Stardew Valley is a peaceful game. You play as the farmer, arriving in Pelican Town to take over the farm you’ve inherited from your late grandfather.
You create your own character, being given the choice from two genders, 24 skin tones, 74 hair styles, 112 shirts, four pants, 31 accessories, five dogs and five cats. For eye color, hair color and pants color, there are sliders to change the hue, saturation, and value.
After designing your character, give them a name, whether that be your own or something made up, the choice is yours. Next name your farm, then your favorite thing, but be careful with the last one. Later in the game, it comes back around as a thought filling your mind when consuming a Stardrop; finding seven of which unlocks an achievement.
In this role playing game, it is your job to tend to the farm, clear away the debris from times unkempt. Clear out the overgrown weeds, pick up fallen branches and break misplaced boulders. Once you’ve got some space cleared out you can till the soil and tend to your farm.
Travel into town and interact with the townspeople. Mayor Lewis encourages you to interact with the townspeople by giving you an introductory quest, requiring you to introduce yourself to 28 villagers to complete it.
Upon meeting the villagers, you can gain friendship points with them. You can do this by daily engagements and gift giving. However, if you give a disliked or hated gift you will lose points. If you get your friendship level high enough with certain villagers, they become marriage candidates.
The available bachelors are Alex, Elliot, Sam, Shane, and my personal favorite, Sebastian. The available bachelorettes are Abigail, Emily, Hailey, Maru, Penny, and my personal favorite, Leah.
Once you’ve begun dating one, or more, of the villagers, you can marry one, only one, and bear up to two children with them.
When you’re not interacting with the locals or tending to your farm, you are able to forage for wild plants, chop down trees for wood, collect materials for building recipes, fish in the local waters, explore the town, and fight the monsters hiding in the darkness of the caves.
There are many secrets hidden in Stardew Valley. It is a game of exploration and adventure and it is my favorite video game. I don’t play much, outside of Stardew Valley and Minecraft, my knowledge is limited, so my analysis may be biased.
Despite the danger, the game really is quite calming. You get quests and requests from villagers to complete tasks. It can be trivial and come to feel repetitive, but for me that is the best part. It is routine and not much is unexpected after a while. Yet there is somehow always a surprise.
I won’t give too much away, or reveal the game’s secrets, but just know it’s not what you may expect when looking at it at face value.
My favorite part of the game has to be interacting with the non-playable characters. Everyone’s story is so unique and thought out. Some of the stories are light hearted while others are truly heart breaking.
Kent is a war veteran, coming back with PTSD and trying to navigate a normal life back in the valley.
Shane is an alcoholic, has mental health issues, a poor family life and doesn’t play well with others until you get on his good side.
Alex lives with his grandparents because his father, an abusive alcoholic, abandoned him and his mother. His mother died shortly thereafter.
I highly recommend this game to anyone looking for a unique adventure. But don’t take my word for it, on your gaming platform of choice, download Stardew Valley to discover the wonderful mysteries of the valley.
