PIXALATED FARMING FUN; A STARDEW VALLEY REVIEW Farming simulators, there’s probably lots of games with that concept, but one of the best farming simulators on the market has got to be Stardew Valley.
Eric Barone, also known as ConcernedApe online, is the sole developer of Stardew Valley. He makes all the music, all the sprites, programmed all the NPCs, every single thing for this game by himself, and released the game on Feb. 26, 2016. This doesn’t include the fact that the game is still being updated with new content with the most recent update, version 1.4 being released Nov. 26, 2019, and version 1.5 being confirmed by Barone to be in the works. While Stardew Valley was originally released only for Microsoft Windows, it’s slowly been ported to other systems such as; macOS, Linux, Playstation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation Vita, iOS, and Android. The price is the same for most devices, $15 for PC, PS4, PS Vita, Xbox One, and Switch but is only $8 on the Apple App Store and Google Play. The only major difference between the versions for each device is that the PC receives the updates first and it slowly trickles into the other ports. Yes, you can pet the dog/cat that you get after the first week.
Three of the single males’ sprites. Sebastian, Shane, and Elliot
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REVIEW
MAY 26, 2020
A small early game farm with some (left) growing parsnips, (right) just planted potatos, and (bottom) just started green beans.
I first bought the game on the 29th, only a few days after release because I’d already heard great things about it online. As of May 7, I’ve almost got 300 hours in this game because it’s just so fun. I’ve played both singleplayer and multiplayer, tried all sorts of different ways of playing, and I still don’t feel like I’ve explored this game to the fullest. Some of the first things that caught my eye about the game might not seem all that big to some, but back in 2016, it was pretty big to little 11-year-old me it was very cool. No matter what gender you picked at the start of the game, you could date any of the 12 romanceable characters regardless of their gender. There’s actually
nothing in this game locked behind the gender options, not clothing options, hair options, accessory options, character interactions, nothing is inaccessible because you chose to be a guy or a girl at the start of the game. Another thing I really enjoy about this game is just how easy it is to play. Nothing is super complex to do and anytime something new comes up there’s a quick, non-obtrusive demo explaining what to do. If you’re starting a new farm but it’s not your first time playing, it’s not that hard to just ignore the demos, which can get really annoying in other games. The third big thing that really draws me to this game is that even though it looks like a simple pixel farming simulator, there’s so much story in almost
every inch of the game. Just starting out there’s not too much story that hits you in the face but as you continue to talk to characters every in-game day you slowly learn more and more about them and relations to some of the other characters. And it’s not just the NPCs that get a story, you the player get a bit of a story too. First in the intro cutscene where the character you created can be seen working at an office, eventually deciding that this life isn’t for them and getting their late grandpa’s farm. And then a week or so into the game the mayor, Lewis, asks you to investigate the ‘rats’ in the abandoned Town Center which actually end up looking a lot more like living apples. It then becomes your goal to investigate what these little creatures are and what they want.
What’s that werid green “rat” in the corner? Lewis doesn’t seem to notice it... Three of the single females’ sprites. Leah, Maru, and Emily
