Stardew Valley

Stardew Valley is a farmer simulator with elements of a role-playing system, a sandbox in an open world with an isometric camera and a visual style reminiscent of 90s arcades. Having inherited an abandoned farm, the player begins to restore the lost paradise, rebuilding and improving their plot. Get ready to grow crops, raise animals, chop wood, create new tools, build buildings, and do much more to construct the perfect farm. Later, there will be an opportunity to team up with villagers and resist the greedy mega-corporation "Joja." All this can be done solo or with up to 8 players.

Developed by Eric ConcernedApe Barone, and since its release in 2016, it has received over 600 updates, including new content, NPC dialogues, cosmetic items for decorating a cozy homestead, game mechanics, maps, modes, balance fixes, and support for user modifications.

The world of Stardew Valley is an alternate reality that combines magic and technology to provide more enjoyment for players, without trying to tie everything together or explain it. For example, by watching television, you can learn the weather forecast, news, and useful tips. There are quite modern and useful gadgets (processors, sprinklers, mayonnaise machines, farmer's computer, etc.). Here, too, are elements of fantasy: wizards in pointed hats, gnomes, mermaids, goblins, and others. Each species has its own story and role in the world.

The gameplay only touches on a small part of the world — a place called "Stardew Valley" or simply the Valley, located in the Republic of Ferngill. It is here that the protagonist inherited their grandfather's plot and becomes part of the life of a secluded rural community.

At the center of the Valley is the town of Pelican Town, where you can find shops, a market, a town hall, and other important places for player base development. South of the town lies the Beach. To the north are the Mountain, Mines, Adventurer's Guild, Railroad, and Quarry. As you progress, you can learn about or even visit other locations: Zuzu City, Castle Village, Grampleton, the Fern Islands, and Prairie Island.

The lore of Stardew Valley is a bit broader than it seems at first glance. From the stories of the residents, you can learn about the Gotor Empire, a mysterious evil state that is waging a long war with Ferngill. Although the war remains off-screen, its influence is felt. An additional layer of mystery is brought by the religion, centered around the ancient guardian deity Yoyo. A portion of the lore is occupied by the mega-corporation "Joja," which seeks to dominate the Valley.

The open world of Stardew Valley is organized as a two-dimensional grid with square cells. Each cell contains tiles — pixel blocks. Each block has its own set of parameters and textures and forms a particular environmental element — ground, tree, water, stone, etc. A cell can contain several tiles stacked on top of each other in different layers. For example, one cell may have a ground tile (bottom layer), a plant tile (middle layer), and a decoration tile (top layer).

The final landscape is formed using a multitude of tiles, which, when combined, create a certain environment that corresponds to reality. For example, you can only plant something on soil, while nothing will grow on sand or stone, as they are unsuitable ground tiles. Soils are also divided into subtypes, which affect the growth and yield of plants, and they "absorb" water, allowing plants to stretch upwards.

The locations in Stardew Valley are diverse: the player's farm and mansion, a town with buildings and paved roads, meadows and forests, rivers and lakes, beaches and islands, underground caves (dungeons), and even the crater of an active volcano with bubbling lava. The size of the tiles may vary for a specific location. There may be more tiles on the farm than in the town or cave, and even more in the greenhouse than on the farm. This is how the scale and nesting of locations and scenes within each other are implemented.

There is a change of time of day, weather, and even four full seasons of the year. They affect not only the appearance of the world but also the gameplay. In winter, when everything is covered in snow, nothing grows; in summer, the world is vibrant with bright colors, and in autumn, they are replaced by golden harvest fields. Sunny and rainy weather affects plant growth, while the time of day influences character activity.

Despite being two-dimensional, Stardew Valley has a simple physics model that ensures the calculation of basic actions and gravity. Interacting with objects—digging soil, harvesting crops, building, and conversing with characters—is implemented with a simple button press that yields immediate results, occasionally through simple QTEs, for example, while fishing.

After inheriting from his grandfather, the protagonist continues to work as a clerk at "Joja" until at some point he feels that corporate life is suffocating him. He then quits his job and moves to live in the countryside. After years of neglect, the farm has fallen into disrepair: everything is overgrown with weeds and trees, the mansion is crumbling, and it's unclear how to engage in farming. The setup of the story in Stardew Valley is simple, but there is still a narrative.

The protagonist arrives in the Valley with hopes of a new beginning, natural relaxation, and relationships with the community. Fortunately, the gameplay allows participation in town events and even exploring the mysterious corners of the Valley, uncovering its secrets and legends. The player chooses whether to become the guarantor of the Valley's prosperity or to opt for the path of corporate exploitation, which adds depth and a moral aspect to the plot.

At the time of release, Stardew Valley was a total farm simulator. Cultivating land, planting and caring for crops, harvesting, searching for where to sell them for a good price, raising animals, fishing, resource gathering, expanding the farm to build new buildings, cultivating new fields, and other tasks typical of the genre. Health and energy determined the period of activity throughout the day.

The game was tough: you had to scavenge for food, comb through forests for resources, and somehow earn gold. Gradually, the protagonist mastered different mechanics. He started fishing to obtain food for each day and gather ingredients for crafting. Mastered cooking and could restore health and energy. Learned to produce seeds, fertilizers, and tools for farming.

The inventory, limited by the number of slots, allows you to take only the most necessary items; everything else will have to be stored in chests on the farm. In this regard, crafting is implemented through a separate menu in the interface, and there is no need to drag everything into the inventory or to the workbench. At the beginning, the player knows ten recipes, and the rest can be acquired as they level up, develop friendships with the townspeople, or purchase them in the store. Items and their components are divided by quality level — normal, silver, gold, iridium.

With each update, the interactive and exploratory aspects of Stardew Valley grew. A relationship development branch with local residents emerged, along with the search for a soulmate among them, the ability to participate in various events and holidays, give gifts, and spend time together with NPCs. Separate quest chains could lead to abandoned islands. Dungeon farming added an element of adventure and risk. Festivals (mini-games), random events , and much more appeared.

Stardew Valley offers both single-player and cooperative (up to 8 participants) game modes. In both cases, the core gameplay remains the same, but the level of involvement of participants differs. In single-player mode, everything must be done alone, while in online play, each player decides what contribution they make to the development of the farm. Some may focus on crop growing, others on fishing, others on dungeon farming, and others will build relationships with NPCs.

For any actions performed in the game, the character earns experience points in the corresponding skill (farming, mining, foraging, fishing, combat). When enough experience is accumulated, the skill level increases, unlocking new crafting recipes and enhancing effectiveness in that area. For example, it increases the amount of harvest obtained from each plant in farming.

Each skill has 10 levels, and at the fifth and tenth levels, the player must choose one of several possible professions. There are more than 50 in total, providing huge variability for the main character's build. Leveling continues even after reaching the maximum level in all five skills through the mastery level system. Mastery points are equivalent to "extra" accumulated experience points.

In the cooperative mode of Stardew Valley, each player levels up their character independently; experience and skill levels are solely yours and do not affect other players. At the same time, the balance allows for the play of two characters of different levels and does not restrict anyone in activities, but the more developed character will also be more effective.

The player who created the world is defined as the "host," while the others become "farmers." You can enter such a world via split-screen, local network, or through an online server. All saves remain with the host, who can continue to play alone. If the host is offline or the farm is currently not open to other players, they will not be able to access the world or their characters within it.

An active community of modders creates and updates mods for Stardew Valley that change or improve the interface, graphics, gameplay mechanics, as well as add new content (crops, animals, buildings, and tools). The 5 most popular mods: