Skip to content

Inside the wonderfully diverse farming game Wylde Flowers

Wylde Flowers is one of the loveliest games of 2022. Hear from Studio Drydock co-founder Amanda Schofield about how this farming life sim came to life.

Chris Button
Chris Button
2 min read
Inside the wonderfully diverse farming game Wylde Flowers

Wylde Flowers, a cosy life and farming sim with a witchy twist, launched via Apple Arcade earlier this year and has since become one of the top games on the subscription service.

In Wylde Flowers, you play as Tara, who moves to a charming rural island to help out her grandma and the family farm. Wylde Flowers is made by Studio Drydock, a remote studio founded by former EA developers.

It's a gorgeous game that pays homage to various farming and life sim games before it, including Harvest Moon, Stardew Valley, and Animal Crossing. Plus, it's coming to PC and Nintendo Switch later this year!

Amanda Schofield, Studio Drydock co-founder and creative director on Wylde Flowers, joined me on High Resolution to discuss her time working on The Sims franchise, the challenges of founding a remote studio, and what goes into making diverse characters.

One of the most beloved aspects of Wylde Flowers from fans so far is how lovingly the characters are depicted. All sorts of cultures and identities feature among the characters, which Studio Drydock brought on consultants to get right.

"We also did a lot of playtesting and we spent a lot of time with players, trying to understand how people were making them feel," Schofield explained on the High Resolution podcast. "A lot of people have said that the relationship between [Wylde Flowers characters] Angus and Francis is particularly memorable, just because they seem real."

"It feels like a real couple who are just ordinary people and they happen to be gay. There's a lot going on with them and not all of it has to do with their relationship."

To illustrate the depth Studio Drydock went to in making a story-based farming game, Schofield revealed the bibles containing the details of each character was upwards of 150 pages.

For the full chat, including how The Sims led to Wylde Flowers, and details on Studio Drydock's unique structure, listen to the latest episode of High Resolution, the Byteside videogame industry podcast. Check it out via Acast or your favourite podcast app.

To keep up to date with High Resolution, follow the podcast and subscribe to Byteside's twice-weekly newsletter examining all things tech, digital culture, and video games.

Follow Byteside on Twitter.

Follow Chris Button on Twitter.

High ResolutionGames

Chris Button

Chris is an award-nominated writer based in Adelaide who specialises in covering video games and technology. He loves Donkey Kong Country, sport, and cats. The Last Jedi is the best one, no questions


Related Posts

Members Public

Welcome to Dragon Talk: D&D's Shelly Mazzanoble & Greg Tito visit Byteside

We're talking to the co-hosts of the official Dungeons & Dragons podcast about their new book looking back at how the show came to mean so much to the D&D community.

Part of the bright red book cover art, saying "Welcome to Dragon Talk: Inspiring Conversations About"
Members Public

The future of trust and security

Sponsored by IBM. Trust and security have been a big challenge throughout the pandemic, but the events of 2022 have tested these ideas like never before.

The future of trust and security
Members Public

The future of sound production at Trackdown Studios

From Mad Max Fury Road to The Crown, World of Warcraft to The Boys, Sydney's Trackdown Studios makes big productions sound amazing.

The future of sound production at Trackdown Studios