Tillow

Tillow is an isometric farm builder. A river valley lies overgrown in front of you, and you turn it into your farm one piece at a time. You clear, plough, sow and harvest, until the first workers arrive and take the chores off your hands. You see your progress whenever you look across the valley.

From wild grass to wheat

In the beginning you pull every tuft of grass yourself. The wild grass buys you your first crop, wheat, and a little later you hire your first worker. From then on the farm runs. Fields join into groups that keep their sowing plan, workers sow and harvest, the harvest goes straight to your barn, and the market sells whatever you do not want to keep. You decide what grows next, and where.

At the edge of your screen

Tillow does not have to fill your screen. Switch to bar mode and the game becomes a narrow bar at the edge of your desktop, at the bottom, top, left or right, wherever you drag it. The farm keeps working there while you do, and nothing steals your attention. When you glance at it, you can tell at once whether there is something to do or to decide. Leave the bar open for a few hours and months have passed on the farm. When you have time again, pull the bar open and you are back in full screen.

Three farms, three valleys

Each farm sits in a valley of its own, with its own climate and its own character. You start in the floodplain, between half-timbered houses and mixed forest. The olive hill is warmer and Mediterranean, with vines and olives. The moor farm is cool and peaty, built from natural stone, with room for the herds. All three run at the same time, share one purse and one research tree, and ship goods to each other.

What grows, and what it becomes

Grain and vegetables, orchards and vines, each with its own window in the year. Cows, sheep, pigs and poultry out on the pasture, raising their young. From what the farm gives you, you make more: flour, cheese, honey, spirits, and wine that matures in the barrel cellar and carries its vintage year. All of it opens up through research, and some of it you only come across out in the valley.

Four seasons

In spring the seed comes up and the treetops blossom. In summer the fields stand full, and cloud shadows drift across the valley. In autumn the leaves turn, and the grape harvest begins. In winter there is snow on the roofs and ice on the river, and you build and research. Whatever you leave standing in autumn goes to seed and comes back next year.