Move over Stardew, it's time for Cattle Country

Ready for your next casual game after Stardew Valley? Cattle Country is a good choice with a big sense of adventure. Note: key provided by their PR team.

Don't get me wrong, I love Stardew but I burned out on it long ago. It's a great game but I needed something new and fresh and Cattle Country thankfully fits the bill perfectly for me. From Castle Pixel, the team that also made the Blossom Tales series, it's a big mixture of things that will give you a whole lot to do. From tending crops, raising cattle, or rustlin’ up friendships with the townsfolk, there's always something.

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If you've played Stardew Valley, Roots of Pacha, Fields of Mistria or any other 2D casual farming life sim, you'll know a fair bit of what to expect. Here though it's a wild-western adventure, with everything fitting quite nicely into the theme and of course that includes a few bandits along with way too. So perhaps a little bit less casual than others, but it's enough to spice things up a little to keep me interested. However, the game does have options when you make a new save to entirely turn off enemies — so you can play it entirely casually without fuss.

For fans of their previous series Blossom Tales, you'll be happy to see their familiar visual style has been kept here although they've clearly upped the production value on it somewhat, with textures that have a fair bit more depth and life to them. It's not quite as retro looking but still pixel art. Lovely though, my first thought when starting the game was just how sweet it all looked.

A nice introduction too, with you being walked to your plot and then given all the basic tools and tent that you'll need to survive. After that, you're basically on your own to do as you see fit, along with a few basic starter quests with more quests available the more you explore and talk to people.

Thankfully, your tools don't have any durability system as it keeps it all very chill so you can just keep on expanding as far as the land will let you. Although, there is an energy system for your character, with you not being able to actually do all that much in a single day before you'll start doing a rather sweet little yawn and eventually pass out if you don't make it to bed. I'll admit I abruptly laughed the first time my character passed out, the way it's done is just funny. Expensive though, you get hauled over to the doctor and have to pay for the privilege of being carried to their bed. Seems like they took some inspiration from the ridiculous US health system, extortionate pricing for the doc. Going to bed early is definitely the way to go, with no drawbacks I'm aware of.

There's also a health system which you'll need to keep an eye on or it will cost you. For both health and energy, there's various ways to increase them during the day via foraging, making food and more.

Cattle Country's world feels so darn alive too. Everywhere you go you're being watched by rabbits, birds, squirrels, deer and more. Of course there's a fishing mini-game too, which is all about tapping the button in the right places across a few staged to reel it in. Similar to the shooting, which is it's own little mini-game as well. They're not the only mini-games either. Oh, and those animals? Some don't like you very much, like what appears to be a Vulture that will come swooping down to scratch you. Taking them down is easy though, and gives you a few extra useful feathers.

The progress system is a nice one here. After you go through the initial start, you can really do pretty much anything, as long as you've spoken to the right people to get access to what you need. But right from the start you get access to craft and buy as much of anything as you want (funding allowing of course). That said, as you do more and level up, you will get access to more to build and cook so there progression is sprinkled in but not too slowly. You'll also need to level up your relationships with a few people to access more too. So exploring and chatting is necessary here.

And, naturally, what's a good farming game like this without some mining? There's that too. However, unlike others, it completely swaps the viewpoint to be more like Terraria. Not just in style, the mining actually really does more resemble Terraria with platforms and torches too. I really wasn't expecting that, but it's a nice touch to make the game feel like it has that little bit more depth to it.

There's a lot more to it with events that happen as you progress through, which I won't spoil, but it's lovely how the game opens up as you go through it.

It came out of the gate a little rough, but the developers have been releasing update after update with lots of bug fixes and smaller little quality of life features that it now seems like it's in a great state to go and pick it up.

The Steam store page at time of writing this note only states "Partial Controller Support", but it works without problems with my 8BitDo Ultimate 2. Although, one little complaint, I really dislike the way you put down crops, water them and put down items, I find it seriously fiddly on a controller to get the right square lined up.

Game Highlights:

• Ranchin’ & Handcraftin’ - Roll up your sleeves and build your dream homestead from the ground up. Raise cattle, craft tools, and carve out your slice of paradise under those big blue skies.
• Swappin’ Stories - Meet a tough but kind-hearted community. Lend a hand, share a tale, and maybe find yourself a few lifelong friends.
• Beware of Bandits - Not all folks are friendly. Defend your ranch and keep an eye out for trouble brewing on the horizon.
• Rodeos to Romance - From bonds of friendship to sparks of love, get to know 18 romanceable characters and see where your heart leads.
• Buried Treasure - Grab a pickaxe and strike it rich! Explore mines full of rare minerals, secrets, and maybe a bandit stash or two.
• Trackin’ Wildlife - The wilderness is teemin’ with critters. Hunt for survival or simply roam and admire nature’s bounty.

Cattle Country has Native Linux support and Valve rated it Steam Deck Verified. So you're good to go on other SteamOS systems too.

Overall it's a lovely game well worth your time that sticks quite close to the inspiration of other similar casual farming life sims, but thanks to the setting it does enough to keep things interesting with the wild west. Absolutely filled full of charm and an easy recommendation.