Island farm
The Island farm is a time-limited event you get access to once you reach level 35, and it always runs for just 30 days before the monsoon arrives and wipes the farm away. On it you help Johnny Apple get his beach bar with fruit cocktails off the ground, and the pearls from the sales then buy you exotic seeds and decorations from the island trader. I found out the hard way that it pays to jump in on day one, because the time you get to put up fourteen buildings and finish three story chapters isn't exactly generous.
The Island farm is worth it mainly for the horseshoes for the Horse ranch and the one-off rewards for the main farm that you can't get anywhere else. Anyone who jumps into the event right at the start and doesn't leave building until the last minute will squeeze the most out of the island in those 30 days.
You only get to the island once you reach level 35
The Island farm (sometimes called the Tropical farm in Eva Apple's invitation) unlocks at level 35. Until then there isn't a trace of it anywhere. Once you hit the level, Eva Apple is waiting for you at the airport - from there a plane takes you to the island, where her brother Johnny Apple is already fidgeting impatiently. He's opened a bar with exotic cocktails on the beach, but he has no talent for trading, so he needs a hand getting things going.
Before you fly out, it's worth stopping at the airport bank and exchanging some of your dollars for island dollars. The rate on this exchange is favourable, but you have to wait between two exchanges - this cooldown gets shorter as you upgrade the Island bank, which can be built up to level 7. Raise the bank a few levels right at the start and you'll save yourself a lot of pointless waiting over the full 30 days of the event.
Every so often the trader Omar turns up during the farm's early days with his Tropical offers - time-limited bundles of useful things aimed straight at the island farm. You don't have to take any of them, just wait for the next one, it'll be every bit as good.
Production on the island is built on oranges, peanuts and grapes
The foundation of the island's whole economy is the Island field, where you plant three crops - oranges, peanuts and grapes. The oranges go straight into the Beach bar, where they're turned into steadily better drinks - Orange Fizz, Summer Chill, Fruit Cocktail and finally Tropical Star. The grapes and peanuts, on the other hand, travel to the Tropical mill, from where they end up as feed in the Peacock pen and the Lemur enclosure.
The animals and the groves have their own cycle - the Composter turns manure from the animal buildings and tropical leaves into island fertilizer, which you then feed to the Mango, Coconut and Banana groves. On top of that, the field and the groves can be sown with special orange, peanut or grape seeds that the island trader sells for pearls - they're worth investing in, because they speed up exactly the goods the farm needs most.
The finished fruit is eventually picked up by ship by Captain Barnacle - he tells you which goods he's after right now, and loading them up earns you rewards including horseshoes.
The Island farm has fourteen buildings and twenty-five kinds of products
On the island's plot you'll eventually put up fourteen buildings - from the farmhouse and housing through the field, the mill and the silo to the groves and the animal pens. Most of them unlock for island dollars, only the fancy housing costs gold.
| Building | Unlock cost | Max. level |
|---|---|---|
| Farmhouse | — | 4 |
| Beach bar | — | 4 |
| Simple house | 10,000 island dollars | 4 |
| Island bank | 10,000 island dollars | 7 |
| Tropical mill | 15,000 island dollars | 4 |
| Island field | 20,000 island dollars | 4 |
| Peacock pen | 25,000 island dollars | 4 |
| Silo | 25,000 island dollars | 4 |
| Composter | 30,000 island dollars | 4 |
| Lemur enclosure | 60,000 island dollars | 4 |
| Mango grove | 60,000 island dollars | 4 |
| Coconut grove | 78,000 island dollars | 4 |
| Banana grove | 100,000 island dollars | 4 |
| Fancy house | 250 Gold | 4 |
The event's short lifespan - just 30 days - means there's no point leaving buildings at a low level and hoarding dollars for later. Whatever you don't manage to spend turns into pearls at the end of the event anyway, so it's better to build and upgrade everything you can afford as soon as you can.
The story has three chapters and the rewards come in three kinds
The Island farm tells its story across three chapters - Tropical fun guaranteed, Fruit thieves and new recipes, and Fruity perfection. Finishing each one earns you a one-off reward that then becomes available on your main farm as well.
Besides your progress through the story, the pearls you collect by selling cocktails and completing quests count too - based on your total, the event hands you what it calls the hard work reward, regardless of how you're doing compared to other players. On top of that there's an event leaderboard, where those same pearls (listed as shells in the leaderboard overview) count towards your ranking among the other players - finish in the top spots and you'll pick up another, more valuable prize.
- Chapter rewards - a one-off for completing each story chapter.
- Hard work reward - for the total number of pearls collected, independently of other players.
- Ranking reward - according to your position in the event leaderboard.
After thirty days the monsoon rolls in and the farm is gone
The Island farm is designed from the outset as a temporary thing - it's available for exactly 30 days. Then a storm warning arrives as the first sign of the approaching monsoon season and it's time to leave the island. The farm wouldn't survive the storm, so it gets torn down - all buildings, expansions, goods and products you have under construction or in storage are automatically converted into dollars and pearls.
The most valuable thing you take away from the island to your main farm, though, is horseshoes. They're the key to the Horse ranch with its paddock, riding arena and stable, and the Island farm is by far the best way to gather enough of them to get it going. When the next round of the event comes along, it definitely isn't worth skipping over a few bar decorations - it's this bonus for the main farm that really matters.
