Forums » Smalltalk » Life sim games (e.g Animal Crossing, Stardew, etc)

Hi everyone, I just came across this kickstarter for an upcoming life sim game called Puffpals: Island Skies: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/fluffnest/puffpals-island-skies



I'm really excited for it and it got me wondering how many others here love this genre of game?

I always find myself gravitating towards Story of Seasons, Rune Factory, Animal Crossing, My Time at Portia, etcetera!
I'd love to find others who are interested in the same games.

Do you play any games like this and if so, which ones? Have you got a favourite/ least favourite?

The only one I have dived into is Sims 3 and Sims 4 where Sims 3 is my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE but because of how old the game is, you have to do a lot of stuff upon installing and it takes a toll on your computer, so I'm hesitant to play it again unless I have backups and such of stuff I would LOVE to try out Animal Crossing, it looks like such a fun game!! But I don't have a switch and they aren't exactly cheap..... And then there's Paralives which is in the making, and started from a small team that is now getting bigger and bigger, so if you don't know it check it out

Personally, I could never see myself enjoying those kind of games. More power to you though, I hope the game is everything you want it to be and more.

Aah, I actually found the Sims 3 to be my least favourite out of the series (so laggy and buggy!)! I really enjoyed the original & 2 (The Urbz was a childhood favourite, haha), but I'm also enjoying 4 right now as well. It's a pity the base game for the latter is so lacking, but the community has more than made up for it with the amount of custom content.

If you have or can get a hold of a cheap second hand 3DS, I really recommend New Leaf! It's incredibly fun, and has a lot more mini-games than New Horizons does.

Oh I didn't know about Paralives, thank you! I'll go check it out.

I adore Animal Crossing; it was the first game series Iwas ever introduced to and New Horizons is easily one of my top favourite games of all time. (I think every game in the series is good but IMO they just kept getting progressively better, so.)
I also have Stardew Valley, but I've barely played it. Other than that, I'm not very familiar with the life-sim genre, mostly because investing myself in a bunch of open-ended games at once seems like it would be overwhelming for me.

I absolutely adore Littlewood and recommend it wholeheartedly

I've played a lot of Garden Paws, which is great fun, if a bit grindy. Definitely good to play whilst listening to podcasts. I'd recommend playing with a time mod installed though, because imo, the days go by far too quickly and work better at 1/2 or 1/3 speed compared to the default. Otherwise you don't have enough time in a day to do your farming, gathering and general town stuff all the same day.



I do of course also sometimes play Animal Crossing New Horizons (I still can't believe how lucky I was to get my favourite character of all in my initial 10 villagers. Best boy Marshal, of course!). I still need to get back to the game now that I have an online subscription to beg my siblings to send me the fruit I don't yet have.

Ah see, because they're all so casual I find them very easy to pick up and put back down again.
I wish the mini games from Tortimer's Island (or something similar) would be added to New Horizons; it's one of the main reasons I rate New Leaf higher, but NH is still a super game.

I'll admit it's been on my steam wishlist for a long time, but it's never one I've found the time to pick up! I'll play it one of these days, the graphics are so cute!

You're the second person to recommend Garden Paws to me! I'll have to check it out sometime.
I'll keep that in mind re: the time, but I've never found any issue with others like My Time at Portia (even though that was such a frequent complaint that the devs introduced a way to slow down days in the settings).

Congratulations on best boy Marshal!! That's very lucky! I didn't get any of my favourites on my island initially, but I did discover Alice and I adore her! I'm now so attached to all of my villagers that I don't know who I would even think to replace.

I personally never played the Tortimer minigames— admittedly I forgot they existed. But it would be nice for them to be brought back, for those who miss them.
Just the other day I remembered New Leaf had mangoes, bananas, and all those other fruits, and now I wish they were in New Horizons too. Also, the other crossover villagers. They added the Sanrio ones, but I wish they would also add the Zelda, Splatoon, Monster Hunter, and... was that it? I can't remember.
In any case, the reason I prefer New Horizons is mostly because of the ability to decorate outdoors. Crafting and cooking are fun too, and being able to pick villagers, and all of the new items... but I think decorating outdoors is my favourite addition. It's like public works projects but majorly upgraded. I'm guessing the 2/3DS wouldn't have been able to handle furniture outside, and that's why it wasn't possible in NL?
Oh, and NH added my favourite villager... I suppose it's not hard to guess which one that is.

I have played multiple types of games like this. I have played both Stardew and Graveyard Keeper and I loved them both. I'm also completely happy with playing Minecraft the exact same way (I don't need to fight the Ender Dragon, the Warden, or the Wither to be happy). Out of all of them, my favorite was definitely Stardew-- I played a (accidental) duck-man named Cavendish who made tea and wine. Duck-bro was posh AF and I live(d) for it

I am drawn in by the idea of Animal Crossing, but I'm not really into the aesthetic and I don't think I'd get into it long term. I have a small army of people trying to get me to buy a Switch, though, so we'll see. As for Sims, the last version I played was clear back on the PS2 (yeah, when that was the new model) and that was a small lifetime ago.

The main reason why I don't play these games so much anymore is because I don't have friends to play with. All of the people I used to play with don't get on anymore and/or we don't talk because life is hard.

Littlewood reminds me a lot of Stardew, even down to the graphics style.

Oh gosh yes, I would love to put those trees on the sand around my island! It would match so well to have bananas and coconuts. I do love the moss and vines that have been included, though! That's definitely a bonus.
I think there was a couple of Japan exclusives, but those were the main crossovers yup!

The decorating outdoors and even the detail for interior decor is a massive improvement for sure! I do agree, I love the crafting and the cooking, but I think I just miss those activities to play online with others at Tortimer's island. So beyond the decoration, I just feel that there's nothing really making me want to play with friends in NH, if that makes sense? As a single player game it's fantastic, and I do like that your villagers can't just up and leave if you don't log in for months, haha.

Hmmm, I think that's quite a difficult guess actually - with the update NH included some gorgeous villagers! It's not Raymond, is it? Or possibly Audie, Judy, Sasha, Ione or Shino (I would love Shino on my island, I have a real soft spot for the deer villagers!)

I just couldn't get into Minecraft at all! Which is funny, because I love Terraria. Minecraft just doesn't click with me for some reason, I'm not sure what it is. I think it's partly because I really don't enjoy first person games, and whilst third person is possible, the game is definitely built more for first person? That's the only reason I can think of.

Sims 2 was brilliant, I enjoyed it a lot! When Pets dropped I remember that one being really popular, along with Castaway on PS2. :')

Ah, I see multiplayer as a bonus really - most of these games I prefer just to play by myself to zen out.

Have you played Stardew since the Ginger Island update? It adds so much to the game, ConcernedApe has really spoilt us with it. I can't wait for his next project, Haunted Chocolatier! He released an early teaser trailer for it some time ago.

I definitely get your point about multiplayer lacking things to do. My friends and I usually make up our own little games to compensate for that. For example, hide-and-seek, which could be done anywhere, but we did it in the museum. We also did different scavenger hunts, like one where I buried gifts for someone to find, or a game I jokingly made up called "find the hidden stereo" (they were hidden behind trees and buildings so the music could be heard but they wouldn't be visible). There is also the possibility for diving, fishing, and bug-hunting contests, net or axe battles... and luckily the Nooklings sell a timer, so although the minigames aren't programmed into the game, it can be pretty fun and easy to make some up! My friends and I even made up a band, called 'Rock Yes, Lyman No!' and I swear if any of you guys are actually here and reading this— (Lyman is a green koala villager, Rock is a.. a rock. That we accidentally congregated around and decided was sacred. For some reason.)

So, Ione is my favourite villager. She and I have a lot in common. Fun fact: it hurts my soul every time people spell her name as Lone, haha.
I do also love most of the other villagers you listed— Sasha and Shino are adorable, Audie is cute too although I'm not specifically a fan of her. I became a Raymond fan by accident. He was my mandatory campsite villager, and I had never heard of him until that point, but people around me were freaking out, like "you got Raymond without even trying???" And I didn't understand the significance at first. Fast-forward almost two years, and I've definitely grown attached to him. Doesn't help that he reminds me of my favourite interdimensional paper jester... And now I have a Raymond plush. I'd sell my soul (and the soul of everyone here) for an Ione plush, though.

Oooh Terraria! I forgot about that one for a sec because of Minecraft! I typically don't enjoy first persons either, but Minecraft was okay for me because of friends. Third person Minecraft feels weird, so I don't blame you.

YAS Sims 2 Pets was so much fun! It was the first introduction they had to small avatars and it was pretty awesome, even if the AI was frustrating. I'm sure they took that AI and made the children out of it.

I get you on the multiplayer part, though. For me, it's required after a while because I get bored fairly easily. Having the option to let a friend come in and be like "hey, help me do xyz" really increases the longevity of life sims for me.

I haven't played Stardew in about... 2 years? I have no idea where they're at update-wise. I should look into it, so thanks for the update!

Aww that's such a great idea! And oh my gosh, I didn't even clock your icon until just now. I'm such an airhead.

I always found it such a shame that only a select few get the plushie treatment! I'd love to see all of the villagers available

Yeah I do get that for the longevity of games! Normally by the time I'm finished with a game in single player I've played it to death already.

Ooh, I hope you enjoy it! For a free update it's quite incredible.

Haha, yeah. It's all good, I think most people have no idea what my icon is.
And it would definitely be awesome if every villager could be made into a plushie. I know it's very unlikely, because a lot of them probably aren't popular enough to warrant the production costs, but it'd still be really nice. There are often custom-made ones on sites like Etsy, though they are usually very expensive (which I understand since they take time and resources to make, but it still makes them unobtainable to a lot of people which is unfortunate.)