This ‘Animal Crossing’ Meets ‘Stardew Valley’ Game May Have Cured My MMO Phobia

I have a strong hate-love relationship with MMOs. Having played a good chunk of them over my life, I find that, more often than not, they are exhausting experiences.

I’ve played EverQuest, World of Warcraft, Guild Wars, Runescape, Path of Exile, and so on, but they all left me more frustrated than at peace, once the excitement wore off. It’s not that I’m against multiplayer games. As we’ve talked about before, online gaming can actually be good for you. I just rarely find online games that click with me.

That is until Palia came around. Palia, developed by Singularity 6, is an MMO nature sim that focuses less on competition and grinding and more on warm and cozy vibes. If you’ve ever played Stardew Valley, you’ll feel right at home. You can explore beautiful rustic landscapes in what is some of the most stunning world design I’ve ever seen in a game, plus farm, fish, decorate your house, and much more.

Unlike other MMOs which focus heavily on competition, Palia is all about community and cooperation. You’ll find yourself bringing together a team of other plays to complete a task often. There’s no major conflict here except enjoying peaceful country living.

Much like other farming sims, you’ll be able to maintain land plots and grow your own crops. You can use tools like bug-catching nets, pickaxes, hoes, bows and so on to farm and gather resources at your leisure. You’ll need materials like wood and stone to further build on your own home.

The whole experience just feels … great. It feels good to control, good to just wander around nature, and good to talk to people. Speaking of people, you can build relationships with NPCs and even romance them. This is fairly unique for an MMO, as usually NPCs don’t have much interaction beyond being quest dispensers.

So far, there are 23 NPCs, and they all have their own unique, colorful personality. There’s a complicated social net between all of them, so much so that the official Palia website has a handy relationship chart for you to follow. You’ll talk to such characters as Tamala the potion-maker, who loves beauty above all else, and the suave hunter Hassian. There’s pretty much a villager for everyone’s personality and interests.

Palia may have cured my MMO phobia, and I’m forever thankful for it. Games don’t always have to be a competition. We’ve covered some of the more heinous aspects of MMORPGs before, but Palia seems to be exempt from most of that so far.

Sometimes you just want to grow some tomatoes and flirt with the purple elf of your dreams. And being able to share that experience with other people online just makes it all the better.

(featured image: Singularity 6 Corporation)