Harvest Moon hands you a run-down farm and a calendar of seasons to turn it around. The main objective of the series is to rebuild a dilapidated old farm and turn it into a successful one. You tend crops and livestock and get to know the town. In time you marry and start a family. The first game came out on the SNES in 1996, and in Harvest Moon 64 each of the four seasons has its own weather and crops. On festival days the shops close, and your dog and horse can race.
The name split along the way. In 2012 Marvelous stopped licensing the series to Natsume, which kept the Harvest Moon name, and the series now comes out in North America under a new title. These are the 9 games players recommend most to Harvest Moon fans, ranked by how many different people named each one. Games sold under the Harvest Moon name stay off the list.
9 Games Like Harvest Moon Where You Grow a Farm and a Life
Animal Crossing: New Leaf (2012)
New Leaf has no fields to plough, but it shares Harvest Moon's slow daily rhythm. You move into a town of animal neighbours and get mistaken for the new mayor. From there you talk with the residents and go fishing and bug catching. Being mayor adds Public Works Projects, where you collect funds from townsfolk to build things like bridges and campsites.
The big difference is the farm, or the lack of one. Your work is shaping the town itself, and Ordinances let you change how it runs, such as making the shops open earlier or later. New Leaf became the first 3DS game in Japan to pass two million units sold, doing so in just under two months. Online town visits ended when the Nintendo Network shut down in April 2024. Play it on 3DS.
Disney Magical World (2013)
Disney Magical World puts your Mii, or a new character, in the town of Castleton and fills your days with small jobs. Gardening is one of them and fishing is another. You also decorate the town's cafe and make the food to be sold, which feels a lot like shipping your harvest at the end of a Harvest Moon day. Disney characters arrive in town with quests that send you into their worlds to forage for materials.
The big difference is combat. You help the main characters of each world by battling ghosts in dungeons, and the gear you need is made from materials you find there. The game shipped 500,000 copies in Japan. Disney Magical World 2 followed on 3DS in 2015 and on Switch in 2021. Play the first one on 3DS.
Tomodachi Life (2013)
Tomodachi Life swaps the farm for an island full of Miis, and town life is the whole game. You make the Miis yourself, from scratch or imported from elsewhere. They form relationships on their own and come to you with problems, from requests for food or clothing to relationship guidance. Miis can fall for each other and marry, and married Miis can have children. That is the Harvest Moon family story, watched from the outside.
The big difference is that you never play the farmer. You serve as an external observer, and there is no end condition: your only goal is to add Miis and keep them happy. The series has sold 18.49 million copies worldwide as of August 2026. Play it on 3DS, or try the sequel Living the Dream on Switch.
Return to PopoloCrois: A Story of Seasons Fairytale (2015)
This is a crossover between the PopoloCrois series and Story of Seasons, the series once sold as Harvest Moon. Prince Pietro travels to Galariland to deal with its monsters, and two brothers who own a farm give him one of his own, home to a fairy named Connie. A deity named Galariel asks him to restore the four Farms of Light so she can be revived. Restoring them pushes the story forward.
The big difference is the story. It is a farming simulation role-playing game, and the farms are part of a fairy tale with a dark sorceress and a Dark Tower to raid. Sony owns PopoloCrois, yet the game never came to a PlayStation console. Epics and Marvelous developed it. Play it on 3DS.
Story of Seasons: Trio of Towns (2016)
Trio of Towns starts with a child who wants to be a farmer. You move to Westown to live with your uncle Frank and learn how to be a farmer from him. Soon you visit two neighbouring towns, and each has its own culture and lifestyle. Westown is based partly on North America, Tsukukusa on Japan and Lulukoko on tropical island countries. The designers added the extra towns for the series' 20th anniversary because they wanted to do something new.
The big difference is the travel. Your days are split between the farm and three towns full of people to meet. IGN called it a fun farming simulator with a "low-pressure approach and gorgeous 3DS graphics." All four reviewers at Famitsu gave it an 8 out of 10. Play it on 3DS.
Fantasy Life (2012)
Fantasy Life turns Harvest Moon's daily chores into jobs. It is a role-playing life simulation from Level-5 where you choose from twelve jobs known as Life classes. Each one has its own Life Master who assigns tasks and awards points, and you rank up from Fledgling to Legend. Master a Life and you can produce and gather materials on your own instead of buying them in a shop.
The big difference is the adventure. A strange purple meteorite falls into your house and sets off an ancient prophecy about Reveria's goddess and the moon Lunares. Reviewers were split on the story, and Eurogamer's Simon Parkin called it "witty". Players often suggest it to Harvest Moon fans who want more to do. Play it on 3DS. A sequel, Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time, came out in 2025.
Stardew Valley (2016)
Eric Barone built Stardew Valley by himself over five years, heavily inspired by Harvest Moon. The setup will feel familiar. You leave a corporate job to restore your late grandfather's dilapidated farm just outside Pelican Town. Seasonal seeds need daily watering and generally must be harvested before the next season. You can marry one of 12 bachelors or bachelorettes regardless of gender, and your spouse helps with the daily farm chores.
The big difference is what Barone added to fix some of the old games' shortcomings. A later update brought online multiplayer, and the cave near town holds ores to mine and monsters to fight. Yasuhiro Wada, the creator of Harvest Moon, was among the critics who gave it a positive review. Play it on PS4, Vita, Wii U or Switch.
Story of Seasons (2014)
Story of Seasons is the series Harvest Moon fans grew up with, under its new name. It was the first game not under the Harvest Moon franchise title in North America. Bored with your regular life, you answer a flyer announcing the recruitment of farmers in Oak Tree Town. Four other farmers there teach you how to run your new farm. You produce crops and raise livestock, and you can set up a safari with monkeys and parrots.
The big difference is trade. Your crops and dairy products go to other countries through a Trade Station, and your goal is to unlock all seven vendors and make Oak Tree Town a renowned international trade city. IGN said it "successfully integrates both supply-and-demand economics and personality into the farm life sim." Fans of the older games call it Harvest Moon in all but name. Play it on 3DS.
Rune Factory 4 (2012)
Rune Factory 4 is a farm life game with dungeons attached. You land in the town of Selphia and get mistaken for a royal who was due to help run it. The actual prince, Arthur, is happy to let you take over his job. As acting royal you give Orders, from requesting a harvest festival to pushing back a storm before it wipes out your crops. Producer Yoshifumi Hashimoto said the main theme is "passionate love, sweet marriage".
The big difference is combat. The team wanted a world that is not purely combat or farming driven, so you choose how to spend your days, and they worked to make farming satisfying even though it is repetitive by nature. Players describe it as Harvest Moon with combat and dungeons added. Play the original on 3DS, or Rune Factory 4 Special on Switch and PS4.
Which one to play
There you have it, the whole list of games like Harvest Moon. Most of them keep a farm at the centre of your day.
If you want the classic farm, start with Stardew Valley or Story of Seasons. If you want a fight between harvests, play Rune Factory 4. For more towns to visit, try Trio of Towns. If the neighbours were your favourite part, Tomodachi Life and New Leaf are all about them. And for a younger player, Disney Magical World is a gentle place to start.
