Twin-stick farming roguelike Atomicrops looks like the exact opposite of Stardew Valley

Where Stardew Valley invites you to get cozy and farm at your leisure, Atomicrops demands quick reflexes and sharp aim. It's a self-described "roguelike farming simulator" that plays like a twin-stick shooter, and according to two-man team Toby Dixon and Danny Wynne, it's coming in 2019.

"Grow and harvest your mutated ultra-GMO crops as you defend against bandits, mutants and insects," the official Atomicrops site reads, adding that you can upgrade your farm and gear, court and marry townsfolk, tame creatures to help farm, and donate produce to the local town in exchange for various rewards.

Apart from alpha GIFs, that's all for the site details. Luckily, Dixon and Wynne held a Q&A on the Raw Fury Discord channel earlier today. Here are the highlights:

Atomicrops has a Rogue Legacy-inspired meta progress system, so each run will benefit the next in some way.
There will be Binding of Isaac-like boss and challenge rooms scattered around the world map.
There are sharkmatoes.
You might be able to romance a tomato. Sharkmato eligibility also remains to be seen.
The townsfolk you marry will fight for you—yes, exactly "like a mercenary in Diablo."
"You can keep upgrading your spouse with roses to make them more powerful and maybe eventually have a child?" according to Wynne. How romantic.
There are no plans for an Early Access release.
Mod support is not out of the question, but it's currently just a pipe-dream.

Austin freelanced for PC Gamer, Eurogamer, IGN, Sports Illustrated, and more while finishing his journalism degree, and has been a full-time writer at PC Gamer's sister publication GamesRadar+ since 2019. They've yet to realize that his position as a staff writer is just a cover-up for his career-spanning Destiny column, and he's kept the ruse going with a focus on news, the occasional feature, and as much Genshin Impact as he can get away with.