Been a while since I've posted a review, so please bear with me.

Earlier this year (2016), I saw this game rocket up out of nowhere to massive popularity, but for the life of me I couldn't figure out why. Nearly a hundred hours later, I've found the answer: Stardew Valley just feels good to play.

Fair warning: there is no "goal" to Stardew Valley; sure, the game goes out of its way to point out features like the Community Center, Museum, and marriage candidates and gently suggests you explore all three, but at the end of the day everything happens at your own pace, with only the limits of the in-game days and seasons pushing you forward. If you want to just be a stay-at-home hermit and have nothing to do with the townsfolk aside from the occasional trip to the General Store for seeds for your farm, you can do that; conversely, if you want to just leave the farm to rot and spend your days fishing, foraging, and exploring the mines, you can do that too. No matter how you decide to spend each ~15 minute day, every single action is charmingly satisfying to perform, from the surprisingly nuanced pixel animations to the pitch-perfect sounds and score. Fun, too, are the mechanics; while you'll often find yourself short of energy early on (using tools of any kind other than the scythe or weapons will drain a bit of energy based on your skill with that specific kind of tool), as you keep playing you'll find that between your improved skills, your increased energy supply, and the various foods you find, grow, and eventually cook around the valley, energy will slowly become a concern of the past, and the rate at which the game opens itself up to you is pretty much perfect for a first-time exploration.

Now, most games would require a summary of the plot, but Stardew Valley is not most games. Unlike even the Harvest Moon games upon which it is based, the "plot" of Stardew Valley is almost completely what you make of it; while there are events and questlines scattered about, these are all either completed within the first fortnight of in-game days or else completable in any order desired. The game (and to a lesser extent, the in-game Stardew Valley) is truly a sandbox for your own exploration and experimentation, and while there are indeed certain ideal methods of, say, making large profits (i.e. the now-infamous "blueberries in Summer, cranberries in Fall" advice given to most newcomers), the game is really just about the experience of living life in the valley, so even if it takes you a few in-game years to farm all the crops or build all the buildings or finish the museum or even get married, it doesn't really matter, since it's the experience that makes it worthwhile.

Before we wrap up, let's go over a few quick notes of caution. Firstly, while a lot of people compare this game to Animal Crossing (mostly due to a similar tone and an emphasis on relationships with the townspeople), Stardew Valley is nothing like the AC series mechanically; villagers and town layout are completely preset, time passes at an EXTREMELY accelerated rate, and most importantly Stardew Valley is built for bingeing (as opposed to the AC series' emphasis on playing for a couple hours and then putting the game away until the next day). Second, there are a lot of mechanics that go unexplained (for example, nowhere is it mentioned in-game that using your pickaxe on tilled soil will revert it to an un-tilled state); while the in-game TV shows will explain a lot of the more minute mechanics, you're going to have to visit the wiki sooner or later to look up at least some strange situations. Lastly, as mentioned earlier, this game is built for bingeing; you WILL get hooked within the first couple hours, and you WILL look up after "just ten more minutes" and realize that it's 5:47 AM and you're supposed to get up for your weekly Pathfinder session in less than five hours (true story). Just accept the inevitable and save your first sessions for days when you know you can sleep in (or through) the next day. ;-)

Drawbacks aside, this is an incredibly engaging indie game with solid design and addictive gameplay that will leave you coming back for more again and again and again--not to mention an incredibly talented and dedicated developer who's consistently active in the community and constantly working on bug fixes and new updates. You want Stardew Valley in your library--it's worth far more than the US$14.99 it normally costs, and the usual sale price of $9.99 makes it an even sweeter deal.

Been a while since I've posted a review, so please bear with me. Earlier this year (2016), I saw this game rocket up out of nowhere to massive popularity, but for the life of me I couldn't figure out why. Nearly a hundred hours later, I've found the answer: Stardew Valley just [i]feels[/i] good to play. Fair warning: there is no "goal" to Stardew Valley; sure, the game goes out of its way to point out features like the Community Center, Museum, and marriage candidates and gently suggests you explore all three, but at the end of the day everything happens at your own pace, with only the limits of the in-game days and seasons pushing you forward. If you want to just be a stay-at-home hermit and have nothing to do with the townsfolk aside from the occasional trip to the General Store for seeds for your farm, you can do that; conversely, if you want to just leave the farm to rot and spend your days fishing, foraging, and exploring the mines, you can do that too. No matter how you decide to spend each ~15 minute day, every single action is charmingly satisfying to perform, from the surprisingly nuanced pixel animations to the pitch-perfect sounds and score. Fun, too, are the mechanics; while you'll often find yourself short of energy early on (using tools of any kind other than the scythe or weapons will drain a bit of energy based on your skill with that specific kind of tool), as you keep playing you'll find that between your improved skills, your increased energy supply, and the various foods you find, grow, and eventually cook around the valley, energy will slowly become a concern of the past, and the rate at which the game opens itself up to you is pretty much perfect for a first-time exploration. Now, most games would require a summary of the plot, but Stardew Valley is not most games. Unlike even the Harvest Moon games upon which it is based, the "plot" of Stardew Valley is almost completely what you make of it; while there are events and questlines scattered about, these are all either completed within the first fortnight of in-game days or else completable in any order desired. The game (and to a lesser extent, the in-game Stardew Valley) is truly a sandbox for your own exploration and experimentation, and while there are indeed certain ideal methods of, say, making large profits (i.e. the now-infamous "blueberries in Summer, cranberries in Fall" advice given to most newcomers), the game is really just about the experience of living life in the valley, so even if it takes you a few in-game years to farm all the crops or build all the buildings or finish the museum or even get married, it doesn't really matter, since it's the experience that makes it worthwhile. Before we wrap up, let's go over a few quick notes of caution. Firstly, while a lot of people compare this game to Animal Crossing (mostly due to a similar tone and an emphasis on relationships with the townspeople), Stardew Valley is nothing like the AC series mechanically; villagers and town layout are completely preset, time passes at an EXTREMELY accelerated rate, and most importantly Stardew Valley is built for bingeing (as opposed to the AC series' emphasis on playing for a couple hours and then putting the game away until the next day). Second, there are a lot of mechanics that go unexplained (for example, nowhere is it mentioned in-game that using your pickaxe on tilled soil will revert it to an un-tilled state); while the in-game TV shows will explain a lot of the more minute mechanics, you're going to have to visit the wiki sooner or later to look up at least some strange situations. Lastly, as mentioned earlier, this game is built for bingeing; you WILL get hooked within the first couple hours, and you WILL look up after "just ten more minutes" and realize that it's 5:47 AM and you're supposed to get up for your weekly Pathfinder session in less than five hours (true story). Just accept the inevitable and save your first sessions for days when you know you can sleep in (or through) the next day. ;-) Drawbacks aside, this is an incredibly engaging indie game with solid design and addictive gameplay that will leave you coming back for more again and again and again--not to mention an incredibly talented and dedicated developer who's consistently active in the community and constantly working on bug fixes and new updates. You want Stardew Valley in your library--it's worth far more than the US$14.99 it normally costs, and the usual sale price of $9.99 makes it an even sweeter deal.