I’m completely hooked on Disney Dreamlight Valley. As a nostalgic Disney fan, the hook was already dangling vigorously, but I’m more into RPGs and strategy games than life and farming sims. I’m used to battling others with spells, guns, and swords, not making friends and baking pies.
Now in its 14th major update since Early Access in 2022, I finally found the time to dig into Disney Dreamlight Valley in all its post-launch, live-service magic. Here are the 7 reasons why I’m sticking with Dreamlight Valley as my go-to cozy life sim.
Constant Questing
Life sims are often a bit too open-ended for me. Expand my farmland, furnish my house, talk to people, explore new areas, craft all the things. Dreamlight Valley has all of that, but what I really appreciate are the friendship quests.
Every single Disney character features four different quests that unlock as their friendship level progresses. These quests sometimes tell fun little stories, unlock new features (such as upgraded tools), or even add additional characters. More characters in the valley means more quests I can tackle concurrently, and it’s easy to swap quests and track my progress. There’s always something to search for, cook with, gather, or seek out.
Disney Music
Disney fans and musical fans go hand-in-hand, and I love that Dreamlight Valley includes so many fun musical pieces and nods from across the Disneyverse. From the Mickey Mouse Club theme in the plaza, to that catchy little diddy from Wall-E, Dreamlight Valley is filled with fun musical tracks from across the Disney and Pixar universe. I absolutely love hanging out with Kristoff, just so I can hear the amazing acoustic rendition of “Lost in the Woods!”
Dreamlight Rewards
Constantly earning, collecting, or unlocking stuff makes my brain happy. With Dreamlight Valley, it’s all about the Dreamlight. Everything we do, from picking up rocks to cooking meals and gifting friends earns Dreamlight.
Dreamlight is critical to progressing in the story and unlocking new regions and biomes — as well as unlocking new character realms and adding new characters to the Valley. It’s a satisfying system that never feels grindy or slow. Now if only the same could be said of earning gold…
Dreamsnaps
Introduced in the Summer 2023 Dreamsnaps Update, Dreamsnaps are weekly community photo challenges. Every week, any player can submit their Dreamsnaps photo by including items and clothing with that week’s descriptive tags in the picture.
Dreamsnaps can be quite challenging for early and mid-game players who lack item variety. But they’re a fun way to include the whole community, and a satisfying challenge for endgame players looking to earn extra Moonstones.
Engaging Story
Dreamlight Valley isn’t exactly Kingdom Hearts when it comes to epic crossover Disney shenanigans. But the simplistic story serves this unique world just fine, as we discover the importance of our own avatars, and those pesky Night Thorns.
Unlocking new regions by earning and spending Dreamlight provides the perfect pacing to unraveling the story while expanding the world and adding more Disney buddies.
No chopping trees
One of my biggest turn-offs in all the Minecraft-like survival-crafting-life games is having to chop down trees, collect wood, then turn that wood into furniture and tools. Dreamlight Valley still has us collecting wood, but it regularly drops from trees, ready to be scooped. All my beautiful trees can remain in place without fear (unless I need to move them to make room for cute houses!).
Regular Updates
We’re exhausted by so many live service games, yet I’m loving all these updates with Dreamlight Valley. From adding new Realms and characters to regular bug fixes and quality of life improvements, Gameloft has rolled out new stuff at a consistent clip. Every successful town needs to grow, and the Valley gets ever-bigger with each passing update. And with the enormous Disney IP, they have years worth of content to add, alongside full-length expansion packs.
