Stardew Valley

At first, it was very exciting to finally have a relationship-building, harvesting, collecting, crafting game for PC. After about a year worth of in-game time, everything, and I do mean everything, started to wear thin. The interactions with other characters are flat, wooden, and generally uninspired. There is very little to like about most of the characters and very little indication as to what they may or may not like. Planting and harvesting is boring and unoriginal and soon starts to feel much more like a chore than an integral part of the game. The storage system is cumbersome - rather than allow you to add capacity to large storage areas, you have to create additional storage that is opened independently of all your other storage. Want to store enough that you can actually start cooking things someday? Better craft a dozen chests and better enjoy running back and forth between them trying to remember which one has which ingredient. The game is bright and colorful but the graphics are mediocre. I understand the whole pixellated retro fad over the last couple of years, but honestly, a game like this deserves better graphics. The dated graphics feel like a cheap attempt to capitalize on the nostalgia of the old games in this genre. Once I'd seen almost all of the game screens, and encountered most of the major game elements, the luster faded very quickly and I was left having to decide whether I wanted to spend countless hours of repetitive gameplay to accomplish goals that weren't particularly rewarding, or to just move on. I chose to move on. If you've been having withdrawals since the last Harvest Moon game came out, you will probably enjoy this game, but unless you love repetition with little feeling of accomplishment, you're probably best served by avoiding this game. Seeing the popularity of this game makes me wish I could design games because I believe that fans of this genre deserve the game that Stardew Valley wishes it could be.

As someone who struggles with games with resource management and repetitiveness, i was hooked on this game. There is so much to do in the game that if one particular part doesn't interest you, you can go and do something else: exploring, relationships, farming, raising animals and combat. As someone who is finding his gaming time less and less due to other responsibilities, i love the breakdown of each day. I can pick up the game and play 1 day or 20 (which often happens). As someone who got this game to shut a friend up that went on and on about it, i was never expecting to love it as much as i did. I was pleasantly surprised. Do yourself a favour and give it a go. You never know, you may surprise yourself too.

I've been waiting for split screen co-op to introduce my wife to Stardew. Couch co-op is her preference, and Stardew is exactly the kind of game she enjoys. Now we bicker almost every night on upgrading and creating the perfect farm. Thank you Concerned Ape.

This game is truly a masterpiece. Balances between the mundane regular tasks and optionality to explore, develop friendships, or design your farm how you like. My wife plays. My 12 year old plays and my 8 year old plays. 4 out of 4. Few games can do that. The soundtrack is perfect. The game is chill yet addictive. A true escape and source of joy.

I'm a massive fan of indie, RPG and simulator games, and stardew valley ticks all the boxes. It's a great game to sit down after a long day and play casually, or min-maxing if you're into that. The soundtrack is awesome, and everything fits together perfectly. Great game, I'd recommend.