Fae Farm is the life sim for Nintendo Switch and PC that blends cozy farming and romance together with fairytale magic and dungeon crawling. The game further pushes the boundaries of the genre by including the ability to play multiplayer with up to four people, which makes the concept of romancing NPCs a bit more complicated when more than one suitor may be interested. Caring for adorably cartoonish animals, fighting monsters, and exploring the magical realm can all be more fun with friends along for the ride, but romances may benefit less from the multiplayer features.
Similar to other farming and life sims such as Harvestella or Stardew Valley, Fae Farm includes the ability to form relationships with NPCs that can eventually lead to romance and marriage. The game offers six romance candidates in addition to many other NPCs that can become good friends through regular, positive interactions. Dating is an optional feature that players can ignore if they choose, but is available for those who want to experience it.
Fae Farm Romances Can Get Competitive In Multiplayer
Fae Farm can be played solo or with up to four people who are all able to craft, decorate, plant, harvest, and quest in the same world. Interestingly, any player can also romance and even marry NPCs in the world they are in, whether they are the host of the game or not, as was confirmed by Fae Farm's game director Isaac Epp in an interview with Game Rant:
You can date any or all of them that you want, and that's true during multiplayer as well. There are some fun things that happen where if two people are interested, then it's first come, first served. You better go on those dates and get those gifts and try to grind up that relationship if you're the one that wants to pop the question because an NPC per save can only be married to one player at a time.
This means that if two players are interested in the same NPC, there could be a bit of a friendly competition to try to earn that NPC's affection and marry them before the other person can.
Marriage Candidates Are All Inclusive In Fae Farm
Each of the romance options in Fae Farm is available for dating, regardless of sexuality of either the NPC or the player character. As Isaac Epp stated in the Game Rant interview, "Our NPCs are player-sexual." If the player wants to go on a date with an NPC, there is no restriction other than if that NPC is already married to another player. Player character creation is also open to being non-binary with diverse options for looks and choices of pronouns.
Multiplayer in Fae Farm will give a wonderful chance for friends and family to play together, whether they want to focus on cozy decorating and farming, or exploring Azoria and fighting monsters as a group. Building romances with NPCs in multiplayer could add a new aspect of challenge to the game if friends want to fight over the same candidate, or even in situations where real-life spouses are playing together. Fae Farm is already looking to put unexpected twists to the typical cozy farming and life sim genre, and multiplayer might add another wrinkle to the romance, a genre staple.
Sources: Game Rant, FaeFarm/YouTube