Farm life sims (also called farming sim or farm sim) are a subgenre of life simulation games which fuse social simulation, dating sim and farm simulation elements. Games in the genre generally feature a protagonist going out to a rural setting and taking on a farm, oftentimes as an inheritance from a deceased relative, or because of urban boredom. The player-character grows typically crops and raises livestock to make money, interacts with a wide cast of characters, and works toward the main plot's objective, if one exists. The game plots often feature declining ghost towns that must be revitalized by the player's actions. The games tend to feature simplified and less realistic farming as opposed to a simulation, such as Farming Simulator.
The genre was originated by the 1996-2013 series Story of Seasons, originally titled Harvest Moon. Alongside its fantasy spin-off series Rune Factory, it was almost the sole series in the genre until 2016 release of Stardew Valley, a successful indie game inspired by it, which popularized farm life sims as a distinct genre.
History
The first example of the genre was the 1996 game Harvest Moon, which released in the later stages of the SNES console lifespan. Inspired by his childhood in the countryside and the game series Derby Stallion, producer Yasuhiro Wada wanted to make a rural setting "role-playing" game without any combat. The game starred Pete as he moves out to the country to take upon a farm he inherited from his grandfather. The player could explore the town and interact with its inhabitants. As a bonus, the player could bond with and marry eligible bachelorettes in town, making it one of the earliest examples of a dating sim. A later influential game in the Story of Seasons series was the spinoff Rune Factory which married farm life sim games with the Japanese role-playing game (JRPG) genre and featured dungeon crawling. JRPG fusions are now a noted variant of farm life sims.
As the series was relatively unique, it was marketed as a role-playing game and remained a stable, consistent property, but did not sell in great numbers for many years. In 2016, Eric Barone released the self-developed game Stardew Valley to widespread acclaim, becoming one of the most successful indie games ever. The game formally established the farm life sim genre, and the phrase "farm life sim" was coined following its release.
After Stardew Valley's success, the genre experienced a massive boom in popularity, and more farm life sims would release, many of which were also indie. Square Enix would put out Harvestella, a JRPG fusion in the vein of Rune Factory.
Examples
- Atomicrops (2020)
- Coral Island (2023)
- Dinkum (2025)
- Disney Dreamlight Valley (2023)
- Fae Farm (2023)
- Farmagia (2024)
- Fields of Mistria (2026)
- Harvestella (2022)
- Kitaria Fables (2021)
- My Time at Evershine (upcoming)
- My Time at Portia (2019)
- My Time at Sandrock (2023)
- Ooblets (2022)
- Paleo Pines (2023)
- Roots of Pacha (2023)
- Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin (2020)
- Stardew Valley (2016)
- Story of Seasons series
- Harvest Moon (1996)
- Innocent Life (2006)
- Rune Factory series (2006-)
- Sun Haven (2023)
- Sunkissed City (upcoming)
- Wylde Flowers (2022)
Other
Joining in on the genre's boom, the 2.0 update of popular social sim Animal Crossing: New Horizons was released in November 2021. It added the ability to create a farm and grow produce.
