Highlights

  • Stardew Valley's 1.6 update will feature a New Year's festival, adding a new major event to the game.
  • The release date for the update has not been confirmed yet, but players can explore similar games like Sun Haven, Slime Rancher 2, and Coral Island in the meantime.
  • These alternative games offer unique experiences, such as more fantasy mechanics, underwater exploration, or an emphasis on building, while still capturing the cozy farming sim genre of Stardew Valley.

On New Year's Eve 2023, Stardew Valley's developer, Eric Barone, shared a post on X (formerly Twitter) about what appears to be Stardew Valley's 1.6 update. The post features a New Year's festival, and as Barone previously stated that the 1.6 update would bring a new major festival, it's clear that it will center around the New Year's holiday.

The release date for Stardew Valley's 1.6 update has yet to be confirmed by Barone, so players will have to wait a bit longer before they get the opportunity to enjoy more of what the team at ConcernedApe has to offer. However, there are still several worthwhile games similar to Stardew Valley that players can use as a placeholder until the update arrives.

An image of a farm in Stardew Valley
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Sun Haven

Sun Haven, by developer Pixel Sprout Studios, has been widely recognized for its similarities to Stardew Valley. Undoubtedly so, this is a large part of what has contributed to its popularity among Stardew fans who have searched for games similar to their favorite farm sim. Sun Haven's kinship to Stardew isn't the only thing it has going for it, however, as it took the formula and art style fans have become accustomed to for the last eight years and combined it with fantasy mechanics akin to Dungeons and Dragons​​​​​​. While it is a more combat-focused version of Stardew Valley, players can still grow crops, raise livestock, craft items, mine ores, catch fish, customize their living space, and more.

Slime Rancher/Slime Rancher 2

Monomi Park's Slime Rancher was a surprise hit when it was released in 2017. In fact, to this day, it still manages to maintain an Overwhelmingly Positive rating on Steam, with some of its latest reviews being as recent as January 2024. Slime Rancher allowed players to collect and raise curious slimes, each of which belonged to a specific species of slimes with unique features, personalities, and abilities. Its sequel, Slime Rancher 2, went into early access in September 2022. Despite possessing a lower rating, it brings a host of new slimes and locations to the table, as well as improvements to movement, platforming, and exploration.

Coral Island

Stairway Games' Coral Island has often been criticized for being a Stardew Valley clone with nothing more than a graphical update on top of it. However, Stairway Games' cozy farming sim still manages to offer a unique experience. While it does offer almost everything currently present in Stardew Valley, players will find an array of other features that separate Coral Island from the competition. For example, players can dive underwater in Coral Island to visit mermaids and even become one, which is unique in the farm sim genre. The game also has a host of other fantasy elements to it that players won't find in Stardew Valley​​​​​​.

My Time at Portia/My Time at Sandrock

In 2019, Pathea Games released its unique open-world life sim My Time at Portia and quickly captured the attention of hardcore fans of the genre. Unlike Stardew Valley, My Time at Portia places a very heavy emphasis on building rather than farming, but there are still plenty of similarities in My Time at Portia that will keep Stardew fans engaged — like relationships, crafting, and exploration. Last November, Pathea released a sequel, My Time at Sandrock, which features a fairly significant graphical upgrade, better voice acting, a new story in a new world, and a library of new things to create.

Thanks to indie developers like Monomi Park and Pixel Sprout Studios, players can get more of the cozy life sim genre that they love before Stardew Valley's 1.6 update goes live. The explosion of Stardew-like titles can undoubtedly be attributed in part to the success of Barone's masterpiece, but they are all worth playing nonetheless.