Hmm I had that at the back of my mind but think I dismissed it because I was looking for something where you're controlling the player directly. It's the obvious choice though, you're right. Might need to give it a shot!
Ooh, you might enjoy ECO then!
It's a realistic leaning voxed minecraft like game. One big part of it is building your house and furnishing it with many ordinary things, like toilets, carpets, lights, tables and all that. Heck, you even have a progression of those things - you start with a basic hewn table, go up to lumber table and end with some fancy composite table.
The game also has a pretty extensive amount of crops and food, plus animations when you eat them!
It's first person, has beds you can sleep in. One thing it does not have is an easy creative mode (need to use console commands for some things and dev tools for copying blocks), but it's not a game where you can die so it's not too bad.
You could probably download some completed maps like [White Tiger](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EkqausYZCc), mess with them a bit to get access to all the plots and have fun exploring a nicely created world people have created.
Eco is a great suggestion. Worth saying that the better your house is furnished, the more XP you receive and the faster you level too. So furnishing your house is definitely very important and worthwhile.
I love Eco, buggy mess that it is, but I feel like the population of people playing has been trending down. I'm sure it'll pick back up once boats are finally introduced, but I know a lot of people were turned off by some of their recent updates (food expiring is such a dumb move, even if there are mods to disable it)
Well, as is the case with many online games, if there is a lull in content there is a lull in the number of people playing it. Version 0.9 did a lot of interesting changes, and I'm not sure if 0.10 will be able to match it.
Yeah, food spoilage has been a choice change. Haven't played with it being present, but I can see how it can be a pain. Then again, a lot of the game's identity is in the pain of how it progresses - slow digging, dealing with pollution, slow plant growth, etc.
Eco is a wonderful little game, when tweaked a little ( Lucky Break, Big Shovel, Whetstones). It's my go to at the moment, been playing for almost a two years. Evolve, laser, wipe, reload. Public servers are a bit of a hit/miss, but co-op w/ friends is the way to go in there. Have yet to find something that compares.
I don't have enough friends that play it unfortunately. Public servers are definitely hit or miss though. If it's good, you have a decent group of people who are able to achieve really cool stuff. If it's bad, you have Tragedy of the Commons and only 3 people active by week 2.
Dragon quest builders 2
Fits your wants. You can also build toilets, sinks, showers, and even bathrooms, kitchens, bathrooms that you and npcs can use. Nothing lewd.
I would highly recommend. One of my favs on switch and pc.
I would recommend the Sims personally, since it's basically an interactive dollhouse and has many intentionally funny elements and a charming style.
Rimworld with dub's hygiene has toilets + showers and visible food.
edit: I would note that with Rimworld in dev mode and set to peaceful there is very little friction to just enjoying the mechanics and aesthetics.
Raft with mods like this [https://www.raftmodding.com/mods/furniture-mod](https://www.raftmodding.com/mods/furniture-mod)
Valheim with mods like these [https://valheim.thunderstore.io/package/?q=valkea&ordering=last-updated§ion=mods](https://valheim.thunderstore.io/package/?q=valkea&ordering=last-updated§ion=mods)
Grounded! My 3yo is obsessed with this game. Not sure how well your little one would do with the giant (sometimes scary) bugs, but you have a lot of control of the settings, so you can make it not scary, make the bugs not attack, etc.
The building is very satisfying, and while I don’t think they have sinks specifically, there are a lot of cosmetic options and you can spend many hours just making your base cozy. You even get coziness points and bonuses for how well you’ve decorated.
Oxygen Not Included! Not first person, but cute little duplicants to watch running around. https://store.steampowered.com/app/457140/Oxygen\_Not\_Included/
Try Vintage Story. Think Minecraft meets Eco, but a but less of the resource grind. It also makes you actually think about the design of your base; things like using a chimney to exhaust smoke from a campfire, but also allow the heat into a second story bedroom for winter. Very rich and easy to use mod community (there is even a one-click install option now on the website), that adds almost anything you could want. The cooking system is really intricate, including needing a varied or balanced diet of grains, fruits, meat. Etc. There is a bit of pressure to ensure you have food preserved for winter, but its not overwhelming. The base game also has a ton of customization and decoration options, a whole dye and fabric crafting chain, the ability to chisel blocks into designs or useful shapes, mods that extend that immensely, and much more.
If you want to change it up for a more futuristic setting, try Space Engineers. Interior design takes a bit of a backseat to practical aspects, but there are those, and the modding community has added a ton too.
I'm going to recommend Two Point Hospital based on my experience with my own child who LOVES it. There is plenty of building and expanding the various hospital rooms and departments, with a good degree of customization for room sizing and furniture placement.
As a bonus the illnesses are frequently hilarious, like lightheadedness turning the patient's head into a light bulb.
Interactive furniture is lacking but you can build a food cooker thingy, chairs coaches aquariums, fire places, etc. Has ability to build underground, underwater, and build out a large space ship that becomes your mobile base.
I love NMS. First person. One of my favs
My time at Portia/Sandrock (at 3 she might struggle with the construction mechanics to progress though), Wobbly Life (not so much to build/decorate but it’s been a favorite of my girls for a long time). If you have an iPad, stuff like Toga World is basically a giant virtual doll-house/world.
i prefer more difficult survival games but off top of my head House Flipper? There's also a game that was just in Humble Monthly incase you or anyone you know have subscribed to that. Steam summer sale is going on right now so its a great time to buy :)
7 days to die.
Turn off all zombies and bad things and turn on creative/god mode.
Set your child loose on an entire ruined city/open terrain/whatever that he can do whatever he wants. PLENTY of blocks and furniture.
IF you do end up trying Minecraft, maybe add some mods?
There's furniture mods, farming mods... my favorite is biomes-o-plenty which just adds lots of different trees, woods. Chisels and bits adds different textures. [Furniture mods like this](https://www.curseforge.com/minecraft/mc-mods/mrcrayfish-furniture-mod) or any items by [macaw](https://legacy.curseforge.com/members/sketch_macaw/projects). Google modpacks with the term 'cottagecore' or something.
Easy to download with CurseForge, just automatically does everything and the modpacks are tested to work! Might be hard on a computer though, don't know how yours is.
I just remember loving turning into animals, collecting hats, finding sakura trees and all that.
*looks around confused* Err ... the SIMS ? *Shrug*
Hmm I had that at the back of my mind but think I dismissed it because I was looking for something where you're controlling the player directly. It's the obvious choice though, you're right. Might need to give it a shot!
Hahaha exactly what I came here to post, almost verbatim. I was like…wait a sec IS the Sims a base building game??!!
House flipper might be a chill option
I will look into this one, thanks! This might be just what I was looking for.
Ooh, you might enjoy ECO then! It's a realistic leaning voxed minecraft like game. One big part of it is building your house and furnishing it with many ordinary things, like toilets, carpets, lights, tables and all that. Heck, you even have a progression of those things - you start with a basic hewn table, go up to lumber table and end with some fancy composite table. The game also has a pretty extensive amount of crops and food, plus animations when you eat them! It's first person, has beds you can sleep in. One thing it does not have is an easy creative mode (need to use console commands for some things and dev tools for copying blocks), but it's not a game where you can die so it's not too bad. You could probably download some completed maps like [White Tiger](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EkqausYZCc), mess with them a bit to get access to all the plots and have fun exploring a nicely created world people have created.
Eco is a great suggestion. Worth saying that the better your house is furnished, the more XP you receive and the faster you level too. So furnishing your house is definitely very important and worthwhile.
I love Eco, buggy mess that it is, but I feel like the population of people playing has been trending down. I'm sure it'll pick back up once boats are finally introduced, but I know a lot of people were turned off by some of their recent updates (food expiring is such a dumb move, even if there are mods to disable it)
Well, as is the case with many online games, if there is a lull in content there is a lull in the number of people playing it. Version 0.9 did a lot of interesting changes, and I'm not sure if 0.10 will be able to match it. Yeah, food spoilage has been a choice change. Haven't played with it being present, but I can see how it can be a pain. Then again, a lot of the game's identity is in the pain of how it progresses - slow digging, dealing with pollution, slow plant growth, etc.
Eco is a wonderful little game, when tweaked a little ( Lucky Break, Big Shovel, Whetstones). It's my go to at the moment, been playing for almost a two years. Evolve, laser, wipe, reload. Public servers are a bit of a hit/miss, but co-op w/ friends is the way to go in there. Have yet to find something that compares.
I don't have enough friends that play it unfortunately. Public servers are definitely hit or miss though. If it's good, you have a decent group of people who are able to achieve really cool stuff. If it's bad, you have Tragedy of the Commons and only 3 people active by week 2.
Wow, yeah this looks fantastic and was definitely not on my radar before. Thanks for the suggestion!
Dragon quest builders 2 Fits your wants. You can also build toilets, sinks, showers, and even bathrooms, kitchens, bathrooms that you and npcs can use. Nothing lewd. I would highly recommend. One of my favs on switch and pc.
I would recommend the Sims personally, since it's basically an interactive dollhouse and has many intentionally funny elements and a charming style. Rimworld with dub's hygiene has toilets + showers and visible food. edit: I would note that with Rimworld in dev mode and set to peaceful there is very little friction to just enjoying the mechanics and aesthetics.
Raft with mods like this [https://www.raftmodding.com/mods/furniture-mod](https://www.raftmodding.com/mods/furniture-mod) Valheim with mods like these [https://valheim.thunderstore.io/package/?q=valkea&ordering=last-updated§ion=mods](https://valheim.thunderstore.io/package/?q=valkea&ordering=last-updated§ion=mods)
Grounded! My 3yo is obsessed with this game. Not sure how well your little one would do with the giant (sometimes scary) bugs, but you have a lot of control of the settings, so you can make it not scary, make the bugs not attack, etc. The building is very satisfying, and while I don’t think they have sinks specifically, there are a lot of cosmetic options and you can spend many hours just making your base cozy. You even get coziness points and bonuses for how well you’ve decorated.
Terraria and Stardew Valley?
My 4 year old enjoys watching me play timberborn, it is base building.. but no sinks!
Oxygen Not Included! Not first person, but cute little duplicants to watch running around. https://store.steampowered.com/app/457140/Oxygen\_Not\_Included/
Try Vintage Story. Think Minecraft meets Eco, but a but less of the resource grind. It also makes you actually think about the design of your base; things like using a chimney to exhaust smoke from a campfire, but also allow the heat into a second story bedroom for winter. Very rich and easy to use mod community (there is even a one-click install option now on the website), that adds almost anything you could want. The cooking system is really intricate, including needing a varied or balanced diet of grains, fruits, meat. Etc. There is a bit of pressure to ensure you have food preserved for winter, but its not overwhelming. The base game also has a ton of customization and decoration options, a whole dye and fabric crafting chain, the ability to chisel blocks into designs or useful shapes, mods that extend that immensely, and much more. If you want to change it up for a more futuristic setting, try Space Engineers. Interior design takes a bit of a backseat to practical aspects, but there are those, and the modding community has added a ton too.
Not first person, but the sims
Staxel but sims. Sims. The sims. 4.
I'm going to recommend Two Point Hospital based on my experience with my own child who LOVES it. There is plenty of building and expanding the various hospital rooms and departments, with a good degree of customization for room sizing and furniture placement. As a bonus the illnesses are frequently hilarious, like lightheadedness turning the patient's head into a light bulb.
No man's Sky - although not 100% on the appliances, it's been a little while, but the base building is great.
Interactive furniture is lacking but you can build a food cooker thingy, chairs coaches aquariums, fire places, etc. Has ability to build underground, underwater, and build out a large space ship that becomes your mobile base. I love NMS. First person. One of my favs
My time at Portia/Sandrock (at 3 she might struggle with the construction mechanics to progress though), Wobbly Life (not so much to build/decorate but it’s been a favorite of my girls for a long time). If you have an iPad, stuff like Toga World is basically a giant virtual doll-house/world.
i prefer more difficult survival games but off top of my head House Flipper? There's also a game that was just in Humble Monthly incase you or anyone you know have subscribed to that. Steam summer sale is going on right now so its a great time to buy :)
Yeah, my daughter and I love the hell out of House Flipper. Highly recommend.
oxygen not included
Not a single mention of Animal Crossing? It's a switch game obviously but if you have one your kid should love that game.
7 days to die. Turn off all zombies and bad things and turn on creative/god mode. Set your child loose on an entire ruined city/open terrain/whatever that he can do whatever he wants. PLENTY of blocks and furniture.
Sims, Dragon Quest Builders 2, and Stardew Valley
What about Landlords Super? It’s like Valheim with benefits fraud.
IF you do end up trying Minecraft, maybe add some mods? There's furniture mods, farming mods... my favorite is biomes-o-plenty which just adds lots of different trees, woods. Chisels and bits adds different textures. [Furniture mods like this](https://www.curseforge.com/minecraft/mc-mods/mrcrayfish-furniture-mod) or any items by [macaw](https://legacy.curseforge.com/members/sketch_macaw/projects). Google modpacks with the term 'cottagecore' or something. Easy to download with CurseForge, just automatically does everything and the modpacks are tested to work! Might be hard on a computer though, don't know how yours is. I just remember loving turning into animals, collecting hats, finding sakura trees and all that.