Forums » Smalltalk » Animal Crossing Alternatives

Hello there. *Pauses to allow memelords their opportunity to reply with "General Kenobi".*

So there's been a lot of talk about Animal Crossing. Everywhere. Including here, of course. But also, not everyone has a switch. So I figure - why not start a thread to raise awareness for alternative games for those feeling left out? Granted it's not exactly the same, given some of the more obscure games out there offer less opportunity to chat to others about what goes on in them. And the online communities (if they even exist in some cases) are generally much smaller. BUT... there's also the potential to find a game you like and get your friends to also play it.

Personally, I've been playing Garden Paws. It's available on PC and Mac on Steam. I guess it can be described as a cross between Animal Crossing and Harvest Moon. Whilst it's a full release game, it's still under development and gets regular updates, but it also has a very tiny dev team. The game basically revolves around farming and selling produce at your shop whilst also helping the town to grow and flourish by helping out NPCs and buying new facilities for them to set up shop in.

The game is really cute, and you play as an anthropomorphic chibi animal (basically, imagine if you could play as an animal in Animal Crossing... it's like that). It has really calming music and you can really get lost in it and lose track of hours and hours of time. There's plenty of customisation and furnishing options, the option to go explore monster-filled dungeons if you're so inclined and the ability to tame wild animals and keep them as pets.

Its biggest flaw really, however, is that it was made in Unity, and thus is pretty poor in the efficiency department in terms of computer resources. The game runs pretty poorly for its graphics style, and whilst I think a mediocre computer might be able to run it on lower graphic settings, an entry-level device may struggle to run it. I play only on single player, but I've heard a lot of about multiplayer often being buggy as well. The gameplay isn't perfect, either, as it's incredibly grindy and the days are really short, so if you've got a lot of farming to do, you'll find you don't have much time left in your days for much else (sprinklers are a godsend - don't underestimate the value of those things, as not having to water crops saves a lot of time and watering plants uses up a huge chunk of energy). Cosmetic items are very expensive in ingame currency, as are house upgrades (I basically spent 2 seasons saving up for the living room upgrade for my house, and then spent all my savings trying to improve my ability to make money and now I'm back to square 1). NPC interactions are kinda basic as they tend to stick around in one spot, don't really build a relationship with you and have little plot to go by outside of quest dialogue, most of which has little consequence story-wise.

I'd recommend Garden Paws for those who see cuteness as a major reason for playing a game like this. If you're not interested in cuteness or could take it or leave it, there are probably better options out there.

Anyone else have any recommendations for games of this genre?

Stardew Valley is a great life simulation game. You play as a person who inherits some land from his grandpa. Its found on a variety of systems so it's very accessible to play. It's also not very expensive. $15 is a steal! It's even on mobile for a cheaper price ( $8)! Definitely a must-play! The fishing minigame is fun, farming is fun. It's just a calming and enjoyable experience.

It's not exactly obscure but I still wanted to draw attention to the game.

So first I'd say maybe try some of the older animal crossing games if you have the devices for them - it may lack the pretty graphics and some quality of life changes that New Horizons brings to the table, but hey, it's still Animal Crossing and it's still adorable!

On a side note, and this is definitely not a 1 to 1 AC comparison:

My Time At Portia is a gorgeous and really cute game. I'd compare it more to Harvest Moon and Stardew Valley (which was a given alternative by JoJo), but playing it gives me a very similar cozy feeling that Animal Crossing gives me; And it has a very similar DiY aspect to it that the new AC game has (Not exactly the same, but it's kinda close!)

It's got some action in it though, fighting mine monsters and things on occasion, but for the most part, it's a really chill, cute game that I've seen at least a small community for. I'd highly recommend it. c:

Seconding Stardew Valley! You can get lost in that game for a week straight. It's very sweet!

Sims 4 is also a nice alternative if you're into the micro-management and building aspects.

While this is a sort of 180 from Animal Crossing, Sunless Seas is linked inextricably in my mind for the exploration and the weird and cool stories that come out of finding new islands. It's dark, more like Don't Starve in some ways, but is also a good time-eater.

Finding a Switch right now is next to impossible anyways... we were looking for one and the only one that came near the retail price was offered by some butt who had used his hard and had a broken controller--and he only told us this after we'd started the process of figuring out where to meet to pay for it. >:U Most others are selling for about twice retail on Facebook. Noooooot worth it.