Looking for a taste of the simple life? Ditch your swanky city apartment and prestigious job and get back to the basics. Stardew Valley: The Board Game is a cooperative game where you live in a small community full of good-hearted people who are working together to repair grandpa’s farm.
Players complete tasks like making friends, going fishing, and discovering goods to fulfill goal cards to save the town from the despicable JojoMart corporation.
As life in the valley moves through the seasons, players need to be intentional with their actions to complete goals and collect various resources. Along the way, the townspeople will learn new skills, upgrade their homes, and raise livestock all for the betterment of the community.
Stardew Valley is a fun, wholesome game that has an adorable theme and fosters teamwork. For more awesome games like this one, check out these 5 games like Stardew Valley.
Games like Stardew Valley
- Agricola
- Viticulture: Essential Edition
- Ark Nova
- Spirit Island
- A Feast for Odin
Table of Contents
Agricola
Players: 1-5
Playing time: 30-150 mins
While you won’t be working with a whole community to fight off an evil corporation and to restore grandpa’s farm, you’ll still be roughin’ it when you mix it up with Agricola.
Tucked away on a plot of land with just your spouse, you’ll need to make every turn count if you want to grow your farm and improve your life. And of course, every decision you make will have its benefits and potential drawbacks.
Throughout the 14 rounds and 6 phases of the game, players earn points by growing crops and livestock, expanding their pastures, or adding a helping hand to the family by having children. It’s up to you to think up a strategy to create the best farmland to win the game.
If you’re looking for another game that sticks with a farming theme but adds a bit more complexity, pick up Agricola. It isn’t as cutesy as Stardew Valley but is an awesome game worthy of its own game night.
Viticulture: Essential Edition
Players: 1-6
Playing time: 45-90mins
Congratulations! You have just inherited a small, rustic, Tuscan vineyard!
Although you aren’t starting with much, you have high hopes to transform your plot into a plentiful vineyard whose wine is famous all over the world. Will you be able to create a fine wine treasured by sommeliers all over the globe? Or will your product turn out to be a total plonk?
Similar to Stardew Valley, this is a worker placement game played in seasons. Each season will bring a different set of tasks that need to be assigned to your workers to be completed. Put those farming skills to use in a different practice as you manage your plots and upgrade the vineyard to attract guests.
Everything comes full circle as your community of wine lovers travels to you with enthusiasm, ready to lend a helping hand to make your vineyard the most highly esteemed of them all.
The games have similar themes and mechanics, yet Viticulture: Essential Edition puts a classy twist on a farming game. May the best vineyard win. Saluti!
Ark Nova
Players: 1-4
Playing time: 90-150mins
Prepare to take on a whole new category of animals as you trade in your cows, chickens, and sheep for elephants, lions, and giraffes. Conservation and animal welfare are at the heart of your design as you establish and expand your unique zoo in Ark Nova.
Whether you’re looking to create a research institute or a petting zoo, you’ll need to build up your reputation to earn conservation points using just 5 types of action cards. Use these cards to acquire animals, build infrastructure, attract specialists, and fundraise to create your dream zoo.
The game grows in depth as it’s played due to the power held by each card depending on which slot it occupies at the time it is played. Will you create a zoo that brings in the best of the best?
Both games give you the feeling that you’re building and contributing to a greater good. They also both have a solo player variant for those nights when you want a quiet game night to yourself.
Spirit Island
Players: 1-4
Playing time: 90-120mins
Believe it or not, in some far-flung corners of the Earth, there are still places where magic can be found. Spirit Island is one of these places. On this island, you will find powerful spirits who live in harmony with the native inhabitants. There is only one threat that lurks here. Money-hungry colonizers.
In this cooperative game, you and your fellow spirits will band together and use your powers to protect the island from those who dare to attempt to steal your land. As the invaders explore the land, form settlements, and attack the islanders, the spirits will fight back to drive the colonizers off the island.
It’s another game of the good guys coming together to fight off the unwelcome, greedy intruders — this time on an island instead of a farm. Spirit Island also has an option for solo player mode so you can fight for your land without waiting for the other spirits to join you.
A Feast for Odin
Players: 1-4
Playing time: 30-120mins
Raise your rhyton as you feast in the name of Odin!
Live like a Viking in this game as every player sets out to explore new lands, raid villages, gather resources, and trade goods. It’s a balancing act as you strive to acquire wealth and riches while providing necessities — such as food — to your tribe.
Strategize how to best utilize your workers by assigning some to commonplace tasks such as farming and production, while others must defend your clan and attack enemies who seek to bring you harm. There are tons of paths to victory and you must outweigh the risks and benefits of each one.
While you’ll find similar mechanics such as dice rolling and worker placement between these games, A Feast for Odin is much more complex and integrates an intense number of components. Give this game a try when you’re ready to go from part of the community to head of the clan.
Wrap-Up
We hope you enjoyed our list of the best games like Stardew Valley! Do you like cozy gaming? Have you tried any of the games on the list? Drop a comment below and let us know if we missed any of your favorites! We’d love to hear from you.
Liz has no objections to being referred to as “nerdy.” Maybe it’s the educator in her — or her maturity level— but when it comes to board games, those best suited for children are the ones that spark her interest. When she’s not looking for the next game to incorporate into the classroom or play with her niece and nephew, you can find her trying out nature-themed games like Wildcraft or Trekking the National Parks.