Sinister Stardew Valley Rival Launches Later This Year, We Played It

For those who’ve gotten bored with Stardew Valley and want something a little more spooky, or a little more supernatural, this is the farming sim for you.

Stardew Valley is what we’d describe as a ‘cutesy’ game. The kind of title you stick on for half an hour, potter about, make everything look nice, and log off. Grave Seasons is not a cutesy game.

Your New Farm Life Comes With A Side Of Murder

I played Grave Seasons at this year’s Summer Game Fest, and the game’s opening immediately sets the stage for what’s to come.

Rather than arrive at your new homestead with a pitchfork in hand, you instead arrive at a darkened town by boat, wearing a prison jumpsuit.

You seek shelter in an abandoned farm up in the mountains, and when people learn of your existence, you convince them that you’ve just moved in and are going to be their new neighbour.

My demo then had me doing the usual tasks. Cutting the grass, chopping down trees, planting some crops. You can also head down to town and start conversing with the locals.

Yes, you can romance them.

Blumhouse Games

After several in-game days of doing this, the first ‘event’ happens. A murder. The circumstances of this grizzly death are frankly bizarre, as the wounds don’t look like they were inflicted by human hands, but by those of a beast. Every resident in town will react differently to these crimes, so you can sort of figure out who’s okay with it, who’s scared by it, and who might actually be responsible.

Don’t be mistaken because Grave Seasons isn’t a whodunnit. There’s no obligation to bring the killer to justice, and I was told you can straight-up ignore what's happening in this quaint little town and focus entirely on your farm. Those killings are none of your business, so why should you be concerned?

For the best experience, you’ll want to look into what’s going on, and you do that by improving your farm and making friends, or enemies.

Unlike games like Stardew Valley, Grave Seasons does have endings. Once you’ve progressed the story, your ‘run’ is over and you can start a new one with a different killer and different events.

I like this as I know I’m working towards an actual goal. You sort of set your own goals in these farming and life sim games, which is usually fun for the most part, but you always reach that point when you’ve had enough.

Grave Seasons seems to know how to keep players on the hook, as you’re going to want to know who the next person on the chopping block is.

The game finally launches later this year for PC via Steam, Xbox, and PlayStation platforms. Stardew Valley fans are going to want to sample this one.

READ NEXT: Hit Cozy Stardew Valley Alternative RPG Drops Hefty Free Expansion On Steam