Every time I return to Stardew Valley after a new patch drops, I ask myself: why is the pull still so strong? Newer farming games have improved on many of the mechanics its developer, ConcernedApe, introduced way back in 2016, adding interesting twists to the old-school blueprint it repopularized – so in 2024, why is Stardew Valley still my favorite? But that’s just it: Stardew Valley is the model for farming games now. It may not be quite as refined or as streamlined as some of the sims it inspired, but none have managed to capture the raw lightning in a bottle that makes it so enduring, either. That’s partly because Stardew Valley might be a “cozy” pixel art haven, but it’s also tough. Managing your time and juggling dozens of competing priorities is an endless challenge, and it’s in this superbly balanced dance that I find an intense satisfaction that simply cannot be beat. Pair that with a nearly decade-long parade of new quirky details to discover every time I start up a fresh farm, and Stardew Valley becomes truly timeless.
There is no small measure of irony to the fact that the start of Stardew Valley plucks you from a soul-crushing desk job and plops you into a quaint little farming town… where you must then become a tireless, people-pleasing perfectionist. Oh, you thought you were just going to be pleasantly plucking weeds and planting parsnips on your late grandpa’s abandoned farm? No, you aren’t just a farmer after your move to Pelican Town. Like any typical entry-level intern, you are expected to wear many hats. Restoring the Community Center to its former glory may be fulfilling labor, but you’ll also need to level up your skills across the board, from foraging to fishing to mining, and even monster fighting. Don’t forget to smoodge your way into the hearts of the lovable townspeople by showering them with gifts every day. How else are you supposed to find your life partner?
I’m a returning fan, so I know what I want to accomplish on each new run, but for those new to this sensation you might find that, at first, Stardew Valley gives you so much freedom and so many options that it can feel kind of aimless. Besides the odd request from your neighbors arriving in the mail, you are given no larger objective – just this broad rags-to-riches goal of fixing up your grandpa’s farm and the town by delivering bundles of goods. It’s only as you start to progress through the seasons that you realize what’s at stake. Sure, you could play at your own leisure and still find plenty of joy in a more relaxed, unoptimized pace. But you’ll soon come to understand that forgetting to gift Jodi that cauliflower she wanted in spring could mean waiting a whole year before you get back to the season where you can grow that crop again, and thus learn to make time for the things that matter most.
This makes Stardew Valley a deceptively tense balancing act of managing your time and multitasking efficiently. There are plenty of things to unlock that will make that easier, be they cooking recipes for meals that increase your stamina so you can accomplish more each day or upgraded tools to help you till the earth and water your crops quicker. But the cost of unlocking those things usually comes in the form of grinding for experience points in the skill you are trying to improve or collecting a certain number of required items. Do you want to unlock the greenhouse before the end of Year 1? Well, then you’d better make sure you grow enough gold-quality melons that summer to complete the Pantry Bundle in the Community Center, otherwise you’ll have to wait until Year 2.
While this might sound like an overly rigid slog, it certainly doesn’t feel like one. Seasons are so fleeting and the time you have to accomplish your goals is so limited that you’re always incentivized to explore areas you might not have otherwise in order to accomplish them quicker. For example, if you want to unlock the minecarts (a handy mode of fast travel), you’ll need to push yourself to explore the mines. Each floor is randomly generated, and breaking open rocks to find materials while cutting down slimes and other monsters quickly evolves into a harrowing dungeon crawl. As you delve deeper, you will encounter dangerous and strange new enemies with different attacks and harder hits, and it’s fun to prepare the right weapons and stat-boosting food to survive. Lose all your health (or run out of energy and fail to make it home in time) and you’ll pass out, costing you cash or even your precious treasure depending on which character randomly finds you and brings you back to the surface, making each trip down into the mines feel fresh and potentially nerve-racking.
The joy of Stardew Valley isn’t just in making the most of its jam-packed days, it’s in all the little quirks and secrets you discover along the way. From heartwarming cutscenes with villagers to bizarre one-off quests that could have you delivering maple syrup to a strangely cognizant bear, truly, so much character has been injected into this idyllic town. This is the only game where I can build a pond on my farm only to then get absurd demands from the talking fish within it. What is a fish going to do with three Omni Geodes anyway? Time to go mining in the Skull Cavern, I guess.