Cattle
Baron

1 · Muster

Cattle walk away from pressure. Get behind the mob in the side-by-side and push them to the yards in the far corner of the paddock, near the homestead. The fences funnel them in.

Launch the drone to get around the far side quickly. Fly low for more pressure. Leave it hovering to hold one flank while you drive the other.

Charge in too fast or too close and they spook. A calm mob scores more.

Short on time? To the yards under the map sends the stockhands to bring in whatever is still out. You only score the cattle you yarded yourself.

On a phone or tablet: steer with the joystick, pinch with two fingers to zoom, and hold 📣 for the auto horn.

WASD / arrows	Drive, or fly the drone
Space	Brake · drone up
Shift	Turbo in the side-by-side · wheelie on the bike · drone down
B	Swap side-by-side / motorbike
QE	Drone sideways
Tab or F	Swap buggy / drone
R	Recall the drone
H	Horn. Hold it to leave it sounding, hold again to stop
C	Recentre the view behind you
Enter	Shut the gate early
Esc	Pause

Jumps, the creek and the bull

Hit the dirt jumps at speed for air. The creek is slow to wade: use the timber bridge, or launch over it from one of the creek jumps (you will want about 60 km/h). Air time, wheelies and clearing the creek earn a few bonus points.

The black bull is not part of the muster. Crowd him or sound the horn nearby and he paws the ground. Back off then, or he charges.

There are crocodiles in the dam. Dawdle near the water and one comes out after your tyres: floor it and you will outrun it. If it bites, that tyre is flat and you are down to a crawl. Limp out over the cattle grid to the workshop by the homestead (the yellow square on the map), stop on the apron and hold PUMP (or E) until the tyres are up.

Calving

Cows that look wide through the middle are in calf. When one starts calving, a pink beam and a ten-second clock appear over her and the prompt shows which way and how far. Drive to her and slow right down inside the pink ring (it turns green). Then lend a hand: green PUSH blocks slide along the lane at the top. Hold Space (or hold your finger down) while a block is on the white line, and let go in between. Help in time and you earn bonus points and a stronger calf. If you do not get there she calves on her own.

2 · The crush

Each beast: catch her in the head bail, scan the EID tag, record the weight once the scales settle, vaccinate in the neck, draw up the right drench dose for her weight, then run the pour-on along her back.

Every step is scored for accuracy and the clock is running. Fast and tidy wins.

3 · Get paid, then trade

Points become cash. Buy pens at the saleyards, or bid in the online auction. Weighed and treated cattle grow faster and sell for more. Prices move, so buy low and sell high.

Land, buildings and the crop paddock

Buy more land through the saleyards screen to run more cattle. At the shop you can add a machinery shed, a workers' cottage (room for a third station hand) and a homestead extension.

With a shed you can buy the tractor. Plough the pegged crop paddock, then sow it with the seeder, or buy the drone spreader: fly the four corner pegs to map it and the drone sows and fertilises by itself. After your next round the mob grazes the crop for three months, putting on an extra half a kilo a head a day.

The shop

Spend your pay at Rural Supplies: a motorbike, the turbo kit, a longer-lasting drone battery, a bull bar, an air horn and extras. The animal health shelf sells vaccine, drench, pour-on and AgriEID ear tags: every beast through the crush uses a dose of each, and calves born on your place need a tag before they can be scanned, weighed or sold. Run out and that job is skipped. You can also put on a jackaroo or jillaroo, on horseback or a motorbike, to work a flank and fetch stragglers for a wage each muster.

Inside the homestead

Go inside the homestead from the menu, or out of the side-by-side: during a muster, drive over the cattle grid and up the track to the homestead's front gate, stop, and press E (or tap Go inside). The muster clock waits while you are indoors. Have a look round: walk with WASD or the joystick and drag to look about. Stoke the fire, raid the fridge, pat the dog, check the herd on the office computer, and see your rodeo trophies on the mantelpiece. The homestead extension from the store opens up a games room.

Farm-stay cabins

The Cabins tab at the saleyards sells a safari tent, a tiny cabin and an A-frame lodge to let on Airbnb. Pick the spot yourself: move it round the paddock, turn it, and set it down where the ground is green. A crane truck delivers it. Guests pay every month, with more for creek frontage and less beside the yards.

The rodeo

Take a day trip to town from the homestead menu. In the steer roping, ride after the steer, hold Space to swing the rope and let go when the ring under him turns green, then tap fast to put him on the ground and time three presses to tie his legs. In the horse trial, ride between the gold beams: bend the poles, jump the rails with Space and round the barrel. Fast times win a buckle, a trophy and prize money (once a month for each event; the entry fee is $40).

Multiplayer

Anyone on the same Wi-Fi can join from the address shown at the homestead. You'll see their buggies and drones, bid against them at auction, and race them up the leaderboard.