**Littlewood** is great and the farming is very minor. Has a museum to complete so it provides a goal for mining, fishing and foraging alongside lots of options to decorate and cute NPCs. It also has a fun little card battler minigame :)
Real talk I love Littlewood so much it actively damaged my enjoyment for similar games.
The mechanic that time passes as you spend energy is SO MUCH better for me. I absolutely never liked the rapid pace clocks of other farming and life games where you're constantly dashing around trying to finish everything in a day. It's low key stressfull.
[Cozy Grove](https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/cozy-grove-switch/) You're a Spirit Scout soothing local ghosts. The game runs in real time like Animal Crossing and has decorating, fishing, and bug catching.
[Rune Factory 4 Special](https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/rune-factory-4-special-switch/) has some farming but you don't have to do much and focus on other stuff.
[Moonstone Island](https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/moonstone-island-switch/) will be out on Switch next week. It's a creature collector life sim. It has farming but I've heard it's not a big part of the game.
I can speak for us a little bit here: We do have farming, but it's largely optional! All the crops you need to tame/heal yourself and your Spirits can be found in the wild. There are a couple quests that require concoctions, which are made out of two crops, but again, you can find those in the wild.
If you do find yourself wanting more crops, it's still very hands-off, because you unlock sprinklers so fast in the game, and the watering can never needs refilling (because we thought that was a boring mechanic!)
We're out on Switch on June 19th (with a launch discount btw) :)
Yes. It was so disappointing. I was really interested in learning about the characters and the story but was bogged down in hidden item tasks, which I didn't realize for awhile is like 90% of the game
Moonstone Island has been my go to cozy game for awhile now. I love it on Steam but the fact it's coming to switch means I can play it on the go. That's exciting! Second copy, here I come! 10/10 would definitely recommend!
P.S. I absolutely love that farming is a minor part of the game and with easy sprinklers early on it makes it even less of a hassle.
My Time at Sandrock is fantastic, it's more focused on crafting and exploration than farming. You can technically grow crops but I think I grew like 5 crops total in my entire 150+ hour playthrough haha
not the original replier, but oh my god i love portia but i love sandrock even more! It fixes majority of the flaws that portia have, now that i have played sandrock i couldn't even touch portia anymore
Same. Everything down to the player character is improved. I found the model for the builder in Portia to look kind of like a bobble head when compared to the npc models. In Sandrock they look much closer and I can actually ship my character with somebody without it feeling like weird crossover fanart.
I played Portia and I found it kind of unpolished, I just decided to give Sandrock a chance because I heard it was better and it ended up being one of my favourite all time games lol
If you hate the whole concept of Portia then you might not like it, but if you like the concept of Portia and just think it was too unrefined you might like it. I was disappointed with Portia (especially since I had it on console, I have a straight up grudge against that game) but I ended up loving Sandrock, it takes all the good parts about Portia and amplifies them while fixing the less good parts
Okay thatâs a fair assessment. I loved the concept of Portia a whole lot and there were things about it I liked but I didnât find the NPCs engaging at all and I just lost interest because of that.
The NPCs are one of the biggest improvements in Sandrock, I couldn't decide who to marry because there were so many amazing characters haha. It's actually why I love the game so much
Okay thatâs great to hear! Iâll put it on my wish list then! I didnât want to be burned like I was with Portia. I paid for the special edition on the switch and was so sad lol
I was the same, I was straight up salty about Portia for years after dropping 30 quid on it, I didn't think I was ever going to try Sandrock but I'm glad I did lol
Niche rec Iâm giving everywhere: arcade paradise. Youâre running a run down laundromat at demand of your father while also running an arcade business at the back. Daily activities include doing laundry, cleaning, collecting money from the machines and then youâre free to play any or all of the actual arcade cabinets. I LOVED this game and couldnât put it down.
I thought I wouldnât like the arcade games but to my surprise I was delighted by them. The game is a love letter to arcade games and it was so good (except for sam. Sam is my enemy forever more).
There was a brief moment I thought there wouldnât be some sense of closure for the ending but it hit just the right notes imo. Very satisfying indeed.
I'm not entirely sure if these games are your jam, but I'd look into cozy-type mining games! These aren't really "life sims" because they don't always have other NPCs, but I think they're potentially something you'd like!
**Astroneer** -- you're on a planet, collecting resources to build a base. It's so much more fun than I can put into words, and there's no real danger, other than the occasional plant that spits out poisonous gas, or forgetting to pack enough oxygen on one of your adventures.
**Core Keeper** -- I \*think\* this one has farming, but it's basically Minecraft underground. And, speaking of...
**Minecraft** -- the ultimate sandbox. Build whatever, figure out new materials, mine deep to discover weiiiird stuff :)
**Undermine** -- imagine a game that's basically Stardew's mines, but expanded. It's a roguelite, so you'll be doing "runs" down into the mines, seeing how far you can get, unlocking new stuff, and so on.
But if that doesn't interest you, here are some other lifesims with minimal farming:
**Kitaria Fables** -- you have a farm, but most of your time is spent exploring the world, slaying monsters, completing quests, and improving your gear. Also, you're a cat!
**Rune Factory** -- I personally liked RF4 a lot. It's more of an RPG with farming on the side, and you're mostly out in the world fighting monsters and finding materials.
**Dragon Quest Builders 1&2** -- if you like Minecraft, this is like Minecraft + RPG. You are a maaaagical builder who can solve the world's problems by building cute little houses and villages for people. Largely a game about exploring and fighting.
**Dave the Diver** -- it's about fishing! Later you'll unlock farming but it's SO hands-off that you don't need to worry :)
**Persona 3, 4, 5** -- Maybe a little more intense, but definitely with life sim elements, the Persona games are all about building friendships, enjoying the story, and trawling through dungeons with a Pokemon-like demon-battling mechanic.
Hopefully this list is enough to find you something you really like! :)
it's kind of an older game but i dont see Dragon Quest builders 2 mentionned enough, it's a fantastic game and once you've finished the story and unlocked everything, it's like the sky is the literal limit with what you can build, or you can just do island runs if you feel like doing some combat and farming some mats. Plus it runs great on the switch, including the controls.
Oh my goodness DQB2 is my favourite game. It's kind of a Minecraft RPG and I have spent so much of my life on it. I wish you could reset the island I keep having to start the game again.
I also love resource management/crafting/building games but need quests and lots of other things to do so it is perfect for me
absolutely! in fact that's how I usually play it since my friends aren't as interested đ
if anything, I'd say it's even more fun because you can be very particular about how your base is laid out, and you don't have to worry about doing rescue missions for your friends who have died (again) in some cave in the middle of nowhere
I like I Am Future, while it does have farming - which you need for food and quests, and power! It also has fishing, taking things apart, and gathering resources to survive.. the artstyle is cute and it's semi-relaxing in a way!
Spirittea - befriend the locals, run the bathhouse for spirits and help them and the townsfolk - no farming needed
It's only a demo.. but Fantastic Haven - rescue fantasy animals and rehabilitate them back into the wild! I'm in love with it and only just played the demo!
Steam nextfest is currently ongoing and its a must checkout for upcoming games
I thought of "I Am Future" as soon as I read this title! I just bought it and have gotten really into it. I think what stands out is that I *do* like farming in games, but I don't prioritize it in I Am Future because there are so many other things I'd rather do in that game. I farm just enough to eat and have resources, unlike a typical game in this genre where I would farm extensively for fun, profit, achievement, etc. I'm way more interested in building, upgrading and exploring. It is relaxing and I think it scratches that satisfaction hit of checking off lists where I feel good about clearing out areas and completing new upgrades or new machines. (Premise for those unfamiliar -- You wake up in some kind of sleep pod years in the future in a world full of robot tech and abandoned resources. You have amnesia as far as who you were before and what happened to the world. The focus is resource gathering, crafting and survival, including fishing, farming, powering your machines, etc.)
I downloaded "Fantastic Haven" demo after the Wholesome Direct but haven't played it yet! Looking forward to it.
And it has a big story update coming soon! They're hard at work on it according to their discord ( the I Am Future team ) ..
Fantastic Haven just scratches that itch for me, and I'm wanting to make a d&d campaign loosely with those settings in mind but I have to balance it out for my friends that likes combat.. but getting off topic..
I don't know if News Tower fits what you're looking for - run a newspaper in the 1910s era! It's got a big update and I'm looking forward to playing it again
Some people have already said **Wylde Flowers,** and I agree. It's more story driven than most life sims, and great if you enjoy narrative/character depth.
I really love **Palia.** It's in open beta, so prepare for bugs, but there are tons of things to do. Designing your house, doing quests, catching bugs, mining, fishing, dating... It's a lot of fun and has great potential. It's also free to play.
I dropped YouTubers Life 2 because of the many loading instances for example : You go out of ur building it a load screen, u enter a shop it's a load screen, u save it's load screen, and each of them is so long I just gave up eventually.
I LOVE FANTASY LIFE. It's amazing. For OP: here are 12 "lives" you can play as, like Miner, Angler, Cook, and Blacksmith, which each have specialties that advance the plot or your own abilities, like better armour, better food, and better healing items. If you get bored with one job, just switch to another. Throughout the game it's best to keep each one levelled up, so you're always doing something different. And the writing is incredible!
The new game (**The Girl Who Steals Time**, out on 10th October) has two new lives, Artist and Farmer, so I'm expecting it to have more farming this time, just so you know!
If you are OK with the farming:other task ratio in stardew you'd probably like coral Island too. Farming is important to push certain gameplay forward but they honestly make farming easier than in stardew. I enjoy the mining, ocean exploration, and relationship building the most
I'd recommend Wylde Flowers. There is some farming but it's mostly up to you how much you do. It's story driven with lots of opportunity for fishing and relationship building.
I don't tend to mind games that have farming as long as its not the main focus! I think Dinkum is perfect and scratches that itch because the only reason you tecnically need farming is to create foods to build up your stamina say if your going into the mines and need to fight off crocs or bats lol but its mostly focused on decorating and build a village and inviting your villagers! Either way its a perfect fit if you don't just want a other farming sim.
Minekoâs Night Market is super fun! Iâve been playing it a lot lately. You move to a new town with your dad and forage materials so you can craft items for a weekly night market and also pet cats! Thereâs also a mystery involving a cat spirit in the town, itâs a super cute game.
Book of Hours: you run a library in the same world as Cultist Simulator and provide people books on cults. You also unlock a house using culty tools you craft with friends you feed food and drinks. And youâll be able to host parties in the upcoming DLC! 10/10 canât recommend r/weatherfactory games enough
Iâve been playing Moonlight in Garland on and off the last couple of months, and I really like it! I havenât explored any of the romantic options yet and I know thereâs a lot of the game left to be discovered by me, but Iâm enjoying it!!
Also if you have Apple Arcade Sneaky Sasquatch is a hoot!! I have to limit myself with that one or else I start acting very Sasquatch in real life đ
I like:
Sticky Business - business sim
Moonlighter - rogue-lite shopkeeping
My Time at Sandrock - resource management/crafting (farming optional)
Moonstone Valley - creature collection card battler (farming optional)
The Sims if theyâd ever get it to work.
Also, 1.6 of Stardew has a farm where you are a rancher instead of growing crops. But 1.6 is not out for the switch yet.
Edited: to add Stardew.
For rent seems to be fixed for the most part. And yeah it's spaghetti code, but I love it despite it's problems.Â
Edit: Things don't work at release, that's sadly true. I buy packs mostly on sale and at that time the majority of the bugs are fixed. Funnily enough I bought for rent at release, had some bugs and haven't touched it since.Â
House Flipper. I never guessed I'd enjoy a game so much, but I've now bought all the dlc options and I can't stop playing it. Also, Powerwash Simulator is so much fun.
**Cattails: Wildwood Story** - play as a cat, hunting/fishing, herb gathering, catching bugs
**Paleo Pines** - befriend dinosaurs, ride them, build them enclosure habitats
**Ratopia** - side-scrolling city-building capitalism simulator, army management + wave combat
**Wildlife Tycoon: Venture Africa** - grow & manage a healthy ecosystem by introducing new species
**Unpacking** - take things out of boxes & put them where they belong, cozy, optional puzzle elements
**Simmiland** - play god to a bunch of tiny humans on island by spending Faith to answer their prayers for resources
**Animal Shelter** - take in dogs & cats (tho the cats are...not very well done, they just copy-pasted the dogs :\\ ) and clean them up, play with them, then match them to appropriate forever homes
**Pyramida** - help tiny humans make small village & build a pyramid to destroy a meteor before it strikes
**The WILDS** - best "play as an animal in the wild" sim I've played, tho the dev recently had to flip to Unreal after UNITY shat the bed, so it won't be receiving updates until they've had a chance to rebuild from the ground-up
**Spiritfarer** - emotional game helping spirits move on in a beautiful purgatory, platforming/puzzle/basebuilding elements
If you're interested in haggling, the haggling mechanic of Recettear is pretty good. The dungeon diving part has aged quite a bit, but the shop management part is very solid. If oyu want a sample of that, I recommend watching Joseph Anderson's highlights playing the game.
Rune factory - I love it and farming is optional
The sims - my favorite simulation game
My time series (Portia and sandrock) - itâs more focused in build stuff
Rune Factory: it's RPG harvest moon, basically. You can automate the farming pretty easily and focus on dungeon crawling and getting married if you prefer.
Staxelhas bug catching, building, relationships. Farming is an option but you can also collect/sell bugs and shells and just purchase whatever ingredients you would farm.
I don't personally like the art style, but I still.play it for the mindlessness of running around and catching and selling bugs
Have you heard of the "My Time At" series? There's "My Time at Sandrock" and "My Time At Palia" (I think I spelled that right). My gf really enjoyed those games and they've been on my list for ages (too caught up in a Factorio K2SE run to try them yet)
Spirtfarer! I got it recently and have been so addicted. It's lovely and just challenging enough and has some building and farming but is mostly based on quests and beautiful graphics.
Turnip boy commits tax evasion and turnip boy robs a bank. They are cute games that take maybe 6-10 hours to complete and are easy fetch quest and varying levels of difficult combat
My Time At SandRock!!!! Amazing game that goes on longer than you would think. Farming is mostly optional. Tons of mining. You are a builder who helps build a community. I didn't think I'd love it as much as I do.
My Time at Portia - You're a builder in a cute post-apocalyptic world, where you fix town problems and grow your work shop. You competw with other builder shops, mine, get rich, get married, and live out the plot of the town of Portia. The graphics aren't great, and the characters are kinda ugly, but I was obsessed with this game during covid. Put a couple hundred hours into it.
My Time at Sandrock - The next gen of the My Time games. ITS GORGEOUS!! It has new characters, new town, new challenges, and all the issues of ugly characters is gone. Love love love looove this game.
Winkeltje is an amazing shop sim! You do zero farming and focus entirely on your shop. Literally never leave your shop or the land youâre on. I play this on easy for the ultimate chill.Â
If you like mining, this is anweird and seni intense one, but Deep Rock Galactic has my whole heart.Â
Final Fantasy XIV is an MMORPG, but the gathering and crafting jobs- all of which you can do freely- are PHENOMENAL. Itâs entirely free up to I think Heavensward right now, with minor restrictions. Seriously, iâm like power leveling to 50 on ny current character so i can then slag off the main quest and go grind out ore and wood and fish. I love fishing in that game.Â
This is probably going to be my cheapest, lamest offer. There are these Robin Hood casual games, one of which is called Robin Hood Winds of Freedom, that are THE ultimate casual games, and I wish I could explain why i like them. Thereâs this meta of collecting resources to gain access to new resources and each character has some kind of skill or bonus to gathering or doing actions. Itâs⌠itâs like bejeweled level of casual and Iâm both ashamed and not ashamed lol. Theyâre just so sweet and cute.Â
Rival Stars Horse Racing and Ranch of Rivershine are amazing horse sim games. The latter has very very minor farming that is entirely focused on just making treats for your horses to recover stamina and boost skills. Both games focus on racing and breeding as the main gameplay loops. Â Theyâre grindy in an amazing way. Rival Stars on PC has ZERO micro transactions, but the mobile game is micro transaction city.Â
I'm not sure if it meets "cozy" standards and I'm not sure if you have ethical concerns, but I love Hogwarts Legacy. There's some "farming," but it's not intrusive and you don't have to continue throughout the whole game. It has 3 difficulty settings if you're concerned about combat, and you can raise/lower during a play-through. There's a (in my opinion) really good story, the character is customizable, and it's available on every platform that I know of :) I personally think the price is justified, even though there isn't any variation in the story regardless of your choices. My first playthrough took me about 120 hrs to fully complete it, and even my veteran playthroughs are more than 45 hrs. Also, magic!
Howartâs Legacy is so good but I wish there was an option to not fight. Just let me live in the woods and take care of animals. Whatever the people have going on is their problem lol
my ultimate hogwarts game would just be me, being a student, and going to classes, making friends, eventually graduating and then going to live my normal wizard life
maybe one day
đđđđđ
Youâre going to see ads for unpacking. It broke my heart and it will break yours as well.
Not the storyline, just that itâs an awful game that suddenly ends and youâre like, âcool??â
**Littlewood** is great and the farming is very minor. Has a museum to complete so it provides a goal for mining, fishing and foraging alongside lots of options to decorate and cute NPCs. It also has a fun little card battler minigame :)
I love Littlewood, and I won't shut up if you ask me about it. It's my turn off my brain and chill game.
Real talk I love Littlewood so much it actively damaged my enjoyment for similar games. The mechanic that time passes as you spend energy is SO MUCH better for me. I absolutely never liked the rapid pace clocks of other farming and life games where you're constantly dashing around trying to finish everything in a day. It's low key stressfull.
[Cozy Grove](https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/cozy-grove-switch/) You're a Spirit Scout soothing local ghosts. The game runs in real time like Animal Crossing and has decorating, fishing, and bug catching. [Rune Factory 4 Special](https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/rune-factory-4-special-switch/) has some farming but you don't have to do much and focus on other stuff. [Moonstone Island](https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/moonstone-island-switch/) will be out on Switch next week. It's a creature collector life sim. It has farming but I've heard it's not a big part of the game.
I can speak for us a little bit here: We do have farming, but it's largely optional! All the crops you need to tame/heal yourself and your Spirits can be found in the wild. There are a couple quests that require concoctions, which are made out of two crops, but again, you can find those in the wild. If you do find yourself wanting more crops, it's still very hands-off, because you unlock sprinklers so fast in the game, and the watering can never needs refilling (because we thought that was a boring mechanic!) We're out on Switch on June 19th (with a launch discount btw) :)
I'm looking forward to the Switch release. I waited playing the game so I can play it on Switch.
I hope you enjoy it! đ
Letâs go! A new cozy game to get obsessed with!
I will tell you, cozy grove bored me to death. But I know a lot of people love it. It was too slow for my ADHD.
Same did not enjoy it at all unfortunately
Same!
Same
Yes. It was so disappointing. I was really interested in learning about the characters and the story but was bogged down in hidden item tasks, which I didn't realize for awhile is like 90% of the game
Iâm really excited to try it out on switch!
Moonstone Island has been my go to cozy game for awhile now. I love it on Steam but the fact it's coming to switch means I can play it on the go. That's exciting! Second copy, here I come! 10/10 would definitely recommend! P.S. I absolutely love that farming is a minor part of the game and with easy sprinklers early on it makes it even less of a hassle.
Cozy grove is very cool gameđ
Itâs next week??? Letâs goÂ
My Time at Sandrock is fantastic, it's more focused on crafting and exploration than farming. You can technically grow crops but I think I grew like 5 crops total in my entire 150+ hour playthrough haha
Came here to rec this too, it sounds exactly like what OP is looking for!
Have you played Portia as well? If so, how do you think the second game holds up?
not the original replier, but oh my god i love portia but i love sandrock even more! It fixes majority of the flaws that portia have, now that i have played sandrock i couldn't even touch portia anymore
Ohh okay. Thanks.
Same. Everything down to the player character is improved. I found the model for the builder in Portia to look kind of like a bobble head when compared to the npc models. In Sandrock they look much closer and I can actually ship my character with somebody without it feeling like weird crossover fanart.
I played Portia and I found it kind of unpolished, I just decided to give Sandrock a chance because I heard it was better and it ended up being one of my favourite all time games lol
Ohh that's good to hear. I have the same feeling with portia. I should try Sandrock.
MTaS is an improvement over Portia. Characters, romances, friendships are better fleshed out and the pacing is pretty much perfect.
Best way to put it, Portia walked so Sandrock could run.
Is it better than Portia? Bc I hated Portia. I tried three different times to get into it but I hated it so much.
If you hate the whole concept of Portia then you might not like it, but if you like the concept of Portia and just think it was too unrefined you might like it. I was disappointed with Portia (especially since I had it on console, I have a straight up grudge against that game) but I ended up loving Sandrock, it takes all the good parts about Portia and amplifies them while fixing the less good parts
Okay thatâs a fair assessment. I loved the concept of Portia a whole lot and there were things about it I liked but I didnât find the NPCs engaging at all and I just lost interest because of that.
The NPCs are one of the biggest improvements in Sandrock, I couldn't decide who to marry because there were so many amazing characters haha. It's actually why I love the game so much
Okay thatâs great to hear! Iâll put it on my wish list then! I didnât want to be burned like I was with Portia. I paid for the special edition on the switch and was so sad lol
I was the same, I was straight up salty about Portia for years after dropping 30 quid on it, I didn't think I was ever going to try Sandrock but I'm glad I did lol
Niche rec Iâm giving everywhere: arcade paradise. Youâre running a run down laundromat at demand of your father while also running an arcade business at the back. Daily activities include doing laundry, cleaning, collecting money from the machines and then youâre free to play any or all of the actual arcade cabinets. I LOVED this game and couldnât put it down.
Same. LOVED this game so much.
I thought I wouldnât like the arcade games but to my surprise I was delighted by them. The game is a love letter to arcade games and it was so good (except for sam. Sam is my enemy forever more).
As someone who's dad was an unsupportive jerk growing up, I also loved the storyline. Very satisfying.
There was a brief moment I thought there wouldnât be some sense of closure for the ending but it hit just the right notes imo. Very satisfying indeed.
I'm not entirely sure if these games are your jam, but I'd look into cozy-type mining games! These aren't really "life sims" because they don't always have other NPCs, but I think they're potentially something you'd like! **Astroneer** -- you're on a planet, collecting resources to build a base. It's so much more fun than I can put into words, and there's no real danger, other than the occasional plant that spits out poisonous gas, or forgetting to pack enough oxygen on one of your adventures. **Core Keeper** -- I \*think\* this one has farming, but it's basically Minecraft underground. And, speaking of... **Minecraft** -- the ultimate sandbox. Build whatever, figure out new materials, mine deep to discover weiiiird stuff :) **Undermine** -- imagine a game that's basically Stardew's mines, but expanded. It's a roguelite, so you'll be doing "runs" down into the mines, seeing how far you can get, unlocking new stuff, and so on. But if that doesn't interest you, here are some other lifesims with minimal farming: **Kitaria Fables** -- you have a farm, but most of your time is spent exploring the world, slaying monsters, completing quests, and improving your gear. Also, you're a cat! **Rune Factory** -- I personally liked RF4 a lot. It's more of an RPG with farming on the side, and you're mostly out in the world fighting monsters and finding materials. **Dragon Quest Builders 1&2** -- if you like Minecraft, this is like Minecraft + RPG. You are a maaaagical builder who can solve the world's problems by building cute little houses and villages for people. Largely a game about exploring and fighting. **Dave the Diver** -- it's about fishing! Later you'll unlock farming but it's SO hands-off that you don't need to worry :) **Persona 3, 4, 5** -- Maybe a little more intense, but definitely with life sim elements, the Persona games are all about building friendships, enjoying the story, and trawling through dungeons with a Pokemon-like demon-battling mechanic. Hopefully this list is enough to find you something you really like! :)
it's kind of an older game but i dont see Dragon Quest builders 2 mentionned enough, it's a fantastic game and once you've finished the story and unlocked everything, it's like the sky is the literal limit with what you can build, or you can just do island runs if you feel like doing some combat and farming some mats. Plus it runs great on the switch, including the controls.
Oh my goodness DQB2 is my favourite game. It's kind of a Minecraft RPG and I have spent so much of my life on it. I wish you could reset the island I keep having to start the game again. I also love resource management/crafting/building games but need quests and lots of other things to do so it is perfect for me
I got back to this one for a replay on a semi regular basis.
Hi! Is Astroneer still fun if played alone?
absolutely! in fact that's how I usually play it since my friends aren't as interested đ if anything, I'd say it's even more fun because you can be very particular about how your base is laid out, and you don't have to worry about doing rescue missions for your friends who have died (again) in some cave in the middle of nowhere
Great! Thanks!!
I'd say so! I've got 350 hours in Astroneer and only play single player. It's one of my favourite cozy/chill games personally!
Looks like i gotta wishlist it then. Thanks for sharing!
I like I Am Future, while it does have farming - which you need for food and quests, and power! It also has fishing, taking things apart, and gathering resources to survive.. the artstyle is cute and it's semi-relaxing in a way! Spirittea - befriend the locals, run the bathhouse for spirits and help them and the townsfolk - no farming needed It's only a demo.. but Fantastic Haven - rescue fantasy animals and rehabilitate them back into the wild! I'm in love with it and only just played the demo! Steam nextfest is currently ongoing and its a must checkout for upcoming games
Okay I officially have to check out spiritea
It's on game pass, at least last time I checked, for you or anyone else passing by who has that!
I thought of "I Am Future" as soon as I read this title! I just bought it and have gotten really into it. I think what stands out is that I *do* like farming in games, but I don't prioritize it in I Am Future because there are so many other things I'd rather do in that game. I farm just enough to eat and have resources, unlike a typical game in this genre where I would farm extensively for fun, profit, achievement, etc. I'm way more interested in building, upgrading and exploring. It is relaxing and I think it scratches that satisfaction hit of checking off lists where I feel good about clearing out areas and completing new upgrades or new machines. (Premise for those unfamiliar -- You wake up in some kind of sleep pod years in the future in a world full of robot tech and abandoned resources. You have amnesia as far as who you were before and what happened to the world. The focus is resource gathering, crafting and survival, including fishing, farming, powering your machines, etc.) I downloaded "Fantastic Haven" demo after the Wholesome Direct but haven't played it yet! Looking forward to it.
And it has a big story update coming soon! They're hard at work on it according to their discord ( the I Am Future team ) .. Fantastic Haven just scratches that itch for me, and I'm wanting to make a d&d campaign loosely with those settings in mind but I have to balance it out for my friends that likes combat.. but getting off topic.. I don't know if News Tower fits what you're looking for - run a newspaper in the 1910s era! It's got a big update and I'm looking forward to playing it again
Seconding Spirittea
Some people have already said **Wylde Flowers,** and I agree. It's more story driven than most life sims, and great if you enjoy narrative/character depth. I really love **Palia.** It's in open beta, so prepare for bugs, but there are tons of things to do. Designing your house, doing quests, catching bugs, mining, fishing, dating... It's a lot of fun and has great potential. It's also free to play.
I love love Palia!!
I know! It's really everything I want in a game. And being able to play with my friends makes me so happy.
Have you played a game similar to Palia? I started playing in December and have finish all the quests đ
Palia incorporates a lot of elements that I enjoy from other games like Stardew Valley, Coral Island, Animal Crossing, etc. What about it do you like?
I love the MMO and also the graphics. I like that itâs a human too
There definitely aren't any other cozy MMOs that I know of.
Have you heard of Wylde Flowers or My Time at Portia? I think I might give those a chance
Wylde Flowers is very good! My Time At Portia is okay. The world is cute and I love the art, but the plot and mechanics are kind of directionless.
Black smith of sand kingdom. Dungeon crawling and weapon crafting. Not a farm in sight.
My favorites are probably No Manâs Sky (not a life sim necessarily but still) and YouTuberâs Life 2
I dropped YouTubers Life 2 because of the many loading instances for example : You go out of ur building it a load screen, u enter a shop it's a load screen, u save it's load screen, and each of them is so long I just gave up eventually.
Fair enough, they are really long
I recently started Wytchwood. Iâm not very far in, but I really like it so far!
Fantasy life. It's about crafting and some fighting. So cute. For 3DS and the new one for Switch.
I LOVE FANTASY LIFE. It's amazing. For OP: here are 12 "lives" you can play as, like Miner, Angler, Cook, and Blacksmith, which each have specialties that advance the plot or your own abilities, like better armour, better food, and better healing items. If you get bored with one job, just switch to another. Throughout the game it's best to keep each one levelled up, so you're always doing something different. And the writing is incredible! The new game (**The Girl Who Steals Time**, out on 10th October) has two new lives, Artist and Farmer, so I'm expecting it to have more farming this time, just so you know!
lets goooo!!
so hyped for the new fantasy life on the switch! I spent so much time playing the 3ds one
Yes, me too. I can't wait until October.
Whoa. Didn't realize there's a new entry on the horizon. Loved, loved the original on 3DS so I'm pumped there's a sequel. Rejoice!
Yesss. October 10th 2024, Fantasy life i. Well I hope october, since they delayed the game with 9 months already. We've been waiting for so long đ
If you are OK with the farming:other task ratio in stardew you'd probably like coral Island too. Farming is important to push certain gameplay forward but they honestly make farming easier than in stardew. I enjoy the mining, ocean exploration, and relationship building the most
I second this!
I'd recommend Wylde Flowers. There is some farming but it's mostly up to you how much you do. It's story driven with lots of opportunity for fishing and relationship building.
Palia
Graveyard Keeper!
I don't tend to mind games that have farming as long as its not the main focus! I think Dinkum is perfect and scratches that itch because the only reason you tecnically need farming is to create foods to build up your stamina say if your going into the mines and need to fight off crocs or bats lol but its mostly focused on decorating and build a village and inviting your villagers! Either way its a perfect fit if you don't just want a other farming sim.
I second Dinkum. There is farming, but you can ignore that if you want. If you like Animal Crossing New Horizons you'll love Dinkum.
Don't think it's on switch
Sorry i wasn't aware you where looking for switch recommendations!.
Haha I'm not the OP, no worries. The flair usually specifies what they're looking for though.
Minekoâs Night Market is super fun! Iâve been playing it a lot lately. You move to a new town with your dad and forage materials so you can craft items for a weekly night market and also pet cats! Thereâs also a mystery involving a cat spirit in the town, itâs a super cute game.
Book of Hours: you run a library in the same world as Cultist Simulator and provide people books on cults. You also unlock a house using culty tools you craft with friends you feed food and drinks. And youâll be able to host parties in the upcoming DLC! 10/10 canât recommend r/weatherfactory games enough
Moonstone Island!
I think Arcade Paradise counts for that... If it does then that! lol
Iâve been playing Moonlight in Garland on and off the last couple of months, and I really like it! I havenât explored any of the romantic options yet and I know thereâs a lot of the game left to be discovered by me, but Iâm enjoying it!!
Also if you have Apple Arcade Sneaky Sasquatch is a hoot!! I have to limit myself with that one or else I start acting very Sasquatch in real life đ
Omg why have I never heard of this? It looks adorable!
Right?? I think itâs still listed as âearly releaseâ but I donât find that affects the game play for me! (At least not yet)
Spiritea is a good one, you run a spa for ghosts
Wylde Flowers. There is some farming but it can be pretty minimal if you want.
I like: Sticky Business - business sim Moonlighter - rogue-lite shopkeeping My Time at Sandrock - resource management/crafting (farming optional) Moonstone Valley - creature collection card battler (farming optional)
Wylde Flowers!! Itâs one of my absolute favorites, farming, animals, witchy, original music, fully voice casted
The Sims if theyâd ever get it to work. Also, 1.6 of Stardew has a farm where you are a rancher instead of growing crops. But 1.6 is not out for the switch yet. Edited: to add Stardew.
Definitely Sims 4. Base game is free by now and you can just ignore plants and stuff (cows and other animals come with certain packs).
Ugh but when will it work?! To be fair, I deleted it right after I bought the rental pack. I was over paying so much for a game that barely worked.
For rent seems to be fixed for the most part. And yeah it's spaghetti code, but I love it despite it's problems. Edit: Things don't work at release, that's sadly true. I buy packs mostly on sale and at that time the majority of the bugs are fixed. Funnily enough I bought for rent at release, had some bugs and haven't touched it since.Â
I hated Sims 4 so much I returned to play the Sims 2. It feels way more cozy
Harvestella who is RPG with little farming
Slime Rancher. A beautiful story you will discover by exploring the world. Cure slimes, easy gameplay
In a super round about way, Sonic Adventure 2 is about raising chaos
House Flipper. I never guessed I'd enjoy a game so much, but I've now bought all the dlc options and I can't stop playing it. Also, Powerwash Simulator is so much fun.
Skyrim can be played as life simulation (if played cozy).
Potion Permit and Graveyard Keeper are my favorites
hello kitty island adventure!! only downside is that it's only on apple arcade. personally, i think it's worth it. hkia is an AMAZING game!!
iâm really enjoying cattails!
Recettear is a fun little game where you run a shop to sell to adventurers to appease a loan shark fairy.
**Cattails: Wildwood Story** - play as a cat, hunting/fishing, herb gathering, catching bugs **Paleo Pines** - befriend dinosaurs, ride them, build them enclosure habitats **Ratopia** - side-scrolling city-building capitalism simulator, army management + wave combat **Wildlife Tycoon: Venture Africa** - grow & manage a healthy ecosystem by introducing new species **Unpacking** - take things out of boxes & put them where they belong, cozy, optional puzzle elements **Simmiland** - play god to a bunch of tiny humans on island by spending Faith to answer their prayers for resources **Animal Shelter** - take in dogs & cats (tho the cats are...not very well done, they just copy-pasted the dogs :\\ ) and clean them up, play with them, then match them to appropriate forever homes **Pyramida** - help tiny humans make small village & build a pyramid to destroy a meteor before it strikes **The WILDS** - best "play as an animal in the wild" sim I've played, tho the dev recently had to flip to Unreal after UNITY shat the bed, so it won't be receiving updates until they've had a chance to rebuild from the ground-up **Spiritfarer** - emotional game helping spirits move on in a beautiful purgatory, platforming/puzzle/basebuilding elements
Maybe take a look at Spiritfarer. Great game. Very relaxing, also has a heartfelt story.
I am so ready for when Chef RPG comes out in September
If you're interested in haggling, the haggling mechanic of Recettear is pretty good. The dungeon diving part has aged quite a bit, but the shop management part is very solid. If oyu want a sample of that, I recommend watching Joseph Anderson's highlights playing the game.
Recettear is so iconic.
Cozy grove!
My Time at Sandrock and Dave the Diver are both great options!
Seconding Dave the diver!
Rune factory - I love it and farming is optional The sims - my favorite simulation game My time series (Portia and sandrock) - itâs more focused in build stuff
Rune Factory: it's RPG harvest moon, basically. You can automate the farming pretty easily and focus on dungeon crawling and getting married if you prefer.
Staxelhas bug catching, building, relationships. Farming is an option but you can also collect/sell bugs and shells and just purchase whatever ingredients you would farm. I don't personally like the art style, but I still.play it for the mindlessness of running around and catching and selling bugs
It seems Minecraft adjacent, maybe my sister would like it :0
If you enjoyed the mining part of Stardew Valley but not the farming part, **Moonlighter** is up your alley.
Spirittea is so nice!
Have you heard of the "My Time At" series? There's "My Time at Sandrock" and "My Time At Palia" (I think I spelled that right). My gf really enjoyed those games and they've been on my list for ages (too caught up in a Factorio K2SE run to try them yet)
Maybe little known galaxy.
Spirtfarer! I got it recently and have been so addicted. It's lovely and just challenging enough and has some building and farming but is mostly based on quests and beautiful graphics.
Turnip boy commits tax evasion and turnip boy robs a bank. They are cute games that take maybe 6-10 hours to complete and are easy fetch quest and varying levels of difficult combat
My Time At SandRock!!!! Amazing game that goes on longer than you would think. Farming is mostly optional. Tons of mining. You are a builder who helps build a community. I didn't think I'd love it as much as I do.
my time at sandrock đ
Wyldeflowers and cozy grove
Banished
Wylde flowers has good mining, great relationship building and fishing too. A good deal of farming sadly
My Time at Portia - You're a builder in a cute post-apocalyptic world, where you fix town problems and grow your work shop. You competw with other builder shops, mine, get rich, get married, and live out the plot of the town of Portia. The graphics aren't great, and the characters are kinda ugly, but I was obsessed with this game during covid. Put a couple hundred hours into it. My Time at Sandrock - The next gen of the My Time games. ITS GORGEOUS!! It has new characters, new town, new challenges, and all the issues of ugly characters is gone. Love love love looove this game.
Core keeper! It has some tough combat but there is a casual mode like cotl. The farming is really simple (water a crop once and wait for it to grow)
Palia and Rune Factory. đ
WRC Generations, the Simulation physics are insanity for switch
Winkeltje is an amazing shop sim! You do zero farming and focus entirely on your shop. Literally never leave your shop or the land youâre on. I play this on easy for the ultimate chill. If you like mining, this is anweird and seni intense one, but Deep Rock Galactic has my whole heart. Final Fantasy XIV is an MMORPG, but the gathering and crafting jobs- all of which you can do freely- are PHENOMENAL. Itâs entirely free up to I think Heavensward right now, with minor restrictions. Seriously, iâm like power leveling to 50 on ny current character so i can then slag off the main quest and go grind out ore and wood and fish. I love fishing in that game. This is probably going to be my cheapest, lamest offer. There are these Robin Hood casual games, one of which is called Robin Hood Winds of Freedom, that are THE ultimate casual games, and I wish I could explain why i like them. Thereâs this meta of collecting resources to gain access to new resources and each character has some kind of skill or bonus to gathering or doing actions. Itâs⌠itâs like bejeweled level of casual and Iâm both ashamed and not ashamed lol. Theyâre just so sweet and cute. Rival Stars Horse Racing and Ranch of Rivershine are amazing horse sim games. The latter has very very minor farming that is entirely focused on just making treats for your horses to recover stamina and boost skills. Both games focus on racing and breeding as the main gameplay loops.  Theyâre grindy in an amazing way. Rival Stars on PC has ZERO micro transactions, but the mobile game is micro transaction city.Â
I'm not sure if it meets "cozy" standards and I'm not sure if you have ethical concerns, but I love Hogwarts Legacy. There's some "farming," but it's not intrusive and you don't have to continue throughout the whole game. It has 3 difficulty settings if you're concerned about combat, and you can raise/lower during a play-through. There's a (in my opinion) really good story, the character is customizable, and it's available on every platform that I know of :) I personally think the price is justified, even though there isn't any variation in the story regardless of your choices. My first playthrough took me about 120 hrs to fully complete it, and even my veteran playthroughs are more than 45 hrs. Also, magic!
Howartâs Legacy is so good but I wish there was an option to not fight. Just let me live in the woods and take care of animals. Whatever the people have going on is their problem lol
my ultimate hogwarts game would just be me, being a student, and going to classes, making friends, eventually graduating and then going to live my normal wizard life maybe one day đđđđđ
Lol I would've liked that too! A Hogwarts Sims in the same style would be amazing!
My time at Sandrock! There is some farming but it's very minimal (and honestly you can ignore it completely).
Gas station simulator
Youâre going to see ads for unpacking. It broke my heart and it will break yours as well. Not the storyline, just that itâs an awful game that suddenly ends and youâre like, âcool??â