Five Stars for Stardew Valley

Stardew Valley is a simulation role-playing game. It was developed by Eric “Concerned Ape” Barone and was published by 505 Games. It is a very relaxed farming/ranching game where the player’s character has left the big city and moved onto their grandpa’s old farm. 

The game starts by letting the player make their own customizable character, which could range from a normal person to a duck-billed Smurf. The player’s character is then put in a quick cut scene explaining the character’s backstory and then the game begins.

The players show up on their grandfather’s farm, and what they do next is entirely up to them. They could completely skip the relaxing farm scene and go straight into town to meet the NPCs of the game and go grab a fishing rod to try and catch something big, or they could grab a sword and head straight to the dungeon right above the town if they are looking for some action. 

Most players, however, start the game off by farming. It’s the quickest way to make money starting off in the earlier parts of the game. Farming is made very simple in this game, as all players need is to clear the ground, till it up, plant the seed, water it, and wait. They can go out and enjoy some scenery or head back into the town and customize the characters with some silly hats or cool clothes.

There are many things to do in this game. Fishing, cooking, ranching, farming, gathering, and fighting are just some of the fun things players can do in this game. Starting a family is also an option in this game if that’s what players want.

Points can be put into leveling up certain skills as well. Putting some points into ranching makes the farm animals produce more money. Fishing, however, is a very different story. I put zero points into fishing and I’ve spent hours at home just trying to catch a fish and then I nearly snap my switch in half when the fish steals my bait. 

The game is also easily modified and handles well with tons of mods installed. I recommend visiting Star Valley Nexus and downloading Easier Fishing, but using it to find any of the mods is great too. Even without the mods, it runs smoothly on nearly every device and I haven’t had it freeze up on me once.

The best thing about this game has got to be its art style. It is very similar in looks to Terraria but has more pixel art in the background and a more 3D world. Its use of music and cutscenes really makes the scenery come to life in an awesome way.

The game has been giving very high ratings, it has received a 10/10 from Steam, 9.5/10 from IGN, and 80% from the PC Gamer. Its reviews match that of other indie games, such as Minecraft and Terraria. It is one of the most popular indie games ever.

All in all, Stardew Valley is an amazing game with beautiful artwork and very relaxing scenery. I enjoy playing this game when I need to relax and slow down and would recommend this game to anyone who has become bored with shooters and constant battling games.