Reviews / 26 September 2023

Lets Take A Look At: Sprout Valley

The cutest and cosiest indie games are not slowing down this September, with some absolutely hugely anticipated titles releasing in a short time frame. One of those anticipated game is Sprout Valley, a cosy farm game from Vadzim Liakhovich and RedDeer.Games.

Sprout Valley is a cozy and casual feeling farming game on Nintendo Switch and PC which feels largely inspired by games such as Animal Crossing and Stardew Valley. You play as the main character Nico, who is starting a new peaceful life in the land of Ostara.

Sprout Valley is farming simulator game where you can step back from the busy life and grow the garden of your dreams. Captivating story, hand-crafted experience, cute graphics and many more!

Your main goal in Sprout Valley is to improve your island life, by turning your overgrown island into the island of your dreams. You can gather resources, farm, fish and earn some money so you can make your island look pretty. The gameplay of Sprout Valley had me hooked, with dreams of what my island could look like with some dedication and hard work. However, like most other farming sim games out there, Sprout Valley does start off slow, with you just starting with a few packs of seeds and a few tickets to travel to mystery islands for resources.

In the beginning, it can feel a little bit lonely as there are no characters to interact with. Eventually, as you progress through the game you will unlock a basement with an NPC who lives there (it sounds creepy but its fine, trust me) who you can go talk with or gift them items to build up a relationship with them. This little character definitely helps the game feel less isolating. Additionally, there are also some quests that you can get in the basement which gives you a bit of variety in the gameplay.

I really adore the aesthetics of the pixel art style in Sprout Valley, and I really enjoyed how the game incorporated different ideas from much loved games like Stardew Valley, with the Community Centre quests, and Animal Crossing’s traveling to different islands. These features are very much welcomed and I feel bring more to the experience of Sprout Valley.

The main downside I felt towards the game is the lack of inventory space. My advice to get around this is to resist the urge to hoard items which can be a habit that is hard to break. However, eventually you can invest in backpack expansion slots and unlock chest expansion slots, making the inventory issue less of a problem.

Sprout Valley is an adorable game that is a must play for fans of the cute farming sim genre. The simplicity is very nice considering how complicated some other farming games can get, and the aesthetics are adorable. At the end of the day, you are just a lil guy enjoying life on their island, and that is perfect to me.

I played Sprout Valley on Nintendo Switch with a review copy. The game is available now on Nintendo Switch and Steam. Thank you to RedDeer.Games for the copy.

The game is also currently on sale on the Nintendo Switch with 72% off until October 8th 2023.