In compiling this 10 best farming games list, we realized how pretty much every real time farming game is the same. They just change the words. You always build some form of housing, food and even weapons (if it's a military game). There's some form of money and special achievement credits, and most of these games are free, but you're welcome to pay real money to speed up your progress and increase your status. We're addicted to these games, so any game that put some twist on the formula stood out. Honorable mentions to Battle Nation, The Sims, Paradise Cove, Tiny Monsters, Camelot and all the other solid farming games that got edged off this list. But for now, let's dive into the 10 best farming games you can find in the App Store.

  • 10

    Airport City

    Game Insight, LLC

    So the first game on our Top 10 Farming Games list isn't a farm, but rather an airport. The industry of air travel actually makes Airport City feel more practical than a fictional farm. At its core, Airport City may still be building structures and balancing assets, but you feel like you can make the difference between people making their connections or getting diverted!

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  • 9

    Crime City

    Funzio, Inc

    What if instead of building a farm, you want to destroy someone else's farm? And instead of a farm it's a city? Crime City makes our 10 Best Farming Games list because it's kind of like Grand Theft Auto without worrying about driving or fighting with a controller. You get the thrill of stealing and assaulting with the obsession of building your own empire!

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  • 8

    Smurfs' Village

    Beeline Interactive, Inc.

    Now who could resist building their very own Smurf village? Yes, all they did was change the money to smurfberries, but they did tie the quests in with the Smurfs' personalities so that works. We love living in the world we grew up watching via this mobile interactive experience.

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  • 7

    Snoopy's Street Fair

    Beeline Europe

    Even more enticing than The Smurfs is Charlie Brown, another world that captures our childhood imagination. Building a farm (in this case a street fair), is even more obsessive when you get to interact with Peanuts characters and use materials from Charles Schultz's world. As achievements, you can even unlock classic Charles Schultz comic strips, so you may work harder on the street fair just so you can read more funnies. It's nice to include some farms of familiar fictional places in our 10 Best Farming Games list.

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  • 6

    Galaxy Life: Pocket Adventures

    Digital Chocolate, Inc.

    A farm is a farm is a farm, right? Well, when your farm begins on another planet, it's a whole new world -- literally. In Galaxy Life, you'll be obsessed with adapting to the space aged fantasy environments, and there's a combat component to speed things along. You can't just leave your Galaxy alone for hours while your community builds and harvest. You've got to fight off alien attacks or your new town isn't going to last.

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  • 5

    Zoo World

    KaiXin

    With the exception of Crime City or the stressful airline industry, what we like most about farming games is that they're a serene experience. Zoo World lets you build a community of animals. Zoo World also gets you more invested than some of the above games on the 10 best farming games list by letting you match animals together and hunt for rescues, as well as playing mini games to feed your creatures. We're a'' pet owners so we can't help having compassion for even virtual animals in a game.

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  • 4

    Sweet Shop

    Breaktime Studios

    We'll take you to the candy shop and let you lick the lollipop. No, we mean literally -- in this game you build a candy store and make your favorite candy. We love making a plan for our candy stock and collecting the ingredients we need to make them. It makes your achievements more personal since you decided to make honeycomb over lemon drops or whatever helps your sugar fix. Like lollipops!

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  • 3

    E.T.: The Green Planet

    Chillingo

    What ever happened to Elliott's buddy E.T. after he left Earth and went home? Now we all get to find out in this charming game that takes place right after the movie. E.T.'s planet is dying and he must cultivate it with strange and exotic plants, while finding the items needed to call Elliott back on Earth. You'll be farming like crazy in this one, and maybe even spending a buck or two despite its free price tag. (Inflation hits everywhere, even if you're not on Earth.)

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  • 2

    Gnome Village

    Disney

    We got truly addicted to Gnome Village. What woodland creature can we rescue and put to work? What can we harvest to make them work faster? What's beyond that edge of the frame? Let's clear it out to expand our board. All these factors make us want to keep playing, and make it a top pick for the 10 best farming games.

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  • 1

    The Simpsons: Tapped Out

    EA

    The Simpsons: Tapped Out is not only a great farming game where you get to build your own Springfield. It's also a brilliant spoof of farming games. From Homer's jokes about charging pay content (like the game's valuable donuts), to the very explanation of why Springfield can be rebuilt and placed out of order, Tapped Out is irreverent like the best Simpsons episodes. Every task/quest is a new joke, but you'll be addicted to making the best Springfield you can. With frequent content updates, like the Treehouse of Horrors Halloween assets, The Simpsons: Tapped Out could go on as long as the 25+ year run of The Simpsons TV show, which is why it's our #1 pick for our 10 best farming games list.

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