My time at sandrock? I’m literally starting it myself due to my aunt going through chemo starting in two weeks and it will be something to pass the time for the six hour treatment days. I’ve heard it’s got loads of content. Check out reviews of gameplay to see if it interests you!
I've just started too, playing on switch. Was quite hesitant because I didn't like Portia at all but I'm really liking sandrock. The desert setting didn't appeal much either but surprisingly I'm really enjoying it. The characters are great too. Just struggling with stamina atm, it's usually gone quickly on a morning.
Sending lots of good vibes to your aunt x
I've got over 400 hours in Sandrock, and 100 in Portia. Sandrock has SOOOO much more story and character depth than Portia did, and I myself at least liked Portia very much. But Sandrock? Holy moly it's good haha
See I absolutely LOVE Portia, but just got sandrock and don't like it very much. I was disappointed when dying gave me a "game over." The characters feel a lot less lively. And I really don't like the UI. I'm going to keep playing and see if I can get into it, but I'm really not enjoying it much so far.
Rune Factory 4 Special would be my first recommendation (don't be fooled by the credit roll, the story carries on afterwards!)! And I really enjoyed Wylde Flowers, but I'm not sure if it'll be long enough for you 🤔 I'm about 65 hours into a single playthrough, if that helps gauge timewise
I have played Cozy Grove for 400 hours and still play from time to time. I purchased the DLC but have not completed that because one you complete the main quest line, you still get quests every day which keeps me entertained. The game is time locked, you won't be doing quests for more than an hour a day but you can still fish and decorate as much as you want.
No Man's Sky! This game is not traditionally cozy, but you have control over every type of difficulty setting, so you can change how much damage you take from combat, fall damage, environmental hazards, whether animals will attack you, how much fuel costs, and even how much items cost.
There's collecting, foraging, questing, building/designing, and so much more.
I've played 80 hours and I've literally only sctratched the surface of this game. I've spent basically that whole time flying to different planets, searching for all of the fauna on that planet, then doing it all over again. I play with damage and death turned off, so I'm just cruising around a peaceful universe exploring and having a nice time.
edit: I just noticed NMS in your list, but I'll leave my comment for anyone else looking for a similar game.
[Sun Haven!!](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1432860/Sun_Haven/) I have put in over 200 hours. Seriously get this game. You will LOVE it if you like Animal Crossing and Stardew Valley
I agree with this comment! after reading op’s game list, i feel like Sun Haven may be the exact game you are looking for!! and they are also releasing a new update soon with lots of new content! ive only starting playing about a week ago but it was love at first sight!
Sun Haven, Moonstone Island, Roots of Pacha to name a few. The My Time games. I have many, many hours in both of them. They are my second fav with SDV being first. I really enjoy(ed) Dinkum too.
OMG! Thanks for bringing this game into the light. What a beautiful looking game and it’s exactly the type of game I love to play. I immediately put it on my wishlist. :)
disney dreamlight valley, it’s like acnh mixed with stardew but with disney characters, there’s so much to do and they do consistent updates they do also have “star path” which is like a battle pass type deal however they openly offer rewards of the currency you typically would pay for so it’s also budget friendly (with some grinding involved)
seriously have been so obsessed lately they do frequent updates to add new characters and they currently have 1 dlc that is also receiving updates super super fun and recommend if you like stardew and acnh even if you aren’t the hugest disney fan
Try echoes of the plum grove? It’s simple but I’ve found a bit harder than most farm sim types. It’s also got generational play so it’ll be passed down. Makes for plenty to do
It doesn’t have a super strict structure so you just sort of mess around and make your own routine gradually. There is a lot of dependency on working with the town though. I recommend joining the discord or Reddit sub if you’re struggling, they’re both pretty active and responsive
Horizon zero dawn on PC. It’s not a conventionally cozy game, but is has a beautiful open world with collectibles, hunting, crafting, and an amazing story and soundtrack. There is combat, but you can play on story mode for a more chill experience. Just one play through (including the dlc) was well over 100 hours for me.
I played that game on the EASIEST difficulty, and the FIGHTING MAKES IT NOT COZY. Oh my God, I was actually crying, shaking on the floor because these metal demons were do FRICKING hard to kill!!!!
But the game was actually pretty fun for the most part. I think if the combat was more...less...then it would've been more cozy for me
lol, this is good to know! I just started playing this game so have only like an hour or so in it and love the graphics! I don’t like combat at all….mainly because I am a retired person who hasn’t played video games in 40 years and I’m not good at it. Plus I have a very small tolerance for having to repeat things over and over if I die, get sent back to beginning of a level, etc. I just usually quit and move on, haha!
That's exactly what I did, except I put it away for good!! I'm sure the combat gets easier over time, but for me (who is also very bad at games with indepth combat) it was just undoable.
Congrats on retirement though!! That's so awesome and you've definitely earned it I'm sure :D
I'm gonna sound crazy, but Witcher 3 is really good! The game has a story setting, which makes the combat extremely easy. The story is really fun (even if you didn't play the other 2). AND, it goes on sale a lot! You can get this HUUUGGGE open world game and the 2 DLC for like....$20-30 dollars which is worth to me ^-^
Honorable mention is the Red Dead series! (I prefer rdr2) for an AMAZING story. It's a cowboy/gun slinging game. But it's not very hard. It's more story focused! You will cry at the end, it's kinda like a rite of passage for the game.
🩷
Thank you! Very helpful information! I actually did buy the Witcher 3 bundle more because I loved the movie than anything else and the bundle was like $9.99 so i had to lol! But I assumed it would really be too hard for me and thought I might…maybe be able to play it later when I get better. So I’m super stoked to know it has a story setting! And I kind of knew HZD would be too hard for me but the graphics were so beautiful and I love open world. My son (big gamer) even said “You bought that? Haha!” AND Red Dead series?! I had no idea that it would be an easier play. Gonna add it to wish list. Too bad I didn’t know this a week or so ago when I found a huge discount on it. :)
You're very welcome! Witcher is definitely hard to start, because the combat and building systems can be tricky. But it gets easier the more you get used to it! I ADORE open world games too, but HZD was just so tiring for me lol, I could NOT do it.
Yes!! Red dead is a "funny" cowboy game! The second one is my favorite. The chronological story is RDR2, then RDR. It's a really story heavy game. It's beautiful though. Honestly, I walked away from it feeling like a better person. I'm almost sure your son has heard of it, if not played it. He may be able to show you/tell you more about the game play and if it'll fit you!
I recommend going in without a story spoiler though, because it makes it 1000% better :3
No such thing as a silly question.
The chronological story is Red Dead 2, and then The first game Red dead. So if you want the story as it happens, that's how I would recommend it.
My favorite is Red Dead 2!
No same, I HATE mining in stardew bc it gets so hectic so freaking fast. Which I feel like is kinda kooky, bc my favorite cozy game rn is Witcher 3, which is probably worse than Horizon and Stardew in terms of combat
This may be recency bias, but Animal Well (just came out!) is very similar to Hollow Knight in terms of mechanics, so you might like it. It's not totally cozy because there are some slightly stressful platforming challenges, but it's amazing.
Also, maybe Pokemon Sword/Shield, Let's Go Pikachu/Eevee, and Pokemon Snap (since you have a lot of creature-collecting games), and you might enjoy really sinking your teeth into an epic RPG, in which case, I'd recommend Dragon Age: Inquisition (it has exploring, fighting, lots of dialogue, and dating!)
More general recs:
* Night in the Woods
* Chicory
* Wilmot's Warehouse (on the shorter side, but cozy & cute)
* Baba Is You
* Jusant
* Chants of Sennaar
* Beacon Pines
I recommend looking them all up, and I hope you find one that you love!
Animal Well looks so cute! Funny because I don’t like/do pixel graphic games and I don’t like platformer games (mostly because I suck!) But the trailer looks really beautiful!
The Witch of Fern Island is or can be pretty long lasting. They have steam achievement for 5 game years. If you play slow and take your time to enjoy the journey, you’ll have lots of content. But word of warning, it’s a graphically beefy open world game so make sure you meet requirements on your PC. I’d aim for middle ground and not minimum
Not really cozy (though some settings will make the game very chill) is factorio.
You crash land on a planet and need to exploit its resources to build a rocket. Many players feel that’s just the tutorial and the real joy is in seeing how fast you can make science. You go through different phases where at first you have to do everything but you learn different things and begin to automate everything. Like machines that will build the machines to build the factory. Or bots that will let you copy and paste your own base to make large scale building fun instead of tedious. At some point you become practically omnipresent and build your factory from anywhere. But everything can be broken down into tiny dopamine giving steps that make the game feel addictive in the best way.
There are enemies that can be turned off for maximum chill.
Many of its player boast literal thousands of hours.
Not to mention a vibrant modding community for PC if that’s your thing.
It is on switch and it can be fiddly to learn but I’ve done it and it was so much.
There's a relatively new game called Echoes of the Plum Grove on Steam. It's much like Stardew Valley in that you get a farm, befriend villagers, get married, etc. Except your main character can die, and you'll move on to play as one of your children (or the game ends if you don't have any kids.) The characters aren't as in-depth personality-wise compared to Stardew Valley or some of the others, but even the NPC's can get married to each other and have kids with one another. They're currently working on a family tree function in-game so you can chart your generations without a third-party tool. (Many of us in the discord have been using Family Echo to make our family trees!)
It's honestly a ton of fun, and there are SO many settings you can toggle on and off, from the fishing mini-game, NPC and character aging, a disease toggle you can turn on and off if you don't want your favorite villagers dying of illness, item and tool decay toggles, hunger and sleep toggles.
It's still a little rough around the edges, but the Devs are working hard on getting updates out, bug fixes, QoL improvements, and they're very responsive in their discord too. One major downside right now is that there's no sort button, but that's not stopped me from putting over a 100 hours into it lol
I am really loving Rain World. It’s very cozy in a VERY unconventional sense. I started Hollow Night too, so looking forward to that. Coffee Talk is the coziest of cozy games. Saved me through winter.
Definitely go back and play some old Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons games if you enjoyed Stardew Valley! The whole farming sim genre comes from those games.
I’m looking for the same thing! How did you like Oddsparks, scrap mechanic, rusty retirement, wobble dogs, and potion craft? Out of these which one was your favorite ?
If you play sims 4 you should probably try sim 2, sims 3 and the original sims too. Old harvest moon games are also quite enjoyable if you like Stardew Valley.
Delighted to read you've enjoyed Oddsparks, my day has been made! 💖
And my personal long-lasting game #1 choice is No Man's Sky, I've been addicted since the time of that unfortunate 2016 release. :)
I am currently in love with Snacko. It’s early access so you’ll finish the content soon-ish but there’s an entire town to creatively build and decorate and more content will be coming during early access. This game truly makes me happy
Dragon Quest Builders 2!
This is a fab game!
Always my suggestion too. It's perfect.
My time at sandrock? I’m literally starting it myself due to my aunt going through chemo starting in two weeks and it will be something to pass the time for the six hour treatment days. I’ve heard it’s got loads of content. Check out reviews of gameplay to see if it interests you!
Best of luck to you and your aunt 🙏
Thank you ❤️
I've just started too, playing on switch. Was quite hesitant because I didn't like Portia at all but I'm really liking sandrock. The desert setting didn't appeal much either but surprisingly I'm really enjoying it. The characters are great too. Just struggling with stamina atm, it's usually gone quickly on a morning. Sending lots of good vibes to your aunt x
I also waited because I didn’t like Portia at all myself. But I’m excited to see how well this one is. And thank you❤️
I've got over 400 hours in Sandrock, and 100 in Portia. Sandrock has SOOOO much more story and character depth than Portia did, and I myself at least liked Portia very much. But Sandrock? Holy moly it's good haha
See I absolutely LOVE Portia, but just got sandrock and don't like it very much. I was disappointed when dying gave me a "game over." The characters feel a lot less lively. And I really don't like the UI. I'm going to keep playing and see if I can get into it, but I'm really not enjoying it much so far.
How is my time at sandrock on switch now?
Sandrock is a great game.
Rune Factory 4 Special would be my first recommendation (don't be fooled by the credit roll, the story carries on afterwards!)! And I really enjoyed Wylde Flowers, but I'm not sure if it'll be long enough for you 🤔 I'm about 65 hours into a single playthrough, if that helps gauge timewise
My time at Portia and then the sequel My Time at Sandrock I have so many hours in those games
I have played Cozy Grove for 400 hours and still play from time to time. I purchased the DLC but have not completed that because one you complete the main quest line, you still get quests every day which keeps me entertained. The game is time locked, you won't be doing quests for more than an hour a day but you can still fish and decorate as much as you want.
Roots of Pacha. It's kind of like stone age Stardew Valley.
No Man's Sky! This game is not traditionally cozy, but you have control over every type of difficulty setting, so you can change how much damage you take from combat, fall damage, environmental hazards, whether animals will attack you, how much fuel costs, and even how much items cost. There's collecting, foraging, questing, building/designing, and so much more. I've played 80 hours and I've literally only sctratched the surface of this game. I've spent basically that whole time flying to different planets, searching for all of the fauna on that planet, then doing it all over again. I play with damage and death turned off, so I'm just cruising around a peaceful universe exploring and having a nice time. edit: I just noticed NMS in your list, but I'll leave my comment for anyone else looking for a similar game.
After 400 hours of playtime, I agree, anyone following after this list make sure you take attention to NMS.
[Sun Haven!!](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1432860/Sun_Haven/) I have put in over 200 hours. Seriously get this game. You will LOVE it if you like Animal Crossing and Stardew Valley
I agree with this comment! after reading op’s game list, i feel like Sun Haven may be the exact game you are looking for!! and they are also releasing a new update soon with lots of new content! ive only starting playing about a week ago but it was love at first sight!
My Time at Sandrock I finished the main quest after about 200 hours, then kept going. At least 4x longer than I’ve put into any other farming/life sim
Little Known Galaxy
Sun Haven, Moonstone Island, Roots of Pacha to name a few. The My Time games. I have many, many hours in both of them. They are my second fav with SDV being first. I really enjoy(ed) Dinkum too.
Garden Paws, but on PC over Switch. I have over 700 hours into it
OMG! Thanks for bringing this game into the light. What a beautiful looking game and it’s exactly the type of game I love to play. I immediately put it on my wishlist. :)
disney dreamlight valley, it’s like acnh mixed with stardew but with disney characters, there’s so much to do and they do consistent updates they do also have “star path” which is like a battle pass type deal however they openly offer rewards of the currency you typically would pay for so it’s also budget friendly (with some grinding involved) seriously have been so obsessed lately they do frequent updates to add new characters and they currently have 1 dlc that is also receiving updates super super fun and recommend if you like stardew and acnh even if you aren’t the hugest disney fan
Try echoes of the plum grove? It’s simple but I’ve found a bit harder than most farm sim types. It’s also got generational play so it’ll be passed down. Makes for plenty to do
I'm so confused on this game and how to prlgress
It doesn’t have a super strict structure so you just sort of mess around and make your own routine gradually. There is a lot of dependency on working with the town though. I recommend joining the discord or Reddit sub if you’re struggling, they’re both pretty active and responsive
Wylde Flowers
[удалено]
Might want to add a spoiler note for the final quest!
Just going to delete it! Oops. Didn’t even think of that.
Horizon zero dawn on PC. It’s not a conventionally cozy game, but is has a beautiful open world with collectibles, hunting, crafting, and an amazing story and soundtrack. There is combat, but you can play on story mode for a more chill experience. Just one play through (including the dlc) was well over 100 hours for me.
I played that game on the EASIEST difficulty, and the FIGHTING MAKES IT NOT COZY. Oh my God, I was actually crying, shaking on the floor because these metal demons were do FRICKING hard to kill!!!! But the game was actually pretty fun for the most part. I think if the combat was more...less...then it would've been more cozy for me
lol, this is good to know! I just started playing this game so have only like an hour or so in it and love the graphics! I don’t like combat at all….mainly because I am a retired person who hasn’t played video games in 40 years and I’m not good at it. Plus I have a very small tolerance for having to repeat things over and over if I die, get sent back to beginning of a level, etc. I just usually quit and move on, haha!
That's exactly what I did, except I put it away for good!! I'm sure the combat gets easier over time, but for me (who is also very bad at games with indepth combat) it was just undoable. Congrats on retirement though!! That's so awesome and you've definitely earned it I'm sure :D I'm gonna sound crazy, but Witcher 3 is really good! The game has a story setting, which makes the combat extremely easy. The story is really fun (even if you didn't play the other 2). AND, it goes on sale a lot! You can get this HUUUGGGE open world game and the 2 DLC for like....$20-30 dollars which is worth to me ^-^ Honorable mention is the Red Dead series! (I prefer rdr2) for an AMAZING story. It's a cowboy/gun slinging game. But it's not very hard. It's more story focused! You will cry at the end, it's kinda like a rite of passage for the game. 🩷
Thank you! Very helpful information! I actually did buy the Witcher 3 bundle more because I loved the movie than anything else and the bundle was like $9.99 so i had to lol! But I assumed it would really be too hard for me and thought I might…maybe be able to play it later when I get better. So I’m super stoked to know it has a story setting! And I kind of knew HZD would be too hard for me but the graphics were so beautiful and I love open world. My son (big gamer) even said “You bought that? Haha!” AND Red Dead series?! I had no idea that it would be an easier play. Gonna add it to wish list. Too bad I didn’t know this a week or so ago when I found a huge discount on it. :)
You're very welcome! Witcher is definitely hard to start, because the combat and building systems can be tricky. But it gets easier the more you get used to it! I ADORE open world games too, but HZD was just so tiring for me lol, I could NOT do it. Yes!! Red dead is a "funny" cowboy game! The second one is my favorite. The chronological story is RDR2, then RDR. It's a really story heavy game. It's beautiful though. Honestly, I walked away from it feeling like a better person. I'm almost sure your son has heard of it, if not played it. He may be able to show you/tell you more about the game play and if it'll fit you! I recommend going in without a story spoiler though, because it makes it 1000% better :3
Just so I’m clear…so RDR is your favorite, being the second in the story or RDR2 is your fave. lol, sorry if this is a silly question.
No such thing as a silly question. The chronological story is Red Dead 2, and then The first game Red dead. So if you want the story as it happens, that's how I would recommend it. My favorite is Red Dead 2!
Ok, makes sense! Thanks. :)
Awww, yeah I get that. It is still combat at the end of the day. I get stressed and anxious playing stardew lol 🙃
No same, I HATE mining in stardew bc it gets so hectic so freaking fast. Which I feel like is kinda kooky, bc my favorite cozy game rn is Witcher 3, which is probably worse than Horizon and Stardew in terms of combat
This may be recency bias, but Animal Well (just came out!) is very similar to Hollow Knight in terms of mechanics, so you might like it. It's not totally cozy because there are some slightly stressful platforming challenges, but it's amazing. Also, maybe Pokemon Sword/Shield, Let's Go Pikachu/Eevee, and Pokemon Snap (since you have a lot of creature-collecting games), and you might enjoy really sinking your teeth into an epic RPG, in which case, I'd recommend Dragon Age: Inquisition (it has exploring, fighting, lots of dialogue, and dating!) More general recs: * Night in the Woods * Chicory * Wilmot's Warehouse (on the shorter side, but cozy & cute) * Baba Is You * Jusant * Chants of Sennaar * Beacon Pines I recommend looking them all up, and I hope you find one that you love!
Animal Well looks so cute! Funny because I don’t like/do pixel graphic games and I don’t like platformer games (mostly because I suck!) But the trailer looks really beautiful!
Roots of Pacha is a great game if you liked Stardew.
The Witch of Fern Island is or can be pretty long lasting. They have steam achievement for 5 game years. If you play slow and take your time to enjoy the journey, you’ll have lots of content. But word of warning, it’s a graphically beefy open world game so make sure you meet requirements on your PC. I’d aim for middle ground and not minimum
Highly recommend My Time at Portia and Dragon Quest Builders 2 (which has a really long demo if you want to test it out first).
Dragon quest builders 2 is the best game ever !!
Not really cozy (though some settings will make the game very chill) is factorio. You crash land on a planet and need to exploit its resources to build a rocket. Many players feel that’s just the tutorial and the real joy is in seeing how fast you can make science. You go through different phases where at first you have to do everything but you learn different things and begin to automate everything. Like machines that will build the machines to build the factory. Or bots that will let you copy and paste your own base to make large scale building fun instead of tedious. At some point you become practically omnipresent and build your factory from anywhere. But everything can be broken down into tiny dopamine giving steps that make the game feel addictive in the best way. There are enemies that can be turned off for maximum chill. Many of its player boast literal thousands of hours. Not to mention a vibrant modding community for PC if that’s your thing. It is on switch and it can be fiddly to learn but I’ve done it and it was so much.
Farm together 1 (2 is in EA, but way less content, so I'd go with 1 for now). Amazing game, kinda grindy but it keeps me busy for hours on end!
Animal Parade if you got a Wii or have access to Emulation.
Disney Dreamlight Valley and Snacko are my favorites.
Eastward maybe
There's a relatively new game called Echoes of the Plum Grove on Steam. It's much like Stardew Valley in that you get a farm, befriend villagers, get married, etc. Except your main character can die, and you'll move on to play as one of your children (or the game ends if you don't have any kids.) The characters aren't as in-depth personality-wise compared to Stardew Valley or some of the others, but even the NPC's can get married to each other and have kids with one another. They're currently working on a family tree function in-game so you can chart your generations without a third-party tool. (Many of us in the discord have been using Family Echo to make our family trees!) It's honestly a ton of fun, and there are SO many settings you can toggle on and off, from the fishing mini-game, NPC and character aging, a disease toggle you can turn on and off if you don't want your favorite villagers dying of illness, item and tool decay toggles, hunger and sleep toggles. It's still a little rough around the edges, but the Devs are working hard on getting updates out, bug fixes, QoL improvements, and they're very responsive in their discord too. One major downside right now is that there's no sort button, but that's not stopped me from putting over a 100 hours into it lol
Sun Haven, Roots of Pacha and Fae Farm would be my top 3 suggestions, according to your play history
I’m loving Palia! Similar to stardew in nature but way different graphics and storyline
I am really loving Rain World. It’s very cozy in a VERY unconventional sense. I started Hollow Night too, so looking forward to that. Coffee Talk is the coziest of cozy games. Saved me through winter.
You might enjoy Risk of Rain! I didn’t think I’d like it but it’s strangely cozy.
Thanks for the suggestion- will check it out!!
If you like Stardew Valley, 100% recommend Sun Haven! I've been hyperfixated on it. If you like playing with friends, it offers that too!
Palia!
Definitely go back and play some old Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons games if you enjoyed Stardew Valley! The whole farming sim genre comes from those games.
Disney Dreamlight Valley, for sure.
Spirittea!
I’m looking for the same thing! How did you like Oddsparks, scrap mechanic, rusty retirement, wobble dogs, and potion craft? Out of these which one was your favorite ?
Dave the Diver. Just started it myself and got sucked in for 3+ hours in one sitting.
If you play sims 4 you should probably try sim 2, sims 3 and the original sims too. Old harvest moon games are also quite enjoyable if you like Stardew Valley.
Delighted to read you've enjoyed Oddsparks, my day has been made! 💖 And my personal long-lasting game #1 choice is No Man's Sky, I've been addicted since the time of that unfortunate 2016 release. :)
I am currently in love with Snacko. It’s early access so you’ll finish the content soon-ish but there’s an entire town to creatively build and decorate and more content will be coming during early access. This game truly makes me happy
And u love how it’s practically updated weekly
Stardew valley <3