Naked Farmer: a brilliant free shmup/base-building game that lets it all hang out

Call your game Naked Farmer and... you have my attention. You also have my time and my trigger finger, because it turns out this title about a "naked and confused farmer with a gun" offers an inspired combination of Smash TV-style omni-directional shmupping, base defence and, well, farm management. Unlike in Harvest Moon (but just like in Emmerdale), you're a farmer that has to contend with waves upon waves of monsters and evil rivals, all while planting seeds, raising animals and constructing defences to keep your farm safe. There's also that whole naked thing to contend with, which must cause problems when operating heavy machinery.

There's no sound or music yet, but the heart of the game - satisfyingly hectic shooting, construction and base defence - shines through. Be warned, however, that you're going to need a mouse with a wheel, as you don't seem to be able to select the other construction options without one. Be additionally warned that you probably shouldn't do a google search for "Naked Farmer", particularly if you're currently at work.

Here's a video showing how that naked farming works.

Tom Sykes

Tom loves exploring in games, whether it’s going the wrong way in a platformer or burgling an apartment in Deus Ex. His favourite game worlds—Stalker, Dark Souls, Thief—have an atmosphere you could wallop with a blackjack. He enjoys horror, adventure, puzzle games and RPGs, and played the Japanese version of Final Fantasy VIII with a translated script he printed off from the internet. Tom has been writing about free games for PC Gamer since 2012. If he were packing for a desert island, he’d take his giant Columbo boxset and a laptop stuffed with PuzzleScript games.