Pocket Pastures

Inspiration

I wanted to build a simple farm-management game, and the competition’s Simulation & Management category was a great opportunity to turn that idea into a playable prototype. My goal was to create an approachable farming experience with satisfying progression and clear visual growth.

What it does

Pocket Pastures is a portrait-oriented farming game where players plant, water, and harvest crops, then decide whether to sell their produce or reinvest it. As players earn money, they unlock new crops, Quick Plant, Chicken Coops, and Cow Pens.

How we built it

Pocket Pastures was created through an iterative AI-assisted development process. I directed the AI using detailed prompts, tested each version, and provided specific feedback about gameplay, balancing, visuals, mobile controls, and interface design. The game uses Three.js, JavaScript, and HTML5. Its crops, animals, buildings, animations, and environment are rendered with procedural low-poly 3D graphics. The final build is self-contained, works offline, and includes locally bundled audio.

Challenges we ran into

The biggest challenge was polishing many interconnected systems so the game remained intuitive on mobile while also satisfying the competition’s offline and packaging requirements. Mobile playtesting revealed issues involving camera movement, zoom limits, small interaction targets, building placement, and menu visibility. Repeated testing and refinement helped make these systems easier to understand and use. Balancing the economy and milestone progression was another challenge. Rewards needed to arrive frequently enough to keep players engaged while still making each unlock feel earned.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

I am especially proud of the core farming loop and the crop visuals. Crops visibly develop through multiple growth stages, require watering before growth begins, and provide clear feedback when they are ready to harvest. I am also proud that the prototype grew into a complete management loop with meaningful decisions, milestone unlocks, animal production, land expansion, offline progression, sound, and mobile-focused controls.

What we learned

I learned how to direct AI more effectively during development. Clear requirements, focused feedback, concrete examples, and frequent playtesting produced much better results than broad instructions alone. I also learned how important it is to test on the device the game is designed for. Several interactions that felt comfortable on a computer needed significant adjustments before they worked well on a phone.

What's next for Pocket Pastures

Future versions could add more crops, animals, buildings, upgrades, and long-term milestones. I would also like to expand the animal-feeding system and introduce more choices about how players invest their harvests. Additional buildings could support deeper production chains, while new land types, decorations, and progression systems could give every farm a more personal identity.