Whether it’s escaping the hustle and bustle of city life or a quiet retreat, many people dream of owning their own farm one day. Ever wanted to settle down with the love of your life and spend your days watching the plants grow? However, life on the farm can take a lot of money, time, resources and more. Instead of owning a real farm, why not experience it virtually? In this list are my top 4 recommendations for farm games to play when you just want to relax.
4. Drinking Permission
Release date: September 22, 2022
Developed by: MassHive Media
Published by: PQube
Potion Permit will come out September 22, 2022, on PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox and Nintendo Switch. Although this game isn’t really out yet, a demo is already available for interested people to try out. Disclaimer, however, this is not a farming game in the way the rest of the games in this list are farming games. The player does not have a large tract of land that he is going to develop and plant to cultivate. Instead, it shows the lifestyle of living off the land.
In Potion Permit you play a young chemist who is sent to a distant town to cure the mayor’s daughter. You will become the town’s resident chemist, making potions, ointments, and other medicines that the townspeople may need. In a way, this game is half potion making and half material gathering. Their materials come in all forms, from plants to mushrooms to ore. The player can even fish in the various bodies of water in and around the city. It’s this lifestyle of foraging and living off the bounty of the land that makes it similar enough to a normal farming game to be part of this list.
Did I also mention that you are capable of developing a relationship with any of the bachelors and bachelors in town?
3. Rune Factory 5
Release date: May 20, 2021
Developed By: Hakama Inc.
Publisher: XSEED Games
Rune Factory 5 is a farming game with action role-playing elements. It is available on Nintendo Switch and PC. Rune Factory 5 is the newest game in the franchise, a good nine years after the last. In previous games, the game was played from a top-down perspective. However, Rune Factory 5 has a third-person perspective. While this isn’t new to farming games, it’s a big change for the franchise. The player takes control of an amnesiac ranger. After nearly dying to save one of the town’s residents, they end up living in town both as thanks and to help them regain their memories. He has little idea of the many dangers he will be exposed to during his stay.
The game plays like other farming games in that the player has plots of land on which to grow crops and sell them for money. However, there are two things that I feel set Rune Factory 5 apart from other farming games with a similar theme and branding. First of all, great importance is attached to hunting monsters. Whenever the player roams the areas of the city, he encounters monsters that threaten to eliminate the player. These monsters drop valuable items and improve player stats. Simply farming is not enough to be successful in Rune Factory 5. The player must go out and fight to gain experience and the materials needed to upgrade their equipment.
The second feature that sets this apart is the soil texture system. While in other games the player has some control over his ground, in this game the player has to manage the ground conditions in a realistic way. Soil health deteriorates as soil is used continuously. This forces the player to juggle farm plots and help the soil recover so it can continue producing crops.
By the way, did you know that in this game there are various beautiful and handsome people that you can start a relationship with and get married with?
2. STORY OF THE SEASONS: Friends of the Mineral Town
Release date: October 17, 2019
Developed by: Bullets Co., Ltd., Marvelous
Published by: XSEED Games, Marvelous
STORY OF SEASONS: Friends of Mineral Town is a farming simulation game for Xbox, Playstation, Nintendo Switch and PC. This game is a remake of the 2003 game Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town for the Gameboy Advance. The game follows the life of a normal city kid. On a trip to the country, they are separated from his family and found by an old man. The old man helps them reunite with their family and even offers them to stay on the farm. A few years later, the boy discovers that they inherited the farm from the old man. This remake is different in that, unlike the original game where you only play as a man, you can choose to play as a man or as a woman.
The Harvest Moon series of games is the blueprint from which most, if not all, farming games draw inspiration. In this game, the player is given a piece of land on which to plant crops for sale. You’ll also get various tools to help clear your farm of debris. The player can own animals, which also give him products to sell. There is also an in-game fishing mechanic for those times when you don’t need or can’t harvest anything. This can be thought of in its simplest form as a farming game that gives the player the freedom to do whatever they want to do.
Just like the other games in this list, you can improve your relationship with the townsfolk by giving them gifts. Who knows, you might even be able to marry one of them.
1. Stardew Valley
Release date: February 26, 2016
Developed By: Concerned Ape
Publisher: Chucklefish
Stardew Valley is a farming game available on PC, Playstation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch and mobile phones. In it, the player takes control of an office worker. Tired of repeating his work and city life, they move to the farm their grandfather left them. There, they begin their lives anew, rebuilding the farm from scratch and discovering secrets about their grandfather they didn’t know about.
This game has everything that the previous games on this list have. It has a common agriculture present in all. The player can also take care of animals that will give him milk, eggs and other products. They can also fish in the various rivers, lakes and oceans that they have access to. You can even fight monsters in the various caves and dungeons available for exploration. All of these features combine to create one of the most memorable farming games out there in recent memory. This game also has a multiplayer mode in case the player feels they need a helping hand on the farm.
However, what sets it apart from the other games on this list is the very active modding community. Everything in the game is modifiable, from the available clothes to the available plants. Modders have also changed the characters’ appearance, with some mods giving the game an even more anime-like feel. There are also larger mods that add new sections to the already large map of Stardew Valley and drastically change the gameplay loop. While playing unmodded Stardew Valley is fun in its own right, nothing beats a mod playthrough.
You’re probably tired of hearing this, but did you know that in this game you can improve your relationship with the different bachelors and bachelorettes? You can even marry her if you play your cards right.
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