LogFAQs > #986809185

40. Stardew Valley
Created by Eric Barone
Release year: 2016
Platform: Steam
Playtime: 114 hrs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WuKj7a3ces

Our first game with an exact playtime. Thanks, Steam!

As a kid, I had a subscription to Nintendo Power. My parents refused to get me a console, but they had no problem getting me a magazine about video games. Not sure how that worked. Anyway, in the issue where Harvest Moon was first previewed, I was completely infatuated with the idea. It sounded like a really cool and different idea for a video game. We were already in the era of SimCity and the like, so a farming sim actually sounded like a lot of fun. Years later, I'd download a SNES rom and actually try it, and it was basically everything I thought it would be.

Except slightly disappointing. There were a considerable number of limitations to Harvest Moon, most of them revolving around time and energy management.

So ~20 years later, when somebody decided to make a "new Harvest Moon" (and I was mostly oblivious to the actual sequels,) I knew it would be something special. Boy was that ever a massive understatement. Stardew Valley is freaking huge.

And in being the Harvest Moon game that I always wanted, it actually became a bit too much. One of the problems I always had with Harvest Moon was that I'd play for a bit and then run out of steam and stop, and I had the same issue with Stardew. I've started dozens upon dozens of Stardew runs, but I think I've only gotten to summer in like 3 or 4 of them, and only progressed into year 2 once. That game didn't last much longer.

However, the gameplay loop of Stardew and the constant sense of progress is intoxicating for a gamer like me. There's always something to do. Always some way to achieve. Always a different angle to the game to open up even if I don't give a crap about fishing. One of the hardest parts of the game for me is reconciling when I can spend time in the mines versus tending to my farm...but you have to go into the mines or you'll never have sprinklers, at which point all you're ever doing is watering. Yuck. The mines might not represent the most intense and riveting action game I've ever played, and that's even more true if you get out into the desert, but all the town interactions and the million other things you can do absolutely keep the game compelling.

So while I may not be a very good Stardew player, I've given it an attempt on quite a few occasions, like when there's a new patch where I never access any of the new content. And for this type of game, Stardew is all I need. I'm aware there are a gajillion clones, but I don't think any of them will offer me anything I can't already get here. Maybe some day I'll explore the world of Stardew mods, but I'm too lazy to mess.

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Up next: A game that opened up a genre for me.