Summary
It’s almost impossible to lavishStardew Valleywith enough praise. Almost a decade after its release, it’s still considered a must-play and maintains a large active player base, with little wonder why. Upon release, the pixel art life simulator quickly revealed its surprisingly deep gameplay, world, and even some well-hidden lore.
Unsurprisingly, the magic thatStardew Valleycaptured has led to its share of imitators, as well as some genuinely inspired competitors. For PS5 players looking for that signature blend of coziness,farming, and just a dash of adventure and combat, there are plenty of other fish in the town pond. We’ve gathered some of the best available for the PS5 here, ranked by their PlayStation player ratings.
10Farming Simulator 25
PlayStation Player Ratings: 3.26
These days, there is seemingly a simulator game for everything. Lucky for fans ofStardew Valley’s farming gameplay, there is a simulator for just that, too. Not only isFarming Simulator 25all farming, but it is also meticulously crafted to include every detail of farming, from the ground up to an entire supply chain.
Perhaps the best aspect ofFarming Simulator 25lies in its vehicle controls. Driving the assorted machinery around to reap, process, and transport crops is fun and rewarding, something at the heart of all good sims.
9Hokko Life
PlayStation Player Ratings: 3.57
Its impressively cute and charming aesthetic ensures thatHokko Lifeis the type of life sim that will attract an audience no matter what. Luckily, it is also a fun, addicting game that will keep players going for hours if for no other reason than to assemble the perfect outfit for their darling avatar.
Hokko Lifeallocates the bulk of its gameplay to exploration in order to complete daily requests and help locals with ever-randomized tasks, and the formula works thanks to a cute menagerie of NPCs around town. There is also a city that players can visit in order to interact with other players and share their creations in furniture, which helps it feel nice and connected.
8Everdream Valley
PlayStation Player Ratings: 3.64
There is no doubt thatEverdream Valleyis geared towards younger players, but that should not deter players of any age from skipping it if they’re in search of simple, relaxing, colorful farming. Even better, the game balances its more conventional gameplay with dream sequences that are almost guaranteed to make players laugh.
Adding to the surreal charm is the cast of NPCs that include both the human townsfolk and the wild animals throughout, who will send players on a range of quests. The results lead to a farm that is visually-pleasing and absolutely packed with mini-games to keep things engaging.
7Sugardew Island
PlayStation Player Ratings: 3.67
As its name suggests,Sugardew Islandis openly seeking thatStardew Valleystyle and adding a saccharine, kid-friendly twist. It further adds a simple but effective story based around conservation and restoring native animals to their rightful habitats.
One fun part of theSugardew Islandgameplay loop is that, after players plant and harvest crops like an average farm sim, they also mind their own shop, personally selling their own crops, as well. If the simple cycle of plant, tend, harvest, and sell appeals to any player,Sugardew Islandis a worthy consideration.
6Potion Permit
PlayStation Player Ratings: 4.19
Potion Permitis only partially a life sim, relying heavily on RPG adventuring for its core gameplay. What life sim portions it has, however, are refreshingly unique, being set in a makeshift hospital instead of a farm. Thanks to its artful pixel graphics and sprites, even the adventure elements ofPotion Permitfeel cozy and relaxing, as well.
Players will still explore and forage for ingredients with which to craft better and better gear, as usual, but any monsters to be fought are few and weak, mainly keeping foraging from becoming monotonous. Most of the thrill will come from the minigames back at the hospital, thanks to its surprisingly empathetic NPCs.
5DORAEMON STORY OF SEASONS: Friends of the Great Kingdom
In general, every game in theStory of Seasonsfranchise bears some resemblance toStardew Valley, butDORAEMON STORY OF SEASONS: Friends of the Great Kingdomis the best for PS5 players. Its east-meets-west art style helps it stand out from related sims, makingevery chapter in the gamefeel like a short film or scene from a Hayao Miyazaki movie.
True to its more cinematic nature, the game is very story-heavy, although it mainly stays light and comedic. This helps the characters all feel important and relatable, helping to make the farming, gathering, and crafting feel genuinely meaningful.
4Cozy Grove
PlayStation Player Ratings: 4.25
Among the many relaxing homestead-building games,Cozy Grovestands out for its unique art style and supernatural world-building. Like inStardew Valley,Cozy Grovestarts players out alone and with essentially nothing, encouraging them to build their settlement around them as they gather resources and eventually produce their own.
Unique toCozy Grove, however, is the ghost-based mechanism in which players expand their property. It’s only through helping a series of spirits with their unfinished business in life that players unlock new townsfolk and new utilities like fishing and baking. As if that weren’t unique enough, most of the NPC ghosts that players meet take the form of large, cubic bears.
3Harvest Moon: The Winds of Anthos
PlayStation Player Ratings: 4.40
TheHarvest Moonfranchise actually predatesStardew Valleyby around 20 years, with its first entry released for the SNES in 1996. It’s become a staple of the genre, setting the tone for generations of peaceful ranching sims set in whimsical, childlike worlds.
Harvest Moon: The Winds of Anthosis set in a green open world that encourages exploration, even allowing players to relocatetheir farmwherever seems most fruitful or picturesque. Combined with a pleasant cast of characters and a fun mythological story, the game is one of the more adventure-based farm sims.
2Coral Island
PlayStation Player Ratings: 4.47
Coral Islandis relatively new, launching for the PS5 at the end of 2023. Suitable for a game so fresh, it’s loaded with fun, new takes on traditional concepts and promises to add even more in the coming months or years.
Coral Islandshares a lot of its core DNA withStardew Valley: players alternate between building up their farm crops for income andresources, chatting up village locals to build relationships, and embarking on mini-adventures through enemy-laden mines. To set itself apart,Coral Islandis tropical and vibrant, and the cast of characters are infectiously charming representations of all walks of life.
1Slime Rancher
PlayStation Player Ratings: 4.53
Slime Rancheris certainly an oddball in the cutesy farming sim genre, as it trades traditional livestock such as cows, chicken, and pigs for littlebouncing balls of slime. As players might expect, slimes don’t produce the usual milk or eggs but rather plorts, exotic gemstones used as the game’s basic building blocks.
Other than that,Slime Rancherfollows some familiar paths for the genre. Collecting slimes becomes farming slimes, which becomes upgrading the ranch, equipping players with what they need to access better areas and better slimes.
