10 games like Stardew Valley that’ll keep you working on the farm until the cows come home
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The best games like Stardew Valley tap into a similar kind of magic that can be found in ConcernedApe's delightful farming sim. Whether you enjoy it for the sense of community, the farming, or the exploration and progression, there are lots of experiences out there that have the same spirit as Stardew Valley.
With lots of adventures out there that combine elements and draw from the best farming games, you can expect to find environments of all shapes and sizes, meet a host of different characters, and sow some seeds in a variety of different stories. There's a lot to love about Stardew Valley, and it's certainly exciting to know that the developer is working on a new project in the shape of Haunted Chocolatier, but if you're looking to take a break from Pelican Town, you've come to the right place.
Whether you enjoy bonding with the locals, creating your very own dream farm, or looking after animals, you're sure to find something here that speaks to you. Read on below as we take you through our pick of the 10 best games like Stardew Valley.
The best games like Stardew Valley...
10. Moonlighter
Developer: Digital Sun
Platform(s): 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. For more information, read our Moonlighter review!
9. Sun Haven
Developer: Pixel Sprout Studios
Platform(s): 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. Also, it got a massive update in July 2024, so now's the best time to check it out.
8. Roots of Pacha
Developer: Soda Den
Platform(s): PC, Nintendo Switch, PS5, PS4, Xbox One, XSX
Roots of Pacha shares a lot of similarities with Stardew Valley, however, the big twist is that it’s set during the Stone Age. Just like in Stardew, here you can fish, farm, help the community, tame animals, and even get married. However, all the mechanics are tied to the game’s time period, making it truly stand out in the cozy and farming sim genre.
Whether its taming mammoths, solving the puzzles in the mines, or unlocking new technology as you contribute to the tribe’s progression, Roots of Pacha is a fresh take on the genre while offering us that classic Stardew formula. It's truly everything we hoped for and more. Also, on a personal note, we hugely prefer the fishing mini-game in Roots of Pacha to Stardew, stabbing fish with our pointed rocks is way easier and more satisfying, trust us.
7. Garden Story
Developer: Picogram
Platform(s): PC, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One
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.
6. My Time at Portia
Developer: Pathea
Platform(s): PC, Nintendo Switch, PS4, Xbox One
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 crafting or resource gathering, 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? To find out more, check out our My Time at Portia review.
5. Yonder: The Cloudcatcher Chronicles
Developer: Prideful Sloth
Platform(s): PC, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, XSX
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.
4. Potion Permit
Developer: MassHive Media
Platform(s): PC, Nintendo Switch, PS5, PS4, Xbox One, XSX
Potion Permit is another charming pixel game like Stardew Valley, though more on the RPG and crafting side of the fence than the farming sim one. In it, you play as a doctor who has just moved to a sleeping town in desperate need of some alchemical magic. You'll spend a lot of your time gathering ingredients to brew potions, whether from wild plants or monsters after vanquishing them in the untamed wilderness that lies just beyond the village walls.
Then, it's just a matter of combining all the elements in your caldron to create healing elixirs, each with a unique recipe. Potion Permit features elements of management sims, too, as you balance your foraging expeditions with treating patients in the hospital ward, building relationships with the townsfolk, and turning your small surgery into a thriving medical center. Oh, and did I mention there's a romance system?
3. Wylde Flowers
Developer: Studio Drydock
Platform(s): PC, Nintendo Switch
Have you ever wanted to be an all-powerful witch tending to her own farm? That's the elevator pitch for this stunning game like Stardew Valley. Wylde Flowers is a peaceful, dreamy cottagecore farming sim underpinned by a curious mystery to unravel. Deep character and narrative-driven elements deliver those RPG sensibilities you might be craving from Stardew Valley, with heroine Tara building relationships with her coven while balancing magic, farm life, and everything in between.
It also doubles as one of the best LGBT games for cozy gamers to check out, with diverse romance options available to Tara as she gets to know the townsfolk over the course of her journey. Colorful, narrative, and immediately immersive, Wylde Flowers really has it all.
2. Slime Rancher
Developer: Monomi Park
Platform(s): 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. We're still waiting to find out whether Slime Rancher 2 will make the cut here, but its successful launch into early access is already garnering some buzz...
1. Coral Island
Developer: Stairway Games
Platform(s): PC (Early Access)
Coral Island shares a lot of similarities with Stardew Valley. In fact, we've gone as far as to say that Stairway Games' farming sim, which recently left early access, is even more proof that Stardew Valley is a genre now. In Coral Island, you also leave the city life behind you to begin a new chapter. You're free to build up the farm of your dreams, with crops to grow and animals to tend to. Not unlike Pelican Town, you can also get to know a whole cast of residents and form bonds by giving them gifts. Among the inhabitants are also 25 singles who you can develop a relationship with. With a town to help revive, you can help the community, go diving, hunt for insects, and catch fish, too.
Looking for more great recommendations that might suit you? Why not check out our pick of games like Animal Crossing? We also have a list of the best simulator games if you fancy diving into more classics.
