Mister Morris Games recently developed and published Haiku, the Robot, an adorable exploration game set in a world of corrupt robots and machinery; a running theme as can be seen with the upcoming release of Rusty's Retirement. 

If you're looking for some last-minute Black Friday offers, be sure to check out our guide to the best Black Friday gaming deals, along with our picks for the best Cyber Monday video game deals.

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