Okay, so I might not be late to Stardew Valley per se, but when it was originally released in 2016, I didn’t give it its proper due. Sure, I played it a little, made it through a year or so, but I didn’t fully come to appreciate the joys of life in Pelican Town until recently. Until my digital world was the only one I could visit.
Stardew Valley is a farming sim (sort of–more on that later) that features a pretty familiar story. A young person with spunk and determination inherits a farm from their grandfather and must restore the farm, and the community, back to its former glory. There are crops to plant, animals to raise, and townsfolk to socialize with, all with the concrete goal of making the farm something your grandfather can be proud of. Because, you know, he’s going to come back in a few years and check up on things. As a ghost. Anyway.
As a personal note, I love farming sims. I’ve been playing Harvest Moon since I was about 12, and followed that franchise as it morphed into Story of Seasons. For me, it’s an event when a new Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons game releases, albeit a private event. I have very solid strategies and ideas about how a farming sim is supposed to work, but Stardew Valley turned all of my plans on their head. Sort of.
My bottom line is that Stardew Valley is perhaps the most charming farming sim I’ve ever played, and that’s saying something.
To really understand how Stardew Valley stacks up against other farming sims, I want to talk about a few aspects of the game using my patented FARMER system, which will walk us through some of the most important aspects of the game: farm life, adorable animals, richness of world, marriage and social aspects, escapism, and repetitiveness. So let’s go.
Farm Life
In any farming sim, players are going to spend a significant amount of time, well, farming. The farming mechanics of a game like Stardew Valley have to work well and make sense within the world in order to keep players interested. Bad farming mechanics make the bulk of the game unsatisfying and, worse, frustrating. Sure, farming is a repetitive task, but that’s part of the joy of a farming sim. Think of it as meditation.
The farming in Stardew Valley both makes logical sense and includes delightful additions that longterm farming sim fans might not expect. Some plants offer no explanation of what crop they yield, like the ancient seed, which makes the act of farming feel like an adventure or mystery. Planting is also fun, even though it can feel samey. Players can level up their tools to work more efficiently, or affect a larger area, which speeds up the entire process.
Resource management dominates a huge chunk of any farming sim, and Stardew Valley is no different. It’s important for players to have some sort of plan when planting because otherwise they might use up all their energy and have none left over for other activities throughout the day, like fishing or mining. The beginning bits of Stardew Valley, when players have no money and no skills, can be rough, but powering through makes for an even more rewarding farm life. Farm life is great, but man it’s annoying to have to care for plants that are never going to love you back.
Adorable Animals
Do you like animals? If you answered yes, Stardew Valley has you completely covered. If you answered no, you might be a monster. Oops.
Naturally, farmers can raise animals on their land, unlocking new species as they improve their facilities. At first, players might only have access to cows and chickens, with the help of a basic barn or coop, but improving those buildings leads to pigs, sheep, goats, ducks, and rabbits. Yes, you can raise tiny little rabbits and harvest their wool (humanely) for profit. Plus, they just add a nice friendly presence to the place.
Animal husbandry is admittedly not my strong suit in farming sims. I always run out of feed on the day the supply store is closed or forget to clean their space and make the animals mad. A million things could go wrong and leave me in a guilt spiral because a pixelated animal now hates me. Stardew Valley takes a lot of that guesswork out by offering options for automatic feeding and harvesting. If those aren’t aspects of the game that you enjoy, just don’t do them. This kind of luxury does come at an (admittedly steep) price, but it’s worth it in the end.
Stardew Valley also allows players to have a pet. Unlike many Harvest Moon games, you can actually select what type of pet you’d like at the beginning of the game, a cat or a dog. No, the day has not arrived where we can have a cat and a dog, but maybe one day. In addition to animals, farmers can also raise slimes on their property, little monsters that aren’t too vicious but pack a punch nonetheless. They’re gross but also cute? Don’t think about it too hard.
For cute animals, this game is perfect. I enjoy having the option to select my personal pet (my orange cat is named Tumbus, thank you), and the variety of animals available makes it easy to have a super cute (and profitable) farm.
Richness of the World
My most common complaint about farming sims is that the settings can feel, well, flat, as if they were created solely for the player character to step in and be the hero. Stardew Valley has a bit of a plot. The community center is in ruin, and an evil corporation called Jojamart (which is clearly WalMart) has moved into town. In order to save Pelican Town’s local businesses and restore everyone’s faith in the community, players must revive the community center through a series of fetch quests. With the help of some magical spirits. Obviously.
In addition to a plot, Stardew Valley also features characters who have rich inner lives, even though they might not seem that way at first. Even the most aggressive characters, like Shane or Haley, have hopes and desires that they share if you get to know them. There’s a wizard on the outskirts of town who may have an illegitimate daughter (who you can marry) hanging around Pelican Town. There’s an alcoholic that just needs a support system. A man living in the wild by choice and not desperation. You can meet a witch just as easily as you can discover that the mayor is having a secret romance with another townsperson. In other words, the characters have some facsimile of inner lives, which makes the world feel well developed.
In my most recent playthrough, I chose to marry Sebastian (the emo boy of all our dreams), and he mentioned Zuzu City several times, a place I’d never heard of before getting to know him. Befriend Sam and find out that–HELLO–the country is caught up in a war?! Pelican Town feels insulated but there are hints at a rich world outside the farm, and that makes the world feel more believable while also keeping players inside a cozy fantasy. Don’t worry, the war won’t come to Pelican Town. Probably.
Marriage and Social Elements
This is where I usually go ham in farming sims. I frequently forget to water crops or neglect my chores because I want to befriend and romance every single villager in town. Much like the development of the world, the romance and social options in Stardew Valley work well for me. Every character has some reward for getting to know them on a deeper level. Even the eternally crabby Hailey softens up once you get to know her.
It’s cheesy to say so, but real people are like this, too. It takes time to get to know someone, and even more time to win their trust and discover their hopes and fears. Marriage is extremely rewarding in Stardew Valley, though I admit that daily life once married can become a little repetitive (in the game! Real life is very different), but overall the relationships feel authentic.
Friendships are also rewarding in Stardew Valley, although things can get awkward if you’re already married. I married Sebastian at the beginning of my second year, and days later his half-sister Maru was trying to romance me with a little stargazing. Awkward.
Sure, there are characters that feel universally despised. Most of TikTok seems to hate Mayor Lewis, which makes sense considering his weird romance with Marnie, which he insists on keeping secret for some reason. Marnie never says anything either way. Even though you can find them sharing a drink at the local restaurant or hanging out together during some festivals, I get the weird impression that Mayor Lewis is ashamed of Marnie, maybe because she’s a single mother, or because she’s a bit chubbier than the other women of Pelican Town. But that observation in and of itself reveals that there’s nuance to the characters, which is more than Harvest Moon has been able to say in a long time.
Escapism Factor
I’ve spent a lot of time playing Stardew Valley recently because, let’s face it, Covid burnout is real. Pelican Town, despite its mysterious war and nearby Zuzu City, seems isolated and serene. The problems in the village are manageable, and most things can be solved by letting it play out. Pelican Town has small dramas, but they’re not stressful in the way, say, a global pandemic is. I can figure out how get to the bottom of the Skull Cavern or get the sewer gremlin to like me, but I can’t solve an international pandemic.
Even though Stardew Valley is about farming, there are other, more magical elements as well. The main plot of the game focuses on a group of small, potato shaped sprites that want to help restore the community center, and the game includes tons of strange secrets to find, like fairies, witches, aliens, and a mysterious (and terrifying) creature that emerges from a strange capsule. It’s easy to forget the real world while playing Stardew Valley, and to believe that there’s still a bit of magic left in the world. That, in itself, is a blessing.
Repetitiveness
Farming sims can get boring, but Stardew Valley actually has expansive late-game options that make it worth playing long after the main quest line concludes. Want to keep exploring the wilderness? Pop over to Ginger Island, a new area unlocked by the 1.5 update (which has now arrived on both PC and consoles). Want to get into the magical side of things? Start visiting the Witch and Wizard and learn about their sordid history. There’s plenty to do, and considering that the farm is almost limitlessly customizable, players can spend a good bit of time tinkering around with crop layout and artisan productions. If you enjoy min/maxing there are ways to do that on the farm, and it’s worth spending some time finding out exactly what type of farm you’d like to build towards.
Yes, eventually players will unlock every dialogue option and wander through every cavern, but it takes a while to get to that point. I’m not there, certainly. Stardew Valley gives everyone much more than it asks for in return (which is a relatively low cost compared to other games). Jump back into the world of the SNES and let the retro graphics and intricate relationships take you away.