What are the best games like Stardew Valley? This is a game that keeps on giving, with five generous content patches, hundreds of hours of farming, crafting, socialising and fishing, and an addictive gameplay loop that leads to multiple saves on multiple platforms (guilty). But as hard as it can be to stop playing, sometimes we want to see what else the genre has to offer.

If you want to try something new or you’ve finally fulfilled the community goals, conquered Ginger Island, and perfected your farming empire, then these games will scratch that farm / life simulator itch. Read on for our list of the best games like Stardew Valley, and get those tools readied!

The Best Games like Stardew Valley

Games like Stardew Valley story of seasons

1. Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town – games like stardew valley

The gold standard of farm/life simulators, it’s impossible to talk about the best games like Stardew Valley without touching on the series that inspired it. Story of Seasons features many mechanics that’ll feel familiar from your days in Pelican Town: marriage candidates, crop and animal farming, and of course making the local area better off for your presence. Stardew Valley has in turn inspired this latest entry in the series with the somewhat controversial addition of Makers and crafting mechanics, and the mysterious Earth Sprites bear more than a little resemblance to everyone’s favourite Junimos.

2. Ooblets – games like stardew valley

Ooblets is farming simulator meets weird little guys meets dance battles. The vibe is undeniably different from Stardew Valley, but the concept is similar: grow, harvest and sell your crops on an ever-expanding farm while you juggle the often bizarre needs of the townspeople. Instead of simple hack and slash combat, Ooblets allows you to battle with the critters you’ve grown or collected against wild Ooblets, launching into dance-offs with moves selectable from a deck of cards until you reach a set goal. Currently in Early Access, Ooblets is set to release later in 2022.

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Games like Stardew Valley my time at sandrock

3. My Time at Sandrock – games like stardew valley

Descend into dungeons, attend seasonal events and become a valued member of the community in My Time at Sandrock, newly-released sequel to the immensely popular My Time at Portia. There’s so much that makes this game like Stardew Valley without being derivative: the small town Americana vibe, the feeling of so much to do with so little time, the need to restore a place to its former glory. A new multiplayer mode is on the way too, for players who enjoy Stardew Valley’s divide-and-conquer attitude to chores and dungeon delving.

Games like Stardew Valley rune factory 4 special

4. Rune Factory 4 Special

Do you enjoy the combat and hints of fantasy in Stardew Valley? Is your favourite bit of farm / life simulators the endless drive for greater optimisation? Quite like the idea of being a prince(ss) farmer? Then Rune Factory 4 Special is for you. Though any entry in the series could be crowned as one of the best games like Stardew Valley, RF4 strikes the ideal balance between farming, crafting, cooking, combat and socialising that drew so many of us to Stardew Valley in the first place. Tameable boss monsters are the icing on this very filling cake.

5. Graveyard Keeper

Graveyard Keeper dubs itself the ‘most inaccurate medieval cemetery management sim’, combining corpse- and crop-farming with a deeply story-driven plot in a pixel art world a few shades darker than Stardew Valley. Complete with cults, character quests and town upgrades, Graveyard Keeper is an immersive farm / life simulator where the grind includes ethical dilemmas about where to source the centrepiece for the next festive witch hunt. Stardew Valley players will recognise the fishing mini-game with glee or dread depending on if they’ve caught all the legendary fish.

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