Xbox games like Animal Crossing to play in 2024 (2024)

Looking for something to satiate that Animal Crossing craving? Check out our list of some of the best Xbox games like Animal Crossing.

Heidi Nicholas

Published

10 Xbox games like Animal Crossing

We've had some great life sims become available on Xbox, so it’s a good time to refresh this list for anyone who hasn't got a Switch and is feeling completely left out (especially after the Hello Kitty Island Adventure Nintendo Switch announcement, or has moved on from Animal Crossing and is looking for more games with a similar wholesome feeling. This list includes a few Xbox games which, by one quality or another, belong to that same adorable niche. We’ll start this list the same way we did the first time: with an all-out crowd-pleaser.

Stardew Valley

Here are the Stardew Valley achievements
Release date: December 14, 2016
Developer: ConcernedApe
On Game Pass: Yes

Say "cute and cozy" three times and you'll summon Stardew Valley. To be fair, you can't go into this one expecting the same biased affection as your Animal Crossing neighbors will give you. They'll applaud you for anything, whereas Stardew Valley residents won't hesitate to tell you that your gift of hard-earned homegrown produce is trash. Stardew Valley has much more of a farming emphasis, but one thing each game does share is that sense of community: you can just as easily spend the whole day forming relationships with the various townspeople, running errands for them, and building friendships. If they like you, they'll write to you and send you gifts. You'll attend events with them and watch the community grow together. Like Animal Crossing, Stardew Valley has the option for co-op and multiplayer, and it also has a similar sense of escapism. You can spend your time however you like and since you can progress the days and seasons as fast as you want — whereas Animal Crossing runs on real time — you might find yourself looking up and seeing that hours have passed while you've just been chilling in Stardew Valley. And to make it even better, it's available with Xbox Game Pass!

Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles

Here are the Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles achievements
Release date: February 27, 2019
Developer: Prideful Sloth
On Game Pass: No

Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles is another game which blends adventure and management aspects. It seems especially perfect for this list, since the TrueAchievements Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles review calls it a "happy medium" between Animal Crossing and Stardew Valley. It also seems pretty fitting for a list of games which revolve around wholesomeness and escapism as you work to improve the lives of everyone living in Gemea. Like Animal Crossing, it has some seasonal events, and like Stardew Valley, it has a broader range of activities to do: you'll be joining guilds, crafting, cooking, brewing, and farming, as well as helping the community. It has that irresistible premise of starting out with nothing and building your way up, coupled with what looks to be an entirely safe and relaxing game world — especially since there's no combat. You're just there to enjoy the world and help others to do the same.

Castaway Paradise

Here are the Castaway Paradise achievements
Release date: July 31, 2018
Developer: Stolen Couch Games
On Game Pass: No

We’ve had a fair influx of cozier life sim games since we first published this article, but one older title which a number of you decided should definitely feature on this list is Castaway Paradise. It’s seen its own share of Animal Crossing comparisons — its official description even suggests it for fans of Animal Crossing and Harvest Moon. In Castaway Paradise, we haven’t been left a ramshackle home in the country by an old relative; we’ve been stranded on a tropical island. Described as the “ultimate sandbox sim,” the game features bug-catching, fishing, farming, decorating, and villagers to befriend.

My Time at Sandrock

Here are the My Time at Sandrock achievements
Release date: November 2, 2023
Developer: Pathea Games
On Game Pass: Yes

When last we took a look at this list, it was Pathea Games’ My Time at Portia on here. Portia mixes management and role-playing elements and, in the grand tradition of many cozy/farming/life-sim games, saw you starting a new life after a convenient and generous relative left you a property in a new town far away (in My Time at Portia, it's a workshop left to you by your Pa). Portia is still an excellent game, but while updating this list it’s definitely worth adding My Time at Sandrock in, which dials things up to eleven while smoothing over some of the rougher aspects of the first game.

There's still gathering, mining, and farming to be done, as well as the all-important crafting requests you get after you become one of Sandrock’s new official builders. If it’s interacting with the town and its people you’re after, Sandrock has plenty of that, with a large cast of enjoyable characters and a great story to sink your teeth into, coupled with festivals, relationship-building, minigames, and friendship missions.

There is a lot more here, content-wise, than in Animal Crossing games, and rather than just trying to dig yourself out of debt to Tom Nook, you’re trying to pull the town out of its economic decline. You’ve got to build your own reputation as a Builder, too. But aside from time-sensitive quests and requests, My Time at Sandrock does a good job of not letting you feel the pressure too much, and letting you enjoy working your way up the ranks in a beautiful desert town. Like with My Time at Portia, there's always something to do, but the game doesn't necessarily signpost it for you. It's entirely up to you where to go and what to do. As such, this is definitely one which you'll lose a lot of time to — and, bonus, it's in Xbox Game Pass too.

Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life

Here are the Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life achievements
Release date: June 27, 2023
Developer: Marvelous Entertainment
On Game Pass: No

Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life is less about the building and more about farming, but still with a focus on making friends and kicking back in a relaxing world full of community events, adorable animals, and the kind of grounded life that usually makes our farming sim characters glad they left the city behind. Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life lets you tell a generational story too, as your character can have kids and watch them grow up to choose their own life in Forgotten Valley. Animal Crossing fans are frequently known to rack up hundreds of hours in playtime, and if it’s a similarly lengthy playthrough you’re looking for, then Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life might be right for you.

Cozy Grove

Here are the Cozy Grove achievements
Release date: April 8, 2021
Developer: Spry Fox
On Game Pass: No

Like the Animal Crossing games, life-sim Cozy Grove is played in real time; there’s only so much questing to be done each day, and while you can continue to play afterwards — fishing or decorating, for example — you’ll need to wait until the next day to carry on with the campaign. It’s designed to be played a little every day, over a period of several months. We play as a Spirit Scout, who interacts with and helps Cozy Grove’s ghosts, while aiming to bring color back to the land. It’s as cozy as can be, considering Cozy Grove is technically about a haunted island, and it’s wonderful to see color flooding across the island as you progress. If you were frustrated at coming up against Animal Crossing’s limits each day, you might be equally frustrated at Cozy Grove — but if the thought of checking in on the island each day for a short amount of time appeals to you, this could be a good contender.

Coral Island

Here are the Coral Island achievements
Release date: November 14, 2023
Developer: Stairway Games
On Game Pass: Yes

Coral Island is one of my favorite games on this list. It’s had a rough time on Xbox so far, admittedly, which is especially a shame since once Coral Island’s smoothed over all these rough bits, it’ll undoubtedly be one of the best entries in the farming sim genre we’ve had in a long time. There’s a lot to do besides farming, and if you’re community-minded, you might enjoy the town improvement aspects. Besides making friends, building relationships, and attending events, you also need to improve the town’s ranking, which not only makes it look better but improves what you can buy (new decorations, crops, clothing, and so on). There are several ranks to work through and this whole system will be improved still further when Coral Island’s next big update arrives with attractions and a tourist system. One of Coral Island’s differences is that you can explore the ocean too, and meet the merfolk there. On that note, there’s a museum to donate to, coral reefs to clean up, decorating and improving to do, magical elements, cooking, and a whole lot more besides.

Ooblets

Here are the Ooblets achievements
Release date: September 1, 2022
Developer: GlumberLand
On Game Pass: No

Ooblets has a colorful and whimsical feel similar to that of Animal Crossing. It’s arguably one of the most cheerful, wholesome games on this list, which is saying a lot when you look at everything else on here. We arrive in town to start a new life, and begin by helping the mayor with a few of her tasks. Eventually, we’re fixing up our house, helping to revitalize the town, farming the many strange and wonderfully-named crops of Ooblets, and of course, spending time with our ooblets. Every accomplishment in Ooblets is celebrated with things like confetti, friendship stickers, new clothes, and ooblet accessories. We collect more ooblet friends by growing them from seeds, and then help them resolve conflicts through dance battles. You can also dress up your ooblet friends in little costumes. The game doesn’t take itself seriously in the slightest, and its brand of random quirkiness is reminiscent of Animal Crossing’s sillier side.

Viva Piñata

Here are the Viva Piñata achievements
Release date: December 1, 2006
Developer: Rare
On Game Pass: Yes

Viva Piñata is another simulation game but this time, you're in charge of a garden on Piñata Island. Restoring and improving this garden will attract various species of Piñata; at first a black and white outline, and then in all their neon glory. The majority of your time will be spent taking care of your garden, beautifying it with flowers, vegetables, and ponds, to tempt Piñatas into taking up residence, and protecting it from the Ruffians. By all accounts, it's a colorful, absorbing, and entirely engaging game about Piñatas and plants (and it's available with Xbox Game Pass). However, unlike Animal Crossing, it's probably not a good idea to get too attached to your residents: Pinatas have a food chain, and you might have to let your residents get eaten if you want different animals to move in.

Disney Dreamlight Valley

Here are the Disney Dreamlight Valley achievements
Release date: September 6, 2022
Developer: Gameloft
On Game Pass: Yes

A more recent entry for this list is Gameloft’s Disney Dreamlight Valley, which mixes life-sim and adventure elements alongside a cast of familiar Disney and Pixar characters. There is a story to follow here about saving Dreamlight Valley from the Forgetting and the chaos and unhappiness it caused, but if you feel like forgetting about that yourself, you can easily focus on just hanging out with the likes of Wall-E, Woody, Ariel, and the rest. Gameloft is always adding new characters — Mulan and Mushu arrive soon — but there are already plenty of friendly faces there to go fishing, farming, or gathering with. There are a lot of social elements in Disney Dreamlight Valley, too, so you can visit other Valleys to hang out together, or else participate in community things like the DreamSnaps challenges.

That's just a few suggestions of Xbox games like Animal Crossing which in one way or another fit that niche Animal Crossing Venn diagram of cuteness and escapism and should go some way towards meeting that Animal Crossing craving. Last time we sorted this list, we decided against including Hokko Life, as despite being very much an Animal Crossing-style game — with decorating, bug hunting, village-building and so on — it had met with some decidedly uneven reviews after an already mixed response in Early Access. Things are looking up for the game now, so perhaps we can add it to the list in future. If you’ve played it, let us know what you think about the game! For now, what do you think? Have you got any suggestions? Let us know in the comments!

Xbox Series X|SXbox One

Written by Heidi Nicholas

Heidi tends to lean towards indie games, RPGs, and open-world games on Xbox, and when not playing Disney Dreamlight Valley, happily installs every new wholesome game that appears on Xbox Game Pass, before diving back into favorites like The Witcher 3. She's looking forward to Age of Mythology Retold, Everwild, Fable, and Avowed on the Xbox horizon. Heidi graduated with an MA in English Literature before joining the TrueAchievements team.

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