Here’s the thing about farming games: I love them, but sometimes they feel a little too… cozy. You know the loop. Wake up. Water parsnips. Pet the goat. Faintly wonder if this is what retirement feels like. It’s a peaceful life, sure, but every once in a while, you want a farming sim that lets you trade the watering can for a flamethrower. Enter The Rabbit Haul.
Developed by Caldera Interactive, this roguelite farm defence game splits its time between two very different moods. By day, you’re a gardener with a plan—planting crops, arranging defensive towers, and managing plant synergies like a botanist preparing for war. By night, you’re fending off waves of raccoons (the “Trash Panda Posse”) who want nothing more than to steal every carrot you’ve grown. Think Plants vs. Zombies meets cozy farming sim, with a roguelite structure where every loss teaches you something and every win rebuilds your ruined hometown one haul at a time.
The demo is out now on Steam if you want to dig in early. No official release date yet, but it’s up to wishlist now on Steam. Let’s dig into The Rabbit Haul.
Meet Sprout, Your Resident Lagomorph
You play as Sprout, a rabbit with a personal grudge against the “Trash Panda Posse.” This isn’t just pest control; it’s about rebuilding your hometown after the raccoons tore it apart. But unlike most farming sims, there’s a day and night cycle.
- By day, you farm with purpose. Plant crops, build defensive plant towers, and arrange your garden for maximum defence.
- By night, you defend your haul. Waves of raccoons swarm in, trying to steal your hard-earned produce.
It’s Stardew Valley if the junimos were replaced with angry raccoons and your farm doubled as a tower defence level.
Day Phase: Gardening
During the day, there’s no time limit. You can wander around, plant seeds, harvest crops, and arrange your defensive towers at your own pace. This is where The Rabbit Haul gives you space to breathe—and also where you can absolutely sabotage yourself if you’re not paying attention.
Plants have synergies. Place them wrong, ignore their interactions, and you’re setting yourself up for a very bad evening. It’s a satisfying little loop: treat your garden like a fortress blueprint, and the night becomes manageable. Treat it like a decorative flower bed, and the raccoons will treat it like an all-you-can-eat buffet.
You’ll also want to wander over to the merchant during the day to sell crops for cash. That money buys seeds, upgrades, and other essentials. And keep an eye on your inventory—garbage will clog your slots faster than you’d think, so you’ll want to dispose of it. Nothing ruins a good run like carrying three pieces of rotten fruit when you need space for a fire flower.
Night Phase: Raccoons
When the sun sets, the energy shifts. Fast-paced combat kicks in, and those adorable raccoons become relentless little thieves. They come in waves, each enemy type demanding a different strategy. Some rush straight for your crops. Others hang back, waiting for an opening.
During my time with the demo, I found the combat genuinely enjoyable. The screen can get busy, and those raccoons are sneaky.
Your plants grow slowly, but with enough time and attention, they can be upgraded into proper defensive powerhouses. There’s a real sense of growth here, not just in your farm, but in your ability to shape it into something that can actually fight back.
Roguelite Structure
Failure is part of the plan, and any crops you managed to save come back with you. You use that hard-earned harvest to restore the town—rebuilding shops, unlocking new merchants, and bringing new characters into the fold. The hub world remains intact even after failure, which means each new run is an opportunity to experiment with mechanics, find better synergies, and unlock permanent upgrades.
The game wants you to experiment, not suffer. You rebuild the town, experiment with strategies, and slowly figure out whether you’re a “raw plant power” purist or someone who finds joy in weird, chaotic synergies.
The Rabbit Haul
Nurture your farm by day and defend your haul of crops from the thieving Trash Panda Posse at night. This farming and tower defence roguelite challenges you to grow powerful and symbiotic defences to battle tough critters and rebuild your hometown one haul at a time!
The demo is live now on Steam, offering a solid taste of the day-night rhythm, the surprisingly thoughtful plant synergies, and the pure joy of watching a fire flower delete a wave of trash pandas. There’s no official release date yet, but wishlisting it now means you’ll be ready to dig in the moment it sprouts.
