8 Most beautiful Farm Games you can learn from

Farm games! The Facebook darlings that annoy non-players, break friendships and suck up loads of time and money. Despite the reputation this type of game gathered, it also gave rise to some gorgeous art, innovative gameplay ideas and introduced many to videogames.

As an avid fan of the visual celebration that many of these games create, I want to share the most visually unique with you. Farming is present in all of these, but doesn’t have to be the main point and no platform is excluded. Here are the most worthy and visually inspiring games to feast your eyes on.

Hedgies

Developer: RedSpell

Platform: Facebook

Hedgies has a 2D hand-drawn, soft-textured visual style that is expensive to make, but incredibly satisfying to look at. A vivid color palette and a good balance of object details creates many pretty scenes to look at in the game.

Every object in the game is well stylized to balance detail with visual aesthetic. Even a busy plot of land looks coherent and is easy to use. The warm color pallet creates a feeling of comfort and works well with the overall soft texture of the illustrations.

Resources like trees and bushes take a lesson from Animal Crossing, with large round shapes that are relaxing to look at and easy to see. The delightful feedback animation is a welcome addition, with icons slightly bouncing or shaking in response to clicks, but never distracting.

The creative team behind the game deserve praise for keeping presentation consistent across the board, which makes this game easy to love.

Doraemon Story of Seasons

Developer: Brownies, Marvelous 

Platform: Nintendo Switch, Microsoft Windows

A unique looking game that smartly mixes 3D and illustration techniques while avoiding the harsh look that 3D can give. It uses a subdued colors to give every visual a relaxed painterly look.

It brilliantly uses styling and filters to create a game that feels like a Japanese watercolor painting. It even adds a paper texture on top, to make the book illustration metaphor even more clear.

The sharp characters look great on the soft stylized backgrounds — a smart move that makes the game a joy to play. It’s a unique esthetic, that makes objects easy to see and interact with.

As with many good illustrations, the game has a great variety of textures and objects, so even though it’s stylized, you’re never bored of the picture it creates. It rings of nostalgia, charm and expertly designed game experience.

Klondike

Developer: Plarium

Platform: Facebook, OK, VK

Klondike is clearly managed by a team of talented artists and designers. It fully embraces 3D as its main visual style and uses it to great effect. Every object in the game is full of sharp interesting details. What Klondike offers is endless and satisfying customization with a wide array of objects and trophies.

The color palette is subdued and cold, with sharp details of objects contrasting well with soft, painted backgrounds. Items are a mix of gorgeous illustrations and 3D, while game objects are always packed with interesting details and well designed.

Where it excels and beats the competition is variety. There are an endless stream of new decorations given to players with every new update. As well as new environment locations. All of them are beautiful and interesting to explore.

Amongst the many Facebook farm games, this one delivers the most satisfying decoration experience of them all.

Stardew Valley

Developer: ConcernedApe

Platform: Microsoft Windows, macOS, Linux, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation Vita, iOS, Android (and soon, coming to a fridge near you!)

The Indie darling passion project of Eric Barone, this game is worth the hype it gets. Charming visuals and relaxed, rich gameplay make it easy to love. The pixel art aesthetic adds a pleasant sharpness to every object in the game.

The color palette is rich and tends to be cool and relaxed. Lots of contrast is used in object design, so everything is sharp and easy to see. The backgrounds meanwhile are softer and gentle on the eyes.

The environments are well crafted to match background and foreground elements together in to a perfect scene. The game boasts seasons, different environments, objects and characters. There is always something interesting and new to look at and experience.

The game has a broad spectrum of art, from sharp saturated colors, to more pastel scenes and objects. Even if you’re not a fan of pixel art, I suggest you give this game a try. Its art is incredibly relaxing and displays visual variety that will have something for any taste.

Country Friends

Developer: Gameloft

Platform: iOS, Android, Windows

A 3D game that does the minimalism design right. Clear, rounded simple shapes and good art direction make it stand out amongst a sea of other farm games. It creates a smooth textured visual design with subdued color scheme that is sometimes punctuated by vibrant colors.

The color scheme saves this game from the visual cacophony many of its competitors fall in to. You can mistake any screenshot for a well made 3D cartoon. The objects are reduced to their basic forms and rounded to create a welcoming, charming look. Shaded only by slight gradients, but otherwise using color sparingly.

It’s one of those games that can make you relax, without overloading your senses. The presentation is pleasant, there are many interesting things to look at and at times it feels more like a toy set, than a game.

Minimalism in farm games is rare and this game pulls it off really well.

My Time at Portia

Developer: Pathea Games

Platform: Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch

A 3D game that mixes steampunk with charming design. Its pastel color scheme is instantly recognizable and manages to create a unique visual world. Environments and objects mix flat colors and simple shapes to create book illustration-like scenes.

The object design is charming, with everything being distilled in to the simplest yet pleasant form. A toybox full of objects to build and beautiful things to discover. The game turns the medieval setting to its advantage to create a fantasy feel like no other.

The night and day cycle creates a variety of scenery to enjoy. There’s player customization to explore and many things to build and plant. As a 3D game, it boasts some lush vegetation and pleasant animations.

A cool color scheme and soft-texture look create an almost dream-like world in the game. With many differently themed environments, there is always something to explore here.

Charm Farm

Developer: Nevosoft

Platform: iOS, Android, Facebook

A Fantasy themed 2D farm game that boasts very impressive watercolor-like visuals. You can easily recognize this game by the flowing graphics and beautiful scenery. An interesting blend of soft subdued backgrounds and vibrant objects sets this game apart from the rest.

Visuals in the game resemble art sketches, with their flowing soft color and details that are seemingly drawn on with a pencil. Interesting use of soft colors for most of the art allows for more vibrant objects to stand out. Everything is packed with small details and things to look at.

The visuals have an almost romantic feel to them, with flowing color and relaxed contrast. All of this blends very well together without looking odd or mismatched. Another wonderful example where a game looks like a rich book illustration.

The soft tones and unique look make this game easy to recognize and recommend.

Honorable mention

CastleVille

Developer: ZYNGA

Platform: N/A

This game is no longer available, but when it was live, it offered some wonderful visuals that were unlike any game at the time. Designs inspired by Disney movies, from the characters to the items, this fantasy themed game was a feast for the eyes.

CastleVille mixed 3D models with painted graphics on top. This allowed for a lot of very interesting buildings and castles of all shapes and styles. A cool color scheme and abundance of gray rock textures enhanced the vibrancy of red roofs.

It also delivered on the magical atmosphere, with many decorations and a unified feel to all the visuals in the game. With characters that resembled those of the movies Frozen and Tangled.

If you’re looking to learn from the best, search for some visuals from this game. It’s still one of the better looking farm games out there.