Kyle Labriola

@kylelabriola

blogging (ashamedly)

he/him
blueberrylemonade.pika.page/

Hello! I'm an artist, writer, and game developer. I work for @7thBeatGames on "A Dance of Fire and Ice" and "Rhythm Doctor."

I run @IndieGamesofCohost where I share screenshots and spotlights of indie games. I also interview devs here on Cohost.

Kyle Labriola @kylelabriola4/5/2024, 3:58 PM

Indie Games of Cohost @IndieGamesOfCohost

Indie Games of Cohost @IndieGamesOfCohost4/5/2024, 3:58 PM

SURVEY: What are your favorite indie life sims / farm sims / job sims?

New survey! So far we've talked about card games, visual novels, roguelikes, hidden gems, itch.io games, Touhou games, 3D games, turn-based RPGs, horror games, and indie shooters. Folks have added great games in the shares and comments sections.

So, this time: What are your favorite indie life sims / farm sims / job sims?

One of my favorite genres of game is the "simulator", where the mundane parts of life are gamified in a really satisfying way. As you probably know, there's a ton of these out there, so which one clicks for you? Or maybe you know an underappreciated gem that deserves more attention?

Which are your favorites? Let me know in the comments!

#farm sim #farm simulator #life sim #life simulator #job sim #job simulator #indie game #indie games #indie games of cohost #igoc #surveys

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in reply to @IndieGamesOfCohost's post:

wretch @wretch4/5/2024, 4:25 PM

cozy grove is an animalcrossinglike that i think works really well! it does a great job being pleasant and relaxing without being overly twee, and it has a lot of collections and daily tasks to do without being too much of an infinite time sink.
recettear: an item shop's tale is a sim/management game about running a fantasy item shop. it's fun and has a little story and is much more polished and actually good than a lot of more recent attempts at shop simulators that i see floating around! underappreciated. it's so solid. i only wish it had achievements.
diaries of a spaceport janitor is a job sim about being a spaceport janitor. you walk around and pick up trash. it's excellent! i love the atmosphere and mood a lot and recommend this game every chance i get lol.
my other favorites are all well-regarded already and don't really need much shouting out, but they really are that good! (long live the queen, stardew valley, papers please, cook serve delicious, slime rancher, and mini metro)
definitely keeping an eye on the comments for recommendations, i always need more sims

Muse @confusedmuse4/5/2024, 4:29 PM

obligatory stardew valley comment

But to actually answer the question:

Cook, Serve, Delicious - restaurant/food prep sim, and getting better and more difficult dishes and clearing complicated levels gives me the same kind of satisfaction as a rhythm game

Littlewood - Pixel art farm sim, lets you customize a whole town and makes it very easy to change layouts, also a cute "after the end" RPG style story

Idol Manager - Tycoon-style game but with pop idol groups. Really satisfying to get to the end of the storyline while not engaging with the seedier business practices the game offers you.

Volcano Princess - Mixed bag with the translation, but it has everything good about the Princess Maker series without the strict time and stat pressure. Also encourages multiple playthroughs with bonuses earned after clearing the game.

Hypnospace Outlaw - Ever wondered what it was like to moderate Y2K-era Geocities pages? Now you can know!

Modstin @Modstin4/5/2024, 4:30 PM

I have yet to play a farming sim that even comes close to the perfection of its genre as Stardew Valley. I see a lot of these games crop up and I have to ask 'Okay, why should I play this instead of Stardew?'

Indie Games of Cohost @IndieGamesOfCohost4/5/2024, 5:00 PM

There's some fun ones out there! Sometimes worth keeping an eye out for ones that tackle it in a very different way rather than directly competing. Littlewood streamlines a lot of systems and handles town customization differently. Palia and Disney Dreamlight Valley present it as a live service you check in with every day. Nova Lands has a totally different game loop.

Modstin @Modstin4/5/2024, 6:29 PM

I feel like one of the only lacking parts of Stardew Valley is the Romance? It doesn't feel very much advanced beyond what the Harvest Moon games did. At least, like, outside of Stardew Valley Expanded, which has better NPCs than Vanilla IMO.
I'll have to look into Nova and Littlewood though.

Indie Games of Cohost @IndieGamesOfCohost4/5/2024, 7:48 PM

I agree, and tbh I dont think I've seen many games do the romance any better than Stardew, which is a bummer. I have my fingers crossed for someone to expand on the system someday!

calico is doodling @CalicoCocoaIllusts4/5/2024, 8:05 PM

People already mentioned Recettear and Volcano Princess, but I really love APICO! You get to have your own little beehives and bees. It's super relaxing and I love all the bee species that you can find/breed. It's bee keeping, resource collecting, and crafting.

I heard that the devs of this game are also working on a frog-related farming sim game called Mudborne and a food factory sim called Snacktorio (which has a demo, but I haven't gotten the chance to play yet). Both games look pretty cool based on screen shots so I'm looking forward to them!

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