Vegans and video games aren’t really two things you’d expect to see in the same sentence, but there are loads of vegan gamers out there. And what game genre would be perfect for vegans? Farming! Growing crops, taking care of animals, sustaining a living off the grid. So what games meet these criteria? Just keep reading and you’ll find out, as this list will give you some dreadfully delightful games any vegan in your life is bound to love.
Stardew Valley
We’re starting off this list with my personal favourite game, Stardew Valley by ConcernedApe. This adorable pixel farming game has you taking over your grandfather’s farm and bringing it back to life and sustaining a living from it, all while making friends and building relationships with the town close by. Stardew Valley is great for all kinds of gamers, as it’s on almost every platform you can think of; PC, Xbox, PS4, Switch, Android & IOs. This means you can play it in the comfort of your home, or on the train, or wherever your heart desires! It is also very affordable, priced at no more than £15 on each platform. This game may be a couple of years old, but it’s still so much fun and constantly receiving updates by its eager developers, so it’s definitely still worth checking out.
Harvest Moon
If you know any farming games, it’s almost a guarantee that you’ll have heard of the game series Harvest Moon. This adorable game franchise has been out since 1996, with games still being made to this day! Harvest Moon is a farm simulation role-playing game developed by Amccus. The game was first released in Japan, but has since been localised in the western world for all of us to enjoy. Story of Seasons is a series of farm simulation/role-playing video games where the main objective is to maintain a farm over a period of time, tending the crops and livestock throughout the seasons, while befriending the nearby townsfolk and getting married in some games. There have since been many spinoff games featuring similar elements with different stories to be told. We can’t even recommend which is the best one because there’s just so many to choose from! Harvest Moon is also features itself on many of the different platforms so there’s something for everyone.
Animal Crossing
Animal Crossing is another long-running franchise that’s incredibly popular, it is a social simulation video game series developed and published by Nintendo and created by Katsuya Eguchi. Its initial release was all the way back in 2001, with a new game currently in the making. "In Animal Crossing, the player character is a human who lives in a village inhabited by various anthropomorphic animals, carrying out various activities including fishing, bug catching, fossil hunting, etc." Nintendo explains. The series makes use of the systems internal clock and calendar in order to simulate real time passing. Animal Crossing is a great game to play on the go on a portable system to keep up with maintaining your town, and it’s definitely worth checking out.
Farming Valley – Minecraft Modpack
Minecraft was already a great contender for this list with it’s farming and mining theme, but Farming Valley is all of that and more! It’s a delightful modpack put together by Kehaan. Farming Valley turns Minecraft into a farming sim that can truly compare to Stardew Valley with its quality. Not only this, but if you already have Minecraft installed, this modpack is entirely free! Compared to the original Minecraft, this modpack feels like a completely new game with lots of new things to do. You can plant seasonal crops, water them, harvest them, sell them, and even recruit NPCs to build a whole new town. Farming Valley is definitely worth checking out, even if vanilla (unmodded) Minecraft isn’t your cup of tea.
The Sims 4 (Seasons)
The Sims 4 is more of an honourable mention, as the game doesn’t actually have a farming pack just yet (but we’re certainly hoping for one in the future) but it does, however, have a pretty nice gardening system and a very cool weather and season system if you get the Seasons Expansion Pack. You’ll even get to look after bees! You can build your own greenhouse or even a barn, make fields of crops and maintain them in each season. The Sims 4 also gives you the option to make vegan dishes for your sims, and gives you lots of recipes to make with the ingredients you harvest from your garden. There’s also a lovely flower arranging skill so you can fill your florist needs! To get The Sims 4 to be the optimal gardening game, it can cost a bit more money, as you’ll need both the base game and the expansion pack. This does, however, offer you so much new content, you’ll never get bored! And if you’re on PC, there’s always the option to add mods to make the game even more farm-like.