So many games.
So little time.
In only a few months’ time, 2024 has seen the release of a litany of amazing video games. January started with a potential GOTY contender in the Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, followed closely behind with Yakuza Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth. Persona 3 Reload and Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth turned February into JRPG heaven with amazing retellings of their original stories. And finally, Dragon’s Dogma 2 became the talk of the unnecessary Micro-transaction town in March. We can’t forget the surprise hits of Helldivers 2 and Balatro becoming every gamers’ favorite grind.
Gamers are eating very well in 2024. The gaming workplace could be better…
Bottom line, I have a huge backlog that only gets larger with every monster title that releases this year. 2024 has been this RPG fan’s dream. I have logged many hours into Persona 3 Reload, Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth, and have been streaming Undertale recently (not 2024 obviously). That’s not even to mention that Yakuza: Like a Dragon, Baldur’s Gate 3, and Disco Elysium are looking at me like a disappointed lover in the morning.
Despite the release of 2024’s titans, only one game has captured my attention into downright addiction, and that is Stardew Valley.
Home, Home on the Range
Stardew Valley is a farm life simulator, released in 2016, and developed by Eric “ConcernedApe” Barone. Players inherit their deceased grandfather’s farm in the quaint town of Pelican Town, and try to bring it back to life while getting to know the various townsfolk. It’s a little bit Harvest Moon, some Animal Crossing, or even Farmville for us old people that remember when Facebook was fun.
The best part about Stardew is that it’s more involved than any of those games combined. It is the ultimate time suck of a game I’ve ever played. Let’s put the story and characters on pause for a second, and just discuss the gameplay. There is an unlimited amount of things to do in here. Your character wakes up at 6AM and sleeps at 2AM; those are the only requirements. Everything else is up to you. How do you want to run your farm? Spend your day gathering wood by chopping down trees? Finding a river, lake, or ocean to catch all the fish? Maybe combat is your jam. Delve into the mines, gather all sorts of ore, stone, and items while fighting various cute and dangerous monsters. Better make sure you upgrade your backpack first to carry as much as possible, which requires a set amount of money.
Speaking of money. How do you revitalize a farm with limited funds? You farm! Duh!
Pierre is a character in Stardew Valley that runs the main store where you purchase seeds to plant on your farm. Those seeds need water and time to grow and become fruit and vegetables, which are then sold back to the townspeople. That money allows for more types of farming, like owning chickens or cows to produce milk and eggs, which then can make cheese and mayonnaise. Or maybe you’ve gathered a bunch of recipes, upgraded your house, and began cooking. Endless things to do and never enough time.
And everything you encounter in Stardew Valley has a purpose.
Characters Galore
One of the major stories in Stardew Valley revolves around the Community Center. The game tasks the player with rebuilding a dilapidated community center by gathering various resources throughout the game. There are cute creatures that unveil themselves as you unlock more and more of the center and figure out what happened there and why.
However, the true fun of Stardew Valley is getting to know the characters of Pelican Town. There are a ton of NPCs to get to know, and every single one of them is deep. My two favorites are Abigail, a purple-haired gamer who is the daughter of the main store owner and loves the graveyard, and Linus, a misunderstood outcast who lives outside the town in a tent and is super grateful.
Stardew Valley has a relationship system to get to know the characters, regardless of romantic intent or friendship, by gifting items to them. This boosts (or drops) each character’s friendship level, based on how they liked or disliked your gift. Stardew Valley really shines when it triggers a character scene after you reach a specific relationship level. No spoilers here, but each character has a rich backstory. There are some days where all that gets done is hunting for fun gifts, or going on specific quests, for my favorite characters. Much more than a farming game!
Decisions, Decisions, Decisions…
Stardew Valley is more like a life simulator. You wake up with unlimited potential and go to bed with fifteen things left on a to-do list. The best games give choices, whether being story choices with consequences like Mass Effect, or games with unlimited ways to solve a problem like Baldur’s Gate 3 or Disco Elysium. Stardew says, “here’s a farm, now go,” and the player has all the choice in the world on how to spend the day. Some days have town activities, or there are more proactive ways to spend specific days (like mining whilst raining), but nobody forces the player to do these things. Player choice always makes a better game.
Sometimes, too many choices can be bad. There were multiple times where I needed to finish a time sensitive quest, but got distracted on the way to said quest, and spent my time doing something completely unrelated. Not a game design flaw, but a brain design flaw.
2024 has been busy busy busy in the game industry. It’s also been busy and eventful in my life, which prevented sitting down for the needed gaming marathons to finish 2024’s gaming giants. This is where the beauty of the Steam Deck has come into play. That handy little console has become my most used piece of tech. I love my gaming cave, but relaxing on a couch next to my wife and dog is the epitome of cozy gaming. Stardew Valley has long been dubbed a peak cozy game, but I’ve compounded it with the coziest way to play a game. “Cozyception” if you will. Some people deal with the stresses of life with drugs and alcohol. I deal with those stresses by hanging with a purple-haired gamer and digging dirt with my hoe.