Animal Crossing is one of the most beloved franchises in the world. New Horizons has beaten sales predictions and has been a trending topic for months on end. Stardew Valley, on the other hand, is an indie darling that has grown over the years to top other long-standing farming franchises in terms of sales and fan base.
Stardew Valleyallows players to carve out the type of life they want to live, similar to Animal Crossing. Both games allow you to play with your friends, develop your town, and even decorate your house. Which game is the best, though, and what features are missing from each franchise?
10 Stardew Valley: Marriage
Marriage may admittedly be a bit weird if thrown into the world of Animal Crossing. While Raymon is certainly a dapper fellow, marriage to a cat probably would end with torn up furniture or disagreements on who is pulling the financial weight in your household. Stardew, on the other hand, has marriage down.
There are tons of partners to choose from, each with their own interesting backstories and heart events.
9 Animal Crossing: Fashion
One thing that is hard to really pull-off in a 2D pixel game is fashion. While there are a ton of outfits to choose from, they don’t all stand out very well. In Animal Crossing, though, there are hundreds of in-game fashion options to choose from and many other player creations to be found online.
Fashion is a huge part of this game, and dressing up can be tons of fun.
8 Stardew Valley: NPC Character Development
Stardew Valley makes sure to develop each one of its NPCs. Everyone has a story and at least a couple of heart events. In Animal Crossing, though, the neighbors can feel similar or a bit robotic in their responses. This is a bit sad, but understandable given the huge amount of villagers.
If you love character development, then Stardew Valley is the farming sim that certainly has more of it.
7 Animal Crossing: Quantity of NPCs
If you are just in the game for the decorating, then the three hundred plus neighbors should be a treat. With so many different designs, you can populate your town with any type of look you want. There are cute neighbors, sporty neighbors, food neighbors, business neighbors, and even unicorn neighbors.
This large assortment may feel overwhelming at first, but collecting your favorite villagers is a huge part of the game.
6 Stardew Valley: Side Quests
Animal Crossing does have side quests; the problem is that they pop up at random and usually just consist of delivering a package or lost item. Stardew Valley, on the other hand, has daily side-quests and tons of things you can do to unlock new features, areas of the map, or even more dungeon goodness.
Animal Crossing quests usually only net you a new item.
5 Animal Crossing: Decorating
One thing that is hands down better in Animal Crossing is the decorating. While you can decorate your farmhouse in Stardew Valley, there aren’t a ton of items to choose from in the vanilla game, and you have a much more limited space. This can make decorating take up a lot less time.
In Animal Crossing, though, there are millions of options, and you can even decorate your town.
4 Stardew Valley: The Mines
One thing that really sets the games apart is the mines and ability to participate in combat in Stardew. The game has several areas and two mines for players to explore, both with tons of enemies to fight. You will need to upgrade your equipment if you want to make it out with your treasure.
This adds a bit more excitement to the game and is completely optional.
3 Animal Crossing: Fishing
Stardew Valley has a fishing mini-game that too many players don’t seem to find fun. The game has you use a bouncing yellow bar to chase down a tiny fish icon, which depending on the type of fish, can be easy or more of a pain than it’s worth.
Animal Crossing has mastered the peaceful fishing game, and despite the sea bass invasion, it is quite relaxing to play.
2 Stardew Valley: The Multiplayer
The multiplayer in Animal Crossing is a bit limited for a good reason, you don’t want randoms ruining your island. In Stardew Valley, though, you can have three friends join you on your quest. Each friend gets a house they can upgrade and they can even marry the NPCs.
The money can be shared or split, but everyone plays a part in contributing to the farm.
1 Animal Crossing: The Economy
Animal Crossing has an addictive economic system that has you constantly fighting off debt from a tanuki. The money is fun and challenging to make, and it adds interesting mechanics like the stalk market for players to risk their bells in.
Money gathering in Animal Crossing is more fun than Stardew Valley and often feels more rewarding to players.
NEXT: Stardew Valley: 5 Ways It’s More Relaxing Than Animal Crossing (& 5 Ways It’s The Opposite)
