Research Story
Farming and life sim built around researching plants and creatures
Petal Cat Games · Published by Petal Cat Games, Electronic Sheep Games · Released Jul 21, 2025
- Reviews
- Very Positive
- 95% of 344
- Recent reviews
- Not enough recent
- Playing now
- 6
- right now
- Steam Deck
- Verified
- Last update
- 1 month ago
- Aug 23, 2026
Free demo available, 0 playing it now: get the demo.
What is Research Story?
You join the Violet Archive near Shimmerbrook to document unusual plants, creatures, and fish. You grow crops under different conditions, tame and care for creatures, fish, mine, solve cave puzzles, and get to know the townsfolk.
For you if...
- +you enjoy collecting creatures with distinct needs and abilities
- +you prefer puzzle-filled caves without combat
- +you like balancing farming with exploration and research
Not for you if...
- −you want research to progress without waiting for crops
- −you want combat-focused cave exploration
What players say
95% of 344 reviews are positive
Players praise the research-centered farming loop, creature designs, and pixel art. Some complain about cumbersome inventory handling and slow research progress tied to crop growth.
Screenshots and trailer
Research Story system requirements
As published by the developer.
Minimum
- OS
- Windows 7, 8, 8.1 and 10
- Processor
- 2 Ghz
- Graphics
- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660Ti
- Memory
- 2 GB RAM
- Storage
- 1 GB available space
PC version details
DRM, required accounts, controller support and Steam features.
- DRM
- None declared on Steam
- Controller
- Full controller support
- Platforms
- Windows
- Achievements
- 40
- Steam features
- Cloud saves, Family Sharing
Steam Deck: Verified
- All functionality is accessible with the default controller configuration
- Shows Steam Deck controller icons
- In-game text is legible on Steam Deck
- Default graphics settings perform well on Steam Deck
- External controllers are not supported for the primary player
Tags
- Farming Sim
- Life Sim
- Simulation
- Agriculture
- RPG
- Creature Collector
- Building
- Pixel Graphics
- Relaxing
- Sandbox
- Exploration
- Collectathon
- Base Building
- Crafting
- Character Customization
- Cozy
Recent updates
- Aug 23, 2026 · Hotfix v1.2.4
- Aug 18, 2026 · Patch v1.2.3
- Jul 30, 2026 · Hotfix v1.2.2
- Jul 28, 2026 · Hotfix v1.2.1
- Jul 24, 2026 · 🎉 v1.2 Carefree Creatures, Anniversary Gifts + Switch News!🎉
1 DLC available.
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