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Stardew Valley review
Exceptional
by Curious_Cat

It can be surprising how enjoyable something as simple as (virtual) farming can be. I purchased the game once they released coop and had a ton of fun with it. There's a lot here to enjoy and a good amount of different things to do. Plus it's super simple so even your non-gaming spouses/siblings will enjoy it. The festivals, unfortunately, are lacking and quickly become a waste of daylight. Thankfully they are skippable.

Date Retired: 2021-03-14
Playtime: (~ 70h vanilla, ~ 70h Expanded)
Enjoyment: 10/10
Recommendation: It's a great game, all the better with coach coop.

Other reviews23

Playing this with Mel because she mentioned a coworker said something about it and wanted to give it a whirl. It’s not my genre of game but I’ve had fun playing with Mel for a night or two. I don’t really know how much I’ll end up playing. Probably not a lot but we will see. I definitely won’t be playing without Mel. It is a peaceful game though.

I don’t think we are coming back.

Final Score: B-
Amazingly cozy. The soundtrack is calming, the artstlye is cute with tons of variety between seasons. The game is stock full of content in NPCs, mechanics, areas to explore, tons of quests, crafting and farming options and even fully functional combat.
«Can’t stop playing»
«Sit back and relax»
if you a farm games fan this is the perfect game for you
cozy, surprisingly full of content and the perfect couple game
«Sit back and relax»
«Better with friends»
Very relaxing game to work at in your own time at your own pace. Playing with friends in a multiplayer co-op game is more fun as you can all work together to improve your farm.

«Better with friends»
This time the cows shit themselves and i had to pick it up 10/10 best boring game
Ruined every other farming sim because it’s just too expertly crafted. A game made with love, xoxo
If you like farming and pixel art, this game has those things.
I completed the community center and kinda dropped off this so I guess I'm as "finished" as I'll ever be. I actually much preferred this on mobile than PC - it is literally designed for playing in short sessions. Only thing I miss is mods.

The marriage mechanic is kind of a cry for help and the dungeon crawling in the mine is tedious garbage, but everything else around it has some really great gameplay loops and player expression, especially when I was able to pick the quarry as where my farm was built to limit how much of that dungeon crawling I had to do (still too much).

I think some of the themes - escape your monotonous routine in the city - feels not only generally cynical but also ironic considering how much of the core gameplay loop becomes about routine.
10/10 - A MASTERPIECE of the farming simulators with RPG elements.
«Can’t stop playing»
«Liked before it became a hit»