Done everything there is to do in Stardew? There are plenty of games like Stardew Valley to play when you’ve reaped all you can sow. Here are 10 great games that are the cream of the crop. After 300 hours, Stardew Valley can feel a little stale, can’t it? You’ve got up in your perfectly designed house, just like you do every day and suddenly you can feel the limitations of this wonderful pixelated world. Like Belle from Beauty and the Beast said so well, ‘there must be more than this provincial life’. Don’t feel bad though. It’s OK to move on. You won’t be cheating on Stardew, just expanding your horizons and there are plenty of games that will feed your desires for the simple farming life. Whether you want more planting and animal care or more like those life-threatening trips down the mines, there are plenty of titles to scratch your particular itches. Here then are ten games like Stardew Valley.
My Time at Portia
Available on: PC, Nintendo Switch
First off, to prevent any game-changing whiplash, is My Time at Portia, probably one of the closest experiences to Stardew Valley. The view is a bit different but this lovely laid back world will welcome you with open arms as you build a house, make friends and craft the day away. Just like Stardew, you can grow crops, tend to animals, and even head down the mines to find shiny things to make into, well, even more things. You start off small with a run-down shack to fix up but it doesn’t stay that way long as you do jobs for the happy inhabitants of Portia, chop down all the trees and smash up stacks of rocks. It would be unfair to say that this is a Stardew clone. The style and tone of My Time at Portia are a refreshingly happy change of pace making it also a lovely peaceful addition to our most relaxing games list.
Graveyard Keeper
Available on: PC, Xbox One and PS4
If you had to pick one word to describe Stardew Valley, it would probably be ‘wholesome’. That is until you find the machine that turns children into birds but let’s ignore that for the sake of this entry. Graveyard Keeper is the opposite of wholesome. A bit like the Paris catacombs, it’s dark, ludicrously macabre, and filled with skulls. All from this lovely top-down view, you can make candles from human fat, burn witches, and even sell ‘mystery meat’ to the local tavern. Just like Stardew, you’ve got a day-night cycle and there’s plenty of crafting and elaborate designing to do. Although you’re more likely to be found making a graveyard look pretty than planting lovely flowers or collecting truffles to make into the oil. Complete with a bouncing skull to give you handy tips and a long-suffering corpse bearing donkey, Graveyard Keeper is a brilliant way
to while away the hours until we are lost for eternity…
Slime Rancher
Available on: Xbox One, PC , PS4
An excuse to mention Slime Rancher and talk about it at length! Slime Rancher means gazing upon the smiling faces of your blobby wards, so pleased that you have finally fed them that they’ll gift you sellable faeces. It’s only weird to start with, honest. If the loops of Stardew Valley are what keep hooked, prepare for a whole new level of dangerous playability. Even using the trusty Vacpack is absurdly satisfying. If vacuuming in real life was this much fun, all our living spaces would be significantly cleaner. Whether you’re building pens, exploring the Far Far Away ranch, planting specific fruits and vegetables to make sure that slimes get their favorite foods, or just obsessing over making sure that your happy creatures don’t eat each other’s poo, Slime Rancher is a fiendishly compelling farm sim with a unique life of its own.
Staxel
Available on: PC
Minecraft has a lot to answer for, doesn’t it? So many blocks, so little time on this earth to disintegrate them all. Well thankfully, Staxel, which takes more than a little visual inspiration from Mojang’s pickaxe-fest, makes life more manageable. Literally. Another welcoming farming and village sim, the finally free of Early Access game is packed with endless crafting recipes to fulfill and happy go lucky residents to meet. Building is satisfying and fun and you can even have a pet to make sure you’re not missing out on your very sleepy animal friend from your home farm in Stardew. With a gentle pace that you very much set yourself, Staxel is another peaceful alternative for all your farming needs. Plus, you can even play with friends if you’re feeling sociable.
Farm Together
Available on: PC, Nintendo Switch, PS4, Xbox One
If the one thing that irritates you about Stardew Valley is that pesky stamina bar, might I suggest trying Farm Together for size. This frankly edible looking grow fruit and veg-em up is an energetic delight where you never need to sleep. Yep, who needs rest when there are so many endless delicious treats to water and pick, moats of eels to place, and chickens to feed. If your perfect farming game is a glorified Farmville you can play with friends and never need to put a hand in your pocket, this is the cartoony agricultural sim for you. And sure, while it starts off simple, Farm Together never stops growing. Without the limitations of stamina and inventory space, you can just keep planting and picking. Yes, you’ll wait for things to grow but
there’s constantly something to do and it’s a dangerous time-eater. I’ll just wait for another 17 minute season to roll around before bed.
Farming Simulator 2019
Available on: Xbox One, PC , PS4
Maybe what you like about Stardew Valley is the farming. Maybe it’s not the relationships, the collecting, or the making gallons of duck egg mayonnaise that floats your boat. It’s the planting. The intricacies of the watering. The way soil interacts with your golden shovel. If, and only if, this is the case, I can heartily recommend Farming Simulator 19. Only here will you find the realistic homestead creation that your land-loving heart desires. Only in this world of perfectly released farm
equipment and painstakingly crafted vehicles will you fulfill your true farmy destiny. Nothing here grows without very specific processes, each with their own vehicular attachments and routines. Sure it might take you a couple of hours to
learn but just think how you’ll feel the first time you harvest your very own crops. You’ll totally kick grass.
Moonlighter
Available on: PS4, Xbox One, PC, Nintendo Switch
Stardew Valley isn’t all about planting fruit and veg. If you truly want to find all of its secrets, you have to head into the mines. And if it’s this trip into the darkness that’s your favorite element, Moonlighter is here to make it your full-time job. Well, one of two full-time jobs. The first is having murderous adventures in endless rooms of things that want to kill you. The second is managing a shop and keeping customers smiling. It’s an endlessly compelling gameplay loop. Your patrons don’t know it but for each and every one of the pieces of merchandise on the shelves you risked life and limb to get it there. You’ll also need to head back in when the stock runs out. And weirdly, there’s no dull element here. Somehow, whether you’re slaying creatures
and dodging death, or pricing up rare items, Moonlighter constantly feels fresh and exciting. Say hello to your new job in retail.
Littlewood
Available on: PC
What happens in a game after the big bad is defeated? There are lives to rebuild; buildings to repair; body parts to clean up. It’s a question that early-access relax-o-rama Littlewood aims to answer (apart from, y’know, the body parts bit). The Dark Wizard is defeated, and the world of Solemn is at peace. And it’s your job to rebuild that world by encouraging new inhabitants to move into your burgeoning town. You harvest materials by chopping wood, mining ore, fishing, and more, then use what you’ve gathered to craft the ideal town for you and your new neighbours. And you’ll have to listen to their wants
and needs, too, whether it’s building their home on a higher elevation, or surrounding their pad with trees and running water. It’s a dense but relaxing slice of escapism, that’s packed with stuff to do despite the visual simplicity. If you’ve exhausted of Stardew, the finished version of Littlewood could be exactly the distraction you’re after.
Recettear: An Item Shop’s Tale
Available on: PC
You’re not playing a fantasy RPG unless it has an item shop. But do you ever stop and think about the person who runs the shop? Or how those items get replenished? No, of course not; that would be weird. But if you’re interested, the quirky, addictive Recettear is a great place to learn more about the rigours of RPG retail. It’s different from Stardew in numerous
ways, but it does have a similarly compelling gameplay loop. You manage every element of your shop, from where you put your prestige items to interior design, and, like Moonlighter, you delve into randomized dungeons to gather new loot or die trying. It’s a smart, self-referential game with a great sense of humor – a rallying cry of, ‘Capitalism ho!’ tells you everything you need to know about the tone. Even the name, Recettear, is a play on words. Say it wrong and it comes out like racketeer. Which, given the circumstances of the lead character, doesn’t feel that far wrong.
Yonder : The Cloud Catcher Chronicles
Available on: PS4, PC, Nintendo Switch
And you thought fairies were nice. Yonder is the sort of game best enjoyed at your leisure. You can rush through it, sure, but this an experience that’s best enjoyed at a snail’s pace while chugging back numerous glasses of ice tea. And there’s plenty to keep you busy, too, with numerous professions to master and eight diverse biomes to explore: from lush green vales inhabited by sickeningly cute bunny balls; cool blue plains featuring cheery pink dog bears; and coastal dreamscapes that answer the question, ‘what would happen if you grew a garden on a pig’. It’s less sinister than it sounds. Yonder is a dynamic world, as well – day turns to night, weather changes, and animals migrate. And, as you might have noticed from the footage,
Yonder is gorgeous. Wistful, achingly pretty areas that feel like you’re wandering through the mind of an artistically-gifted friend. And even the animals here love you. It’s all so warm and wholesome and wonderful you’ll never want to play another game about snapping necks or bludgeoning zombies again. So that’s ten games to play if you love Stardew Valley as much as I do but should probably play something else.
Let us know if we missed any farming joys in the comments below, If you enjoyed this list don’t forget to share with friends.
