I bought Stardew Valley on a whim. Something cute to play between other games I thought. I was so naïve. The game is supper addicting. You will start to play, thinking to yourself, “I will just play for a couple of in game days.”, and then before you know it you have lost an entire real life day. The thing is, I am not even sure that it is fun, but there are so many little things to do that it digs its hooks in very quickly.
In Stardew Valley you play as a young city person who’s Grandfather has passed away and left you a run down farm. He wants you to tend to it, so that you can escape the modern rat race. Apparently this appeals to you, so you leave the city, head to Stardew Valley, and start up your farm.
It is all so simple at first. You spend you money on seeds, then you water your seeds, and then you sell your plants, but then hey, you can go fishing. If you want better farming equipment you will need copper and iron, so you better check out the old mine. There are monsters in the mine, so you will need a sword. Did you know that you can become friends with the townspeople? You can, and it speeds it along if you buy them gifts. They also have birthdays, so better not miss those. It goes on and on like this. There are also some very weird things that happen, which is great because it adds to the ‘fun’.
Nothing Stardew Valley does is complex, and obviously Nintendo has owned the lowkey farming sim for years with the Harvest Moon and Animal Crossing franchises, but this gives the rest of us a chance to relax and water a bunch of sunflowers then give them to townspeople who rarely give you anything in return. Not that I am angry.
If you want something simple, yet engaging, and if you have more self control than me, something you can play for a few minute here and there, Stardew Valley is a great choice. It is now out on just about every gaming platform known to man, so there is almost no excuse not to play it, except maybe not wanting to dream about your next potato crop.
