# Stardew Valley **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [March 10, 2016, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stardew-valley/748521 "2016-03-10T03:57:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2016, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stardew-valley/748521/1 "2016-03-10T03:57:33Z")
This game was nowhere on my radar. Apparently it’s been in development by just one guy for three years and was just released into the wild. I heard about it when I read an article about how it was receiving an astonishing amount of praise and support in torrent threads; pirates talking about how they were going out and buying the game on Steam after playing it for only a few hours. It currently has a 98% positive rating out of 7500 reviews on Steam. Anyway, did you play Harvest Moon? This game is Harvest Moon with more to do. Did you like Harvest Moon? Then you should buy this. I’m mostly curious as to whether anybody else is playing; this is the kind of game that you don’t necessarily want to spoil too much about since discovery is a large portion of the fun. Otherwise it’s like doing a Rubik’s Cube by following detailed instructions. Steam tells me I’ve put 14 hours into the game and I just entered my first winter. I’m having a great time so far. Very relaxing, very chill game to play. ---
**Author:** ![Teuton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/teuton/32/3864_2.png) [@Teuton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teuton)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2016, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stardew-valley/748521/2 "2016-03-10T13:16:19Z")
I’ve played it for a bit. Generally liking it so far, although I haven’t got too far - about to enter summer - but I haven’t had that much time recently for games. My only slight issue with it is that I can’t save it went I want to, only overnight. I know it’s a staple of the Harvest Moon and similar games on DS, but they have limited space for saves and I don’t on here. If I want to stop playing, I want to stop playing and it usually means I’ll stop playing perhaps a little earlier than I otherwise would, because I’ll get to a sleep time and not want to commit to the next day. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2016, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stardew-valley/748521/3 "2016-03-10T16:11:51Z")
Yeah, that’s annoying. I’m hoping that the game gets official modding support at some point (it already has several popular ones available). The game is simple enough that imagine there’s a lot of neat stuff that could be done with a dedicated community. Anytime saving has got to be one of those things. ---
**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2016, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stardew-valley/748521/4 "2016-03-10T17:03:11Z")
I was thinking of picking it up, looks like I might go ahead and do that this weekend. Seems like the sort of thing that will entertain me for a good long while. ---
**Author:** ![Turble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Turble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turble)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2016, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stardew-valley/748521/5 "2016-03-10T18:00:31Z")
I’ve been playing it for a few days – missed my bedtime by a couple hours every night – time really does fly when you’re having fun. ---
**Author:** ![Macca26](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/13edae/32.png) [@Macca26](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Macca26)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2016, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stardew-valley/748521/6 "2016-03-10T21:42:32Z")
I adore Harvest Moon and this game seems like an obvious step up from the classic Harvest Moon formula. The main drawback of the old HM’s was lackluster character interactions, which Stardew Valley seems to have picked up the slack on, on top of even better gameplay. My husband has had a lot of fun playing it. I’ll play it when he’s done, since only one person can play a game on steam’s family sharing at the same time, and I’m already chest deep in Fire Emblem Fates at the moment. But I’m positively slavering to get my hands on it. The game originally had a 3-year evaluation timer but it looks like the developer plans to make it so you can summon your evaluation any time, making the game completely goal unrestricted in terms of play. Do anything whenever you feel like it. Or don’t. I think it’s a good way to go. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2016, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stardew-valley/748521/7 "2016-03-10T22:46:41Z")
> [@Johnny\_Bravo](#): > > Very relaxing, very chill game to play. How fast does time go by? I enjoyed Harvest Moon, but I would started to get stressed out by the day going by so quickly and not getting everything done. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2016, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stardew-valley/748521/8 "2016-03-10T23:35:29Z")
The days aren’t that long. You can get a mod to extend them, but that feels like it would take a lot out of it since the progress gating seems pretty cleverly linked to how much time you can reasonably spend farming and gathering. You generally have enough time to do one “thing” in a given day. Mining, foraging, going into town to interact with a whole bunch of people, whatever. I haven’t gotten into large-scale farming yet, but there is a crafting system in place to help automate some of that stuff as you get further in so that you don’t have to spend all day every day watering your crops. ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2016, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stardew-valley/748521/9 "2016-03-16T02:14:26Z")
Stardew Valley Interactive Farm Map - for when the graph paper isn’t handy and you’re melons are killing you because they’re one row off. > **[Interactive farm planner for Stardew Valley](https://stardew.info/planner/)** > > Plan your Stardew Valley farm! ...on a coffee break! ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2016, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stardew-valley/748521/10 "2016-03-20T12:21:44Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > How fast does time go by? I enjoyed Harvest Moon, but I would started to get stressed out by the day going by so quickly and not getting everything done. I believe one in-game hour is 45 seconds, and a day is 18 hours, so 13 and a half minutes per day (though you do have to get home about 2 hours before the day officially ends or you get penalties). You CANNOT do everything in one day, it is not feasible to do fishing, mining, and farming in a day. Though mining is the real bulk of your time here, you can usually finish up farming pretty quickly. Time really isn’t your main limiter, though; it’s your character’s energy and your money. The mines wreck your energy, and early game you’re pretty much living harvest to harvest. That said, this game has some nice limiters that prevent time commitments from ballooning out of control. A big issue in Harvest Moon was the “making the rounds” problem with friendship, where every day you filled up your inventory with junk and then followed your meticulously planned route to give everyone presents. Stardew caps the number of gifts you can give a person per week at 2, so it’s not a big deal if you miss them for one day, and gives you more freedom to not have to dedicate 5 hours per day being Santa Claus. (Though friendship does technically decay at two points per day if you don’t talk to them, but I installed a mod to disable that). ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2016, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stardew-valley/748521/11 "2016-03-21T15:45:02Z")
Is future content coming? I’m considering getting it on Steam and if he plans to add expansions/dlc free of charge, I might just bite the bullet and buy it for the full $15. Otherwise, I might wait for a sale. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2016, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stardew-valley/748521/12 "2016-03-21T22:00:42Z")
Is there a list of decent mods anywhere? It seems like 80% of them are just anime portraits and new hair styles. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2016, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stardew-valley/748521/13 "2016-03-26T15:54:02Z")
> [@Johnny\_Bravo](#): > > Is there a list of decent mods anywhere? It seems like 80% of them are just anime portraits and new hair styles. I also want to know if any useful mods have come along. Don’t need cheats and portraits. Gameplay modifications would be great. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2016, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stardew-valley/748521/14 "2016-03-26T19:55:59Z")
Picked this up yesterday. I’m one week in and I’ve barely spent anytime farming. I only planted the first seeds you’re given. The rest of the time I’ve been exploring and cutting down trees. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2016, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stardew-valley/748521/15 "2016-03-26T23:06:36Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > Picked this up yesterday. I’m one week in and I’ve barely spent anytime farming. I only planted the first seeds you’re given. The rest of the time I’ve been exploring and cutting down trees. Yeah, I’m only a few days in, but find it overwhelming. I have zero hearts with everyone. I have little money and no idea how to make friends, explore the mines, grow crops, expand my farm and house, and do everything else. I assume this game is endless? I can play for “years”? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2016, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stardew-valley/748521/16 "2016-03-27T00:00:04Z")
So the only mods I’ve installed thus far are the Stardew Valley Mod Manager (SDVMM), which is just the front-end for mods, a mod that makes the greenhouse bigger (and I haven’t even unlocked the greenhouse), and a mod that prevents relationships from decaying over time. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2016, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stardew-valley/748521/17 "2016-03-27T00:08:25Z")
> **[Stardew Valley guide: essential tips for mastering the farm](https://www.pcgamer.com/stardew-valley-tips/)** > > Our guide to Stardew Valley will help you farm smarter and make more money. This is a good article, though I don’t agree with the first one because the little box annoys the shit out of me. ---
**Author:** ![coremelt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2016, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stardew-valley/748521/18 "2016-03-27T12:41:49Z")
Sounds cool , if it comes out on iPad I’ll grab it for sure . Sounds like it would work on iPad ---
**Author:** ![Max\_the\_Immortal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Max\_the\_Immortal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_the_Immortal)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2016, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stardew-valley/748521/19 "2016-03-28T10:54:04Z")
I’m intrigued. I liked the SNES Harvest Moon way back when. I can’t tell yet whether I’ll wait for a sale, or break down and buy it within the next few days. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2016, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stardew-valley/748521/20 "2016-03-28T14:40:34Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Yeah, I’m only a few days in, but find it overwhelming. I have zero hearts with everyone. I have little money and no idea how to make friends, explore the mines, grow crops, expand my farm and house, and do everything else. > > I assume this game is endless? I can play for “years”? It’s endless. I was stressed out too when I first started. I think taking a step back and saying “Today, I’m going to focus just on clearing my farm” or “Mining” or “Making Friends” helps a lot. At least at the start, when there’s a lot of different things to do, until you get in a rhythm. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stardew-valley/748521.md?page=2)