Is Stardew Valley Worth the Money?  

Ash Klann , Staff Writer

I will admit I’ve never been a big video game person. Aside from playing Minecraft with my friends occasionally, I had never really enjoyed a video game on my own. Stardew Valley has changed that. I think there’s something for everyone in this delightful game. It mixes the best elements of Minecraft, Animal Crossing, and other more open world games. It has Animal Crossing’s cute farming concept mixed with Minecraft’s creativity and freedom. If your attention span is short like mine, I think you’ll find Stardew Valleys constant stimulus incredibly helpful. There are a million things to do, and you can pick and choose what you find the most interesting. I personally love the farming mechanics, so I tend to gravitate towards that aspect but there’s so many layers to the game. If you’re an RPG fan you can spend your time getting to know the villagers in Pelican Town. Each character is crafted beautifully and by befriending them you can see their growth and discover their backstories. Or if you’re a fan of combat and mining you can tackle the games many different and progressively harder mines, I’m bad at the combat in the game but I think it’s a really fun challenge. I have barely scratched the surface of what there is to do, it’s ever changing and always has something to entertain you.

As I played Stardew for longer and longer I began to search for this game’s backstory, surely something this well-made must have an interesting development. I was not disappointed by the story I found. Most popular video games you’d think of now were worked on by huge teams with insane budgets and even more insane hours, however Stardew Valleys creation was entirely the opposite. It all started with a man named Eric Barone or ConcernedApe, his username on Steam, a 30-something with a computer science degree and love of games. According to Barone, Stardew Valley was never meant to ever be anything, he just needed coding practice and decided to try his hand at the usual farming simulator idea. Eventually over the course of four years he alone built Stardew Valley from scratch. Imagine spending four years alone perfecting a game you never thought you’d actually sell. I think that Eric’s insistence on making his game solely by himself is what makes Stardew such a unique playing experience. He added so many personal details and secrets that are so much fun to find. It truly defines “indie” at its core, completely untouched by impersonal corporate greed. I really think there’s something for everybody in this love-letter about game development, that is Stardew Valley.