Games like Stardew Valley: The best alternatives

by Johannes

The highly successful indie farmlife simulation Stardew Valley has been considered the nonplus ultra of the popular but long-disappeared genre since the game’s release in 2016. We show you what makes the game so special and what alternatives there are if you have already spent hundreds of hours in Stardew Valley.

Alternatives to Stardew Valley

Although Harvest Moon started the hype for farmlife simulations back in the day and Stardew Valley brought a breath of fresh air to the genre, there are many other games that hold some of the popular core mechanics of the indie hit and also promise endless hours of play.

  • If you’re looking for the same relaxed gaming experience, games like Doraemon Story of Seasons or My Time at Portia, which also focus on building up your own property, are just right for you. Graphically, both games are very different from Stardew Valley. My Time at Portia has a 3D look, while Doraemon has a hand-painted anime look.
  • In My Time at Portia you start a life in the post-apocalyptic world of Portia. Unlike Stardew Valley, your task here is to build up your own workshop and support the rebuilding of civilisation. In parallel, you compete with other tinkerers and explore the ruins scattered around the world. However, there are also opportunities to realise your agricultural potential.
    • Doraemon Story of Seasons is a spin-off of the already established Story of Seasons game series. The special feature of Doraemon is that the game is set in the world of the anime classic Doraemon. This goes hand in hand with the anime look as well as various characters known from the show. In comparison to My Time at Portia, here you traditionally find yourself as the owner of a farm.
    • If the crafting and exploration aspect of Stardew Valley was most important to you, Terraria is worth a detour. Also featuring cute pixel graphics, Terraria is primarily about exploring the randomly generated world. By mining ores and many other materials, you constantly expand your crafting recipes to create new equipment or interiors for your own home.
    • Terraria is characterised by its verticality. Using tools such as the pickaxe or a grappling hook, you explore the depths of the earth, including buried treasures, valuable ores or hidden temples, but also fight challenging boss monsters, climb mountains and take a detour into the clouds.
    • Fans of the Stardew Valley universe can rejoice, because developer ConcernedApe has unveiled its next game, Haunted Chocolatier. In Haunted Chocolatier you take on the role of, you guessed it, a chocolatier, and the game’s trailer shows features that will make the heart of any Stardew Valley fan beat faster. Unfortunately, a release date has not yet been announced.

       

      Stardew Valley – that’s why it’s so popular

      Stardew Valley came at just the right time for many fans, as although new games in the farmlife genre were regularly released, they often left the fan community with mixed feelings. With Stardew Valley, the one-man developer ConcernedApe delivered a game that brought many popular features back into the genre.

      • The main focus of the game is farm life. Right at the beginning, your character is given a piece of land and a run-down farm, which you have to bring up to scratch and turn into a flourishing business step by step. You can grow fruit and vegetables as well as raise livestock. These are the best tips and tricks for the stable in Stardew Valley.
        • As in other games, your character’s skills improve as you perform the various activities. Skills such as fishing, knocking stones or chopping wood consume a portion of your daily available energy each time you perform them. With higher skill, the energy consumption decreases and allows you to get more out of your often far too short day.
        • Using the crafting function, you can process your collected materials into furnishings, tools or extensions for your farm. Meanwhile, you can use your food products to cook dishes, because eating food gives you bonuses and replenishes the energy meter.
        • One of the game’s most popular qualities is its very cosy atmosphere, which is supported in no small part by the old-school pixel art and soundtrack. It is up to you how you want to spend each day in the game. Whether you want to take care of your farm exclusively, for example, or explore the depths of the mine armed with a sword to collect rare ores, is entirely up to you.
        • In Stardew Valley there are also different types of quests, which are divided into Story Quests, Special Orders and the Help Quests. Story missions help to introduce you to the mechanics and processes of the game, especially at the beginning. Requests for help are used to deliver materials requested by villagers. Special Orders are an extension of the Requests.

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