Relaxing farming in Stardew Valley
October 26, 2024 | GamesOne of my favourite games of all time has to be Stardew Valley. The game started as a solo developer project by ConcernedApe, which makes the game even more impressive. The game was first released in 2016, after which we have received many updates.
Stardew Valley is a game where you inherit your grandfather's farm. I try to keep the details to a minimum so I won't spoil too many parts of the game. You can choose a farm between many options to support your preferred playstyle.
The game was only solo-player in the beginning but later on, a co-op mode was added to the game. I've yet to try the co-op mode out but I've been happily playing the game solo.
In the past we played Harvest Moon with my brother and we loved it. So it probably isn't all that surprising that I love a similar type of game.
Farm life
At the beginning of the game you get to choose either a cat or a dog for your farm and you can name it. If you keep petting your pet, they will occasionally give you gifts, which is quite a fun little perk. Not that I'd need that to keep petting my cat. Doesn't probably surprise anyone that I did choose a cat as my pet.
As part of your farm life, you can have barn animals and coop animals. I won't add spoilers about what animals you can have. Let me just say that there are several, some of which are more exotic than others. Petting your farm animals will increase the quality of the products they produce.
There are four seasons in the game, all of which have seasonal crops to farm. You can also grow trees that grow fruits.
There are also many more activities for you to do. If you roam around the town, you can also find products to forage. There are monster-filled mines where you can mine for ores and other materials. You can also cook food and spend time fishing.
There are so many activities to do that you can spend hours in the game without getting bored with it. There are more activities to do than what you can achieve in one game day.
Townspeople post quests for you to complete, which is one way to increase friendship with them. Other ways include gifts and just talking to them.
Friendships and family
There are several single NPCs in the game. You can get married to one after you've become good friends. The person you marry will join you on your farm and occasionally help you.
You can have two children in the game, either biological or adopted. The children will grow up to be toddlers but not older than that.
There are a lot of other townspeople you can become friends with.
The game received a lot of new features in a version 1.6 update
This version is available for everyone who owns the game. This is amazing. I would have happily bought this as an expansion for the game.
If you've played the game before the 1.6 update, I do recommend checking out all the new things in the game!
Merchandise
While the game has a great Wiki, I got bored switching between the game and my browser. I had earlier seen how nice the guidebook looks and I decided to get one for myself. I love using it. There is just something about having an actual book in my hands.
I also have two colouring books with a Stardew Valley theme. I like colouring so I thought why not relax with a relaxing colouring theme.
A new game coming from ConcernedApe
The developer is currently working on a new game. Based on my experiences with Stardew Valley, I'll definitely be checking out the new game as well once it comes out.
If you haven't tried Stardew Valley out before, I can't recommend it enough. If you are looking for a fun and relaxing game, this one might be for you!