You can knock out a day or two on a bus ride or during a commercial break. Only want to play for a few minutes? That’s fine! Days only pass when you use a certain amount of energy. Littlewood is a game that, like a goldfish, grows to fill however much space you have for it. Praise the Harvest Moon series all you want, but you couldn’t take your orc neighbor out on a fishing date. Littlewood’s loose fantasy setting elevates these usual archetypes by making your snooty neighbor into a talking bird, ogre, witch, and/or catboy. The world is vibrant and colorful, with a memorable cast of townspeople that include the usual stock characters such as “stuck-up rich person,” “girl with glasses,” and “childhood friend”.

There’s an entire competitive card game, cooking, and woods and mines to explore. There’s no grinding up the basics, scrounging over breakable tools or struggling to pull weeds for your first few days of play - why wait for the fun part?Ĭontributing to this general design principle of getting players in control as soon as possible, Littlewood is stuffed with other mechanics to keep you invested. Within a half-hour of starting Littlewood, you’re able to build mountains and dig rivers. What sets Littlewood apart from its peers is how quickly you get the power to be a landshaping god among mortals. You can also terraform your town and design its layout from the ground up. In broad strokes, Littlewood plays the hits: your main character can grow crops, fish, catch bugs, and do favors for the locals, including decorating their houses, getting them gifts, and eventually smooching them. Littlewood, created by solo developer Sean Young, builds on what came before and sharpens its familiar elements into one of 2021’s sleeper hits.

The farming sim/ city builder genre of game has had some big hits lately, with Animal Crossing: New Horizons shepherding plenty of us through the start of the pandemic, and Stardew Valley serving as a gateway into gaming for many first-time players. To celebrate this collection of sun rotations, we’re looking at the best games of 2021.

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