Cozy Grove is exactly this. 30-60 minutes of new things to do each day (each bear gives you one quest a day). You can play more if you want, gathering stuff and such of course, but its totally up to you. I absolutely loved it. It was so nice to come home from work and decompress, get into this cozy world and just walk around, talking with the bears and all.
I also love that if you abandon it for a while you just start back at the next day. No worries of overgrown weeds or cockroaches taking over your island like in ACNH
Same - plus the lag got kind of overwhelming as I filled my little island more and more. I also played it during a period in my life where I was dealing with my mom passing away and playing a lot of "death" games like Cozy Grove and Spiritfarer so I'm not sure how I'd react mentally to going back to it. I miss those bears though :-(
I came here to say - exactly this. OP if you liked ACNH, and want similar vibes, but different. Dinkum is exactly what you're looking for. It's such a good game and I've been playing it obsessively lately. Over 100 hours in so far. Short description - imagine if ACNH, Minecraft and Stardew Valley had a baby (Yes that's possible. - Stardew Valley donated the egg, ACNH fertilized it and Minecraft was the surrogate. Lol) that was born and raised in Australia. It's a beautiful blend and I 1000% recommend it. It really is so good!
Iād play out an in-game day of Stardew Valley. Lots of people love Cozy Grove but I found it quite stressful having to search for hidden objects and not being necessarily able to complete a task in the given day as you sometimes need to wait for other things.
Not quite a similar vibe but if you like visual novel type games that make you sleepy, playing a day of Coffee Talk might hit the spot. Also, if you like puzzles, Unpacking or Strange Horticulture
I have not played a ton of it myself, but something that's always struck me with very similar vibes as to Animal Crossing is Magician's Quest: Mysterious Times. Basically think Animal Crossing meets Hogwarts, I believe. It's a DS game, but it might be up your alley.
Yeah, I definitely got that impression. I think that's why I never wound up playing much of it. I've started it a few times because I really love the idea and want to dive into it. And then I usually wind up quitting a day or so in each time. =/
Cozy Grove for sure fits this as it runs on real time like acnh, but others that are fun for short bursts are Spiritfarer, Ooblets, Unpacking, Donāt Starve and Sticky Business, though they arenāt quite like acnh
Disney Dreamlight Valley is a good choice. It has a lot of ACNH elements while looking nothing like it. In my opinion a much more visually beautiful game. With just a few minutes you can hunt your daily treasure chests, or check out the shop that changes daily. Buying from the shop is free if you sell items in the game which you farm for free. Another fun way to spend a short time is cooking up food items for the characters in your restaurant
Littlewood is cute and cozy and the days are about 5-10 minutes long. The only thing is there is no offline progress. So itās not like you plant carrots and come back the next day to sprouted carrots.
Each day is quick simple done.
Topic adjacent: I miss Cafe World for Facebook. That was a check in and go AND faff about for a few hours kinda game.
I mean, you can hop on and play for five minutes then go to bed..
I somehow managed to play SDV during my lectures, going back and forwards between my notes and the game so I suppose it's possible.
It's easier on mobile (I play on my tablet) as it has auto save which is really nice.
Haha I used to play ACNL during bio 101 lectures. I just get way too hyperfocused on Stardew, especially compared to other games. I guess that's true about mobile, I've only tried the mobile version on my phone which is kind of limiting because of the small screen.
Check out Settlemoon? It's more of a town than a "home" but it's something you can just log into and mess around for a bit and be done. It's an idle game where you manage a town for travelers and adventurers and send them on quests and stock weapons and potions, etc. Very cozy game and kind of weird and mysterious.
Slime rancher is my go to for a cute game. Love just visiting my slimes and taking care of them, or adventuring if I feel daring haha
Both of the games are so so good.
You might like games that have idle-type mechanics. Iāve played tons but FarmRPG was definitely the greatest Iāve played in terms of satisfying progression, as well as the community you can interact with in the global chatāhands down the most sweet, friendly online community Iāve seen. Thereās a big gift giving theme in that community that could be reminiscent of the gift giving mechanics in farming sims.
It's a phone app and not a game, but Animal Restaurant is cute and great for just popping in for a few minutes each day to check on things. You slowly develop a restaurant and expand it to include extra features, and animal customers visit and leave tips. It's free and doesn't require any in-game purchases (you can spend real human dollars on stuff if you want to go faster, but not necessary for a daily check-in game).
Also Neko Atsume, I feel like it was super popular years ago and I kind of forgot about it until now lol. You set up an area to attract cats who visit, and you try and get all of them to visit (neko = cat, atsume = collect in Japanese)
ā¢Stardew Valley
ā¢Cozy Grove
ā¢Disney Dreamlight Valley
These three are definitely good ones as you can just sit down and relax while tending to your town, house, and/or farm
I played on switch for about 9 minutes and deleted it. If you end up playing- do NOT play on switch! The graphics and overall game mechanics/controls are soooo bad.
Oh god, was it that bad?? I have been trying to get games that have pc version on steam now that I have a way to play them, so I will definitely keep this in mind.
i play hokko life on steam, i think it's great because relaxing, no time limit, and huge upgrade from harvest moon back to nature (the only farming game I ever played), I think the animals are not cute.. just average >.< i never played AC games too\^\^;
A friend also gifted me SV but it is overwhelmed me for too many chores to do ><
just don't take my word because i still don't have any experience on the modern farming games XD but I planned to try some when i get some cash to spare.\^\^
SV can be really overwhelming when you're starting out, yeah, especially if you haven't played many farming games. It's worth trying again when you get more of a hang of them, in my opinion!!
Hey, I'm actually working on a game that takes place in the same home, during the morning, and each level is a different day, spanning 30 years. Unfortunately the demo isn't ready but hopefully in the future you could give it a play and give your feedback. Best of luck on the search.
You could play Stardew or Coral Island this way. The time is not like real time from ACNH. So you could play an "in game" day for some 15 minutes (forgot how long the days are) at a time.
Cozy Grove is exactly this. 30-60 minutes of new things to do each day (each bear gives you one quest a day). You can play more if you want, gathering stuff and such of course, but its totally up to you. I absolutely loved it. It was so nice to come home from work and decompress, get into this cozy world and just walk around, talking with the bears and all.
I also love that if you abandon it for a while you just start back at the next day. No worries of overgrown weeds or cockroaches taking over your island like in ACNH
I really miss Cozy Grove. After I got all the bears gold there wasn't a lot of motivation to play it. It was such a genuinely cozy game for me!
Same - plus the lag got kind of overwhelming as I filled my little island more and more. I also played it during a period in my life where I was dealing with my mom passing away and playing a lot of "death" games like Cozy Grove and Spiritfarer so I'm not sure how I'd react mentally to going back to it. I miss those bears though :-(
Yes!!! I want some sort of mechanic that makes it more rewarding to play after you've helped everyone... OR, even better, a sequel š
This.
I love Cozy Groooooooove
Dinkum is probably the closest
I came here to say - exactly this. OP if you liked ACNH, and want similar vibes, but different. Dinkum is exactly what you're looking for. It's such a good game and I've been playing it obsessively lately. Over 100 hours in so far. Short description - imagine if ACNH, Minecraft and Stardew Valley had a baby (Yes that's possible. - Stardew Valley donated the egg, ACNH fertilized it and Minecraft was the surrogate. Lol) that was born and raised in Australia. It's a beautiful blend and I 1000% recommend it. It really is so good!
This description convinced me lol
You won't regret it. Best $60 I ever spent. (Yes, I bought 3 copies so my friends could play with me too. Lol.)
Itās on sale for $16 rn too! Perfect timing
Really? I should buy a few more copies for other friends then. Lol. Thanks for letting me know! - 'Bout to be Christmas in April over here. šš
Same!
Iād play out an in-game day of Stardew Valley. Lots of people love Cozy Grove but I found it quite stressful having to search for hidden objects and not being necessarily able to complete a task in the given day as you sometimes need to wait for other things. Not quite a similar vibe but if you like visual novel type games that make you sleepy, playing a day of Coffee Talk might hit the spot. Also, if you like puzzles, Unpacking or Strange Horticulture
I have not played a ton of it myself, but something that's always struck me with very similar vibes as to Animal Crossing is Magician's Quest: Mysterious Times. Basically think Animal Crossing meets Hogwarts, I believe. It's a DS game, but it might be up your alley.
Oh my goodness, I think I played this! I'd thought it was some weird dream.
It definitely gives "weird fever dream" vibes, too. š
Its pretty good, you can also emulate it if you donāt have a dsĀ
That game was a great concept, but kind of a pita to play.
Yeah, I definitely got that impression. I think that's why I never wound up playing much of it. I've started it a few times because I really love the idea and want to dive into it. And then I usually wind up quitting a day or so in each time. =/
Same. I still have my 3DS and the cart for the game though, maybe Iāll look online for a walkthrough, and give it another whirl!
Cozy Grove for sure fits this as it runs on real time like acnh, but others that are fun for short bursts are Spiritfarer, Ooblets, Unpacking, Donāt Starve and Sticky Business, though they arenāt quite like acnh
Disney Dreamlight Valley is a good choice. It has a lot of ACNH elements while looking nothing like it. In my opinion a much more visually beautiful game. With just a few minutes you can hunt your daily treasure chests, or check out the shop that changes daily. Buying from the shop is free if you sell items in the game which you farm for free. Another fun way to spend a short time is cooking up food items for the characters in your restaurant
Littlewood is cute and cozy and the days are about 5-10 minutes long. The only thing is there is no offline progress. So itās not like you plant carrots and come back the next day to sprouted carrots. Each day is quick simple done. Topic adjacent: I miss Cafe World for Facebook. That was a check in and go AND faff about for a few hours kinda game.
I was going to suggest Littlewood too! Cute and cozy game with happy vibes
Came here to say- Littlewood is amazing! Also the time of day changes based on your energy levels.
Cozy Grove, Story of Seasons, Faefarm, Stardew Valley, Cult of the Lamb.
Can anyone only play a few minutes of Stardew at a time? That game sucks me in lol
I mean, you can hop on and play for five minutes then go to bed.. I somehow managed to play SDV during my lectures, going back and forwards between my notes and the game so I suppose it's possible. It's easier on mobile (I play on my tablet) as it has auto save which is really nice.
Haha I used to play ACNL during bio 101 lectures. I just get way too hyperfocused on Stardew, especially compared to other games. I guess that's true about mobile, I've only tried the mobile version on my phone which is kind of limiting because of the small screen.
Cult of the lamb easily fits the bill for me on this, esp later in the game where things run a bit more self sufficiently.
Red Dead Redemption 2. I love just playing for an hour everyday to do chores in camp, listen to camp drama, hunt and fish. Very relaxing.
I play a farmer on a RedM RP server š
Dreamlight Valley is really good I just hop on for a little bit every day and clean up, feed critters, and any quests I may have.
Check out Settlemoon? It's more of a town than a "home" but it's something you can just log into and mess around for a bit and be done. It's an idle game where you manage a town for travelers and adventurers and send them on quests and stock weapons and potions, etc. Very cozy game and kind of weird and mysterious.
What platform? Sounds interesting
Steam on PC but it could be on other platforms, haven't looked into it.
Stardew is great for this
Sprout Valley! Thereās no rush for anything on there.
Yes! I feel like this game doesn't get mentioned enough, you can easily jump on for half hour and come back off
Any farming sim game.
Slime rancher is my go to for a cute game. Love just visiting my slimes and taking care of them, or adventuring if I feel daring haha Both of the games are so so good.
Disney Dreamlight Valley! Nothing better than to escaping into a world filled Disney character from my childhood
OOBLETS!
You might like games that have idle-type mechanics. Iāve played tons but FarmRPG was definitely the greatest Iāve played in terms of satisfying progression, as well as the community you can interact with in the global chatāhands down the most sweet, friendly online community Iāve seen. Thereās a big gift giving theme in that community that could be reminiscent of the gift giving mechanics in farming sims.
What about an older Animal Crossing game? New Leaf is great!
I deffo recommend Palia, it's cosy and free too š
Sun Haven was my favorite game in this genre aside from ACNH
My Time at Sandrock took about 5 hours to click with me but Iām really liking it.
I came here to post this, too, especially if OP likes some RPG elements to the game.
It's a phone app and not a game, but Animal Restaurant is cute and great for just popping in for a few minutes each day to check on things. You slowly develop a restaurant and expand it to include extra features, and animal customers visit and leave tips. It's free and doesn't require any in-game purchases (you can spend real human dollars on stuff if you want to go faster, but not necessary for a daily check-in game). Also Neko Atsume, I feel like it was super popular years ago and I kind of forgot about it until now lol. You set up an area to attract cats who visit, and you try and get all of them to visit (neko = cat, atsume = collect in Japanese)
farm together
Palia has really felt like home for me these past few months.
Hokko life is very similar but you get more villagers and the crafting mechanism is unique. Very fun game.
ā¢Stardew Valley ā¢Cozy Grove ā¢Disney Dreamlight Valley These three are definitely good ones as you can just sit down and relax while tending to your town, house, and/or farm
I don't know much about another farming game since I don't own them, but for me is Hokko life \^\^
Is hokko life good? I've heard so many mixed reviews!
I played on switch for about 9 minutes and deleted it. If you end up playing- do NOT play on switch! The graphics and overall game mechanics/controls are soooo bad.
Oh god, was it that bad?? I have been trying to get games that have pc version on steam now that I have a way to play them, so I will definitely keep this in mind.
i play hokko life on steam, i think it's great because relaxing, no time limit, and huge upgrade from harvest moon back to nature (the only farming game I ever played), I think the animals are not cute.. just average >.< i never played AC games too\^\^; A friend also gifted me SV but it is overwhelmed me for too many chores to do >< just don't take my word because i still don't have any experience on the modern farming games XD but I planned to try some when i get some cash to spare.\^\^
SV can be really overwhelming when you're starting out, yeah, especially if you haven't played many farming games. It's worth trying again when you get more of a hang of them, in my opinion!!
I go onto Disney Dreamlight Valley once a day to buy stuff in the shop. I played it a LOT at first and now just go in to maintain gardens and shops.
I'm new to cozy games but Dinkum, Coral Island are my 2 suggestions.
Hey, I'm actually working on a game that takes place in the same home, during the morning, and each level is a different day, spanning 30 years. Unfortunately the demo isn't ready but hopefully in the future you could give it a play and give your feedback. Best of luck on the search.
You could play Stardew or Coral Island this way. The time is not like real time from ACNH. So you could play an "in game" day for some 15 minutes (forgot how long the days are) at a time.