Escaping the Hustle and Bustle with Stardew Valley
Written by Cade Johnson
Photography by Claire Boumstein
Modeled by Owen Corp, Cade Johnson, Zoë Malega, Kait Patton, Kadence Schaecher, & Zackarie Weber
I’ve been stressed — I’m sure many of you have been, too. Between student debt, deadlines, trouble with family or friends, and the general state of the world right now, it can be hard to find moments of peace. Oftentimes, I want so badly to just escape and get away from it all. As Paul McCartney so aptly put it “I want a horse, I want a sheep, I wanna get me good night’s sleep, living in a home in the heart of the country.” But I’m not Paul McCartney, and I’m pretty sure you’re probably not either. We can’t afford to just up and move out to a farmhouse, and leave it all behind. That’s why we play Stardew Valley.
Released in 2016 to widespread critical acclaim, Stardew Valley is the passion project of one Eric Barone, known online and to the Stardew community as ConcernedApe. Inspired by the farming simulators of his youth, namely the Harvest Moon series, Barone, with the financial support of his partner, developed every aspect of Stardew Valley entirely by himself over the course of four and a half years. During development, Barone worked up to 10 hours a day, seven days a week, committing himself fully to his dream.
In the opening cutscene of Stardew Valley, you see your character struggling to stay motivated at an office job that they hate. It’s at this moment that your character decides to leave all of that behind, and take up your recently deceased grandfather’s offer to manage his farm. You hop on a bus and arrive in Pelican Town, where you find the farm in rough shape. Rocks, twigs, and weeds cover the property, but armed with your grandpa’s old tools, a few parsnips, and some elbow grease, you get the farm up and going in no time.
Beyond farming, Stardew Valley offers a plethora of trades and activities to keep you busy during your 15 minute days, all of which are entirely optional. If you head to the mines, you’ll find a sprawling cave system full of ores, geodes, and monsters to fight. If you head to the ocean, you’ll find Willy, an old fisherman who’s more than happy to give you your first rod and teach you how to fish.
While the various chores and tasks available to you make up most of the gameplay, the game’s charming NPC characters are what really makes the valley feel alive. Making an effort to talk to these characters, as well as giving them gifts, rewards you with an increased heart level with that character. As the heart level increases, you unlock more “heart events” with that character, which are cutscenes that let you get to know their backstory a little bit better.
It feels so good to accomplish something in this game, whether it be finally upgrading that coop, catching a fish you’ve been trying to catch forever, or reaching a new heart level with one of the townspeople. Stardew Valley puts me in an incredibly productive mood through its simple, simulated tasks. If I’m struggling to find motivation to complete an assignment, sometimes a couple of days in Stardew Valley gives me the boost in motivation that I need.
Stardew Valley’s base game already has an absurd amount of content — from the quests, crops to grow, fish to catch, items to collect, and so much more — but if all of that isn’t enough for you, the game has an insanely large and active modding community. Mods range from simple quality of life changes, such as a mod that tells you when you have an item in your inventory that a certain character likes, to mods that add massive expansions to the game world, and entirely new fully-fleshed out NPCs. If you just want to make aesthetic changes to the game, there’s plenty of mods for that, too. Want to feel like you’re a farmer in a Studio Ghibli film? Try the Seasonal Japanese Buildings mod. Simply want to make the game’s colors a little less saturated? Try the Earthy Recolor mod.
We all need an escape sometimes. Too often, that search for an escape ends in another doom scrolling session that’s guaranteed to make us feel much worse. Instead, recently I’ve been escaping to a cozy little place in the country, where I can plant a parsnip or two, catch a fish, and just unwind. If you haven’t checked out Stardew Valley,I highly recommend it. It’s only $15, and available on nearly every platform (including mobile). Whether you choose to dive into Stardew, or if you have your own game, hobby, or activity that helps you relax, I hope you find peace in these troubled times.