Rilakkuma Farm is the most kawaii farm game I’ve ever played. Its existence is raising the bar for the degree of cuteness I want out of not only farm games, but game apps in general.
Rilakkuma is a cute bear character whose name combines 2 Japanese words: “relax” (rila) and “bear” (kuma). The official San-X site for Rilakkuma says his name means “bear in a relaxed mood.” According to the Rilakkuma Wikipedia, Aki Kondo is the creator of Rilakkuma, but San-X launched the character in 2003. Since then, Rilakkuma has been taking the world/internet by storm, so it’s no surprise that I noticed this lazy yet chill bear popping up in kawaii internet graphics every now and then. Nonetheless, I didn’t start getting into the Rilakkuma universe until I started watching Rilakkuma and Kaoru, a stop-motion animation series you’ll find in the anime section on Netflix. The verdict became clear within the first episode: Rilakkuma and Kaoru is so cute and sweet, you risk getting cavities every time you watch it. Once I found out about Rilakkuma Farm, a farm game app created by Imagineer and San-X, I was eager to immerse myself in Rilakkuma’s kawaii world once again.
However, I had my doubts. You see, I’m not what you’d consider a hardcore gamer. While I do play video games, I’m not good at most of them. Because I can’t always complete the games I play, I miss out on experiencing many game worlds in their entirety. Plus, I experimented with FarmVille in the past and was disappointed because it didn’t live up to the expectations I had from playing Harvest Moon 64. Little did I realize, Rilakkuma Farm has an abundance of something that other farm game apps lack: An abundance of cuteness!
Rilakkuma Farm comes with an entire backstory. Rilakkuma and his best friends decide to take up a farm for the purpose of making delicious treats and foods. These friends include Korillakuma, a gender-neutral bear whose name means “Little Rilakkuma” in Japanese, and Kiiroitori, a little bird character whose name means “Yellow Bird” in Japanese. As you level up in the game, a cute bear named Chairoikoguma eventually appears. According to the Chairoikoguma Fandom Wiki, his name either means “little bear” or “a brown bear cub” in Japanese. These adorable characters wander the farm freely as you harvest digital crops, wait for cows to produce milk, and take care of your farm business. Once you plant more seeds, the characters appear and tend to the dirt plot(s) you’ve planted on. In other words, you just kick back, make some swipe motions, and then the characters take care of the rest. As you progress, you get to open up shops like the Sweet Shop, Patisserie, Bakery, and more while completing “orders” in exchange for presents.
While you play, cheery music plays in the background, reminding you that you’ve truly entered a kawaii dimension. Personally, I enjoy playing this game in the morning because the music perks me up. The music makes the game’s atmosphere feel more immersive. However, you can easily turn it off and play the game in silence. Either way, the game is still very enjoyable.
The kawaii characters and atmosphere in Rilakkuma Farm are enough to make it superior to the other farm games I’ve played. The help I get from the characters in Rilakkuma Farm is far cuter than any character action I ever witnessed while playing FarmVille. Yes, I enjoyed wooing women in Harvest Moon 64 (I am #TeamPotpourri), but all of those video game girls combined still aren’t as cute as the characters in the Rilakkuma universe are. Also, I had to play a boy to interact with the Harvest Moon girls instead of being able to interact with them as a woman or non-binary person.
In Rilakkuma Farm, I don’t need a be an on-screen character to interact with the others. They’re easy to engage with. For example, if I want all of the characters to sit around a table, all I have to do is press on each seat until the characters appear on them. It’s a #photoopportunity and a mood. My other favorite thing to do is click on these fancy slides I bought and watch 2 characters slide down them. It never stops being cute to me.
Rilakkuma Farm also gives me all the satisfaction of pretending to be a queer farmer who exists in a completely kawaii universe. As I mentioned earlier, Korilakkuma is gender-neutral/non-binary. That makes 2 of us! This means my farm is here, queer, and ready to make crops reappear. What could be cuter than that?
Overall, I think this game has increased the standard of cuteness for farm games of all kinds and I’m here for it. Even other mobile farm game apps combined can’t compete with the cuteness that’s contained in this app alone. Until I see another farm game with an equivalent level of cuteness, I have to think that Rilakkuma Farm is the cutest it gets as far as farm games go. In fact, it’s that same cuteness that makes this game far more relaxing to me than other farm games I’ve played. If I’m not careful, this game will have me glued to my iPhone!
Start swiping in Rilakkuma’s favor: Download Rilakkuma Farm for free at the Apple app store or the Google Play store. Keep in mind that there are in-game purchases available. Fortunately, it’s very possible to enjoy and progress in the game without buying anything with real cash. That’s how you know that Rilakkuma will be your cute farm friend no matter what.
By the way, feel free to like and follow me through my ID number (546-866-064) in the game! I’ll try to do the same back to you as well. 🙂
Ghia Vitale is a guest contributor. Ghia’s work is primarily featured at Quail Bell Magazine.
