Hello and welcome back to The Backlog, where we review video games based on a certain genre or word each month. The Spring 2024 semester is finally drawing to a close; honestly, I feel like it went by very quickly. But alas, with the end coming it means that professors are scrambling to make every assignment have similar due dates. For students who are looking for an escape from reality, this month’s reviews of “relaxing” games are just for you.
“Stardew Valley” was initially released in February 2016 and has taken the world by storm since. It was nominated for the BAFTA Games Award for Best Game and the Game Award for Best Independent Game. The 8-bit aesthetics harkens back to an appreciation of retro games, one series that comes to mind being the early Pokémon games.
The main mechanic of “Stardew Valley” is farming and livestock, where players can harvest crops each season and/or raise livestock and sell their products. Each product takes different amounts of time to grow and has varying values. Some crops like cauliflowers and melons can only be harvested once, and then reseeded. While other crops like green beans and hops can grow continuously once they reach their first harvest. My strategy to have a constant profit is planting blueberries and cranberries in the greenhouse (once you’ve rebuilt it) so that they can grow year-round.
I adore the livestock feature in “Stardew Valley;” the animals will only die if you are not careful with them, as if they are left outside overnight, they may get attacked and killed by wild animals. The main types of animals that you can raise are basic barn animals like cows and chickens. But some become more exotic and lucrative, like ostriches and dinosaurs.
Spoilers for “Stardew Valley” story beyond this point!
The game begins with the opportunity to customize your character, players can get as creative as they please with their pixelated sprite. After that, the player finds themself stuck in their dead-end job at Joja Corporation. As a start to any farming game, we come across a letter from our deceased grandfather who left us his farm in, you guessed it, Stardew Valley.
When you arrive at your new home you are greeted by Lewis, the mayor. He explains everything you need to know. One of the first quests you can complete is meeting and greeting everyone in the community. The NPCs play a big role in “Stardew Valley,” in fact it’s likely what makes the game so attractive to players of all types.
You have the ability to befriend, date, marry and divorce people in this quaint little town. There is a limit to who you can marry, there are only so many bachelors and bachelorettes in Stardew Valley, but the developer, Eric “ConcernedApe” Barone, made sure that the dating aspect would remain a gender-neutral area. As a wholesome and relaxing experience, there is no discrimination in “Stardew Valley.”
By giving gifts to NPCs twice a week, you gain hearts with them and eventually find cutscenes that expand upon each character. On the surface they seem to be stereotypical characters you’d find in a dating simulator. Alex is a jock, Haley is the popular mean girl and Sebastian is a dark and gloomy loner. Getting to know each character reveals more about their personalities and their relationships with other NPCs.
Beyond the dating/farming simulator, “Stardew Valley” does contain combat. It’s reminiscent of “Terraria” in that enemies will approach the player and all you can do is swing a sword at them. The enemies are found in various areas like the Mines, Skull Cavern and later the Volcano Dungeon. The enemy difficulty increases as you progress through “Stardew Valley” and finding new areas will bring new challenges and new rewards.
Despite being out for nearly a decade, “Stardew Valley” has managed to remain popular for gamers due to constant updates that expand upon the game. The 1.6 update was released on March 19 for PC, the update for console and mobile will likely come later in the year. It includes a range of new crops, holidays and other quality of life updates. It makes the experience much longer with new things to discover and enjoy. The game is never-ending, although if you’ve played it for weeks or months at a time — like I have — you might’ve found yourself feeling bored or no longer challenged. Hopefully the 1.6 update revitalizes old players and brings in new ones.
Rating: 5/5