Although it is not quite as intense as other games, Giants Software’s Farming Simulator 22 is the type of management game that will still tickle a part of the player’s brain in a more unassuming fashion.

Released on Nov. 21, FS22 is the latest addition to a franchise that is best known for its simplicity and replayability.

What this installment brings to the table is dynamic gameplay, updated graphics, and more crops, of course.

However, what is so different from previous installments is that there is more to farming than just planting and farming; that isn’t to say, that’s all there was to the earlier games, only that those qualities were the most defining.

For example, FS22 is the first game to implement a seasons mechanic as an official feature rather than a mod, where there are specific times of the year when the player can raise crops and harvest them.

The time between then and there is an opportunity for the player to take on activities—which in the past were instead, less significant—such as animal husbandry and forestry.

Other activities include contract work, in which the player tends to the fields of outside farms.

The way in which FS22 makes it so that each and every activity is important to some degree is that all of it will cost the player.

Planting one type of crop will work against the player as not it’s only at a certain time when one can sell it for a decent price and even then, focusing on just your farm can lead to ruin.

Something that can also make an extra bit of cash is investing in production lines where the player can craft items like cake and sell them to companies that specialize in baking.

These features are what make the game engaging, but it is FS22’s graphics rework that makes it look beautiful.

FS22 runs on GIANTS Engine 9 and by far the most distinguishing trait is Parallax Occlusion Mapping.

What POM essentially does is typically flat textures 3D definition that makes it look realistic; to provide an example, when the player looks at the ground they’ll find that it’s more than just a flat surface and that the usual rock and dirt stick out against more rough-looking terrain.

That is if the player’s system can handle it, otherwise turning it off in Settings is the most advisable option.

Other than gameplay and graphics, FS22’s newest crop types—grapes, olives, and sorghum—provide a challenge in cultivating and harvesting them.

Except for sorghum, which was added mainly because of its significance in American agriculture.

Grapes and olives require the player to manually harvest them by driving over the line of vines that grow them with special vehicles designed to deal with the collision effect programmed into them.

All in all, FS22 is the kind of game that players interested in management will enjoy—or invest time in for no better reason than to kill time.