Weedcraft Inc [Xbox]
Developed by Vile Monarch, Weedcraft Inc is a sales and manufacturing sim where you grow weed and sell it to various patrons, in the aims of making a profitable business venture and rise to the top of a very competitive market. Three different scenarios that alter the gameplay as well as the difficulty are available to play: Growing Up, Highs and Laws, and Heat Wave - with the first being Basic, and the latter two deemed as Advanced.
The storyline of each is different, with Growing Up taking place in a grassroots business start-up, with two brothers combining their knowledge of business and bud to gain some money after their father’s death, selling to the local jocks and bums before moving up into the big(ger) leagues. This is definitely the best one to start off with as a newbie, learning the ropes and getting to grips with all of the ins and outs of this budding industry. You’ll learn how to create new strains, and what each potential buyer is looking for in terms of quality and price so that you can tailor the batches you grow to gain the most profit.
Once you’ve completed the first scenario (which will take you a good few hours), moving on to ‘Highs and Laws’, the second of three, puts you in the role of a man recently released from prison for dealing, who is looking to get right back into it. And finally, Heat Wave tells the tale of a marijuana-farming family, with you having recently come into possession of the farm and the massive business it is already involved in. Each of these offer more complex gameplay, which is great for if you’re looking for a bit more challenge. Whichever mode you play, you can choose the morality of your run based on decisions you’ll make as you progress, with some options allowing you to kinda toe the line legality-wise (as much as you can), with others allowing you to just do whatever you want and face the repercussions.
Growing bountiful harvests is key, with a blossoming business needing you to focus a lot on the care of your crop. Plant quality can be affected by a variety of things, such as the climate as well as your equipment, and how well you tend to your plants. You can cultivate your own strains, and once you get sufficiently far into the game - it does begin to feel more enjoyable. Alternate game modes also delve into the politics of weed too, which can be an interesting change to things aside from just growing the good ol’ Devil’s Lettuce.
Despite being a somewhat divisive subject matter, Weedcraft Inc covers it well. Looking at differences between laws on licensing, with Recreational and Medical use being legal in some Cities, and it being completely illegal in others - but still having some awareness on individuals’ viewpoints too, with the local level police sometimes being more willing to turn a blind eye to your operations due to their own views, than the likes of the government bodies that are involved at various stages of the game.
It has a very comic-book-esque look to it, which works really well given that you are just switching back and forward between screens. It is very UI heavy however, which can make it feel quite overwhelming - especially when you’re already having to put in a lot of effort to learn everything. This is probably emphasised by playing on console due to the controls making it feel extremely clunky - I can imagine that playing on PC with a mouse will make it feel a bit less so. The soundtrack consists of catchy reggae beats that are fantastic and keep it from feeling too stale; a common-side effect of intense sim games.
Overall, Weedcraft Inc is a game that needs you to invest a decent chunk of time into to be able to fully appreciate. The first hour or so can feel a little off-putting to those looking for a more chilled out kinda game, as the huge number of in-game menus, different tasks and complex layout of everything takes a fair bit of learning. There’s a Custom Game mode that allows you to tweak things to how you would like, which means you can have a more relaxing time with it (or even more challenge) - though you might want to leave this until you’re familiar with it all. If this all sounds like something you’d like to get stuck Indica, you can pick up Weedcraft Inc on Xbox for £20.99.
In the end, we decided to give Weedcraft Inc the Collecting Asylum rating of 7/10.
Are you interested in Weedcraft Inc? What do you think of it?
Let us know in the comments below!
- V x
Thank you to Klabater for the Weedcraft Inc review code!
