I am back with another game review! This time, we are talking about the indie-action-roleplaying game Stardew Valley! I became hooked to this game a few years ago, when I stumbled upon people playing it on YouTube (e.g. Sp4zie, one of my favourite youtubers/streamers, played it in a couple of videos), on Twitch etc, but never really thought of even buying it until the start of this year. I, in fact, bought it on the 1st of January 2021. I was probably really bored or something.
The main reason for buying this game is that it looked really cute. Another reason was, as you might have read from my post about The Binding of Isaac, I become very addicted to small and simple games. Little did I know, this game is actually huge and has lots of playtime packed into it. You can put lots of time into it and, quite frankly, never get bored of the game. I have, however, left out another huge reason – the game is multiplayer and I got to play it with my girlfriend (I bought her a copy as well). My girlfriend doesn't consider herself a gamer – she does like to play The Sims from time to time but doesn't really get hooked on video games as I do. But this game... she absolutely loved it.
Mining, one of the five useful skills you stumble upon in Stardew Valley. Source
As I said before, the game offers lots of playtime. If you wish to finish the game by speedrunning it, you can also do that, but if you wish to take it slow, it is a very viable option. You start off by receiving your grandfather's farm as he has passed away lately and the farm was part of his inheritance. You think to yourself – to heck with city living – and move to the farm, only to find that life on the farm isn't as simple as you might think. You need to grow crops, sell them for money, eat, buy new crops, etc and in-between all of that, you also need to find time to sleep.
That is the top layer of the game, with which you are introduced right at the very beginning. However, as the game progresses, you learn that you can do quests, chores for the townsfolk (and even to the wizard in the tower), level up your skills (of which there are five: farming, mining, foraging, fishing, and combat) and make friends with the townsfolk. You can even get married to your favorite person in town – how cool is that!
A picture of the marriage ceremony. Source
The most fun fact about this very game is that the whole game was created by just one person. The developer of the game, Eric "ConcernedApe" Barone, graduated from the University of Washington Tacoma with a degree in computer science but didn't seem to find a job in the field. And what do you do when you're trying to get a job? You create something with your own hands! [1] As for now, he has incorporated a few other people in developing the game but is mostly still running it on his own.
Another fun fact is that the game was based on the Harvest Moon series, which Eric commented as "the series had gotten progressively worse after Harvest Moon: Back to Nature". [1] The game is also loosely based on other similar games like Terraria, Minecraft, Animal Crossing, etc.
There are lots more fun facts inside the game, but I'll leave that to you to find out. If you ever get stuck on a quest, the game also has a very packed Wiki, in which you can find the answers to all your questions. Personally, I think that the game is quite tough to sometimes figure out on your own, and in those cases, I did use the wiki a few times.
Another one of the five skills: Fishing. You can fish during all four seasons! Source
I have to be honest with you, reader, the game is simply very fun to play. It is very easy to pick up and even easier to enjoy. The point of the game, as said before, is very simple: buy crops, sell crops for more money, buy better crops, gather all the crops! But Stardew Valley is, in fact, much more than that. Catching legendary fishes, chopping down huge trees, mining to get better loot, and so on.
Another great thing about the game is that you can play with multiple people! I spent hours on end playing this game with my girlfriend. I have to say that, instead of writing my bachelor's thesis, we sometimes started in the early morning and played for 10 hours straight. The game was just so much fun. We ordered food, ate in the meantime, and then continued playing. The game doesn't have any heavy hardware requirements for your computer either, so you can even play it on old "calculators". 😆
Should you ever find yourself bored or already finished the game, you can always check out the very diverse modding community! As you may know, games like Minecraft offer very different types of mods that make your gameplay even harder and much more technical. That is also the case with Stardew Valley! You can make different kinds of weapons, add more crops to the game and even add a "developer window" so you can give yourself items. 😉 It is much more interesting to gather all the stuff yourself, though.
Just look at how cute the animals are in this game! Source
Let me know down in the comments below whether you have played the game! If you plan on playing it, make sure to keep me in mind. I have to admit that even I haven't finished the game yet, but whenever I and my girlfriend get to sit behind our computer all day, we will definitely take the time to do that!
Thank you for reading my post! Stay tuned for the next one!
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stardew_Valley#Development
