Appleton Farms is located to the north of Home Town, just beyond Mount Pom-Pom. Problem is, there’s a watery gap that keeps you from accessing Appleton easily from Home Town. There are two ways around this:
- The first, more obvious way is to make the trip around Mount Pom-Pom, to the east. This will require you to travel through Crystal Beach and then north, to the lengthy Big Steppe. The exit to Appleton Farms is in the far northwest of Big Steppe.
- The better route is through Mount Pom-Pom. In order to do this you need to speak to the Architect, found in her office in Capital City. She’ll construct a bridge up to Appleton for a few hundred bucks. You do not have to recruit her to do this. (Though it’s not exactly difficult to recruit her, assuming you have cash to spare.)
There’s a chance you’ll pay this place a visit during Chapter III, as one of the three side quests needed to locate an errant Moonbucks (specifically, Going in Circles) brings you out this way. If you visit during this quest, at night, Appleton will be full of Moo F.O.s; otherwise, it’s enemy-free. (Good thing, too. Those bees fluttering about would be a horrible pain.)
You’ll find the following in and around Appleton Farms:
- There’s a Root Beer sitting by a corn field in the northeast corner of the map.
- The Homeless Guy can find a Birthday Cake in the trash can beside the northeastern barn.
- Just south of the aforementioned barn is a field full of hot peppers. Check by the northeast corner of the fence for a Dragon Roll.
- You’ll find a massive rock in the southeast corner of the map, liftable by a Bodybuilder with a talent level of at least two. The path beyond leads to a cliff in Big Steppe where you can find a Mystery Vial for the Scientist and a Birthday Cake.
- There’s Bread in the southwest corner of the map, near the mud pit where you can also find the Moo F.O. that contributes to the storyline quest mentioned above.
- There’s a Sedative wedged between some trees in the northwest.
Most important, there are two characters to recruit here: the Exterminator and the Beekeeper. The Beekeeper sends you on an extensive quest to find her bees, and you won’t get to bring her in now, but the Exterminator’s quest is relegated entirely to Appleton. All you need to do is enter the field she’s guarding and exterminate the bugs trying to reach the tree with the golden apples, right in the middle of the field. Mash enough bugs and you can recruit her. (If you fail, don’t worry. There appears to be a set number of bugs to kill, and once you hit that number the mini game will immediately end. The count appears to carry over between attempts.)