These lesser-known games on the Nintendo eShop should have a lot to offer farming simulation fans.
Farming simulation games like Stardew Valley and Animal Crossing: New Horizons are easy to play for hours on the Nintendo Switch, and you can find a lot of them in the Nintendo eShop. Animal Crossing: New Horizons might not get a sequel anytime soon, but ConcernedApe, the company that made Stardew Valley, is working on their next big game, Haunted Chocolatier. In this game, players will run a candy store that seems to be haunted.
Players on the Switch don’t have to stick to these popular farming games, though. If gamers look hard enough, they can find a lot of great games that aren’t as well known on the eShop. In Aka, you play the role of a seasoned red panda, and in Time On Frog Island, you explore an island where friendly frogs live. Each has something different to offer. There’s a lot for farming sim fans to do, no matter what genre they like best.
Aka
Aka is a cute and sad farming sim about a red panda who has been in a war and is looking for peace of mind. Aka starts his new life on Pine Island, which is in a mess. It needs a lot of love and care, just like the people who live there. In Aka, the little red panda can help clean up the island and get quest items by foraging and farming as much as he wants and helping those around him. Some may feel trapped by their surroundings, while others just want to hang out with someone.
All of this depends on who Aka runs into, which brings out the themes of guilt and inner peace in the game. Aka is about picking yourself up and moving on, but it also talks about painful memories and the grief and loss that come with them. Aka’s goal, no matter how small the task, is to make life a little bit happier. Even if that means taking a nap on a big capybara.
Atomicrops
Atomicrops flips the farming sim genre on its head for people who want a game with a fast pace. After leaving Xbox Game Pass in 2022, players can try to run the last farm in an area that was destroyed by a nuclear blast and is now a wasteland. In Atomicrops, players are responsible for growing and harvesting mutant crops that are the only source of food for the nearby town. They also have to protect their crops from mutant pests and other enemies.
Players can get animals to do some of the work for them, and they can make friends with and marry locals who can help them in other ways. In this post-apocalyptic adventure, you can also explore the different biomes around the farm and town, which means you’ll have to kill boss enemies to get resources and level up.
Summer In Mara
This farming game is great for people who liked The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. Summer In Mara was made by Chipig. Players take on the role of Koa, a young girl who lives on a group of islands in the tropics. As Koa enjoys the summer sun, she can change her island by farming the land, building houses, and making friends with animals. When she has time, she can go to any of the more than 20 islands in the archipelago to meet with people and help them with important tasks.
Koa can also go deep into the ocean to find secrets. This adds even more adventure to a game that was already fun. Summer in Mara is a relaxing adventure, even though it has more side quests than farming. There’s nothing to fight about, just beautiful scenery, cute animals, and friendly people to talk to along the way.
Time On Frog Island
Time On Frog Island is for gamers who have always wanted to live on an island with anthropomorphic frogs. As a sailor who has been shipwrecked on this frog-filled island, the player finds himself in a strange place. The goal of Time on Frog Island is to fix the boat, which can be done by hunting, farming, buying and selling food, and other normal activities.
Players can make friends with the people who live on Frog Island and help them fix up the ship in exchange for small tasks. You could help them solve puzzles, find things they need, or just talk with them. Since the sailor will be there for a while, players can build a house to show off the treasures they’ve found while exploring.
Gleaner Heights
Gleaner Heights is a much darker and creepier version of Stardew Valley. It feels a lot like Twin Peaks because you can’t trust the people in the town. Even though Gleaner Heights has all the daily tasks and activities that fans of farming sims would expect, there’s always something “off” about the villagers. Players can make friends with the people in the town, but they can also help them betray and trick their neighbors.
In Gleaner Heights, not everything is as it seems. Before the player came, something bad happened in this town, and it seems to have something to do with the supernatural, so there are creatures to kill and fight in the area.
Littlewood
The beginning of Littlewood is interesting because it’s about a hero who just saved the day but can’t quite remember what happened. As this hero, the player has to keep the town of Littlewood running and in good shape. In the world of Solemn, players can go outside of the town and explore places like enchanted forests and caves to get resources and finish quests from the people who live there. Fans must convince the people who are already living there to stay by completing these quests, improving the town, and selling items and farm products.
Littlewood is great for people who liked Stardew Valley because it takes the farming idea even further. Players can change the town in any way they want. For example, they can add water to make ponds and build places for villagers to gather. Players can find out what happened before the hero came to Littlewood as they move through the game and make changes to the town.
The Stillness Of The Wind
The Stillness of the Wind, like Aka and even Eggy Car, is about serious things like life, love, and loss. In The Stillness of the Wind, players take control of Talma, an old woman who lives a quiet life on her homestead. Talma has decided to stay on the farm while her neighbors move to the city. She lives happily with her animals and takes care of her plants and other things on the farm while her neighbors are gone. Then, though, she starts getting letters from her family in the city that get “increasingly disturbing.”
Where the Goats Are is followed by The Stillness of the Wind, which is about a slow-paced life. Memory of God’s Where the Goats Are, which came out in 2017, has a similar story to the new game. The player takes on the role of Tikvah, who lives alone and is dedicated to taking care of her goats. Both games have a meditative, story-driven structure and give players the freedom to run the farm as they see fit.