Now Playing: Stardew Valley

I remember playing and enjoying Harvest Moon on the GameCube, so I’ve had my eye on picking up Stardew Valley for the last couple of years. Because that’s essentially what it is – a new Harvest Moon game. It’s like someone decided if Nintendo weren’t going to make one, they’d just make their own. With blackjack. And hookers.

I didn’t pick up Stardew Valley on PC though, but on Switch. It seemed like the perfect fit and a perfect game to play on the go. But I ended up playing 90% of the game in docked mode, not portable. Why? Primarily, because Stardew Valley has the very strange omission of a ‘Save & Quit’ feature.

You can only save your progress at the beginning of every day, and each day lasts about 15 minutes. It’s not the sort of game you can just jump in and out of in short bursts. Stardew Valley is all about efficiency, about making the most of each and every day. If you’re thinking this is some kind of relaxing farming sim – think again. It can actually be kind of stressful, particularly during your first couple of seasons, as you’re constantly fighting against the clock to get things done.

And this initial struggle is probably the strongest part of the experience. Getting your farm established and organised, clearing land and expanding your farm, constructing and upgrading new buildings, crafting and upgrading various tools, exploring the local town and surrounding area, delving deeper and deeper into the mines . . . it’s a hell of a lot of fun. There’s so much stuff to see and do and get stuck into, and you never seem to have quite enough time or resources to do everything.

The heart of the game really is making money (gold) so you can make even more gold. It’s the ultimate ‘spend money to make money’ game. You plant seeds to grow crops to sell, so you can make gold to buy even more seeds and grow even more crops to make even more gold so you can buy even more seeds and grow even more crops to make even more gold so you can buy even more seeds and . . . I think you get the idea.

Planning each season’s crops and trying to maximise your income is pretty fun and addictive, not to mention satisfying when your big crop finally comes through and you get a massive pay day. And that satisfaction extends to the rest of your farm. Seeing it grow, investing in new buildings allowing you to house animals or produce your own ‘artisan’ goods, expanding and decorating your house . . . there’s so much to keep you busy and unlock that you’re always looking for what you want to improve upon or invest in next.

There is more to Stardew Valley than just your farm, however, as you have an entire town of characters you can interact and build ‘relationships’ with. This basically just amounts to giving them lots of ‘gifts’ but each resident does have their own unique personality and routine depending on the time of year. They also have quests you can complete for either gold, or to improve your relationship ‘level’.

And, like Harvest Moon, you can even marry and have kids with one of them. Unfortunately, the kids never grow up so you can’t put them to work and later get into a legal dispute when you decide to cut them out of your will and leave all of your lucrative land to an aggressive charity that’s groomed you through your twilight years. You also can’t hire help on the farm, which seems a little strange, because once you’re rolling in tons of gold, you can easily afford to pay someone to help with the day to day chores – like that homeless dude who lives in a tent. I’d even build a shed for him to live in, that’s how generous I am.

As much as I’ve enjoyed the game – and would seriously consider picking it up again on PC, which gives you an idea how much I’ve enjoyed it – that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have its flaws. It would be nice if your ‘relationship tracker’ also tracked the location of residents in the town, as keeping track of their movements all year round can be pain if you want to speak with one specifically, especially when your time each day is so short.

The controls and UI can be a little fiddly, especially when you’re trying to pinpoint a specific tile with a tool or item – there’s no grid overlay you can bring up so you can properly line things up. Your cosmetic options for decorating your house are somewhat slim, as are character customisation once you’re in the game.

The biggest problem Stardew Valley really has is the ‘end game’. Once you’ve gotten established and upgraded all your various tools and buildings, you just kind of settle into a fairly monotonous routine. You hit a point – and I hit it by the end of my second year in the game – where you’ve banked so much gold that you don’t really have anything left to save or invest in. You’re just playing out each day and season the same way, making money that you don’t really need with nothing to spend it on.

I guess that’s when the game is supposed to be more ‘relaxing’ but that’s also when I start to lose interest. Fortunately, the game does include some goals to complete beyond your farm – the museum and the community centre, both of which you can donate various items to. For me, rebuilding the community centre became the real final ‘goal’ of Stardew Valley, and I got a great sense of satisfaction from finally putting it together. It felt like a good ‘end’ to my game.

And I can see myself returning to Stardew Valley for a new game, on a new farm – just to see if I can do it even faster or more efficiently. Overall, Stardew Valley is addictive and satisfying fun with a wonderful variety of content to explore. And if you’re looking for a modern Harvest moon type experience, then I highly recommend checking it out.

8/10