Games similar to Animal Crossing?

[StarlitGlitch]

If you like Stardew Valley, you'll probably like Harvest Moon. I've only played the Game Boy one, but I've heard that the series is pretty good.

Stardew Valley directly took elements from Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons so yeah haha. When he was first working on game elements he used graphics from Harvest Moon as a placeholder even. Friends of Mineral Town was my first one!

 

[RedPanda]

Another game similar to Stardew Valley is Cattails. It's a cute indie game with retro graphics. It's a cat sim. You play a wild cat living in a colony in the wilderness. You forage for food, find a mate, have kittens, and also battle enemies and hunt for treasure. It's very cute. I have enjoyed playing it. It's very low stress.

 

[-Lumi-]

A Short Hike definitely gives me Animal Crossing vibes with how sweet and charming it is! It’s an inexpensive indie game and while I’m not technically done with it yet I’m having a great time. You’re trying to hike up a mountain but along the way there’s animal characters you can talk to and do favours for, play games with, there’s even fishing!

It’s a really relaxing game (there’s no combat) and the music is adorable. It’s pixel art and you can choose between it looking a little more smooth or having bigger pixels! It’s so cute

 

[Katgamer]

Slime rancher is kind of like Animal Crossing it gets a little boring after you collect all the slimes but it’s a really cute game

 

[ReeBear]

I've been playing Spiritfarer a lot recently - the calm resource gathering gameplay are very much similar to animal crossing in tone, and the shops are all run by morally dubious raccoons, but it's character driven in a really beautiful way.

Slime rancher is kind of like Animal Crossing it gets a little boring after you collect all the slimes but it’s a really cute game

I loooove Slime Rancher! Unfortunately I can only okay it on my partner's laptop and he doesn't trust me with it because I'll lose track of time entirely and I guess he does need his laptop to work I hope it gets a switch port eventually >>

 

[Katgamer]

I've been playing Spiritfarer a lot recently - the calm resource gathering gameplay are very much similar to animal crossing in tone, and the shops are all run by morally dubious raccoons, but it's character driven in a really beautiful way.


I loooove Slime Rancher! Unfortunately I can only okay it on my partner's laptop and he doesn't trust me with it because I'll lose track of time entirely and I guess he does need his laptop to work I hope it gets a switch port eventually >>

There’s a free trial for it on Xbox if you have one

 

[Elias_]

I started working on an Animal Crossing/Stardew Valley - type game around February of 2020 when I was really hyped for NH. I've been quite busy revising for university lately, so I haven't been able to work on it for a while, but at one point I had planned to show it on the forum and ask for opinions on it. I could put together a short "trailer" for it or just record some gameplay if some of you are interested.

 

[ReeBear]

I started working on an Animal Crossing/Stardew Valley - type game around February of 2020 when I was really hyped for NH. I've been quite busy revising for university lately, so I haven't been able to work on it for a while, but at one point I had planned to show it on the forum and ask for opinions on it. I could put together a short "trailer" for it or just record some gameplay if some of you are interested.

Ahh that sounds really cool! I'd love to see some and I'm sure it would go down well in the museum section

 

[Elias_]

Thanks, that 's really nice of you I'll post something as soon as I find enough time to do so!

 

[Pintuition]

I really like Stardew, as others have mentioned. It has a similar feeling to animal crossing but is way different at the same time. I also recently started to play a game called Calico (I play the Switch version) that feels like animal crossing a lot. You own a cat cafe and collect animals to come live at your cafe. You can even ride the animals around! You can decorate and exist in a little town/island environment. The game is super pretty and relaxing. It's a little bit buggy but it's a great choice if you like the softer type village living games.

 

[ReeBear]

I really like Stardew, as others have mentioned. It has a similar feeling to animal crossing but is way different at the same time. I also recently started to play a game called Calico (I play the Switch version) that feels like animal crossing a lot. You own a cat cafe and collect animals to come live at your cafe. You can even ride the animals around! You can decorate and exist in a little town/island environment. The game is super pretty and relaxing. It's a little bit buggy but it's a great choice if you like the softer type village living games.

Ohhh I love the look of Calico, I remember following the crowdfunding for a while as well ;o; I’m kind of hoping they patch the bugs and have been avoiding picking it up for that reason, I’d love to hear your opinions on how/if the bugs affect the enjoyment/playability/relaxation of the game! I’d really love to pick it up but I worry the bugs would make it less relaxing and more stressful ahah

 

[JellyBeans]

this is just the kind of thread I've been needing! I want to buy more cute games for the switch but haven't even known where to start. rip my bank account..
I have no recommendations but I have seen a lot of tiktoks about an upcoming game called 'little witch in the woods' which is stardew valley inspired! I can't remember much about it off the top of my head but it looks lovely

 

[Pintuition]

Ohhh I love the look of Calico, I remember following the crowdfunding for a while as well ;o; I’m kind of hoping they patch the bugs and have been avoiding picking it up for that reason, I’d love to hear your opinions on how/if the bugs affect the enjoyment/playability/relaxation of the game! I’d really love to pick it up but I worry the bugs would make it less relaxing and more stressful ahah

I've seen the developers be really responsive when players post about certain bugs. I believe they're working on more fixes and patches to eliminate as many of them as possible. I think some of the bugs I've experienced were not insurmountable. One time I had the entire village of NPCs that visit the little cat cafe get stuck in the fence outside the building. They just stood there in a big scrum and couldn't go forward or back. It was actually kind of funny. I was able to get out through the back and go about my day so it wasn't a huge deal. It was like a 3 minute interruption so it didn't interrupt me much or stress me out. Sometimes you can get trapped in tight spots but I've always been able to get myself out. I've heard stories from other players about getting stuck in the ocean that surrounds the island (kinda like AC) and not being able to get back to land or having really bad glitches with quests. I haven't had any of those (knock on wood) but I imagine they'd be frustrating. I think if they came out with another patch the game would slowly get more popular. The game is fun and relaxing, there's some awesome representation in it, and the graphics are SO cute. For me that was worth the $11 to try out, even if it is slightly buggy!

 

[ReeBear]

I've seen the developers be really responsive when players post about certain bugs. I believe they're working on more fixes and patches to eliminate as many of them as possible. I think some of the bugs I've experienced were not insurmountable. One time I had the entire village of NPCs that visit the little cat cafe get stuck in the fence outside the building. They just stood there in a big scrum and couldn't go forward or back. It was actually kind of funny. I was able to get out through the back and go about my day so it wasn't a huge deal. It was like a 3 minute interruption so it didn't interrupt me much or stress me out. Sometimes you can get trapped in tight spots but I've always been able to get myself out. I've heard stories from other players about getting stuck in the ocean that surrounds the island (kinda like AC) and not being able to get back to land or having really bad glitches with quests. I haven't had any of those (knock on wood) but I imagine they'd be frustrating. I think if they came out with another patch the game would slowly get more popular. The game is fun and relaxing, there's some awesome representation in it, and the graphics are SO cute. For me that was worth the $11 to try out, even if it is slightly buggy!

Ahh thank you for your response and I'm glad to hear you're not finding the bugs game-ruining! I'll keep an eye on it and keep it in on my wishlist for now, I definitely wanna get it ahahaha, magical girl cat cafe is so disgustingly my thing, it's inevitable

 

[Elias_]

For the past couple of days, I've been putting together a small trailer for my game. Today or tomorrow, I will prepare a small post for the Museum that explains what it is about, what is already implemented and what I'm currently working on. I would appreciate any feedback


Edit: I've posted about it in the Museum. Here's the link: https://www.belltreeforums.com/threads/my-own-animal-crossing-stardew-valley-inspired-game.586023/

And this is the "trailer":

Basically, you start a new life on a deserted island and earn money by farming, fishing and catchings insects. You can purchase decorations to design your island, finish daily tasks and talk to NPCs. I would love to hear what you think about it

 

[meggiewes]

If you like JRPGs I suggest Dragon Quest IX and I'm going to leave this wonderful video review of it by Tim Rogers. (With Part 2)

If you like builders, I suggest Dragon Quest Builders 2. All of the fun of Minecraft in 3rd person with a Dragon Quest skin AND a real story as well as a free build mode.

Atelier Ryza 2 reminds me a lot of AC if you like RPGs with crafting. I really suggest this one as the starting point because it is still fairly easy to find since it just released and it explains everything in pretty detailed tutorials. Plus, there is no time limit to the game so it is super chill. Plus, more people seem to like Ryza because it isn't as girly pastel as some of the other ones can be.

 

[Anj2k6]

I wouldn't call it the exact same as animal crossing, but Rune Factory 4 has been a HUGE time sink for me. The characters are loveable and the switch version added a post-marriage visual novel you can unlock.

The core gameplay comes down to: Farming, building relationships, focusing on crafting skills, and eventually running a shop.

There's combat but if you make OP enough gear and level up your pets/friends beating the game/post-game is a breeze. I wouldn't say you need hyper good reflexes or anything traditionally needed out of action games.

The game still continues beyond the initial story mode indefinitely so you can play for as long as you want afterwards!

Rune factory 5 is also coming to the switch at some point! Don't worry about needing to play the others. Aside from some returning characters as references, the stories are all independent kind of like the Final Fantasy series.

 

[PoppyPumpkin]

Stardew Valley directly took elements from Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons so yeah haha. When he was first working on game elements he used graphics from Harvest Moon as a placeholder even. Friends of Mineral Town was my first one!

I wouldn't bother with any of the new Harvest Moon games if you're looking for it to be as good as it once was. It's not BAD but if you want what it was, you def want to check out Story of Seasons instead.

That all said, there is a game coming out soon (i don't know the specific date, sorry!) called Hokko life. It looks REALLY similar to animal crossing and is going to be on Steam

 

[StarlitGlitch]

I wouldn't bother with any of the new Harvest Moon games if you're looking for it to be as good as it once was. It's not BAD but if you want what it was, you def want to check out Story of Seasons instead.

That all said, there is a game coming out soon (i don't know the specific date, sorry!) called Hokko life. It looks REALLY similar to animal crossing and is going to be on Steam

Oh don't worry, I know about the HM/SoS split haha

I looked up Hokko Life, definitely has a strong AC influence! I'll keep my eyes on it, thanks

 

[PoppyPumpkin]

Oh don't worry, I know about the HM/SoS split haha

I looked up Hokko Life, definitely has a strong AC influence! I'll keep my eyes on it, thanks

Phew! Good. Yeah, a lot of people don't know and end up so disappointed, which I get. Story of Seasons is REALLY good though and I'm looking forward to the new one coming out!

As for Hokko Life, I thought initially that it sort of looked like an AC rip off but it seems to have a lot of stand alone features. So yeah, I'mma be keeping my eye on it, too. I'm hoping it'll be good, as I do enjoy PC games and lately with my depression/anxieyt sky rocketing, I found myself enjoying the calmer games.

If you like PC games, idk if I mentioned, but My Time at Portia is also really fun and has some HM/SoS feels to it