Xbox Series X|S Review Key Provided By Skyhook Games
When I first heard about Skyhook Games’ Lawn Mowing Simulator, I knew that it had to be experienced to be believed. A game where you just mow lawns? I had to see it for myself. What started out as pure curiosity bloomed into actual enjoyment. Lawn Mowing Sim is exactly the type of game you’d play if you can’t go outside or if you just want to sit back and think.
Gameplay
Just like its real-life counterpart, Lawn Mowing Sim allows you to drive lawn mowers around and just cut grass. Sure, there’s a bit more to it than that, but at the end of the day, this is what the game is. I’m happy that while it is a game, it perfectly simulated the fun aspects of mowing a lawn as well as the irritating points like figuring out what strategy to take or hitting objects.
There is a bevy of different types of mowers to choose from as well as there being different brands too. In addition to that, you can even add attachments to some of them that will allow you to get even more work done. Driving around and cutting grass was pretty serene. You sit back, mow, and just ponder your own thoughts.
Cutting the actual grass is pretty satisfying itself as you can manage different cut heights and carve your own paths around the British landscapes. There’s a great difference between one location to another that you can mow and each offer their own obstacles, giving them a set difficulty.
The mowers all have different speeds and deck sizes too which will leave you to make the choice of what you think will work best for a specific property. Controls for the mowers are very smooth and it becomes an art form when you’re getting used to your mower and how it handles.
Getting ready to mow is a project in itself, as you’ll want to clear the area of any debris or get your mower fixed up and gassed before starting it up. There are enough extra steps to take that make it feel real enough without making it too much of a nuisance.
There are three different modes that you’re given to play around with within Lawn Mowing Sim, Career Mode, Free Mode, and Challenge Mode. Free Mode allows you to choose from your acquired mowers and lets you just mow. Challenge Mode is exactly how it sounds; you mow lawns and watch out for the mission’s obstacles.
I’d say my favorite mode was Career though because it shows you how much you can do in the game. Besides everything I’ve already talked about, you can also create your own business, expand your HQ, hire employees, train them, and place them on jobs of their own. It goes from being just mowing lawns to growing your own lawn mowing empire.
Visuals and Audio
The visual aspects can be hit or miss. The grass and mowers look great but I found everything else ho-hum. There’s just a generic vibe to the whole thing, in my opinion. The audio is great as the mowers are extremely loud and powerful. There isn’t too much more you’re really going to hear besides them.
Replayability
I’d say that Lawn Mowing Sim has a lot of replayability in it. It’s just like mowing your lawn. If you’re someone who enjoys doing it, it becomes a weekly thing. If you’re someone who doesn’t, maybe you just hire someone else to do it. This is a game for lawn mowing enthusiasts and they’re most likely going to want to play this fairly often.
What It Could Have Done Better
I had some issues with frames almost coming to a halt. This mainly seems to happen when you clear debris from the yards. I’m not sure if it’s because these parts of the game are handled in first-person or not but it happens just about every time.
While I enjoyed playing the game, I never really felt like it really ever grabbed my attention for too long. I would play in bursts because as the levels get harder, they get longer too. You really can only play one or so in a sitting due to the fact that there are many that take over 30 minutes to complete.
Verdict
As I said, Lawn Mowing Simulator is a game for people that like to or have aspired to mow lawns. It’s a title that’s gameplay is spot on and accomplishes exactly what it needed to in order to mirror the real thing. I love the idea of it and the fact that it exists. It’s a unique game, to say the least. But if you aren’t someone head-over-heels for mowing lawns, your mileage may vary.
