Summary
- Harvest Island offers a unique twist on the farm sim genre by incorporating horror elements, a departure from the cozy vibes of games like Stardew Valley.
- Players can enjoy familiar farming activities such as collecting items, upgrading their farm, and befriending animals, but can also make offerings to gods for stat boosts, delving into the island's dark mysteries.
Harvest Island is the latest farm sim game that takes inspiration from Stardew Valley, but it stands out from the pack thanks to its horror twist. Stardew Valley has been a massive success ever since it first released, and while it was inspired by Harvest Moon, it has since gone on to become the definitive game in the life sim/farming genres. Countless cozy games have followed in Stardew Valley's footsteps, with each one offering their own spin on the genre.
Something that hasn't been explored all that thoroughly by Stardew Valley-like games is the horror genre. Most games that take inspiration from Stardew Valley go for a "cozy" vibe, and needless to say, horror would directly conflict with that tone. The lack of horror-themed Stardew Valley-style games is what makes Harvest Island so intriguing.
Harvest Island launches October 10 for PC across various storefronts, including Steam and the Epic Games Store, and it's something Stardew Valley fans are definitely going to want to keep an eye on. Harvest Island lets players collect helpful items, upgrade their farm, catch fist, craft tools, befriend animals, and complete all sorts of other tasks that are associated with the genre. However, Harvest Island also allows players to make offerings to their gods in exchange for stat boosts. The gods themselves seem to be tied to Harvest Island's horror backstory, much of which is being kept under wraps, but fans can start unraveling the island's dark mysteries next month.
Harvest Island is just the latest Stardew Valley-inspired game to drum up excitement from the fandom. Those looking for something similar to play while they wait may want to check out Fae Farm or the more recent Moonstone Island. Moonstone Island has been described as Stardew Valley meets Pokemon, which is an interesting combination of franchises, to say the least. Moonstone Island has earned rave reviews so far, so it seems as though Stardew Valley and Pokemon are a winning combination.
While there are plenty of Stardew Valley-like games readily available and more on the way, like Harvest Island, there's also new content for Stardew Valley itself for fans to look forward to. Developer ConcernedApe is actively working on Stardew Valley update 1.6, which is expected to be rather substantial, adding a new festival, new items, new secrets, and more to the wildly successful game.
Beyond Stardew Valley, ConcernedApe is also working on Haunted Chocolatier. Needless to say, Stardew Valley fans should have no shortage of similar games to play in the years to come.
Harvest Island launches October 10 for PC.