Stardew Valley

Stardew Valley is a 2016 farm life simulation role-playing video game developed by Eric “ConcernedApe” Barone. Players take the role of a character who inherits their deceased grandfather’s dilapidated farm in a place known as “Stardew Valley”. The game was originally released for Windows in February 2016 before being ported to other platforms. Stardew Valley is an open-ended game, allowing players to grow crops, raise livestock, fish, cook, mine, forage, and socialize with the townspeople, including the ability to marry and have children. It allows up to eight players to play online together. Barone solely developed Stardew Valley for over four and a half years.

He was heavily inspired by the Story of Seasons series, with additions to address some of those games’ shortcomings. He used it as an exercise to improve his programming and game design skills. British studio Chucklefish approached Barone halfway through development with an offer to publish the game, allowing him to focus more on completing it. Stardew Valley is a farming simulation game primarily inspired by Story of Seasons, a series by Marvelous and previously known as Harvest Moon. At the start of the game, players create a character, who inherits a plot of land and a small house once owned by their grandfather in a small village called Pelican Town, located in the titular Stardew Valley.

Players may select from several different farm types, each with a unique theme and different benefits and drawbacks. The farmland is initially overrun with boulders, trees, stumps, and weeds. Players must work to clear the debris to make way for crops, buildings, and various other placeable items. Players interact with non-player characters (NPCs) who inhabit the town, including engaging in relationships with them. 12 of the villagers are able to be wed and live at the player’s home and assist in tending the farm. Players are able to conceive a child with their spouse or adopt one in the case of same-sex marriage.

Players can also engage in fishing, cooking, crafting, and exploring caves filled with materials and ores to mine or creatures to combat. Players can take on various quests to earn additional money or complete specific collections of materials (called “bundles”) to restore the town’s Community Center or pay certain amounts of money to complete JojaMart bundles. Completing bundles rewards players with various items, including seeds and useful machines. Completing multiple bundles grants players access to previously restricted areas and game mechanics. All these activities must be metered against the character’s health and exhaustion level, as well as the game’s internal clock.

The player can consume food, which grants buffs that are useful in certain activities and situations. Food is also a source of replenishing health and energy, which allows the player to complete more tasks in a given day. The game uses a simplified calendar (four 28-day seasons per year), which determines which crops can be grown and which activities can be beneficial. Later in the game, players can restore a greenhouse and access a tropical island that can grow any crop regardless of the season. This island also contains a volcano and additional resources that can be used within the game.