5 Games Like Stardew Valley

For those who have found themselves spending a lot more time at home this year, games like Stardew Valley have been a lifeline when it comes to passing a few hours. Simulation role-playing games are a perfect way to put yourself into the heart of the story. It feels like every decision you make leads to a new avenue of gameplay and the progression that comes from the repeat gameplay can be very rewarding.

Today, we’re going to take a look at one of the most popular titles in recent years – Stardew Valley. This title was so popular that it has been released on so many different platforms we’re starting to lose count.

If you’ve been addicted to games like these lately, you may be on the lookout for more games like Stardew Valley. Thankfully, there are loads out there, we’ll be taking a look at five more games like Stardew Valley that you’ll be sure to love.

Stardew Valley

 

Release Date: February 26, 2016

Platforms: Microsoft Windows, macOS, Linux, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation Vita, iOS, Android

Stardew Valley starts off with the age-old story of somebody inheriting their grandfather’s old farm. Upon arrival, you’ll find that this plot of land is seriously overgrown, and it’s up to you to restore it back to its former glory.

The charming art style, whimsical music, and detailed visuals really make Stardew Valley a pleasant and calming experience. The game is much more than a farming simulator though. If you’ve ever played any of the Harvest Moon games you’ll feel right at home here. There is a whole town to explore, people to meet, skills to learn, and even monsters to slay.

You can do as many of these tasks as you want, and the game doesn’t try to point you towards any set playstyle. If you want to simply live the life of a monster-slaying hermit, you can neglect the community and go your own way. On the other hand, if you’re not a fan of violence, you can spend your days fishing away and selling your produce to the locals.

Stardew Valley isn’t a hard game to run either; you can get by with pretty minimal hardware and even play it on mobile devices if your PC isn’t up to scratch. Some of the other games like Stardew Valley we’ll be looking at later are a bit more intensive, however, but we’ll be sure to make some hardware recommendations for these.

Now that we’ve talked about what makes Stardew Valley so great let’s move on to our list of some of the best games like Stardew Valley. These games won’t simply be clones or rip-offs, each one will have a couple of core mechanics that you’ll quickly pick up on.

1. Moonlighter

Release Date: May 29, 2018

Platforms: macOS, Microsoft Windows, Linux, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch

If you want more of a fast-paced game than you’re used to in Stardew Valley, Moonlighter is a charming little title with more of a focus on combat. You’ll play the part of Will, a shopkeeper with an eye for adventure.

During the day, you’ll tend to your store, setting prices, managing assistants and your gold reserves. At night, you’ll head out to combat and face off against various enemies and bosses. With a bit of a roguelike twist, you’ll have to be careful in your combat, control your strikes and be sure to pick up valuable loot along the way. Some of the bosses are especially challenging, but once you’ve got used to their attack patterns, you’ll be progressing in no time.

There’s also a whole village to explore during your downtime where you’ll be able to help establish new businesses and meet a whole cast of interesting characters. Moonlighter isn’t too hard on your system either, which is great news. Even though it requires a dedicated GPU, the recommended card is an Nvidia GeForce GTX 660, which won’t break the bank. Most budget systems will have no problems playing this game, but if you’re stuck, check out one of our helpful build guides.

2. Doraemon Story Of Seasons

Release Date: October 11, 2019

Platforms: Nintendo Switch, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4

We’ve already mentioned that those who have played Harvest Moon titles in the past will feel right at home when first booting up Stardew Valley. If you haven’t heard of Story of Seasons before, it is simply the evolution of the original Harvest Moon games.

This title is a bit of a break from the usual formula, though. Doraemon Story of Seasons blends the Story of Seasons video games with the Doraemon manga series. The typical gameplay from the old Harvest Moon titles is still alive and kicking here, and the cast of characters and gadgets from the Doraemon series helps keep things interesting.

The art style is fairly different from what you’ll be used to in both Stardew Valley and Harvest Moon, but the core gameplay remains the same. There are plenty of opportunities to grow crops, take care of livestock, fish, and even decorate your home.

The cartoony, pastel art style looks great on this game, and it also won’t stress your system too much. Rather than a top-down camera angle, this game follows more of an isometric 3D style, which works quite well. The system requirements only list an Nvidia GeForce 9800 GTX for this game, which is great news if you don’t have a recent gaming system. If you are looking for a decent graphics card to run this game, though, the AMD Radeon RX 590 is a great option.

3. Graveyard Keeper

Release Date: August 15, 2018

Platforms: Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, iOS, Android

Graveyard Keeper is probably the game on this list that is most similar to Stardew Valley in terms of aesthetics, although it takes a widely different approach. Just as you took over your grandfather’s old farm in Stardew Valley, here, you’ll take over and manage an old medieval graveyard.

Although it sounds a bit morbid at first, Graveyard Keeper is a great bit of fun and shares a lot of similarities with Stardew Valley. You’ll be fighting off monsters, mingling with locals, going fishing, chopping down trees, improving your skills, and, of course, digging graves.

This is a bit more of a grindy game than Stardew Valley and definitely has a focus on progression. You’ll have to gather materials and build new devices for your graveyard as well as bury corpses.

As this game looks and plays fairly similarly to Stardew Valley, you probably won’t need to upgrade your system to play it. The minimum system requirements simply ask for 4 GB of RAM and a 1 GB dedicated video card.

4. Farming Simulator 19

Release Date: November 20, 2018

Platforms: Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One

If you found yourself neglecting the townsfolk in Stardew Valley and focusing more on your crops, how about trying a fully-fledged Farming Simulator? While you’ll lose some of the charm of the top-down retro aesthetics, there are lots to see and do here if you love the idea of running your own farm.

A decent tutorial and extensive help menu make this one of the more approachable simulators out there too. You’ll quickly find yourself cultivating, growing, and harvesting a variety of crops including corn, wheat, soybeans, potatoes, and oats.

If you’re missing the social aspect, there’s also the option to play multiplayer with your friends as well as a huge in-game mod library to help keep the game fresh. You can also buy and tend to animals to further mix things up.

If you primarily play Stardew Valley, you’ll need to remember that Farming Simulator 19 is a bit more demanding when it comes to system requirements. It isn’t the hardest game to run though, and you can turn many of the settings down to increase your FPS if needed. The minimum requirements recommend an Nvidia Geforce GTX 650 to get you up and running.

As this is a pretty old card, you’ll probably fare well running Farming Simulator 19 on a low-mid range gaming machine if that’s what you already own. If you’re thinking of making an upgrade, looking at a system in the range of $800 would be a great start.

5. My Time At Portia

Release Date: January 15, 2019

Platforms: Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One

Finally, we’re going to wrap up our list today with a game that may already be on your radar. In what at first seems like a mix between Stardew Valley, Minecraft, and Animal Crossing, My Time at Portia places players in a post-apocalyptic land where they’ll aim to restore a neglected workshop back to its former glory.

You’ll instantly see similarities with Stardew Valley once you get down to farming and adventuring, but My Time At Portia is much more than that. You’ll be collecting and refining resources found throughout the island as well as completing contracts and assignments for the locals.

The combat is more akin to something like The Legend of Zelda where you’ll be rolling in and out of danger rather than button mashing. You can also upgrade your skills depending on your playstyle. If you want to focus on exploring dungeons, you can choose to pump points into your fighting skills rather than culinary skills.

This game is another on the list that will need a slightly better computer than what you’d use to play Stardew Valley. The recommended requirements suggest 16 GB of RAM as well as an Intel i7 processor and an Nvidia GeForce GTX 960 graphics card.

You may have to turn down some of the settings to achieve a stable experience if you don’t quite have the matching requirements for this game.

Final Word

We hope that our list of games like Stardew Valley has given you a couple of ideas on what to play next. Each of these games sets itself apart as more than a Stardew Valley clone in a number of ways, some focus on the farming aspect, others on combat, and some on interactions instead.

If we had to choose our favorite from the list, Graveyard Keeper is a fresh take on the genre that is a perfect way to pass a bit of time. Once you learn its mechanics, it’s great fun trying to manage your days as the owner of a graveyard.

Did we miss a great game from the list? What did you play once you finished Stardew Valley? Let us know down in the comments section below, or head on over to our Community Hub to chat.