Five Reasons Why You Should Play Stardew Valley

Stardew Valley is an indie game that grew in immense popularity at a pretty fast speed. This game follows the gentle genre of most farming or small town games such as Harvest Moon or Animal Crossing. In this game, you live in a city where you feel rather dissatisfied until you’re given the opportunity to move to a farm in Stardew Valley and regrow your life. There are several amazing reasons why you should play this game, but here are five.

Via Steam

1. It’s Outside the Usual

A lot of games revolve around violence or tense subjects. This games falls under that soft category that anyone can casually play and feel free to take their time. Some may find the lack of fast-paced, action-packed content to be a little disheartening, but there’s actually a lot of really complex story writing that goes into the characters and how you interact with them.

It’s also extremely self-aware by creating commentary on a life revolving around electronic entertainment while also being the very thing it critiques. It wants to give the player an experience of being in a quiet place, outside of the hustle and bustle with distractions like television and video games. And yet, it is one.

Via Oprainfall

2. Character Development and Art is Top Notch

One of the surprising things about this game is that it also stuck with a more pixelated look and managed to compete with other games that had advanced graphics. With a 10/10 on Steam, Stardew Valley has been a favorite to players. The creator went through several variations of art before deciding on one style, and it was beautifully old-school.

These characters all have individual routes and problems that you the player can engage in. You can even marry some of these characters and build small lives in the even smaller town of Stardew Valley. The more you help out and work within the community, the more in depth the game gets.

Via ArrPeeGeez

3. Literally One Guy Made the Entire Game

You read that right. The creator, Eric Barone, created ever single word and pixel in this game by himself. Every tree, rock and butterfly you see in the game was put there by him, and considering how detailed everything is, it’s nothing short of amazing. Not only is this not a mainstream game, it’s also not even a team of people.

Barone even did several redos of art and names before settling on the finished product. What was once to be Sprout Valley, filled with a more modern art style, became Stardew Valley. He was heavily inspired by games such as Harvest Moon, but wanted to see this genre take it to the next level.

Via Sprites and Dice

4. He’s Also Still Building Onto the Story

The game isn’t technically finished yet! The game is still getting new installments and growing. Barone will soon be releasing new stories and abilities in the game, such as a multiplayer option where up to four friends can interact in game. You can also get more cabins and even marry other players.

For indie games like this, it’s unusual to see one that continues to grow like this. Of course plenty of games get expansions, but simpler games tend to only go so far. It’ll be exciting to see what other surprises the creator has in store as the game expands.

Via Inverse

5. It’s Really Popular for an Indie Game

And it’s also only 15 dollars and available on most, if not all, gaming consoles. There’s no real excuse not to get this game and at least try it. What’s so inspirational about this game is not only that it is the work of one man, but also that it’s competing at a level with other, more well-funded and supported mainstream games. A lot of indie games don’t get that chance, but Stardew Valley proves otherwise.

If you’re looking for something simple and fun to lift your spirits, and maybe even brighten your day just a little more, this may just be the game for you. If you’ve already played Stardew Valley, you should tell us what you like about it in the comment section below!