In the many games I have played and completed over the years, I have never gotten close to replaying any of them as many times as I have “Stardew Valley” (Rated 10+).
I have put many hours into it and it holds a special place in my heart. And I am not the only one who thinks this way because according to Steam, a popular digital video game distribution site, at its peak there were 53,713 players online playing “Stardew”. And it boasts a 5 star rating from 98% of 6,674 user reviews in the past 30 days.
Released on February 26, 2016 “Stardew Valley” is a country life RPG, or role playing game, in a cute pixelated art style.
In the game, the player is sick of their old life and moves away from the big city to a small town called Pelican Town to live on the farm their grandfather left them when he died. It’s been many years and the farm has fallen into disrepair so the player’s goal is to bring the farm up to
perfection while making friends in this new town. You can talk to, give gifts, befriend and even marry and adopt children with the different NPCs that live in Pelican Town.
Growing crops and raising livestock is one way to earn money. But if adventure is more your thing there is an elaborate system of mines that the player can traverse to fight monsters, find riches and gather ore to
upgrade their tools and weapons. “Stardew” is also multiplayer so you can bring up to 3 friends with you on your journey, you can even marry other player characters if you choose.
The game has a lot of customization, not only in the player creation, but you can choose from up to seven different farms. There is the basic farm but there is also the forest, beach, river, wilderness, hill top and four corners farm. Each gives their own unique experience when farming, with the four corners farm being a mix of the different farm types. There is also a large list of decoration items you can put around your farm and to customize your home. With all the cute decorations it makes your farm all the more adorable.
“Stardew” has many secrets and easter eggs to uncover that adds just that extra touch to an already very fun and interesting game.
“Stardew Valley” is still being updated with the next update 1.6 said to be coming out very soon. The developer Eric Barone, also known as ConcernedApe, an American video game developer independently created “Stardew Valley” including all of the coding, art and music.
“Stardew” is available on Steam, Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch and Mobile.
