Excellent Stardew Valley rival Mirthwood is finally about to get co-op

To me, co-op is what turns Stardew Valley into a truly phenomenal game. The farming sim is already brilliant without it, but the ability to easily play with friends makes any game better. The mixture of working together, chaos, and occasional bits of trickery always elevates the experience, and the delightful Mirthwood is no exception. This farming and life sim has been going from strength to strength since it launched, and the new announcement of a Mirthwood co-op update means it's only going to get better.

Mirthwood takes familiar concepts and propels them in an all-new direction. The RPG life sim puts you in charge of your very own homestead, where you'll need to build a farm, harvest crops, rear animals, and slowly but surely upgrade your facilities to help your productivity. If you've played any game like Stardew Valley, you know how this part goes.

You can also explore, fight, and socialize with the NPCs nearby, but the difference here is the setting. Mirthwood takes place in a medieval fantasy world, with multiple regions and towns right at your fingertips. You'll face creatures like werewolves and encounter dynamic events throughout the world, but at least you can defend yourself. You have loads of weapons, armor, and clothing to choose from, with plenty of loot to help you as you explore.

What about the co-op update, then? Well, Mirthwood will feature synchronous drop-in/drop-out local co-op and a dynamic shared screen, making it easy to play with friends. You can play both locally and via Steam Remote Play, too. Online co-op will come afterwards, though, so keep that in mind. You'll also retain all your own levels, skills, and inventory in Mirthwood co-op, with every single feature (like the marriage update) available too.

V Publishing and Bad Ridge Games say the Mirthwood co-op update is coming this summer, with online co-op arriving at a later date. You can check out the game on Steam right here in the meantime.

We've also got all the best life games and management games currently on PC.

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