I think some reviewers have unfairly downrated this game because they don't understand how it was meant to be played. It is one of those games that pretends to be a world that is always running (by checking the realtime clock to see how much time has passed since it was last run). You buy some things for your farm, then exit the game for a while. When you come back you find that your helpers have earned some gold and experience for you. You can then invest the gold in improving your farm, and next time you run the game there will be even more gold earned. Note that the game only earns gold for you for up to a certain number of hours while you are away. (One of the upgrades you can buy increases the number of hours.)
Unfortunately there seems to be a rather limited number of different things you can plant, and once they are all unlocked, all there is to do is to earn gold and buy more of the same types of things and boosters.