The Farmer Was Replaced

Timon Herzog · Metaroot

Released: Oct 10, 2025
Platforms
Last updated: 17 Sep 2026, 05:25 GMT

Updates & announcements

20 posts

09 Sep 2026Developer post
⛏️ The Miner Was Replaced releases November 2!
Hey everyone! We’re incredibly excited to finally announce that The Miner Was Replaced, the DLC for The Farmer Was Replaced, will release on November 2! 🎉 As the name already suggests, this time we’re leaving the farm behind and heading underground. Instead of growing and harves
25 Jun 2026Developer post
The Miner Was Replaced – Work in Progress Video
Hey folks, We are busy working on the new mining DLC . Since the mining is already looking quite nice, we thought we would share a short video showing a early work in progress of the new mining mechanic: If you would like to see a higher-quality version of this GIF that hasn't be
21 Apr 2026Developer post
Hotfix for the mac keybinds
Fixed the bug that reassigned cmd + f to just f and caused the search function to pop up everytime you press f.
13 Apr 2026Developer post
The Typer Was Replaced, Tap Tap Loot Release and Improvements
Hey everyone 👋 I’ve got something fun to share today. A few months ago, we had a fun idea: What if you could use The Farmer Was Replaced to automate another game? Here’s a little experiment we did on that: Together with the creators of the typing games Tap Tap Loot (which offici
Hey everyone 👋
I’ve got something fun to share today.
A few months ago, we had a fun idea: What if you could use The Farmer Was Replaced to automate another game? Here’s a little experiment we did on that:
Together with the creators of the typing games Tap Tap Loot (which officially releases today 🎉) and Bongo Cat we built an integration to automate their games. Now, you can automate your typing using the new tap() function in The Farmer Was Replaced. 😄
Check out both games here:
The Typer Was Replaced Sale

⌨️ How it works
Get Bongo Cat for free or Tap Tap Loot with the launch discount.
Update The Farmer Was Replaced now and automate the other two games without lifting a finger.
At least after you've typed in this little, clever code:
while True:
tap()
🛠️ Fixes & Improvements
This update also includes a few fixes and improvements:
First of all, a big thank you to Zoroark Zwart and the other community members who contributed valuable improvements to the \\_\\_builtins\\_\\_.py file, which improves the experience of using external code editors.
You can now pass arguments directly when spawning a drone and no longer need to capture them in a function: spawn_drone(function, *args)
The broken shift-tab unindent feature has been fixed on macOS. This still conflicts with the Steam shortcut, but nothing can be done about this.
Cmd shortcuts now work by default on macOS.
As always, thank you for all the feedback and support. It really helps a lot. ❤️
Have fun automating your typing 😄
Timon
🪨 Upcoming The Miner Was Replaced DLC
Yes, we're working on a mining DLC! Check it out here and feel free to add it to your wishlist: View game page
Original post
20 Mar 2026Developer post
The Miner Will be Replaced! – DLC Teaser
Hey folks 👋, Yes, I'm currently working on replacing the miner in my first DLC! At the moment, everything is still in the early stages and the exact features have not been decided upon yet. What I do know is that it will be about mining! I am currently working on the first proto
17 Feb 2026Developer post
🎨 Custom Themes, Editor Improvements 🎨
Hey folks, 👋 I have just pushed a new update and this one is especially interesting if you like to customize the colors of your coding environment. You can now choose between different color themes, including a night mode and a light mode. For those of you celebrating, I've adde
Hey folks, 👋

I have just pushed a new update and this one is especially interesting if you like to customize the colors of your coding environment.

You can now choose between different color themes, including a night mode and a light mode. For those of you celebrating, I've added a Lunar New Year theme.
But even better: you can create and fully customize your own theme. Every color in the game can be adjusted using hexadecimal values, and changes update instantly in-game.

I’ve also added several community-submitted translations (Czech, Traditional Chinese, and Ukrainian). These are marked as unofficial for now, but I wanted to make them available since many of you have asked for them.

For those using external editors: Python type annotations are now ignored by the game, so you can use them freely.
Autocomplete has been improved to immediately register new variables, and the editor should feel slightly faster overall. Although very large files can still slow it down.

As always, thank you for the feedback and bug reports. It really helps. 🔥

🎨 How to Create Your Own Theme

You can customize and add your own themes here:
Windows:
%userprofile%AppDataLocalLowTheFarmerWasReplacedTheFarmerWasReplacedThemes
Mac: /Users/%userprofile%/Library/ApplicationSupport/com.TheFarmerWasReplaced.TheFarmerWasReplaced/Themes
Open Custom.tfwrTheme (for example with Visual Studio Code).
Change any color using hexadecimal codes.
(VS Code even shows a live color preview.)
In-game: Open the settings and switch to the custom theme. Changes will update immediately.
If you want to share your theme, rename it here: "theme_name": "YourThemeNameHere"
Don’t forget to save the file 😉
Patch Notes:
Added customizable color themes, including a night mode and a light mode.
Added some unofficial translations (Czech, Traditional Chinese, Ukrainian) that have been submitted by the community to the game with a warning if you select one of them.
Python type annotations are now ignored by the game so you can use them if you're using an external code editor.
Improved the autocomplete functionality to immediately register new variables.
Made the code editor slightly faster. Unfortunately it still gets slow with larger files.
Various documentation fixes and improvements.
Changed the tick cost of get_time() to 0 to match get_tick_count()
Fixed passing NaN into set_execution_speed()
Fixed another bug that allowed you to get shared memory between multiple drones.
Fixed a bug that made the game hang when calling len() on something that doesn't have a length.
See you soon,
Timon
Take a look at the other programming game from my publisher:
View game page
Original post
18 Dec 2025Developer post
The Farmer Was Replaced is Now Available on macOS 🍎
Hey folks 👋, I’ve got some really good news to share today. 😊 First of all: The Farmer Was Replaced is now available on macOS! 🍎 The Mac build is finally live, so you can now play the game natively on Mac without any workarounds. I know many of you have been waiting for this.
Hey folks 👋,
I’ve got some really good news to share today. 😊
First of all: The Farmer Was Replaced is now available on macOS! 🍎
The Mac build is finally live, so you can now play the game natively on Mac without any workarounds. I know many of you have been waiting for this. Thank you for your patience!
I also experimented with a native Linux version but unfortunately, it had some issues and didn't make it into this update. However, the game runs just fine via Proton, so you can still play it on Linux.
Alongside the Mac release, this update also includes a couple of fixes and small improvements:
Added the result of measure() to entity tooltips
Fixed sunflower tooltips showing incorrect yield values
Fixed a rare bug that could cause the game to freeze when harvesting a hedge while the treasure was repositioning
The maximum call stack size is now actually updated to 1100 (this was already intended for the previous update)
Another thing I really want to say today:
Thank you. ❤️
We recently passed 500,000 copies sold, which still feels absolutely unreal to me. What started as a small solo project about programming and farming has grown far beyond anything I expected and that’s entirely because of you! 🥳 🎉
Also, just as a heads-up:
The game is currently 20% off as part of the Steam Winter Sale, so it’s a great time to jump in or to convince a friend (or family member) to give programming a try. 😉
As always, if you run into any issues or have feedback, please let me know via the Steam discussions or Discord.
Thanks again for playing and supporting the game. It truly means a lot!
See you soon,
Timon
Sign up for the upcoming playtest of my friends' programming game about fixing traffic lights!
View game page
Original post
05 Dec 2025Developer post
Hotfixes
Fixed links in the info window showing before they are unlocked. Fixed the error message when calling `spawn_drone` with a function that takes arguments. Make sure only one item is used when multiple drones try to reposition the treasure at the same time.
Fixed links in the info window showing before they are unlocked.
Fixed the error message when calling `spawn_drone` with a function that takes arguments.
Make sure only one item is used when multiple drones try to reposition the treasure at the same time.
Original post
04 Dec 2025Developer post
Quality-of-Life Update and Leaderboard Rebalance
Hey folks, As promised, this update balances the leaderboards and introduces highly requested quality-of-life features, such as the option to enable all language features at the beginning of the game. First some general improvements: Added a particle effect to give some visual fe
Hey folks, As promised, this update balances the leaderboards and introduces highly requested quality-of-life features, such as the option to enable all language features at the beginning of the game.
First some general improvements:
Added a particle effect to give some visual feedback when there's a polyculture hit.
Added a couple of specialized error messages that detect and explain some common beginner mistakes.
Improved the "Wrong number of arguments" error message that could be very confusing.
Added an option to allow using all language features even before they are unlocked. This is not the intended way of playing, but some people seem to really hate that they can't use variables and functions right away.
Split the "Autosave" setting into "Autosave Code" and "Autosave Progress" so you can still autosave progress when using an external code editor.
Increased the maximum call stack size from 1000 to 1100, so that recursive pathfinding on 32x32 always fits into it.
Fixed passing unlock amounts of 0 or 1 into simulate()
Now to some changes that make some less fun strategies weaker to give the actually interesting strategies more of a chance on the leaderboard. The leaderboards have been reset because the old times are no longer quite correct with the changes. To get back on the leaderboards, you'll have to rerun your code.
Made RNG harder to break.
Fixed shared memory bugs.
If you harvest and replant a cactus before it is fully grown it no longer changes its value.
The treasure now takes 200 ticks to move to the new location instead of instantly teleporting.
You now receive the gold already when the chest is relocated instead of all at the end.
When harvesting a sunflower that doesn't have the maximum number of petals the yield boost is now also removed for the next sunflower you harvest after it.
The sunflower yield bonus has been increased from 5x to 8x.
Fixed a bug that caused some operations to not use power. This significantly increases power consumption for some things.
Fixed list.insert() taking one tick more than it should.
Fixed the in operator not taking the correct number of ticks.
Concatenating two empty lists to create a new empty list now takes 1 tick.
Fixed another zero tick computation exploit that was abusing free function calls in dynamic modules.
It's been almost two months since the release of version 1.0 of The Farmer Was Replaced. Thank you all for playing, and especially for the many reviews over the last few days! More reviews than when it hit 1.0! You guys are crazy!
From today until January 5, The Farmer Was Replaced is 20% off. It's a great time to start programming or convince your family and friends to learn to code. ;)
Cheers,
Timon
Wishlist this upcoming programming game my friends are working on:
View game page
Original post
24 Nov 2025Developer post
Please nominate the Farmer Was Replaced for Best Game You Suck At
Hey folks 👋 The Steam Awards are just around the corner! Every programmer knows the feeling. When the code works as expected, you feel like a genius. If not, well, you know how it is. That's why I think the “Best Game You Suck At” Steam award is perfect for my game. 😅 Cheers an
29 Oct 2025Developer post
More Bug Fixes
Here's one more batch of bug fixes! The update after this one will address some of the boring, unintended strategies people use on the leaderboards. Be ready for a leaderboard reset soon. Various documentation fixes and improvements. The unlock links in the table of contents are
Here's one more batch of bug fixes!
The update after this one will address some of the boring, unintended strategies people use on the leaderboards. Be ready for a leaderboard reset soon.
Various documentation fixes and improvements.
The unlock links in the table of contents are now also translated.
Fixed an interpreter bug with dynamic recursive function calls.
Self imports no longer break the game.
Fixed a game-breaking issue that occurred when using Japanese full-width number characters.
Fixed uncapped framerate when the window is unfocused.
Fixed a crash related to the fertilizer sound that occurred when fertilizer was used too quickly.
Fixed a crash when equipping the dinosaur hat on a 1x1 field inside of a simulation.
Reduced the load on the Steam API to hopefully prevent some of the steam client crashes.
Fixed a problem that caused the print smoke effect to not always show up.
Fixed the order of the keybinds in the menu.
Fixed a bug that caused the "Wrong Order" achievement to trigger in situations where it shouldn't and not in all situations where it should.
Fixed various problems with the single stepping mode.
Drones can no longer go out of bounds after `set_world_size()`.
Fixed statements after `leaderboard_run()` being executed before the leaderboard starts.
Fixed a small bug that could cause non-determinism in the simulation in very specific cases.
Fixed the item counters on the documentation pages that were showing outside the window.
Fixed some more small documentation issues.
Introduced some new bugs for you to find.
Original post
22 Oct 2025GamingOnLinux
The Farmer Was Replaced is a satisfying way to learn a little programming with automation
Learning a little programming doesn't need to be boring, and The Farmer Was Replaced makes it quite fun actually with you coding a little farming drone. Read the full article here:
14 Oct 2025Developer post
More Bug Fixes
A bug that prevented the full number of items from being accounted for in the "Big Bone Farmer" and "Big Maze Farmer" achievements has been fixed. The cactus single leaderboard has been fixed to use the 8x8 size instead of the full farm size. Fixed the Russian не that was in the
A bug that prevented the full number of items from being accounted for in the "Big Bone Farmer" and "Big Maze Farmer" achievements has been fixed.
The cactus single leaderboard has been fixed to use the 8x8 size instead of the full farm size.
Fixed the Russian не that was in the Portuguese translation for some reason.
Fixed a few other small documentation issues.
Fixed the issue where the infinite loop achievement would not trigger if the while condition was in brackets.
Fixed the cause of one common crash that people were getting.
Fixed problems with negative or too large leaderboard speedups.
Dead pumpkins now disappear when harvested. There is still no reason to harvest them, but if you do, they will disappear.
num_unlocked now also works on hats.
Original post
12 Oct 2025PCGamesN
This ultra-satisfying farm automation sim can actually teach you how to code
Games can be a great way to learn real-life skills. Minecraft is often held up as a fantastic tool for encouraging creativity, and Stardew Valley teaches good habits for time management. The Farmer Was Replaced is one of the cleverest examples of this I've experienced in a while.
12 Oct 2025Developer post
More Bug Fixes
Fixed a few more things. Fixed a bug that prevented the Japanese localization from being automatically applied based on the Steam language. Updated the builtins file. Fixed a few more minor mistakes in the documentation. The "Unlock All" achievement no longer triggers in simulati
Fixed a few more things.
Fixed a bug that prevented the Japanese localization from being automatically applied based on the Steam language.
Updated the builtins file.
Fixed a few more minor mistakes in the documentation.
The "Unlock All" achievement no longer triggers in simulations.
Original post
11 Oct 2025Developer post
More Bug Fixes
Some more bug fixes are out! The game-breaking import error message in the Simplified Chinese and Portuguese localizations has been fixed. Various documentation errors have been corrected. Some broken achievements were fixed in an earlier patch.
Some more bug fixes are out!
The game-breaking import error message in the Simplified Chinese and Portuguese localizations has been fixed.
Various documentation errors have been corrected.
Some broken achievements were fixed in an earlier patch.
Original post
10 Oct 2025Developer post
Hotfix: Addressed crashes and freezes when playing in Chinese or Japanese
Hey folks, Thank you all for playing the game! 🥰 We've had some hectic hours over here while I searched for the cause of the crashes and freezes experienced by players using Chinese or Japanese localisations. 😅 This issue should now be resolved, so you should be able to play Th
10 Oct 2025Developer post
🥳 Version 1.0 is Here! – Multiple Drones, New Unlock Tree and more! 🎉
Hey folks After over three and a half years of steady development, over 20 updates, and your amazing feedback, I am excited to announce that The Farmer Was Replaced is now officially released as version 1.0 on Steam and available at 20% off to celebrate the launch! 🥳 🌟 What’s n
Hey folks
After over three and a half years of steady development, over 20 updates, and your amazing feedback, I am excited to announce that The Farmer Was Replaced is now officially released as version 1.0 on Steam and available at 20% off to celebrate the launch! 🥳
Watch on YouTube
🌟 What’s new in 1.0?
Multiple drones to maximize your farming 🤖🌱
A reworked unlock tree with a more exponential progression
50+ achievements to test your skills
Unlocking certain achievements will give your drone special hats. 🎩
A complete sound overhaul
One new music track 🎵
Quality of life improvements and various fixes
11 🌍 languages supported
Breaking Changes: Upgrades will be partially reset. Reusing mazes works slightly differently.
(To experience all 1.0 features fully, I suggest starting with a new save.)
As you can imagine, today is a really special day for me and my game! It would mean a lot to me if you could help spread the word, and of course, buy the game for yourself or a friend. Your opinion also helps a lot, and I would be very grateful if you write a review or update your Early Access review.
All these actions are helping more than you think! 🥰
Thank you all so much for supporting The Farmer Was Replaced from Early Access to full release.
I can’t wait to see how you use the multiple drones in creative and clever ways! 💻🌱
Timon
🚦 Shout-out to my friend's programming game:
My friends at Kerzoven (also a Swiss studio) just announced their traffic programming game using state machines: If Red Then Stop
I thought you might be interested in it since it teaches you how to use a real programming tool, too. They would be really happy if you followed the game on Steam and added it to your wishlist.
View game page
Detailed Patch Notes:
Multiple Drones Have been added to the game. Check out the new "Megafarm" unlock! Also a large part of the tech tree has been reworked to be a bit more exponential.
Breaking Changes:
Due to the rework of the tech tree, the upgrade numbers of old savegames will no longer be valid. The game will reset all upgrades to a reasonable level when you open an old save.
If you are reusing mazes you now have to first reposition the treasure and then measure the position instead of first measuring and then repositioning.
Gameplay:
Added tooltips with helpful information when hovering tiles in the farm.
Using measure() anywhere in the maze now always returns the position of the current treasure. You no longer have to measure the treasure specifically.
There is now a can_move() function for the maze.
Pumpkins now scale up to 6x6 instead of 5x5.
The ground drying behavior has slightly changed. Instead of drying by 1% every 0.8 to 1.2 seconds, each ground tile now has a 10% chance of drying every 0.1 seconds.
The cactus grow time is now always exactly 1 second.
Pumpkins now leave behind a dead pumpkin to indicate that they have died.
Added pet_the_piggy().
num_unlocked() now already gets unlocked with Senses.
Audio:
The audio has been completely remade.
There is music when you start the game now!
Visuals:
The visuals of the tech tree have been completely reworked.
The inventory panel in the top left corner of the screen now has a nice item pickup visual effect.
Cacti are now brown when they aren't correctly sorted to make it more visible.
Plants are now visible immediately after planting, even if they haven't grown yet.
Code Editor:
Double clicking identifiers with underscores in them now selects the whole identifier.
If the "tabs to spaces" option is turned off, indentation spaces are now converted to tabs.
Zooming is now much smoother.
The code completer is now properly import aware and can give suggestions from other files.
Added different cursors for editing text and resizing windows.
Debugger steps are now based on the code line instead of simulation ticks.
Other:
You can now chain comparison operators like in Python.
get_cost(Entities.Hedge) and get_cost(Entities.Treasure) now return the cost of a 1x1 maze.
Added a resolution setting.
Added a setting to turn off the flashing highlights when the code is running.
The code execution has been optimized further, allowing the game to run smoother while code is running.
Added a "Toggle HUD" keybind.
Fixes:
Some of the most common cases of code highlights being visible through other windows have been fixed.
Actions like tilling can no longer affect the water drying behavior.
Fixed keybinding problems on non US keyboards.
Fixed the piggy bank moving really far away from the farm sometimes.
Fixed fertilizer not infecting fully grown plants.
Fixed set_world_size(get_world_size()) resetting the drone position.
Fixed a simulation + dinosaur interaction that caused lots of apples to be left behind.
Fixed the bug that caused error messages to move around when you clicked minimize and then opened the menu.
Fixed error messages popping up while you are still typing.
Breaking Changes from older Patches that you might have missed:
Functions defined in other files (windows in the game) are no longer imported implicitly. You now have to unlock and use explicit import statements like in Python (See the import unlock).
Items.Bones has been renamed to Items.Bone so all items are singular.
Entities.Carrots has been renamed to Entities.Carrot so all entities are singular.
Grounds.Turf has been renamed to Grounds.Grassland to make it easier to understand.
Items.Water_Tank has been renamed to Items.Water because the tank refill feature has been removed.
Unlocks.Benchmark has been replaced with Unlocks.Timing.
get_op_count() has been renamed to get_tick_count().
set_farm_size() has been renamed to set_world_size() to be consistent with get_world_size().
get_companion() now returns a tuple of the form (entity, (x, y)) instead of a list.
trade() has been removed from the game.
Original post
10 Sep 2025Developer post
🥳 The Farmer Was Replaced – Full Release on October 10! 🥳
Hey folks I’m super excited to share some big news with you: The Farmer Was Replaced is leaving Early Access and officially launching into version 1.0 on October 10! 🎉 This is a huge milestone for me. After three years of solo development the full release is finally coming up no
Hey folks
I’m super excited to share some big news with you: The Farmer Was Replaced is leaving Early Access and officially launching into version 1.0 on October 10! 🎉
This is a huge milestone for me. After three years of solo development the full release is finally coming up now! You may have noticed some changes to the Steam page. This is because the folks from Metaroot are helping me with marketing.
What’s new in the 1.0 Full Release on Oct. 10?
Multiple drones to really maximize your farming
A reworked tech tree with a more exponential progression
50+ Achievements
A complete sound overhaul
One brand-new music track
11 languages fully supported
Breaking Changes: Upgrades will be partially reset. Reusing mazes works slightly differently.
The price has already been adjusted to $9.99 for the 1.0 release. (On 10 Oct., there will be a launch discount.)
👉 Because of these changes, I really recommend waiting until October 10 to jump back in. That way you’ll get the full experience with all the new content and you won’t have to deal with resets or missing features.
🙏 Some things we could use your help with:
For the 1.0 to be a success and for me to be able keep making games, I would greatly appreciate your support:
Andri from Metaroot is looking for YouTubers who could enjoy the game: Do you know any gaming YouTubers who also like programming? Write them! And let him know who they are here.
Which programming communities or Reddits do you hang out in? Where should TFWR be shared? (Of course, you are also welcome to share it there yourself!) Post them here.
Get the word out to your fellow programmers!
Thank you so much for being part of this community. Your support has carried me from a small prototype all the way to full release. It feels a bit surreal that 1.0 is finally coming up. Looking forward to October 10.

Timon
Original post
24 Jun 2025Developer post
Optimizations!
This patch brings many optimizations on both the GPU and CPU side. Particularly on the GPU side there have been some very significant optimizations that finally make the game less GPU intensive. Unfortunately the items in the inventory are no longer 3D because it turned out this