5 Best Video Games Like Stardew Valley

One of the coziest games ever made is 2016’s “Stardew Valley,” a farming life simulator created by Eric “ConcernedApe” Barone. Ported to virtually every major modern gaming platform, the game has players try to run a farm that they’ve inherited in a remote rural community. As the year advances, complete with changing seasons, players not only turn their farm around but also explore the surrounding area and find love. With its pixelated charm and low-stakes gameplay, “Stardew Valley” has provided a warmly entertaining experience for millions of players worldwide.

For those who have taken the time to beat “Stardew Valley,” there are plenty of other games offering similar experiences. These titles similarly revolve around developing the players’ homestead and becoming part of a wider community. A lower intensity experience is also maintained, emphasizing heartwarming comfort over epic stakes and overt action. Here are the five best video games like “Stardew Valley” that you should check out next.

The biggest visible influence on “Stardew Valley” is the “Harvest Moon” franchise, which was known in its native Japan under the title “Story of Seasons.” After the “Harvest Moon” series was nearly canceled, it took on its original branding for subsequent releases while classic games in the series were remade for modern platforms. This includes the 2003 Game Boy Advance title “Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town,” which received a modern remake in 2019. The game has the player character inherit a farm near the rural village of Mineral Town from an old man he befriended as a child. The player sets out to reverse the farm’s fortunes while romancing one of six women living in town to create a family of their own.

Several “Story of Seasons” games were remade or remastered for modern platforms like the Nintendo Switch, but “Friends of Mineral Town” received a particularly stellar translation. The game has one of the most in-depth stories of any title in the franchise, including a well-established prologue. All the usual highlights from the wider series are in place and the leap from the GBA to modern platforms is seamlessly handled. While “Stardew Valley” fans will likely be fine with any modern “Story of Seasons” title, “Friends of Mineral Town” is where they should start.

“Animal Crossing: New Horizons” brought Nintendo’s coziest franchise to the Switch in arguably its best entry. The game has the player character move into an island community run by the shrewd business proprietor Tom Nook. With the population primarily anthropomorphic animals like Nook, players design and renovate their homes while making money doing odd jobs and gathering objects on the island. Players become a major figure within their respective communities, experience the changing of seasons, and can visit other players’ islands if invited.

One of the biggest breakout hits of 2020, in no small part due to a pandemic keeping gamers at home, “Animal Crossing: New Horizons” was a widespread source of comfort. The truth about “Animal Crossing” is that it’s always reveled in building cozy communities ever since the franchise launched in 2001. What “New Horizons” does is provide the series with its most immersive experience yet, while taking advantage of the Switch’s online capabilities. A commercial and critical smash success, “Animal Crossing: New Horizons” should be a part of your game library if you own a Switch.

A crowd-funded success, 2022’s “Coral Island” took on a more tropical angle with its island farming simulator experience. The player character returns to their island-based hometown of Starlet Town after becoming disenchanted with living in an urban area. Acquiring a farm on the island, the player sets out to create a successful agricultural venture and home while starting their own family. The game also features an overarching magical narrative, with the player trying to restore four petrified giants and form a peaceful link with a nearby merfolk community.

“Story of Seasons” and its counterparts always had light fantasy elements, and it’s great to see “Coral Island” double down on that aspect. The game also takes advantage of its island setting, not just with merfolk but also by having players do things like clean up oil spills and other ocean-based activities. All the familiar modern farming simulation elements are here, but reimagined through this setting and story in ways that feel fresh again. So many life and farming sims take place on coastal and island settings, but “Coral Island” makes that distinction work in full.

With such a deep bench of globally recognized and beloved properties, Disney wisely took advantage of it with the 2023 game “Disney Dreamlight Valley.” The game’s titular setting is a magical rustic community where numerous iconic Disney and Pixar characters live together in rural harmony. Upon moving into the community, players complete quests to upgrade their homes while getting to know their new neighbors. Players also try to help these animation icons regain their memories after learning that they each were on the receiving end of a mysterious enchantment.

Receiving regular updates and new content, “Disney Dreamlight Valley” has grown into quite the farming simulator for fans of the entertainment conglomerate. Part of the fun is getting to unlock more and more familiar faces from Disney franchises and interacting with them, including learning their favorite food recipes. Since its launch, the game has been ported to all the important current gaming platforms, including iOS devices. A must-play for any Disney fan, “Disney Dreamlight Valley” isn’t a 1:1 replication of your typical farming simulator, but that works tremendously to its benefit.

Disney isn’t the only licensed property that’s developed its own farming life simulation game in the wake of “Stardew Valley.” The familiar world of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth comes to life in the 2025 game “Tales of the Shire: A The Lord of the Rings Game.” Set between the events of “The Hobbit” and “The Lord of the Rings,” players control a hobbit who’s recently moved into the Shire. As the player begins to renovate their home in Bywater, they get to know the hobbit community around them, along with the history behind the thriving town.

Developed by Wētā Workshop, “Tales of the Shire” boasts the familiar aesthetics from New Line Cinema’s cinematic adaptation of Tolkien’s work. The game gives players the opportunity to indulge in the gentle slice-of-life routine of living as a hobbit. There are links to the movies themselves that surface as players progress, but the real appeal is diving into the Shire’s bucolic charm. Easygoing and perfect for fans of Tolkien and farming simulators, “Tales of the Shire” is an unassuming immersion into the coziest side of Middle-earth.