Animal Crossing is Nintendo’s ultimate slice-of-life video game series, but there are plenty of other solid titles providing a similarly relaxing gameplay experience. Here are the best farming and social simulation games like Animal Crossing to choose from.
Stardew Valley
Let’s get the biggest and most obvious recommendation out of the way first. 2016’s perennially popular Stardew Valley has since become available on most modern gaming platforms. Stardew Valley took the farming simulation genre crown from Natsume’s Harvest Moon franchise, evoking a similar open-ended premise of a player character inheriting a late grandparent’s rundown rural farm. Like the Harvest Moon and Animal Crossing games, time is marked by four distinct seasons as players build a life and, if they choose, a full family for themselves.
It’s important to note that Stardew Valley isn’t just a Harvest Moon clone, also incorporating elements from Minecraft, including a simple combat system when players encounter enemies in nearby caves. Initially starting out as a single-player experience, Stardew Valley has since expanded to include an online multiplayer component allowing players to visit each other. For those looking for a similar yet distinctly different experience to Animal Crossing, Stardew Valley is arguably as close as it gets.
Castaway Paradise
Hewing closely in tropical aesthetics to Animal Crossing: New Horizons, 2014’s Castaway Paradise actually predates the latest Animal Crossing title by six years. After the player character is shipwrecked, they regain their senses on a remote island populated by friendly inhabitants. Starting out living in a tent on the island, players explore and unlock other parts of their new home, enjoying the simple comforts of this hidden paradise.
Available for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, and mobile devices, Castaway Paradise’s layout and gameplay mechanics will be familiar to veteran Animal Crossing players. Players deepen the friendships they make on their mutual island home, which leads to new activities and gameplay elements to enjoy. With everything from bug collecting and fishing to growing plants and designing the landscape, Castaway Paradise is solid, laidback slice-of-life game.
Graveyard Keeper
Not all farming simulation games are set on actual farms, and nor are they all set in idyllic, sun-soaked landscapes. 2018’s Graveyard Keeper offers a macabre twist on the genre, with the player character not gaining a dilapidated farm but a poorly tended graveyard. The player character is mysteriously transported to a medieval fantasy realm after suffering a car accident, finding himself in charge of renovating and repairing a church and its accompanying graveyard.
As the player revitalizes the cemetery, he gains the trust of the townspeople while helping the souls of the dearly departed peacefully cross over to the afterlife. The game has since received several sets of downloadable content, adding new features as the player helps absolve the sins from the tormented souls in the graveyard. For players looking for something a lot less cutesy and wholesome, Graveyard Keeper is a sleeper hit and available on most modern gaming platforms.
Garden Paws
Available on the Nintendo Switch and PC, Garden Paws takes place in a rustic world populated by anthropomorphic animals. In a premise similar to Harvest Moon, the customizable player character inherits a farm from their late grandparents and goes about renovating it and the nearby town. As the town improves, new residents move in and offer new items and quests for players to undertake, expanding the overall experience as they build a community.
Players can harvest crops and raise domesticated animals to improve their farm and its revenue flow, while also cooking and fishing to supplement their food supply and items to sell. The game sports a polygonal animation style with a warm and soft focus as players steadily build their home and community. A little more Harvest Moon than Animal Crossing, Garden Paws retains a lot of the DNA from both franchises to craft something wholly new.
Cult of the Lamb
One of the more recent social simulation games is 2022’s Cult of the Lamb, available on most major modern gaming platforms and offering its own subversive twist on the genre. The game has players lead their own demonic cult as they combat the Four Bishops of the Old Faith that haunt the fantasy realm where they live. Between battles, players have their zealous followers build their community and perform rituals to gain power, including having the followers committing sacrifices.
Cult of the Lamb features full Twitch integration, with people viewing Twitch livestreams of the game able to join the game as a follower through an extension. Once in on the fun, the self-inserted followers can customize their appearance while the player focuses on strengthening their cult. Wickedly funny and blending community-building with isometric combat, Cult of the Lamb offers a deliciously twisted spin on what you might expect from games like Animal Crossing.
