If you're looking for games like Stardew Valley to tuck into after you're ready to take a break from Pelican town, we're here to help. With so many fantastic experiences out there that will likely appeal to you if you enjoyed ConcernedApe's beloved farming sim, we've brought together a helping of games that will speak to Stardew Valley fans.
Whether you love growing crops, crafting, exploring, or getting to know the locals (and even finding love), our roundup here includes alternates that feature one or more of these elements. Of course, it's also worth checking out our roundups of the best farming games around right now and our top games like Harvest Moon - which inspired the pixelated adventure for even more alternatives in the space. However, the picks below are specifically for a Stardew-like experience.
The best games like Stardew Valley, starting with...
10. Moonlighter
Developer: Digital Sun
Platform(s): PC, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch
Moonlighter should tick all your Stardew Valley boxes. By day, it's a management game where you work as a shopkeeper, bartering with customers and restocking shelves with that kind of wonderful, brain-soothing, mediocrity. But, by night, you're a warrior, diving into roguelike dungeons to scavenge wares for your shop.
Oh, and did we mention the overarching story is incredible? It's all full of destiny and anguish and a bit of family drama. It absolutely nails that wonderful, self-perpetuating gameplay loop of busywork that Stardew Valley excels at, with a little touch of Binding of Isaac and even some tongue-in-cheek Dark Souls references. For more information, read our Moonlighter review!
9. Sun Haven
Developer: Pixel Sprout Studios
Platform(s): PC, Nintendo Switch
Have you ever thought to yourself, "I know what Stardew Valley is missing. Dragons, magic, and fantasy"? Sure you have. Well, in this lovely farming sim from Pixel Sprout Studios and backed to almost double its goal on Kickstarter, you’ll get just that. Sun Haven is like Stardew Valley if it were set in medieval times and had a bit of that mythical world injected into it. Plus, you don’t have to be human.
There's a choice of human, demon, elf, angel, elemental, naga, and amari (which basically means you can play as an animal. Want to be a cat? Sure, you can do that.) You've got a choice of playing alone or with up to eight people in online co-op. If magic's your game, this is too.
8. Roots of Pacha
Developer: Soda Den
Platform(s): PC, Nintendo Switch, PS5, PS4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
Roots of Pacha shares a lot of similarities with Stardew Valley, however, the big twist is that it's set during the Stone Age. Just like in Stardew, here you can fish, farm, help the community, tame animals, and even get married. However, all the mechanics are tied to the game's time period, making it truly stand out in the cozy and farming sim genre.
Whether it's taming mammoths, solving the puzzles in the mines, or unlocking new technology as you contribute to the tribe’s progression, Roots of Pacha is a fresh take on the genre while offering us that classic Stardew formula. It's truly everything we hoped for and more. Also, on a personal note, we hugely prefer the fishing mini-game in Roots of Pacha to Stardew, stabbing fish with our pointed rocks is way easier and more satisfying, trust us. Read our Roots of Patcha Indie Spotlight for more impressions.
7. Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar
Developer: Marvelous Inc
Platform(s): PC, Nintendo Switch, Switch 2
The latest Story of Seasons adventure is an utter delight, with a satisfying gameplay loop you're sure to enjoy if you're a fan of Stardew Valley. With different events marking the calendar of each seasonal month, you grow crops, raise and look after adorable cows, chickens, llamas, and sheep, and gather resources out in the world.
Then, each Saturday, you can sell your wares at the Grand Bazaar, with your own shop front to display your goods and sell them to passing customers. And of course, you can buy new things there too, with helpful upgrades and new shops to work towards opening. Complete with a cast of characters to get to know and bond with (and romance included), simulation fans will find a lot to love about this Story of Seasons entry. You can get our impressions here.
6. My Time at Portia
Developer: Pathea
Platform(s): PC, Nintendo Switch, PS4, Xbox One
Like Stardew Valley, getting into My Time at Portia can be a bit of a grind to get into. But the world is so delightful and rewarding to be in and interact with that you soon won't really mind that. The best way to describe My Time at Portia is to say it's like crossing The Sims with Stardew, with lashings of Studio Ghibli-esque graphics thrown on top for good measure, like some kind of amazing sundae. This game is as much about becoming part of the Portia community as it is crafting or resource gathering, and that's part of its charm.
Everyone just wants to be your BFF, it's up to you to invite them into your inner circle. Add that quest for all the friends to the continual search for resources to build things for your workshop and the town as a whole, and you're suddenly very busy indeed. And, oh wait, has the whole weekend gone already? To find out more, check out our My Time at Portia review.
5. Fields of Mistria
Developer: NPC Studio
Platform(s): PC
Currently out in Early Access, NPC Studio's delightful farming sim is sure to appeal to Stardew Valley fans everywhere. With dateable residents to get to know and romance if you so wish, a farm to grow and develop to your heart's content, and so much to discover and do, it channels the nostalgia with it's '90s inspired aesthetic.
Alongside raising animals, it also offers up features that will no doubt speak to anyone who loves ConcernedApe's pixelated sim - you can also expect to play out quests, learn magic, fish, and mine.
4. Potion Permit
Developer: MassHive Media
Platform(s): PC, Nintendo Switch, PS5, PS4, Xbox One, XSX
Potion Permit is another charming pixel game like Stardew Valley, though more on the RPG and crafting side of the fence than the farming sim one. In it, you play as a doctor who has just moved to a sleeping town in desperate need of some alchemical magic. You'll spend a lot of your time gathering ingredients to brew potions, whether from wild plants or monsters after vanquishing them in the untamed wilderness that lies just beyond the village walls.
Then, it's just a matter of combining all the elements in your caldron to create healing elixirs, each with a unique recipe. Potion Permit features elements of management sims, too, as you balance your foraging expeditions with treating patients in the hospital ward, building relationships with the townsfolk, and turning your small surgery into a thriving medical center. Oh, and did I mention there's a romance system? You can read more about Potion Permit here.
3. Wylde Flowers
Developer: Studio Drydock
Platform(s): PC, Nintendo Switch
Have you ever wanted to be an all-powerful witch tending to her own farm? That's the elevator pitch for this stunning game like Stardew Valley. Wylde Flowers is a peaceful, dreamy cottagecore farming sim underpinned by a curious mystery to unravel. Deep character and narrative-driven elements deliver those RPG sensibilities you might be craving from Stardew Valley, with heroine Tara building relationships with her coven while balancing magic, farm life, and everything in between.
It also doubles as one of the best LGBT games for cozy gamers to check out, with diverse romance options available to Tara as she gets to know the townsfolk over the course of her journey. Colorful, narrative, and immediately immersive, Wylde Flowers really has it all.
2. Slime Rancher
Developer: Monomi Park
Platform(s): Xbox One, PC, PS4, Nintendo Switch
In Slime Rancher, instead of crops you're actually harvesting poop - officially known as plorts in-game - from adorable, bouncy, little slimes themed around different animals or objects, from tabby cats to Bulbasaur-like Tangle Slimes. You trade plorts on the Plort Market, with profitable types fluctuating and changing just like a real stock market for poop. You have all your Slimes bouncing around in hutches too, usually sectioned off because they can have a tendency to eat each other, or plorts from another species, which actually creates equally cute hybrids.
It's utterly adorable, until you have to start throwing Tabby Slimes into the Incinerator because their plorts aren't worth, well, plort anymore. Yes, I know, I'm a terrible, heartless, (rich) monster. It's not quite Stardew Valley, but it's that same kind of idle, adorable, fun that you can't help sinking multiple hundreds of hours into. Read our Slime Rancher 2 review to learn more about the sequel.
1. Coral Island
Developer: Stairway Games
Platform(s): PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S
Coral Island shares a lot of similarities with Stardew Valley. In fact, we've gone as far as to say that Stairway Games' farming sim, which recently left early access, is even more proof that Stardew Valley is a genre now. In Coral Island, you also leave the city life behind you to begin a new chapter. You're free to build up the farm of your dreams, with crops to grow and animals to tend to.
Not unlike Pelican Town, you can also get to know a whole cast of residents and form bonds by giving them gifts. Among the inhabitants are also 25 singles with whom you can develop a relationship. With a town to help revive, you can help the community, go diving, hunt for insects, and catch fish, too.
Looking for more great recommendations that might suit you? Why not check out our pick of games like Animal Crossing? We also have a list of the best simulator games if you fancy diving into more classics.
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