the-farmer-was-replaced game sourced
The Farmer Was Replaced
A programming game in which the player writes Python-like code for a farming drone on a grid farm, where every operation costs simulated ticks, and harvests crops to buy unlocks for language features, farm size, more drones, and new crops.
core loop
write a drone program -> execute it on the farm grid -> plant, water, and harvest crops -> spend harvests on unlocks -> new language features and crops change what code is worth writing -> optimize for speed and leaderboard times
design notes
The Farmer Was Replaced teaches programming by making farm labor too slow to do any other way: the drone does nothing unless code tells it to, and the language itself is unlocked piecemeal (loops, variables, functions, lists, dictionaries) with farm expansion and new crops. Execution is metered in simulated ticks rather than real CPU: literals and assignment are free, arithmetic and getters cost 1 tick, and a successful move() costs 200, so optimization means reducing drone actions more than reducing statements. Crops add algorithmic puzzles: polyculture companions requested within three moves multiply yield, harvesting the sunflower with the most petals (out of at least ten) gives eight times the power that doubles drone speed, and mazes and dinosaurs need search-style code. Leaderboards run the player's program as fixed-start simulations totaling at least two hours and score the average time. Code lives in .py files that external editors can edit.
relations
6 stored edgesCrop cultivation
Grass, bushes, trees, carrots, pumpkins, cactus, and sunflowers are planted, grown, and harvested by the drone, with Watering and Fertilizer unlocks that act on growth.
Player programming
A Python-like language stored in .py files drives the drone; every operation has a tick cost (arithmetic 1, a successful move 200, a failed action 1) that scales with the speed factor, and Megafarm adds more drones.
Tech tree
Harvested resources buy unlocks with prerequisites, including farm expansion, speed, loops, variables, functions, lists, dictionaries, polyculture, mazes, dinosaurs, and the leaderboard.
Adjacency scoring
Under polyculture, grass, bushes, trees, and carrots request a different companion plant on a tile within three moves, found with get_companion(); planting it multiplies yield, 5x before upgrades and doubling per upgrade.
Design performance rating
Leaderboards run the player's program from fixed starts until a resource target is met, repeated to at least two hours, and score the average completion time.
Execution budget
Every operation costs simulated ticks (arithmetic 1, a successful move() 200, a failed action 1), so optimizing means cutting drone actions more than statements.
backlinks
computed from other recordsclaims
1 with sourcesEarly access began on 2023-02-10, and version 1.0 released on 2025-10-10 with multiple drones and a revamped tech tree, published by Metaroot.
src-steam-2026-the-farmer-was-replaced, src-gamesmarket-2025-the-farmer-was-replaced-1-0