Done everything there is to do in Stardew? Here are 10 great games that are the creamof the crop.
After 300 hours, Stardew Valley can feel alittle stale, can’t it? You’ve got up in your perfectly designedhouse, just like you do every day and suddenly you can feel the limitations of this wonderfulpixelated world.
Like Belle from Beauty and the Beast saidso 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 expandingyour horizons and there are plenty of games that will feed your desires for the simplefarming life.
Whether you want more planting and animalcare or more like those life threatening trips down the mines, there are plenty of titlesto scratch your particular itches.
Here then are ten games like Stardew Valley.
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 lovelylaid back world will welcome you with open arms as you build a house, make friends andcraft the day away.
Just like Stardew, you can grow crops, tendto animals, and even head down the mines to find shiny things to make into, well, evenmore things.
You start off small with a run down shackto fix up but it doesn’t stay that way long as you do jobs for the happy inhabitants ofPortia, chop down all the trees and smash up stacks of rocks.
It would be unfair to say that this is a Stardewclone.
The style and tone of My Time at Portia area refreshingly happy change of pace making it also a lovely peaceful addition to ourmost relaxing games list.
If you had to pick one word to describe StardewValley, it would probably be ‘wholesome’.
That is until you find the machine that turnsyour 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 canmake candles from human fat, burn witches, and even sell ‘mystery meat’ to the localtavern.
Yummo.
Just like Stardew, you’ve got a day nightcycle and there’s plenty of crafting and elaborate designing to do.
Although you’re more likely to be foundmaking a graveyard look pretty than planting lovely flowers or collecting truffles to makeinto oil.
Complete with a bouncing skull to give youhandy tips and a long suffering corpse bearing donkey, Graveyard Keeper is a brilliant wayto while away the hours until we are lost for eternity… Oh! An excuse to mention Slime Rancher and talkabout it at length! Quick, before Matt notices that I createdthis list just to do this.
In my defence though, just look how happyeverything is.
Slime Rancher means gazing upon the smilingfaces of your blobby wards, so pleased that you have finally fed them that they’ll giftyou sellable faeces.
It’s only weird to start with, honest.
If the loops of Stardew Valley are what keephooked, prepare for a whole new level of dangerous playability.
Even using the trusty Vacpack is absurdlysatisfying.
If vacuuming in real life was this much fun, all our living spaces would be significantly cleaner.
Whether you’re building pens, exploringthe Far Far Away ranch, planting specific fruits and vegetables to make sure that slimesget their favourite foods, or just obsessing over making sure that your happy creaturesdon’t eat each other’s poo, Slime Rancher is a fiendishly compelling farm sim with aunique life of its own.
Minecraft has a lot to answer for, doesn’tit? So many blocks, so little time on this earthto disintegrate them all.
Well thankfully, Staxel, which takes morethan 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 andhappy go lucky residents to meet.
Building is satisfying and fun and you caneven have a pet to make sure you’re not missing out on your very sleepy animal friendfrom your home farm in Stardew.
With a gentle pace that you very much setyourself, Staxel is another peaceful alternative for all your farming needs.
Plus, you can even play with friends if you’refeeling sociable.
If the one thing that irritates you aboutStardew Valley is that pesky stamina bar, might I suggest trying Farm Together for size.
This frankly edible looking grow fruit andveg-em up is an energetic delight where you never need to sleep.
Yep, who needs rest when there are so manyendless delicious treats to water and pick, moats of eels to place, and chickens to feed.
If your perfect farming game is a glorifiedFarmville you can play with friends and never need to put a hand in your pocket, this isthe cartoony agricultural sim for you.
And sure, while it starts off simple, FarmTogether never stops growing.
Without the limitations of stamina and inventoryspace you can just keep planting and picking.
Yes, you’ll wait for things to grow butthere’s constantly something to do and it’s a dangerous time eater.
I’ll just wait for another 17 minute seasonto roll around before bed… Maybe what you like about Stardew Valley isthe 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 heartilyrecommend Farming Simulator 19.
Only here will you find the realistic homesteadcreation that your land loving heart desires.
Only in this world of perfectly realised farmequipment 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 tolearn but just think how you’ll feel the first time you harvest your very own crops.
You’ll totally kick grass.
Oh never mind….
Stardew Valley isn’t all about plantingfruit 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 darknessthat’s your favourite element, Moonlighter is here to make it your full time job.
Well, one of two full time jobs.
The first is having murderous adventures inendless rooms of things that want to kill you.
The second is managing a shop and keepingcustomers smiling.
It’s an endlessly compelling gameplay loop.
Your patrons don’t know it but for eachand every one of the pieces of merchandise on the shelves you risked life and limb toget it there.
You’ll also need to head back in when thestock runs out.
And weirdly, there’s no dull element here.
Somehow, whether you’re slaying creaturesand dodging death, or pricing up rare items, Moonlighter constantly feels fresh and exciting.
Say hello to your new job in retail.
What happens in a game after the big bad isdefeated? There are lives to rebuild; buildings to repair;body parts to clean up.
It’s a question that early-access relax-o-ramaLittlewood aims to answer (apart from, y’know, the body parts bit).
The Dark Wizard is defeated, and the worldof Solemn is at peace.
And it’s your job to rebuild that worldby encouraging new inhabitants to move into your burgeoning town.
You harvest materials by chopping wood, miningore, fishing, and more, then use what you’ve gathered to craft the ideal town for you andyour new neighbours.
And you’ll have to listen to their wantsand needs, too, whether it’s building their home on a higher elevation, or surroundingtheir 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 finishedversion of Littlewood could be exactly the distraction you’re after.
You’re not playing a fantasy RPG unlessit has an item shop.
But do you ever stop and think about the personwho runs the shop? Or how those items get replenished? No, of course not; that would be weird.
But if you’re interested, the quirky, addictiveRecettear is a great place to learn more about the rigours of RPG retail.
It’s different from Stardew in numerousways, but it does have a similarly compelling gameplay loop.
You manage every element of your shop, fromwhere you put your prestige items to interior design, and, like Moonlighter, you delve intorandomised dungeons to gather new loot or die trying.
It’s a smart, self-referential game witha great sense of humour – a rallying cry of, ‘Capitalism ho!’ tells you everythingyou 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 leadcharacter, doesn’t feel that far wrong.
And you thought fairies were nice.
.
.
Yonder is the sort of game best enjoyed atyour leisure.
You can rush through it, sure, but this anexperience that’s best enjoyed at a snail’s pace while chugging back numerous glassesof ice tea.
And there’s plenty to keep you busy, too, with numerous professions to master and eight diverse biomes to explore: from lush greenvales inhabited by sickeningly cute bunny balls; cool blue plains featuring cheery pinkdogbears; and coastal dreamscapes that answer the question, ‘what would happen if yougrew a garden on a pig’.
It’s less sinister than it sounds.
Yonder is a dynamic world, as well – day turnsto night, weather changes, and animals migrate.
And, as you might have noticed from the footage, Yonder is gorgeous.
Wistful, achingly pretty areas that feel likeyou’re wandering through the mind of an artistically-gifted friend.
And even the animals here love you.
I LOVE YOU TOO CHONKY BOI.
It’s all so warm and wholesome and wonderfulyou’ll never want to play another game about snapping necks or bludgeoning zombies again.
So that’s ten games to play if you loveStardew Valley as much as I do but should probably play something else.
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