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The best games like Stardew Valley are as thoughtful and heartwarming as ConcernedApe’s uber-charming 2016 farming simulator. With a wealth of charismatic, whimsical, lovable, sometimes infuriating but mostly infatuating, Stardew Valley is such a delight it’s hard to imagine a game in this vein being better than it per se, but there are plenty of alternatives that provide similar levels of chilled-out simulation bliss. Step away from Pelican Town, read on, and get lost in our best games like Stardew Valley list at your own, most relaxed pace.
The best games like Stardew Valley…
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Moonlighter
Developer: Digital Sun
Available on: PC, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch
Moonlighter should tick all your Stardew Valley boxes. By day, it’s a management game where you work as a shopkeeper, bartering with customers and restocking shelves with that kind of wonderful, brain-soothing, mediocrity. But, by night you’re a warrior, diving into roguelike dungeons to scavenge wares for your shop. Oh, and did we mention the overarching story is incredible? It’s all full of destiny and anguish and a bit of family drama. It absolutely nails that wonderful, self-perpetuating, gameplay loop of busywork that Stardew Valley excels at, with a little touch of Binding of Isaac and even some tongue-in-cheek Dark Souls references. Prepare yourself for a new addiction.
Sun Haven
Developer: Pixel Sprout Studios
Available on: PC
Have you ever thought to yourself, “I know what Stardew Valley is missing. Dragons, magic, and fantasy”? Sure you have. Well, in this lovely farming sim from Pixel Sprout Studios and backed to almost double its goal on Kickstarter, you’ll get just that. Sun Haven is like Stardew Valley if it was set in medieval times and had a bit of that mythical world injected into it. Plus, you don’t have to be human. There’s a choice of human, demon, elf, angel, elemental, naga, and amari (which basically means you can play as an animal. Want to be a cat? Sure, you can do that.) You’ve got a choice of playing alone or with up to eight people in online co-op. If magic’s your game, this is too.
Hokko Life
Developer: Wonderscope Games
Available on: PC
Much like Stardew Valley, you’re in a cosy, peaceful village filled with opportunities to craft, fish, and farm. In Hokko Life though, you’ve got a whole new level of creativity added in as you can head into your workshop to design and build for not only your own home but the town around you too. Also, much like Animal Crossing, you’ve got a net to catch and form a whole collection of bugs around Hokko. As of now, it’s still in early access but with lots of feedback from players, it’s definitely one to keep an eye on or give it a go yourself.
Garden Story
Developer: Picogram
Available on: PC, Nintendo Switch
Another Stardew-style game, Garden Story, made by developer Picogram, is cute and quirky. You take on the role of Concord the grape who teams up with their fruit, fungi, and froggy friends to protect The Grove from the Rot that is threatening to destroy their homes. As Concord, you’ve been appointed the Guardian of The Grove, and whilst still having the usual tasks and changing seasons of Stardew Valley, you’ve also got an overarching storyline of combating the Rot and rebuilding the island. You’ll also build relationships with others that will ultimately help you out too.
My Time at Portia
Developer: Pathea
Available on: PC, Nintendo Switch
Like Stardew Valley, getting into My Time at Portia can be a bit of a grind to get into. But, the world is so delightful and rewarding to be in, and interact with, that you soon won’t really mind about that. The best way to describe My Time at Portia is to say it’s like crossing The Sims with Stardew, with lashings of Studio Ghibli-esque graphics thrown on top for good measure, like some kind of amazing sundae. This game is as much about becoming part of the Portia community as it is farming or crafting, and that’s part of its charm. Everyone just wants to be your BFF, it’s up to you to invite them into your inner circle. Add that quest for all the friends to the continual search for resources to build things for your workshop and the town as a whole, and you’re suddenly very busy indeed. And, oh wait, has the whole weekend gone already?
Diaries of a Spaceport Janitor
Developer: Sundae Month
Available on: PC
Diaries of a Spaceport Janitor has quite a different tone to Stardew Valley. In fact, it’s much, much darker. Rather than a heartwarming tale of sticking a middle finger to corporate greed and capitalism as a whole, it’s actually a slightly depressing tale of a sentient trash incinerator on a spaceport. Out in space in this reality, robots are bullied and can barely afford to even eat, but there’s possibly a way out. Okay, so Diaries of a Spaceport Janitor might not be a game about farming at all, but it does follow the same methods, especially when it comes to learning a town, finding friendly faces, and buying and selling goods to keep fed, watered, and alive. It’ll drive you the same sort of crazy in all the right ways.
Yonder: The Cloudcatcher Chronicles
Developer: Prideful Sloth
Available on: PS4, PC, Nintendo Switch
If Nintendo took all the enemies out of Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and just let you build and farm, you’d basically end up with Yonder: The Cloudcatcher Chronicles. It’s a beautiful little game, that actually starts out very much like Breath of the Wild, but contained absolutely no combat. There’s not even much story either, although there are some quests for you to follow, making it much more like Stardew than Breath of the Wild overall. What’s even better though, is that Yonder doesn’t just limit you to farming. You will also be crafting, cooking, fishing and even brewing.
Voodoo Garden
Developer: M Hanka
Available on: PC
If you want a simplified version of Stardew Valley, you might want to treat yourself to Voodoo Garden, which is basically a beautiful idle clicker farming sim. In it, you’re tasked with building your own garden, growing and harvesting ingredients to use in various voodoo potions and other recipes. From flowers, mushrooms and honey, to snake fangs and frogs’ legs, you better be channeling the occult before you start planting for this game. You can also start fattening up chickens and rabbits in your garden too to make other ingredients, or as sacrifices for other dark deeds. Plus, when they’re gone their spirits can help tend your garden as long as it’s not raining. Ghosts don’t like rain, apparently. It’s a glorious little clicker and the kind of thing that you can play whilst watching Netflix.
Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town
Developer: Marvelous Inc
Available on: PC, Nintendo Switch
Just like Stardew Valley, Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town sees you taking over your grandfather’s farm. As you build up your very own farm in the peaceful town, you’ll cultivate your crops, take part in local activities, perform little side requests, craft tools and facilities, and more. As one of the most recent Story of Seasons games to release, Pioneers of Olive Town has plenty of similar features on offer that will sing to your Stardew Valley-loving heart.
Slime Rancher
Developer: Monomi Park
Available on: Xbox One, PC , PS4, Nintendo Switch
In Slime Rancher, instead of crops you’re actually harvesting poop – officially known as plorts in-game – from adorable, bouncy, little slimes themed around different animals or objects, from tabby cats to Bulbasaur-like Tangle Slimes. You trade plorts on the Plort Market, with profitable types fluctuating and changing just like a real stock market for poop. You have all your Slimes bouncing around in hutches too, usually sectioned off because they can have a tendency to eat each other, or plorts from another species, which actually creates equally cute hybrids. It’s utterly adorable, until you have to start throwing Tabby Slimes into the Incinerator because their plorts aren’t worth, well, plort anymore. Yes, I know, I’m a terrible, heartless, (rich) monster. It’s not quite Stardew Valley, but it’s that same kind of idle, adorable, fun that you can’t help sinking multiple hundreds of hours into.
