Farming and agricultural games let you obtain a piece of land and manage it as you please. Really good games in this genre make you feel like you can create a perfectly mimicked reality in them by tending to the farm around you and shaping it as you like.
It helps if the developers throw in complementary elements like side quests, alternate professions or activities and back stories for other characters in the sim. But the main draw should always be what the protagonist can achieve on his land and in his tight-knit community.
If you enjoyed Stardew Valley and want to try other similar games, go ahead and pick one from our list of the best games like Stardew Valley.