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Over the past two decades, Animal Crossing has become a flagship title for Nintendo, inspiring tons of cozy games similar to it. The series is best known for its lovable animal villagers, peaceful daily chores, and tons of decorations to design not only a perfect home, but a perfect island. Fans of Animal Crossing really connect with the different villagers who can live in their town and the amount of customization you can do. Animal Crossing exists with one foot in two different genres. It exists in the life-sim genre, focused on relationships with NPCs and house decorations, while also existing in the management-sim genre, with your island needing to be maintained and improved upon over time. It also shares some DNA with many of the different farming-simulator games, despite the series only featuring the lightest farming mechanics. Because Animal Crossing is such a specific type of game, our recommendations for games like Animal Crossing have at least one, if not all three, of the following aspects: villagers/NPCs to befriend (and maybe more), an island/town to maintain and decorate, and cozy vibes. Most of these games are also simulation games in one way or another, whether it just be life in general or running a business of some sort.
Stardew Valley
- Platforms: PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, PC, Mobile
- Developer: ConcernedApe
- Similarities to Animal Crossing: Lovable villagers, fishing, cozy, co-op
Despite Stardew Valley being heavily inspired by the Harvest Moon games, it does share many aspects with the Animal Crossing series. Stardew Valley has you move to a small town, where you must build up your grandfather's run-down farm. And while there is a ton of work to do on the farm, it isn't overwhelming and you are generally left to work at your own pace. For Animal Crossing fans, Stardew Valley features a bunch of lovable villagers for you to befriend and even a few you can marry. It also features a fishing system as well as a museum for you to donate minerals and artifacts to. The only aspect of Stardew Valley that might be off putting to Animal Crossing fans is that there are monsters you have to fight in the mines, although the combat is relatively simple. Be sure to check out our Stardew Valley guides hub for any farming needs, or our list of games like Stardew Valley if that's more of the vibe you're going for.
Cozy Grove
- Platforms: PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, PC, Mobile
- Developer: Spry Fox
- Similarities to Animal Crossing: Lovable neighbors, daily chores, island decorations
Cozy Grove is an indie game directly inspired by games like Animal Crossing. In it you play as a spirit scout who has been sent to an island to help soothe the spirits there by completing quests for them. You get to make friends, craft new items, and decorate the island however you see fit. It also features fishing and foraging, though there is one other key similarity to Animal Crossing that makes Cozy Grove stand out to us Cozy Grove operates on a real-time clock, just like Animal Crossing. You get daily quests and chores to complete, which are designed to only take up to an hour to complete each day and serve to bring continuous, bite-sized content to the game. There is a main campaign with narrative storylines that play out across these daily quests, incentivizing you to come back every day. Fanatical is owned by GameSpot parent company Fandom.
Hello Kitty: Island Adventure
- Platforms: Apple Arcade; coming to PS5, Nintendo Switch, and PC in 2025
- Developer: Sunblink
- Similarities to Animal Crossing: Fun villagers, island decorations, cozy vibes
Hello Kitty: Island Adventure scratches that Animal Crossing itch in a few different ways. First and foremost, there are a ton of cute animals that you can befriend and spend time with. As you get to know these critters, you'll also slowly learn their likes, how to improve your relationship with them, and ultimately, how to unlock new outfits for them to show off. There are also cabins for you to decorate and a deserted island for you to explore and improve into a hot vacation destination. Where it differs from Animal Crossing is the inclusion of some light puzzle-solving and platforming elements that are interwoven in some of the quests. It also uses the Hello Kitty license to have a deep roster of Sanrio characters, leaning heavily into the cute and cozy vibes. While it's currently an Apple Arcade exclusive, it's headed to other platforms in 2025.
Hokko Life
- Platforms: PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, PC
- Developer: Gizmo Garden
- Similarities to Animal Crossing: Cute animal villagers, town designs, and decorations
Hokko Life is another indie title inspired by Animal Crossing games. Hokko Life has you move into a new town, where you need to expand and decorate it in service of its many cute animal villagers. While Hokko Life does feature many of the crafting and resource-collection aspects of these sim games, like mining, its focus is on decoration and item customization. Similar to designing your own clothes in Animal Crossing games, Hokko Life offers an impressive amount of customization when it comes to furniture, wallpaper, and flooring. You can change out the knobs on cabinets and paint the individual parts different colors, making Hokko Life an excellent choice for fans of decorating and designing. It features fishing and bug-catching, too.
Spiritfarer
- Platforms: PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, PC, Mobile
- Developer: Thunder Lotus Games
- Similarities to Animal Crossing: Lovable animal NPCs, home customization and management, fishing
Spiritfarer is a management game where you have to oversee a boat full of spirits as you help them come to terms with their lives so that they can move on from purgatory to whatever is next. These spirits take the form of cute animals, but each lived lives filled with emotional or traumatizing struggles that will leave you balling as you uncover them, ranging from a man who lived with multiple sclerosis, to a child that died to a terminal illness, to a woman who dealt with dementia. As you care for these spirits, you grow crops, mine ore, and complete quests to accrue the resources needed to help your friends pass on. Spiritfarer is like Animal Crossing in its focus on animal NPCs and the ability to decorate your home--in this case a ship instead of a house. It's a more narrative-focused game and while it certainly has it's cozier moments, make no mistake--Spiritfarer has way more hard-hitting emotional moments. Spiritfarer is a game that constantly makes you feel vulnerable by regularly exploring grief and loss through stories about dying and love.
Ooblets
- Platforms: Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, PC
- Developer: Glumberland
- Similarities to Animal Crossing: Farming simulation, town improvement, villager relationships
Ooblets is a combination of farming simulation, town management, and Pokemon monster-collecting, all wrapped up in a cozy and low-stakes story. You grow Ooblets on your farm, who can help you perform tasks on said farm and be used in turn-based dance-off battles. Not only are the Ooblets cute, but there are also plenty of townsfolk to meet and complete quests for. You get to grow crops, decorate your farm and home, and find new Ooblets to join your ranks. Ooblets also does Animal Crossing-style real-time events, with holidays and seasons matching the real-world calendar.
My Time at Portia/Sandrock
- Platforms: PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, PC
- Developer: Pathea Games
- Similarities to Animal Crossing: Village relationships, town improvement, decoration and customization
My Time at Portia and its sequel, My Time at Sandrock, exist somewhere between Stardew Valley and Animal Crossing. You arrive in a new town as the new town builder. This job requires you to build and repair a variety of different things for local townsfolk. In order to craft these things, you need to collect materials in the local areas or in special dungeons. These games do feature combat, although it's mostly exclusive to the dungeons and isn't incredibly difficult. A lot of the overlap between these games comes down to the ability to develop friendships with the townspeople and to decorate your space how you see fit. It does have a bit of a more frantic pace, with some quests being on a time limit, so if you enjoy the laid-back nature of Animal Crossing, these games might not be for you.
Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town
- Platforms: PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch, PC
- Developer: Marvelous Inc.
- Similarities to Animal Crossing: Villager relationships, management gameplay, cozy
While there is no shortage of Story of Seasons and Harvest Moon games to choose from, Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town has the benefit of being a good entry and one of the modern releases that is widely available. Pioneers of Olive Town has you take over a run-down farm, with townspeople to meet and befriend, animals and crops to raise, and events to enjoy. You get to also work towards improving the town by completing various tasks and quests, in addition to designing your farm and home however you see fit. The townspeople don't have the most depth, but you do get to build relationships with them. There are also some relaxing minigames similar to those in Animal Crossing, like fishing, present.
Cult of the Lamb
- Platforms: PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, PC
- Developer: Massive Monster
- Similarities to Animal Crossing: Town management, villagers, co-op (local only, launching August 12, 2024)
Cult of the Lamb is a bit of an outlier due to it featuring more blood and violence than the rest of the list. However, when not recruiting cultists and shedding blood, you'll find its gameplay feels quite similar to your favorite cozy game's. It has two main gameplay halves: town management and combat. The town management shares some major similarities to Animal Crossing, with you able to decorate and build up a town of your design, while also making sure your villagers--in this case, cult members--are happy and properly cared for. You have much more control and influence over these townfolk, too, including the option to permanently get rid of anyone you don't like. The combat section is roguelite action, which is run-based. You are meant to die during some of these runs, which means that the combat offers a decent challenge. It's not as hard as other games in the same genre, but if you come to Animal Crossing for relaxing, low-stakes gameplay, Cult of the Lamb might not be the right pick. If you are okay with the combat, Cult of the Lamb offers a management gameplay with a dark sense of humor.
Cuisineer
- Platforms: PC
- Developer: BattleBrew Productions
- Similarities to Animal Crossing: Town management, fun animal NPCs, simulation gameplay
Cuisineer has a similar two-part gameplay structure to Cult of the Lamb. One part is top-down dungeon crawling, done in the roguelite style where you take on short, often-failed runs. During these runs, your goal is to collect a variety of different ingredients to bring home to run a restaurant. Back in town, you can work with the local carpenter to create new and exciting furniture for your restaurant and complete quests for the locals to unlock new recipes. All of this culminates in a Diner Dash-style restaurant management game, where you have to cook and serve dishes to customers as they come in. These customers are a variety of different animal folks, all with a cute and cozy design. Even in the combat sections, the cozy tone comes through strongly.
Coral Island
- Platforms: PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC
- Developer: Stairway Games
- Similarities to Animal Crossing: Cozy, town improvement, lovable villagers
Coral Island is another take on the farm-sim genre that's remarkably similar to Stardew Valley (like so similar--like they're practically the same game similar), but with a less pixelated and more 3D Disney-inspired look. You run a farm on Coral Island, which has been decimated by a recent oil spill. Not only does this pollution angle provide a wider variety of opportunities to improve the town, but it provides a unique motivation as well to help differentiate the game's story from Stardew Valley's. And for anyone who deeply enjoys character relationships, there are tons of eligible bachelors and bachelorettes among its diverse set of residents as well. Coral Island features farming, fishing, bug-hunting, and even deep-sea diving, with lots of opportunities to explore the island and collect different resources. Coral Island also features a massive museum for you to fill with artifacts and critters. There are tons of clothing options and furniture, letting you decorate your home and yourself. Unlike Animal Crossing, Coral Island features a far more mythical vibe--incorporating fantastical elements like magic and merfolk--and takes heavy inspiration from Indonesia, the home country to developer Stairway Games.
Disney Dreamlight Valley
- Platforms: PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, PC
- Developer: Gameloft
- Similarities to Animal Crossing: Town customization, relaxing gameplay, fun villagers
Disney Dreamlight Valley is very similar to Animal Crossing. You have a town full of villagers that you can bond with, fishing and resource-collecting, and tons of furniture to decorate with. However, and as the name suggests, one of its signature features is the many Disney characters who make up all of the NPCs and villagers. You get to cook meals for Mickey Mouse, fish with Moana, and mine with Elsa. It doesn't follow the real-time system of Animal Crossing, but it is designed with daily challenges as rewards for you to complete. There are also tons of quests and puzzles to work through, which typically lead to more Disney characters moving in. Plus, new updates are released regularly, adding new characters, quests, and furniture. Be sure to check out all of our Disney Dreamlight Valley guides, including a rundown on the game's many recipes.
Fae Farm
- Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PC
- Developer: Phoenix Labs
- Similarities to Animal Crossing: Villager relationships, cozy, customization, co-op
Fae Farm has a cute art-style and is a cozy farming simulator. As the name suggests, there are fairies and more in the world of Fae Farm, along with magical creatures for you to care for. There are tons of customization options, along with NPCs for you to bond with. It also features four player co-op, so you and some friends can experience it together. The island it's set on is also filled with secrets to discover via exploration.
Castaway Paradise
- Platforms: PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, PC
- Developer: Stolen Couch Games
- Similarities to Animal Crossing: Animal villagers, customizable island, fish and bugs
Castaway Paradise is directly inspired by games like Animal Crossing, featuring an island full of animal villagers for you to decorate. You can catch fish and bugs, grow crops, and complete quests for the villagers to improve your relationships. The island was previously devastated by a storm, so the entire island is yours to decorate to your liking. Castaway Paradise also features changing seasons and holidays, changing the whole feel of the island depending on the time of year.
Sun Haven
- Platforms: PC
- Developer: Pixel Sprout Studios
- Similarities to Animal Crossing: Cozy, animal villagers, management gameplay, co-op
Sun Haven is a 2D farming sim, with the twist being the many magical creatures that populate the town you live in. You can choose a variety of magical species to make your own character, in a town full of other creatures. There are tons of towns folk to bond with and even romance. The main gameplay is farming, but there is fishing, mining, and combat to round out the experience. The game also supports up to eight-player co-op and has other mainstays of the Animal Crossing series, like a museum to complete and seasonal events with special minigames and NPC moments.
Moonglow Bay
- Platforms: PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, PC
- Developer: Bunnyhug
- Similarities to Animal Crossing: Fishing, cozy, town improvement
An outlier on this list due to a lack of farming, Moonglow Bay is a management RPG about catching fish and selling meals made with them. The story follows a widow who has returned to Moonglow Bay to fish as part of their partner's dying wish. It has a delightful voxel art-style, along with plenty of fish to catch and towns folks to help out. Moonglow Bay itself has been on a bit of a downturn, so you can use your thriving fishing business to help rebuild the town. The gameplay is split into a few different chunks, fishing, cooking, and going around town. The fishing is very relaxing and there isn't much combat, although there are a few puzzle-based boss fights. The fishing is a series of relaxing minigames, and the villagers all have their own stories for you to discover as well.
The Sims 4
- Platforms: PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PC
- Developer: Maxis
- Similarities to Animal Crossing: Decoration and design
The Sims 4 is perfect for anyone who spends most of their time in Animal Crossing rearranging their furniture and planning out their town. Not only are there a ton of furniture options, especially with all of the DLCs, but it also gives you full control over the layout of the homes themselves. However, you could argue the best part of The Sims 4 actually lies outside its build mode. In The Sims 4 you also get to create your very own characters, plot out their lives, level up skills, and foster relationships with other sims. While this aspect of the game doesn't share as many similarities with Animal Crossing, there are certain things your sims can do in their day-to-day lives that might appeal to AC fans, such as bug, fish, and mineral collecting. Certain expansions packs like Cottage Living even add to these elements, making it a fantastic cozy experience. If you get into the game, be sure to check out our list of the best Sims 4 mods to further enhance your experience.
Moonstone Island
- Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PC
- Developer: Studio Supersoft
- Similarities to Animal Crossing: Lovable NPCs, cozy vibes
Moonstone Island blends a few different genres that seem like they shouldn't work together to great success. It's a life-sim like Animal Crossing, but it's also a Pokemon-esque creature-collecting game and a card-battler all in one. You have to run a small farm, growing crops and gathering resources via mining and exploring, but you also have to collect spirits as well. Those spirits are used to battle in combat as you explore different islands, solving puzzles along the way. The town is filled with NPCs for you to get to know and even romance. There are also tons of furniture options to decorate with, offering a little something for everyone.
Dragon Quest Builders 2
- Platforms: PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, PC
- Developer: Square Enix and Koei Tecmo Games
- Similarities to Animal Crossing: Town building and decorating, cozy vibes, co-op
Dragon Quest Builders 2 is essentially an RPG set in a Minecraft-style world. You must explore the world, freeing everyone from an evil cult that has demonized the craft of building. While there is some combat, much of your time will be spent building different facilities and projects to help out different villages. There are tons of customization options, and you have a hub island to design however you see fit. There is also a sandbox mode that lets you build with up to four other players.
Rune Factory 5
- Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PC
- Developer: Marvelous Inc.
- Similarities to Animal Crossing: Fun NPCs, town building
Another farming simulator, Rune Factory 5 adds an RPG twist to the genre, with more emphasis on taking down monsters when you aren't cultivating crops. There are plenty of options in the series, but Rune Factory 5 is the most modern entry. You can raise crops on your farm, go fishing, and spend time with the locals, some of whom you can date. The different festivals and minigames that take place in town will definitely appeal to Animal Crossing fans, so long as you don't mind a bit of combat.
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