15 Best Farming Games Of All Time - The first knowledge sharing application in Vietnam

Farming sims might be a niche genre, but there have been some amazing titles come out over the years. These are the absolute best of the bunch.

Considering the endless amount of historical adventures, sci-fi explorations, and fantasy journeys that the gaming industry offers, it may surprise some people that many gamers would rather spend their free time playing a video game iteration of a real-world job. Although it may seem strange at first, it’s hard to deny that the life simulation genre has encapsulated many players, thanks to engrossing games like Euro Truck Simulator and Train Simulator.

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One of the most beloved subgenres of life simulators is farming games. Farming titles allow players to experience the joys of turning a stretch of untouched land into a thriving, profitable farm without having to break a sweat. For those looking to get into the farming genre, here are some of the best farming games available.

Updated on November 1, 2021, by Jack Pursey: With the winter months fast approaching, many gamers will already be thinking about what games to play during the cold, frosty nights that are right around the corner. In such times, many people enjoy playing games that remind them of the summer heat and outdoor activities, something that the farming genre is perfect for.

Despite the enormous success of games like Stardew Valley, farming games are still fairly niche. So, to give players a more expansive idea of what some of the best farming games are, we’ve updated this list to include another five titles.

Kynseed

Kynseed only just makes it onto this list as it’s still in early access, though its high-quality sandbox life simulator experience makes it difficult to look past.

PixelCount Studios’ Kynseed doesn’t try to reinvent the wheel, offering many quintessential features from the life simulator side of the farming genre, such as letting players run their own business, building rapport and relationships with locals, and, of course, having the freedom to farm on a blank canvass of land.

Littlewood

Littlewood was released in 2019 on PC, Mac, and Nintendo Switch. The game stands out with its fantastic art design, which has a burst of colors that make the game look delightfully welcoming.

Unlike most games that see the player embarking on an adventure, Littlewood is set after the protagonist has already defeated the villain. However, the protagonist has no recollection of what happened, and their local town is in dire need of rebuilding. Littlewood lets players learn new hobbies, harvest materials, and complete tasks for townsfolk in the hope of learning about their past.

Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town

Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town kicks off with the player inheriting a farm from their grandfather, which seems to be how about 90% of farming simulators begin.

Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town hones in or the core features of the farming genre, with rebuilding a farm from scratch being at the heart of the game. The game still offers plenty of life simulation, however, and the game even boasts an impressive range of over 200 unique events centered around interacting with townsfolk.

Slime Rancher

Slime Rancher is an open-world life simulator from Monomi Park that is available on PC, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PlayStation 4. The game puts players in the shoes of Beatrix LeBeau, who has left Earth for a place known as the Far Far Range to pursue a life of, as the title suggests, slime ranching.

Slime ranching consists of searching the land for alien creatures known as Slimes and then breeding and feeding them so that they’ll produce “plorts” which can be sold for currency used to buy new buildings for the ranch. The game was well-received by critics, scoring a solid 81 on review aggregator Metacritic.

Garden Paws

Garden Paws is the second, but certainly not the last game on this list that kicks off with the player inheriting a plot of land from their grandparents.

Garden Paws differentiates itself from most games in the farming genre because, as the name suggests, all the characters are non-human animals. The standard farming genre activities are available in Garden Paws, with harvesting crops, fishing, and embarking on villagers’ quests all playing key roles.

Where Garden Paws stands out is with its solid multiplayer integration, customizability of characters, and selection of dungeons to clear that add great variety to the game.

Farmer’s Dynasty

Farmer’s Dynasty kicks off with, believe it or not, the player inheriting a farm from their grandfather. The game then opens up to offer players a well-designed open world, where they are free to start work on their farm.

As the implementation of an open world suggests, farming isn’t the only thing players will be doing in the game. Farmer’s Dynasty has an emphasis on community, as players can interact with their fellow farmers to build rapport, earn social points and grow relationships.

Pure Farming 2018

Pure Farming 2018 differentiates itself from most games on this list with its attempt to offer an authentic farming experience, particularly with its impressive range of licensed vehicles.

The game offers three different game modes to fit the player’s needs. Free Farming does what it says on the tin, giving players the ability to set their own parameters and play how they want; My First Farm offers an extended, in-depth tutorial that is ideal for new players and Farming Challenges puts the player’s skills to the test by throwing them into tough scenarios.

Farm Together

Farm Together begins like most games on this list by giving players a plot of land that they are free to cultivate in any way that they like.

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As the name suggests, Farm Together doesn’t leave players alone in their farming ventures, as friends or even the general public can be invited to the player’s farm to help with improvements or just look around and relax. As well as improving their farm, players can indulge in other activities such as working on their house, painting and cooking meals.

Story Of Seasons: Friends Of Mineral Town

Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town was released on Nintendo Switch in July 2020 by Xseed Games and is a 3D remake of Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town.

Much like Farm Together, the game offers a relaxing, meditative approach to farming, with wholesome visuals that make Friends of Mineral Town the perfect place to wind down after a long day. The game was warmly received by critics and scored a respectable 77 on Metacritic.

Autonauts

Autonauts differentiates itself from the other games on this list with its sci-fi setting. Players will travel to uninhabited planets, where they are tasked with colonizing them and ensuring their long-term growth through automation.

This ability to implement automation is what makes Autonauts interesting. Through simple programming, players can create an army of robots who will aid them in creating and maintaining a thriving colony.

Staxel

Staxel is essentially the culmination of if someone was to put Minecraft and Stardew Valley in a blender. The game is another on this list that gives players a grotty farm and tasks them with making it thrive by restoring it in any way that they choose.

The game doesn’t reach the sky-high quality of the two games that it’s trying to replicate, though it’s still a solid farming sim that is worth fans of Minecraft and Stardew Valley considering.

Harvest Moon 64

Harvest Moon 64 was developed by Victor Interactive Software and released in 1999. Unsurprisingly, the visuals don’t compare to the modern games on this list, but the gameplay still holds up over 20 years later.

Along with the main quest that consists of, believe it or not, restoring a rundown farm left by the playable character’s grandfather, players can also indulge in numerous side quests, which offer great variety to the gameplay.

Farming Simulator 19

The Farming Simulator series has been a pioneer in the rise of job simulators over the last decade. Although the game emphasizes realism, many players found the series to be oddly meditative, a surprising view that continues to be shared by more and more players.

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The Farming Simulator franchise began with Farming Simulator 2008 (also known as Farmer Simulator 2008) and is now on its 11th main entry. Farming Simulator 20 has since been released, though the 2019 iteration is considered the stronger game.

My Time At Portia

My Time at Portia was released in January 2019 on PC, before coming to Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4 later that same year. The game takes the recurring “deteriorated plot of land left by old man” trope to the extreme by tasking players with restoring a post-apocalyptic world.

Despite the post-apocalyptic theme, My Time at Portia has a beautiful game world with a wonderful cast of NPCs who are a joy to interact with. Along with farming and relationship building, players will also have their combat abilities tested, often in dungeons crawling with enemies.

Stardew Valley

Stardew Valley was released in 2016 and quickly became recognized as the greatest farming simulator of all time. On paper, Stardew Valley doesn’t do anything special. It begins with yet another story about the playable character inheriting a plot of land from their grandfather that they must restore while also having the chance to relationship build with a tight-knit community.

However, dismissing the game for these repetitive tropes would be a mistake. Stardew Valley goes above and beyond anything else in the genre, with its incredible depth and range of activities to become engrossed in that will encapsulate players into spending hundreds of hours into the game’s memorable world.

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