A new farming simulator named Ancient Farm has been officially announced and in addition, it will be released on Steam on January 8, 2026. The game is set in Ancient Egypt with a distinct feature of prohibition on the use of modern tools and machines that would compel the players to depend on their sweat and toil alone to turn their farm into a flourishing estate. The post by Pirat_Nation has made people in the gaming community discuss the niche characteristic and the historical accuracy of such a simulator.
In a nutshell, farming simulators have come to be everywhere, right? Like, the choice is yours – Stardew Valley, Farming Simulator, etc. But what if… you had no tractor? I’m not joking. Remove it. After that, get rid of the harvester. The irrigation system. Everything. What is left is… you? And possibly a stick? To a large extent, that is what the new game Ancient Farm is about, like what if you got a time machine but it only took you to the era of Farm Simulator and it was broken so you were there. Farming. Only with your hands.
The announcement from Pirat_Nation has already generated some interesting reactions to the trailer and the date. It is the kind of announcement transforming into “wait, who wanted this?” and then immediately into “okay but I’m kinda curious tho.” A gamer, Hazama Itsuru, even said that they have “been longing for farming games set before the tractor era.” I guess there is a market for it! A super niche, quite possibly masochistic market, but a market, nevertheless.
But then the chaos begins because after all, this is the internet. The main point in the replies is… slavery. Yes, you read that right. One user “Dindunuphen” strongly criticized the game’s concept: “Ancient Egyptians didn’t do a lot of manual labor. That’s what slaves were for. I don’t play games set in Ancient Egypt that make me be a slave.” Another, Ryan McFrenlord, asked very bluntly, “Can I use slaves to do the work?” which is so wrong on so many levels. It surely brings up an awkward and uncomfortable issue regarding the game’s period and its treatment of… labor relations. Is your farmer a nobleman? A peasant? Or are we just going to turn a blind eye to that whole period of history? The devs have made it unclear and now I can’t help but wonder about it.
Moreover, the realism police come into the picture. Thetic commented, “Lmao, it has ancient Egypt, but it only shows it as a desert. It was a much more fertile land back then.” Good point! The trailer does portray rather sandy landscapes. Perhaps the fertile black soil of the Nile floodplain is the endgame content, and you have to unlock it by offering sacrifices to Osiris or something. And FrostzMonkey raised the important question, “Do we get the right to call the aliens for help, just as the Egyptians did?” Well, if we’re after historical accuracy…
The people’s inability to understand the concept of a manual labor simulator is the second biggest title in replies. User offmylawn aptly put it: “what kind of sadist fires up a game to perform menial manual labor tasks.” Exactly?? After a long and tiresome day, you… are virtually digging channels for irrigation? Priv8Code shared a GIF of a man looking incredibly unimpressed and added the text “every pc gamer when this releases.” That is the mood. AtxDonut quipped, “We’ve got yard work at home that needs to be done,” which is exactly what I think my dad would say if he saw me playing this game.
Then comes the connection with the developer! A user by the name of Herrgottzack (kijochi) took part in the discussion to provide the direct link on Steam for the lazy ones, which is always a brilliant tactic. Another user, Enoch, even said that he found out about the game today and that “the idea is solid” very much that he even replying to the developers directly. Thus, the developer will be very close to the community, that’s great he will be interactive that way. Enoch also asked if they are still working on it, which is a legitimate question for a game slated for a January release.
Oh, and ReRTAT43 mentioned Playway S.A., the Polish publisher that is always behind the overwhelming number of budget simulators on Steam; it’s like an avalanche; you name the occupation that was or is being done, and you will find a simulator for it. Could this be one of theirs? The tweet does not say so, but it definitely is in their style. They have simulators for everything from plumbing to bus driving. Ancient Egyptian farmer was probably just the next point on their list to conquer.
