When we got the Oculus Quest, I was very excited to try out a number of games! One of them was Morels: Homestead, a realistic farming game that has you transforming an empty plot of land into a glorious farm!
I have tried to get into Morels: Homestead several times, to explore my land and make something of it, but each time I have just ended the game feeling queasy. I have played several VR Games without feeling sick, so I am not sure if it is just something about this game, or if it’s just me.
When you start off the game, you can pick your hand style and pick from a bunch of different farms. Then, the game introduces a tutorial consisting of large billboards, walking you through how to do things, with more detailed instructions on the watch on your left hand. I found these instructions really hard to follow. Each time, the game would tell me to grab an item from the shop or inventory, and place it, using the grips. I would grab the item, and it would grow in size, going over me. I would then have no way to put it down or move away from it.
Eventually, I was able to place a tent and sort of place a gardening plot, but I couldn’t figure out how to use a shovel to actually garden in my slot. And, the whole time, I sort of darted around the area, feeling more and more sick as time went on. I often find myself just unable to place items and not understanding what the game wants from me. What should have been a fun sandbox game that allows exploration and world building, for me, has been more of a headache.
With that said, it does sound like quite a few people were able to play and enjoy the game — especially when you see the reviews on the game’s page, but some had a similar struggle. For now, I am going to have to stop my time with Morels: Homestead. I attempted to review this on the Meta Quest, I’m not sure if the issues are specific to that device or beyond, but hope to return to Morels once a patch has been issued to fix it.
You can find Morels: Homestead on the Meta Quest store.
