20 Most Underrated Open-World Video Games Of The Decade (So Far)

5. Stardew Valley

A gorgeous, serene and ultimately relaxing game about farming, dungeon crawling and Animal Crossing-style village bonding, Stardew Valley was assembled by one-man coding powerhouse Eric Barone as a response to the lack of truly brilliant Harvest Moon games.

Thankfully, it goes a few steps further from just being a glorified Farmville, implementing a quest and reward system (and a bulletin board for monsters that need slaying in the local mine/dungeon) giving far more purpose and immediacy when it comes to what to do than in any of Nintendo's titles.

Narratively framed as your character leaving their cubicle office job to rediscover themselves, the game excellently plays on such corporate themes by having a 'villain' in the form of a major Wallmart-esque manager attempting to overtake the otherwise idyllic town.

The sort of game with the kind of heart only an independent philosophy could produce, Stardew Valley is a place everyone should visit once in their lives.