Farm life sim
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| Simulation video games |
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Farm life sims (also called farming sim or farm sim) are a subgenre of life simulation games which fuse social simulation, dating sim and farm simulation elements. Games in the genre generally feature a protagonist going out to a rural setting and taking on a farm, oftentimes as an inheritance from a deceased relative, or because of urban boredom. The player-character grows typically crops and raises livestock to make money, interacts with a wide cast of characters, and works toward the main plot's objective, if one exists. The game plots often feature declining ghost towns that must be revitalized by the player's actions. The games tend to feature simplified and less realistic farming as opposed to a simulation, such as Farming Simulator.
The genre was originated by the 1996-2013 series Story of Seasons, originally titled Harvest Moon. Alongside its fantasy spin-off series Rune Factory, it was almost the sole series in the genre until 2016 release of Stardew Valley, a successful indie game inspired by it, which popularized farm life sims as a distinct genre.