New Game Like Stardew Valley Already Has My Money, But Not Because It's Cozy

"Games like Stardew Valley" might be getting a little old at this point, especially when they all seem to look and play so similarly that it almost defeats the purpose of recommending them. However, occasionally, one of them will show up with a genuinely fresh take on the formula or some sort of angle that makes it all the more fascinating. The latest to accomplish that for me is Village in the Shade, and not just because of its unique, hand-painted art style, either. It's one thing when a game like Stardew Valley actually manages to break out of that all-too-familiar pixel art-sized box that most of them seem to succumb to, but it's something else entirely when one throws in an element that no one would ever expect from the farming sim genre.