Dreamland Farm

Genre: Top-Down Action-RPG / Management Sim

Players: 1

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Review:

Dreamland Farm is a Top-Down Action-RPG and Management Simulation in the “Farming RPG” style of game pioneered by the Harvest Moon and Story of Seasons games, and later popularized by Stardew Valley. Released in 2024 on Xbox One and Nintendo Switch and then in 2025 ported to PC and PlayStation 4, Dreamland Farm takes the formula laid out by Stardew Valley and… does that again.

Look, I try to keep my introduction paragraph from getting negative, but it’s difficult to do so when a game is copying a much more popular game a decade later, doing nothing especially noteworthy to set itself apart, and in fact doing numerous things much worse. And that’s what Dreamland Farm is – a much worse take on Stardew Valley.

The presentation at least is passable, using fairly simple 2D pixel art visuals backed by a relaxed synthesized soundtrack. I don’t think there’s anything especially interesting going on here, but it’s not bad, apart from some poorly-designed elements like flowers that hover over your head when you walk on them. Also, the opening story about a guy who yearns for a more rural life and gets that opportunity when an elderly relative falls ill and needs their farm looked after, seems to be derived straight from Stardew Valley.

When it comes to the gameplay, anyone who’s played a “Farming RPG” game knows the gist of what to expect here. Plant seeds, water them, sell off your crops, and eventually raise livestock, run errands for townsfolk, and so on. Like I said, this game doesn’t really add anything to the standard experience for this genre.

However, it does take some things away. The townsfolk that you meet have zero personality and all seem to just stay in one spot in their homes or shops all day. On that note, there’s no day/night cycle and no calendar – you start a new day by hopping into bed, and are only allowed to do so after you’ve exhausted enough of your character’s energy. And don’t even think about trying to form any relationships or looking forward to any in-game events.

However, Dreamland Farm is even worse than just a simpler, feature-poor take on the genre. The controls are absolutely terrible, forcing you to use both analog sticks to even get your character facing the right way. Your walking pace is insanely slow and there’s no way to run. And the game in inconsistent in what you can and can’t interact with – some doors lead to an inside, and some are impassable, with no indication which is which until you try them. You can grab berries off of a bush, but can’t interact with those same berries sitting right next to the bush on the ground.

Finally, for everything that is broken or missing in Dreamland Farm, it is absolutely stunning that this game is priced at $11, just $4 shy of the price of Stardew Valley itself. And while, yes, this is one of those games that goes on sale for $2 every month, it’s hard to even justify that low price when a far better game just like it isn’t especially expensive in the first place. With this being the case, I absolutely do not recommend Dreamland Farm.

tl;dr – Dreamland Farm is a Top-Down Action-RPG and Management Simulation in the “Farming RPG” style, that plays like a very poor-man’s take on Stardew Valley, lacking a lot of that game’s features, and adding nothing of note other than some terrible design choices and odd bugs. It’s overpriced at its standard price and doesn’t feel like a good deal even when it goes on sale for $2. Just stick to Stardew Valley and leave this game to rot out in the fields.

Grade: D

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