Loftia (Early Access Review)
Certainly my favourite new game of 2026. Is has all the cosy game elements we love like farming, fishing, fashion and housing and adds multiplayer so you can explore and have fun with your friends. The main story is only a few hours long for now, but the focus is more on everything else.
Unlike traditional cosy farming games, Loftia has placed the emphasis on sustainability, so you can only carry what you need and farm and craft with limits…
Paralives (Early Access Review)
If all you want is to customise your characters and build the perfect home, then this is an amazing game full of hundreds of customisation options for your characters and hundreds of furnishings for the houses, plus even more through a free Steam Workshop. The gameplay itself I've only had limited time to experience as I bought this mainly as a building game, not as a life sim so much.
Disney Dreamlight Valley
A peaceful adventure game where all the characters are from different Disney stories. Has all the usual elements like story questing, crafting and farming, as well as friendship unlocks as you progress. There is plenty of space to build all of the houses for the huge number of characters you can unlock. The only choice you have to make is which friends you want to make first.
There are plenty of free unlocks beyond the main story, as well as many more from paid DLC. There is a premium store, but you can earn the currency in game; so far I've not had to buy any of the premium currency, and many of the clothes and furniture can be bought in game without spending real money.
Solarpunk
This game has all the things I like from several other games I already love. It has the build system like that of Valheim, but without the combat and death, so you can focus on building and exploring without having to worry about losing your things (if you choose the soft option). It also has the farming elements that are familiar to those who play a lot of farm sim games, although I would say the crops grow a little too quick, but in a survival game this makes more sense as you need to keep your food and water levels up as starving is one of the few way you can actually die in this game.
The automation you can make further into the game are also essential, otherwise I would be constantly mining every ore on every island. The power system is a good way to allow automation in a controlled way, so you can't just go straight to max level, you have to build energy sources like solar panels and later wind turbines and turbines to balance your energy demands, which makes it more realistic.
Loftia (Beta Review)
I will update this review once I’ve played it in Early Access, but based on what I’ve seen and played during the closed beta, I am very excited to play this game again.
So far the setting and music are so atmospheric. I am looking forward to the devs expanding the housing system, as right now it is quite limited, but it has much potential.
The farming system is fairly simple like other farming sim games, but with this game the focus is on sustainability. There is no stamina, but there is energy in the form of a rechargeable battery, that can be topped up with clean power from solar or wind.
Palia
At first I was nervous to start another MMO type game, but it is not like traditional MMOs in that there is more focus on having fun, exploring and of course the housing system. I love the socials aspects of the game like bug hunting and cooking parties and there is no real danger or combat system to worry about.
Looking forward to future expansions like the Royal Highlands.
Tales of the Shire
I've now reached a point where I have hit end game, after completing the main quest, getting every characters to level 10 and 3 out of 4 clubs to level 5. The only thing I have left now to unlock is the fishing club.
The game is very fun and cosy, the only complaints are the graphics are not as good as they could be and the performance (at least on steam deck) can be a bit choppy at times. Overall though the game is definitely playable and only encountered one game breaking bug, which required a restart, but otherwise the game runs fine.
The way how you plant up the crops is fairly unique. Most farming games have either a grid plot or a box, like this does, but in this game you actually have to place the plants of different sizes into the planters. Also interesting is that some crops do and don't like to be planted together. The crops grow quicker than in other games (usually only 3 days) and this is because the focus of the game is on getting lots of quality ingredients for the cooking system, rather than making a profitable farm.
The cooking systems seem to be the main focus of the game, which is fine. The system itself gives you lots of flexibility in ingredient choice and flavour profiles with the extensive seasoning system. You can basically make any combination of flavour from any ingredients, with a few exceptions. The only thing is there's no way to sell the extra meals you make, so I end up with 1 and 2 star meals sitting in the pantry. It would be nice if we could sell these unwanted meals.
Valheim (Early Access Review)
This game is the first survival game I've played in a long time, and at first I was nervous to deal with mobs etc, but once you get into the game it is so in depth and fun. I can see myself playing this for hours and is possibly even more additive than the closest game I've played before which is Minecraft.