Small-Town Escapes
Maybe it’s the soft sound of rain on a digital farmhouse roof or the satisfaction of seeing crops finally bloom—something about farming sims just feels right. Stardew Valley isn’t the only one doing it beautifully, though. Across different worlds and timelines, these games tend to nurture the same warm feeling of progress, connection, and escape. Let’s have a look at the best of them.
1. Harvest Moon: Friends Of Mineral Town
Dawn breaks over your neglected Mineral Town farm, where daily routines blend agricultural dedication with social connection. Between tending personally-named livestock and cultivating seasonal crops, the rhythm of farm life interweaves with community festivals.
Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town | PART 1 by Pikasprey Blue
2. Story Of Seasons: Pioneers Of Olive Town
Starting with nothing but untamed wilderness in Olive Town, players go on an ambitious farming journey that evolves from basic land-clearing to sophisticated automation. The progression unfolds through crafting machines that streamline farm work, while relationship events enrich town life.
Playing Story of Seasons Pioneers of Olive Town! 🌱 by Josh's Gaming Garden
3. Animal Crossing: New Horizons
The heart of New Horizons has always been its charismatic animal villagers, whose distinct personalities shine through daily conversations, thoughtful letters, and surprise gifts. This social foundation gains depth through the game's extensive decoration options and inter-island visits.
4. Coral Island
Above the waves, this game presents a rich agricultural experience centered on tropical crop cultivation and animal husbandry, complemented by diverse social connections and romance options. Below the surface, players engage in vital marine conservation, diving to rehabilitate damaged reefs.
Coral Island - Official Gameplay Trailer by GameTrailers
5. My Time At Portia
Workshop restoration forms the heart of My Time at Portia's interwoven activities, where crafted goods fuel farming operations while mining yields essential materials. Players traverse the whimsical post-apocalyptic setting astride llamas, connecting these practical pursuits to the town's social fabric.
My Time at Portia Review by IGN
6. Rune Factory 4 Special
In Rune Factory 4 Special's intricately woven gameplay ecosystem, each system reinforces the others: crops provide ingredients for cooking and forging, while crafted weapons enable dungeon exploration and monster taming. These befriended creatures then bolster farming operations.
Returning to Rune Factory 4 Special! by Josh's Gaming Garden
7. Farming Simulator 22
Through seamless cross-platform multiplayer, Farming Simulator 22 converts digital agriculture into a shared virtual lifestyle, where friends collaborate across devices to master authentic farming. Players navigate seasonal challenges while commanding more than 400 licensed vehicles.
Farming Simulator 22 | FIRST LOOK GAMEPLAY! by Daggerwin
8. Garden Paws
Begin your pastoral journey in Garden Paws by selecting a charming animal avatar—be it a rabbit, fox, or bear—before cultivating a thriving homestead filled with lovingly bred creatures and custom-crafted spaces. As seasons pass, your simple shopkeeper's life blossoms.
Garden Paws - Let's Play Ep 1 - HELLO WORLD by hodge podge
9. Graveyard Keeper
This medieval management sim starts innocently enough with traditional crop-growing and graveyard-tending duties, but quickly ventures into darker territory through supernatural elements like ghosts and alchemical pursuits. The game's satirical edge truly emerges as players discover increasingly questionable business opportunities.
Mystery Meat... – Graveyard Keeper Gameplay – Let's Play Part 1 by Aavak
10. Dinkum
Don your bushranger hat and step into the heart of the outback with Dinkum, where authentic Aussie gear sets the stage for a unique farming adventure. Be it raising native wombats and emus or building a settlement, players can do it all.
Stardew Valley Meets Animal Crossing!? | Let's Play: Dinkum | Ep 1 by BringTheParty
11. Littlewood
In this laid-back farming sim, folks wield complete creative control over their post-heroic paradise, shaping Littlewood's town layout and decorating homes to their exact vision. Beyond cultivating crops and crafting items, residents can build personal collections of the fish they catch.
12. No Place Like Home
Think you know farming sims? No Place Like Home flips the script by making environmental restoration the heart of homestead building. While familiar elements like egg-laying chickens remain, players join Ellen to change a polluted Earth by recycling debris.
No Place Like Home - Let's Play Ep 1 by hodge podge
13. Slime Rancher
Armed with a high-tech vacuum gun, players explore an alien world where science meets whimsy. This innovative tool enables ranchers to collect a group of colorful slimes, each exhibiting distinct behaviors. Different species merge to create fascinating hybrid variants.
Slime Rancher - Official Launch Trailer by Monomi Park
14. Ooblets
In a refreshing departure from combat-driven games, Ooblets channels conflict into joyful dance battles, setting the tone for its innovative take on farming simulation. This peaceful philosophy extends throughout the experience, as players cultivate crops alongside collecting and raising quirky creatures.
Ooblets - Launch Trailer - Nintendo Switch by Nintendo of America
15. Farm Together
This creation revolutionizes social farming by seamlessly blending real-time multiplayer cultivation with persistent progression that continues even when players are offline. Such an innovative approach allows friends to maintain shared agricultural ventures around the clock.
Farm Together - #1 - WE'RE FARMERS NOW!!! (4 Player Gameplay) by Stumpt
16. Roots Of Pacha
Starting with nothing but stone tools and primitive know-how, players journey through prehistoric innovation in Roots of Pacha, discovering farming techniques and inventing important tools while building their Stone Age settlement. The cooperative village-building adventure lets friends work together.
Roots of Pacha - Official Launch Trailer by GameTrailers
17. Kynseed
As seasons paint their gentle rhythms across the mystical countryside, Kynseed mirrors nature's endless cycles in its generational storytelling. Gamers cultivate their farms and shops beneath skies where faeries dance and animals share ancient wisdom.
Will This Game Still Be My Fave Farm RPG in 2023!? - Kynseed by SharkyGames
18. Everdream Valley
Galloping across moonlit fields as a wild stallion or soaring with newfound wings, the magical dreams of this game convert routine farm life into something extraordinary. These enchanted nighttime sequences complement the daily rhythms of tending animals.
First look at Everdream Valley! by Josh's Gaming Garden
19. Wylde Flowers
By day, you'll tend to your budding farm, nurturing crops and caring for animals in classic farming sim fashion. But as magical secrets unfold, your agricultural pursuits blend seamlessly with witchcraft, letting you enhance your homestead through spellcasting.
Wylde Flowers - Let's Play Ep 1 by hodge podge
20. Hokko Life
Step into Hokko Life's charming village, where creative design and community building set the foundation for your countryside adventure. The game's sturdy crafting system opens doors to endless possibilities, while quirky villagers populate your world with distinct looks and dialogue.
Hokko Life - Launch Trailer - Nintendo Switch by Nintendo of America
