WELFARE FARMER | Survive Promise Creek

The Game

Welcome to Promise Creek, North Dakota – where the soil is rich, the margins are thin, and your neighbors' judgment is plentiful.

As Shane, a third-generation farmer trapped between crushing debt and community expectations, you'll navigate the brutal mathematics of modern farming while wrestling with the psychological toll of accepting government assistance in a culture that views it as moral failure.

This isn't about building a farming empire. It's about survival. Can you make it through five years without succumbing to bankruptcy, foreclosure, social ruin, or mental breakdown?

Core Mechanics

Welfare Farmer is built around systems that reflect the impossible contradictions of modern rural life.

Cognitive Dissonance

The mental strain of holding conflicting beliefs. Every government check cashed increases dissonance. At high levels, the UI itself begins to glitch and distort.

Community Standing

Your reputation affects everything from loan terms to equipment borrowing. Maintain appearances at all costs, even when it means spending money you don't have.

Secret Reliance

A hidden stat tracking your actual dependency on assistance, regardless of public posture. High reliance makes you vulnerable to devastating gossip events.

Debt & The Bank

The mortgage isn't just a loan – it's a slow-motion foreclosure. Each payment barely keeps your head above water while new debts loom with every equipment failure.

Farm Management

Balance soil health, equipment maintenance, and crop choices. Improving yields costs money you don't have; neglecting the land threatens future viability.

Assistance Programs

Navigate labyrinthine bureaucracy for vital support. Each program comes with strings attached: eligibility hoops, yield penalties, and devastating cognitive costs.

Characters of Promise Creek

Every face in Promise Creek tells a story of struggle, judgment, or the system itself.

Shane

You. A third-generation farmer caught between legacy and survival. Farming is in your blood, but the numbers don't add up anymore.

Burt "Bootstraps" Johnson

The living embodiment of Promise Creek's central myth. Loud, opinionated, and always ready with unsolicited advice that boils down to "work harder."

Mildred Crickett

The town's information hub. Her gentle gossip about your truck at the County office can destroy your standing faster than any bank foreclosure.

Sterling Thorne

Consolidated Agribank's polite, implacable face. He talks of "liquidity situations" while systematically extracting value from your land and labor.

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