Talent, originality and quality, we can say that the "young" English studio Skyhook Games knows how to stand out. After signing one of the most beautiful DLCs on Train Sim World 2, Cane creek, it is a game in its own right that is offered to us with Lawn Mowing Simulator, in which the player is invited to manage a landscaping business and more particularly to carry out mowing with advanced equipment.
The difficulty of business management
Lawn Mowing Simulator is a real UFO in the video game world. At a time when we find simulations of anything and everything, like a Power Wash Simulator, landscaping is in the spotlight, after all, why not. Farming Simulator players are also the first to explore the mowing tracks with dedicated equipment. A full-fledged game ultimately makes sense. Skyhook Games and Curve Digital have understood this well.
In the shoes of a business manager, you will have to manage contracts, machinery, maintenance, but also employees, premises, loans. Even if the mowing represents 95% of the gameplay, the management component is what brings the game to life and imposes on the players a real reflection and a level of difficulty finally quite high.
The equipment, the gateway to the game
Buying your first machine is easy, getting a second is already a headache. The choice to start. 12 mowers from among the licensed brands Toro, Knight, SCAG, Stiga, or Patterson. Each tool has its own characteristics. Volumes of the collection box, mulching, height and width of mowing, speed, maneuverability and above all price. You will not be able to opt for large equipment from the start, but rest assured, even the first prices give satisfaction and enjoyment of the game. The 3D models, resulting from collaboration with the manufacturers, are very realistic, both in appearance and in appearance. the sound.
To store your gear, you will need hangars. By default, you don't have one and walk your first machine in your trailer. When your funds become sufficient, you will need to buy your local first. It will allow you to store 3 mowers. A total of 4 hangars are in the game's catalog. The last one, and the largest, offers an unlimited number of slots. But it's going to take hard work to get there.
Gameplay and game modes
At launch, several game modes are available to you. A career mode, the main one, a challenge mode and a free mode (sandbox). These last two are of little interest. Indeed, it will be necessary to advance in the career to unlock the land and vehicles in order to be able to use them in free and challenge mode. We will therefore attack directly in scripted mode.
The gameplay gets you in the game quickly, whether you're behind the wheel of the yellow Stiga Estate 2084H or the articulated black Knight OFS1. The first contracts are quick to complete, and do not require personnel. A mission, which represents a complete phase of the game, always takes place in the same way: After a tour of the field to collect the toys of the children who are walking on the field, you will have to mow according to the customer's request in terms of grass height.
And whether it's your clients, or Skyhook, we obviously like a job well done. Mowing must be done at 99,5% and without damaging the flower beds or damaging the ground by playing a little too aggressively with the steering of the mower tractor. Drifting can be expensive, and the end-of-mission balance sheet is made up of the base price minus any damage caused by driving a little crazy.
Speed is not necessarily the key word in Lawn Mowing Simulator, even if some mowers like the SCAG, able to pivot on itself and display a 13 km / h on the odometer, allow high work rates. In addition to material damage and holes in the ground, care must be taken not to scatter freshly cut grass on the paths. If this were the case, you would also take penalties.
One day at a time with your employees
Sometimes you will be offered garbage collection missions in green space. These missions are only paid a few pounds and ultimately have only one goal: advance time. Indeed, the more your business grows, the more employees you will have to manage. They carry out the missions you impose on them, but only when you are also at work. Concretely, it is judicious to give a very long mission, and which pays big, to a worker, while, on your side, you make a simple and fast contract. When you finish your task, a summary table of the day, including the work of your staff, will appear and you will see your earnings progress quickly.
Missions are unlocked based on your experience (reputation points). The more you are recognized, the more the list of contracts will grow. You will also need a certain level before you can make your first hires. The gameplay and progression system is complete and well-oiled, offering the player challenges to overcome and a little thought. As a good manager of your SME, you will be able to buy advertising on social networks or in the local press, which will have the effect of boosting your reputation, for a tidy sum.
Employees can be at different levels, from apprentice to landscaping professional, but progress as they work. I advise you to hire apprentices, it is inexpensive labor and, in the end, does the job well as long as you provide adequate equipment.
In the end, after a few hours of play, we go from hard work, during which we keep mowing, to work as an accountant, where we care about the slightest book that comes in and goes out.
Technical side
Lawn Mowing Simulator is powered by Unity. The game is single player only, for the time being. It is not open to mods. The developers tell us that, if it is not on the main roadmap, it does not mean that these 2 features are excluded.
In my test, I mainly played with an Xbox One pad. The sticks are very sensitive and the key mapping is fixed. Once again, the active developers should propose the modification of the keys very soon. The Logitech steering wheel for Farming Simulator is recognized and allows a quick and easy handling. Other wheels are advertised as compatible such as the G920, G29, and G923 from Logitech.
Graphically, the game sends heavy with grandiose, rich and very detailed settings, which put you directly in the mood. But the realism is distorted, in my opinion, by tones that are a little too bright and colorful. During my tests, the game did not suffer from any slowdown, in 2.4K resolution with the visual settings "very high" on a configuration based on Intel core i9 and nVidia 3070 RTX.
Steam cloud saves are not supported on PC. 3 slots allow you to create 3 different companies (and therefore 3 players). Besides the PC, Lawn Mowing Simulator is also available on Xbox Series S / X.
Some pictures for the road
