When comparing Contraption Maker vs Stardew Valley, the Slant community recommends Stardew Valley for most people. In the question“What are the best PC games for kids?” Stardew Valley is ranked 6th while Contraption Maker is ranked 30th. The most important reason people chose Stardew Valley is:
Stardew Valley is a very simple game where you're free to do anything and everything at your own pace. This includes building your farm, planting and harvesting crops, and exploring the world among many other things. It will feel enjoyable no matter how fast or slow you do it. This coupled with the colorful/pleasing art style and the great soundtrack makes it an extremely pleasing experience.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Steam Workshop support
Players are able to share their creations as puzzles to everyone else who has this game on Steam, although this can potentially include even sophisticated machines that requires little input, just to see what kinds of amazing things can be created.
Pro 2-player coop
Two players can work together on building a machine at the same time, coming up with all sorts of wacky ideas, or perhaps even getting creative with a "machine vs. machine" type of creation.
Pro Puzzles
There are over 200 puzzles for you to go through and figure out, from simple to complex, and often with one straightforward solution, but several alternate solutions.
Pro Variety of parts
There are over 100 parts to add to your machine, with a wide variety of uses and effects.
Pro No size limit
You can make machines as big as you want, with as many parts as you want. The only bottleneck is how much your own computer can take.
Pro Very fulfilling to play
Stardew Valley is a very simple game where you're free to do anything and everything at your own pace. This includes building your farm, planting and harvesting crops, and exploring the world among many other things. It will feel enjoyable no matter how fast or slow you do it. This coupled with the colorful/pleasing art style and the great soundtrack makes it an extremely pleasing experience.
Pro Great soundtrack
When you work on your farm, go fishing, explore or just walk around the town you'll be accompanied by a really nice soundtrack. It's sometimes upbeat, sometimes soothing, and sometimes even melancholic, with every track matching each location and season perfectly.
There's also a wide variety of instruments used, including a piano, accordion, banjo, synths, and many others. This allows you to listen to the soundtrack for hours without getting tired of it. Sometimes it's very hard to believe Stardew Valley and its soundtrack was produced by just one person.
Pro A great mix of genres
While Stardew Valley is primarily a farming simulator, it also has social interaction elements and combat elements.
The social interaction elements allow you to interact with people around the town. You can befriend them, get quests from them, hang out with them, and even find a significant other to go out with and eventually marry. It can be very addictive to max out your relationship with everyone.
The combat elements are introduced when you unlock the dungeon, allowing you to battle creatures such as slimes, golems, and even mummies. While the combat is pretty simple, having you just swing your weapon, it's very satisfying to whack away at enemies.
If farming ever starts feeling stale you can try either of these to mix it up, allowing you to keep the game fresh for a longer time.
Pro Great freedom in designing your farm
When creating your own farm you aren't just limited to plowing fields for planting crops. You can also dig wells, put down fences, and even build various structures such as barns or stables. This allows you to build a farm that firmly matches your goals and sense of aesthetics.
Cons
Con Can get really repetitive
Living on a farm is a lot of work, so you'll have to repeat the same tasks quite often. This includes tilling land, planting seeds, chopping trees, and many other farm related activities. While it's normally pretty fun and relaxing, it can get incredibly tedious during long play sessions, especially if you're just trying to progress.