Atomicrops sprouts a colourful, nutritious debut trailer

Much as my girlfriend adores Stardew Valley, its gentle pace is a little soporific sometimes. Atomicrops, on the other hand, appears to be the game's jittery, over-caffeinated cousin, blending Harvest Moon-esque farming and romance with twin-stick shooter combat and a colourful post-apocalyptic setting. Bird Bath Games's vision of the end of the world is perhaps a little more Adventure Time than Fallout, but I reckon that's entirely the kind of nonsense I'm in the market for (and convincing my other half to try). Take a look at the grimly comic debut trailer below.

I've had half an eye on Atomicrops for a while now, but today's debut trailer is a great excuse to talk about it. While Nuclear Throne is an obvious inspiration for its twitchy twin-stick shooting, I'm reminded of a lot of other 16-bit era shooters and action games. There's something about the too-cheerful character faces that reminds me of Zombies Ate My Neighbours, although others may see some similarities to the lurid, grotesque world of Nidhogg 2. You wouldn't be wrong, either - artist Toby Dixon worked on both games.

The farming in Atomicrops looks constantly hurried, with the player casually dodging bullets while tilling the soil, planting seeds and watering their crops. Pests need to be constantly zapped and fully grown plants harvested. The remains of your fallen foes also make good fertiliser for plants. Not too surprisingly, the game bills itself as a 'roguelite', although perhaps not quite as frantic as other shooters - you can even take some time out to romance the locals, marry them, and lead them into battle. It all reminds me a little bit of obscure DOS (and other platforms) strategy/action/management hybrid The Horde, so I'm eager to see how it actually handles.

Atomicrops doesn't have a release date yet, but it does have an official page here, and a publisher - Raw Fury. They estimate that it'll be out this year.