Stardew Valley
Games Like Harvest Moon
If you’re here, you’ve probably heard of Stardew Valley by now. It’s on just about every modern gaming platform, and has received lots of press (for good reason). Because it’s inspired so much by Harvest Moon, some might call it a clone, but that’s very unfair, and just not accurate. It’s an evolution of the beloved Harvest Moon series and is among the best farm life sims to-date.
A lot of Stardew Valley is familiar. You have farming tools, animals to take care of, crops to plant, and townsfolk to become friends with and potentially even marry. But where Stardew Valley takes things to the next level is the number of tools, customization options, and side activities that you have access to. You can set up elaborate sprinkler systems, create beautiful flower gardens and pathways, and grab a sword to explore mines filled with dangerous monsters, plus a lot more. There’s an incredible amount of polish in Stardew Valley, and it plays like a current generation farming-sim.
And, even better, the developer is still active, and is contentiously adding new features including multiplayer which is currently live on PC, and will eventually trickle out to other platforms as well as of the time of this writing.
Story of Seasons (2015 and On)
Games Like Harvest Moon
If what you’re looking for is as close to a 1:1 recreation of Harvest Moon, but with a little bit more polish and features, then Story of Seasons is your best bet. Yasuhiro Wada, creator of Harvest Moon, is the man behind Story of Seasons, and this has been his main gig since the Harvest Moon brand was split from the original creators back before the relaunched version of Story of Seasons began. It’s a bit complicated, but more or less, this is the continuation of the Harvest Moon games that have been released for multiple generations now. What is currently known as Harvest Moon, is essentially a new series that is still heavily inspired by the old games of course, but is not being created by Wada.
Story of Seasons is very similar to the older Harvest Moon games, and is the most like Harvest Moon on this list. What’s neat though is that both Story of Seasons, and Story of Seasons: Trio of Towns (the most recent entry) both feature a Super Mario collaboration which includes crops (such as fire flowers) and costumes. The most recent entry, Trio of Towns, adds multiple towns that you can visit, and acts as an evolution of sorts of the caravans that would visit you in the first game.
Animal Crossing
Games Like Harvest Moon
Animal Crossing is Nintendo’s entry into the town/farm-sim genre and has been an anticipated and beloved series for many years now. Animal Crossing is less about farming routines, and more about just being a part of a town, making friends, and doing fun side-activities to earn currency to upgrade your living conditions. It sounds simple, but it’s an addictive loop that has entranced many.
We would suggest either going with A New Leaf, for the 3DS if you want the full Animal Crossing experience. However, if you’re looking for something quicker and more casual, Pocket Camp was recently released for iOS and Android phones, and allows you to build up a campsite complete with animals. It’s an easy pick up and play for a few minutes type of game that gives you an Animal Crossing-lite experience, for free.
Gleaner Heights
Games Like Harvest Moon
If you like the farming-sim aspect of games like Harvest Moon and Stardew Valley, but want a little more edginess and darkness in your story, then Gleaner Heights might be for you.
The main hook of Gleaner Heights is that the town isn’t what it seems, and at night, you’ll occasionally find things going on in the town that might… disturb you. So while you’re building up your farm, you’re going to want to do some detective work on the side to find out what’s really going on in Gleaner Heights.
If you want a pure farming-sim game, Stardew Valley is similar to Gleaner Heights, and is probably the better game. But, if you’re tired of the same routine, and want something a little different you might want to give Gleaner Heights a try instead.
Rune Factory
Games Like Harvest Moon
Another spin-off of sorts of Harvest Moon, Rune Factory is a farming sim game with a twist. Instead of raising livestock, you’ll need to go out and battle monsters and bring them onto your farm, Pokemon style. In the most recent entry on the 3DS, Rune Factory 4, these companions can either be used in battle, or sent to your farm to either assist you, or produce items.
Like other games like Harvest Moon, Rune Factory features mechanics such as farming, romancing, cooking etc. That said, if exploring, fighting, and having slightly more pronounced combat is appealing to you (plus a radically different setting/story) then the Rune Factory series might be for you.
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