I am a self-proclaimed cozy gamer. I LOVE a good RPG, and when Disney Dreamlight Valley, a life-sim adventure game, came about in 2022 (early access), it quickly grew to become, if not my favourite game, then at least the one that relaxes me the most and excites me when updates come. Ever since October 2022, I’ve logged on to it daily, if only to collect a chest that appears in the Valley daily that contains 50 Moonstones, a currency equating to real-life currency that can be used against in-game purchases, and to stock up on items and forage ready for updates. Initially I played on Nintendo Switch, then when that became laggy due to the console’s inability to support the ever-expanding space, updates and items, I switched to PC, which was better, but I ended up on PS5, which runs like a dream (no pun intended).

I’m not sure I can really put my finger on why I enjoy it so much, other than that it really indulges my imagination and need to escape reality from time to time. Being thrown into a Disney-themed world where you really are the main character is imagination come to life for Disney fans and people who love to indulge their creative side. I’ve found myself getting overwhelmed at times due to wanting to decorate everything perfectly but then getting updates and downloadable content (DLCs) with new biomes, characters and islands to include/decorate (due to it being an ongoing game that has no current plans to end), but I try to take it a little at a time to make it more managable – it’s supposed to be a relaxing, stress-free game, after all!

There really is plenty to do in DDV. If you’re a fan of farming sims and/or decorating, then you will likely get a lot of enjoyment from it. Crops are integral to the game, as tasks often revolve around farming and cooking, and there is an incredible amount of furniture to collect and decorate outdoor biomes with and for interior designs. Developers also introduced Touch of Magic, a customisation tool that allows you to decorate your own items of clothing and some pieces of furniture with your own colours, shapes and decals. Then there is the weekly Dreamsnaps competition in which players can submit a photo that they’ve decorated based on a prompt for the week (either furniture- or clothing-based), and then players vote for their favourite pictures. After one week, everyone receives Moonstones as a reward (even if your picture performs poorly, you will receive 300 Moonstones – see picture to the right – and the more votes you get, the more Moonstones you receive). It’s not essential to enter, but it’s worth it just to get the 300 Moonstones.

There are also three DLCs, or expansion passes. Each introduces a new island with biomes to explore as well as exclusive characters. The first was A Rift in Time, which players have been quite divided on regarding its layout and general enjoyability. It’s worth it if you want the characters (Gaston, Eve, Rapunzel, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit and Jafar), more quests and new recipes/ingredients/plants etc., but if you want something that feels far more ‘Disney’, as well as being more whimsical and fairytale-like, the second DLC The Storybook Vale (fans of the TV show Once Upon a Time will notice and enjoy its similarity to Storybrook) will be more up your alley. I personally thought Rift in Time wasn’t bad, but it decreased in my estimations after playing Storybook. With its dreamy biomes and exclusive characters (Flynn Rider, Merida, Hades, Maleficent and Aurora/Sleeping Beauty), it felt closer to classic Disney than Rift in Time. The third DLC, Wishblossom Ranch, is due for release tomorrow (19th November 2025), and I will most certainly be purchasing it, however I am already feeling like it won’t hit quite as well as Storybook did. Once you’ve completed the DLC quests, you can continue to return to the islands to decorate and forage as you please, though they do tend to fall into neglect once other updates/DLCs become available.

Is the game perfect? No: it can be glitchy from time to time, the updates often have an issue or two (though the developers are generally quite good at seeing feedback and getting them fixed asap), and although it has been in general release since 2023, the developers are still trying to appease players, both old and new, with the pacing of updates and Star Paths (“a season-based mission system that rewards players with exclusive items for completing specific quests” that has both a free version and a premium paid version). Many players do seem to continuously complain online about the game, which I sometimes struggle to understand considering it’s an ever-expanding and ever-updating game, however there are many praising it, too. I will mention though, it was originally meant to be free-to-play with optional in-game purchases, but the success of the game led the developers to renege on their declaration and opted to make it a premium game. A bit unfair, if you ask me, but it doesn’t appear to have put anyone off of buying it. If you have the money to spend and the time to really enjoy it, it is very much worthwhile. If you lack time and money, it is still a very enjoyable game with lots of free aspects to it that you can get hours of joy from, so don’t let the premium aspects put you off.

Finally, if you’re a Disney fan, you will really enjoy interacting with the characters. They don’t verbally speak much (some of them have their original voice actor for their minimal lines, but it would certainly cost far too much to keep bringing them back to read new lines), however just having your avatar be in the same space as and interacting with some of your favourite characters is exceedingly fun. The main storyline does have an end, but the game on the whole does not end when the story does. Players, including myself, have found the story to be very relatable, to the point of developers adding a trigger warning for the themes in which it deals with, which players appreciate. The quests/missions/activities are generally fairly easy (but don’t mention ‘Minnie’ and ‘clay’ in the same sentence to experienced players… if you’re yet to know what that means, all I’ll say is ‘good luck’), and you can take it all at your own pace. Some newer players report feeling overwhelmed by all the quests (particularly as many character quests overlap with other characters and you’ll need to unlock other characters as you go rather than picking and choosing at will), but there are plenty of online forums where experienced players offer help and advice.

There is SO much more I could say about this game, so consider this just an introduction! Is Disney Dreamlight Valley a game you currently play, or are interested in playing? I’d love to know! ☺

Below (and above in this post) are screenshots of some previous Dreamsnaps entries I have submitted! I’ve reached the 4000 Moonstones a few times (I don’t usually bother to try too hard tbh), but am still aiming for that 12k ( ๑ ˃̵ᴗ˂̵)و