Stardew Valley
2016 video game
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Stardew Valley is a 2016 farm life simulation video game developed by Eric "ConcernedApe" Barone. Players take the role of a character who inherits their deceased grandfather's dilapidated farm in a place known as "Stardew Valley". The game is open-ended, with players managing the farm by clearing land, growing seasonal crops, and raising animals. Players can build skills in farming, foraging, fishing, mining, and combat. Social features include building relationships with townspeople, with the option to marry and have up to two children. A later update added multiplayer, allowing online play with others.
| Stardew Valley | |
|---|---|
| |
| Developer | ConcernedApe |
| Publisher | ConcernedApe[a] |
| Designer | ConcernedApe[b] |
| Engine | MonoGame |
| Platform | |
| Release | February 26, 2016
|
| Genre | Farm life sim |
| Modes | Single-player, multiplayer |
Barone developed Stardew Valley by himself over four and a half years. He was heavily inspired by the Harvest Moon series (now named Story of Seasons), with additions to address some of those games' shortcomings. He began the project to improve his programming and game design skills. British studio Chucklefish approached Barone halfway through development with an offer to publish the game, allowing him to focus on completing it. It was originally released for Windows in February 2016 before being ported to several other platforms.
Stardew Valley received generally positive reviews from critics, including Yasuhiro Wada, the creator of Harvest Moon. The game has been cited as one of the best video games ever made and is credited with causing a resurgence in popularity for the farming sim genre. It became one of the best-selling video games, selling 50 million copies by February 2026. The game appeared on several publications' year-end lists and received accolades, including the Breakthrough Award at the Golden Joystick Awards and a nomination for Best Game at the British Academy Games Awards.
Gameplay
Stardew Valley is a farm life simulation video game set in top-down perspective and is open-ended.[4][5][6] The game starts with the player character leaving their corporate job to manage a farm just outside of Pelican Town.[7] The farm inherited from their deceased grandfather must be restored, and players must assist in the town's revival.[8]
Players may choose from several different farm types, each with a unique theme and different benefits and drawbacks. Each theme helps players focus on improving different types of skills faster.[9] On the farm, players need to cut down trees, break rocks, and use a scythe to clear weeds to make space for tilling and planting.[10] The farming system allows players to plant seasonal seeds that require daily watering and generally must be harvested before the next season. Players can also build barns and coops to raise animals for products like eggs and milk.[11][12] As the game progresses through four 28-day seasons, the completion of Community Center bundles will unlock new areas and activities, such as exploring a new island.[8]
Players may develop skills in farming, foraging, fishing, mining, and combat.[8][13] Interacting with townspeople and giving gifts builds relationships over time.[8] Players can marry one of 12 bachelors or bachelorettes regardless of gender, allowing the spouse to help with daily farm chores such as cooking, feeding animals, or watering crops.[14][8] After marriage, the couple may choose to conceive a child.[15] Time in the game is divided into day-length segments. Each morning, players begin with a full energy bar, which decreases as tasks are performed and can be replenished by eating food.[16] A nearby cave system holds ores that can be mined and smelted by using a furnace. The cave also contains monsters, adding an action role-playing game element to mining. Players must switch between a pickaxe and a sword while exploring deeper levels, where more valuable treasures can be found.[10] A multiplayer mode was introduced in a later update, allowing online play with other players.[17]
Development
Stardew Valley was originally titled Sprout Valley and was created by American indie game designer Eric Barone, known professionally as ConcernedApe.[2][18][19] Barone graduated from the University of Washington Tacoma in 2011 with a computer science degree but was unable to get a job in the industry, instead working as an usher at the Paramount Theatre in Seattle.[3][20] Looking to improve his computer skills for better job prospects, he had the idea to craft a game that would also pull in his artistic side.[3] Barone grew up in the Pacific Northwest and incorporated many elements of the region into the gameplay and art.[21]
Stardew Valley originally began as a modern fan-made alternative to later Harvest Moon titles, as Barone felt the series had gotten "progressively worse" after Harvest Moon: Back to Nature.[22][23] Unable to find a satisfactory replacement, he created a game similar to the series, saying he intended "to address the problems I had with Harvest Moon" and that "no title in the series ever brought it all together in a perfect way".[2] He was the sole developer of the game, creating all of its pixel art, music, sound effects, story, and dialogue.[2][23] Barone used Reason Studios, a digital audio workstation, to create all the music and sound effects within the game and Paint.NET for the pixel art.[24]
Initially, Barone considered releasing Stardew Valley on Xbox Live Indie Games due to the ease of publishing on that platform, but found that his scope for it became much larger than originally anticipated.[3] He publicly announced the game in September 2012, using Steam Greenlight to gauge interest in it.[25][2][23] After the game was shown a great deal of support from the community, Barone began working on it in full, engaging with Reddit and Twitter communities to discuss his progress and gain feedback on proposed additions.[2] Shortly after the Greenlight period in 2013, he was approached by Finn Brice, director of Chucklefish, who offered to help publish the game on release.[3] Chucklefish took over many of the non-development activities for Barone, such as site hosting and setting up his development wiki.[26] Barone decided not to use Steam's Early Access feature for development, as he felt it was not well suited to Stardew Valley.[26] Barone spent four years on the project, redoing it multiple times and often spending 10 hours or more a day on it. He originally programmed it in C# using the Microsoft XNA framework, but later migrated to MonoGame in 2021, which, according to Barone, "futureproofs the game and allows mods to access more than 4 gigs of RAM".[27]
Barone aimed to give players the feeling of immersion in a small farming community, saying he wanted Stardew Valley to be entertaining while also having "real-world messages".[20] In contrast to earlier Story of Seasons games, which could end after two years of in-game time has passed, Barone kept Stardew Valley open-ended so that players would not feel rushed to try to complete everything possible.[28] During development, he recognized that some players would attempt to figure out mechanically how to maximize their farm's yield and profit through spreadsheets and other tools, but hoped that most would take the time to learn these on their own.[20] To that end, he designed the cooking aspect of the game purposely not to be profitable, but instead to pay back in bonuses that aided exploration, farming, mining, and fishing skills.[20] Barone also opted not to include the butchering of farm animals for meat products, encouraging players to name and tend to each animal.[20]
Release
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In April 2015, Barone announced he intended to release the game only once he felt it was feature complete, refusing to put it onto Steam's Early Access program or accept pre-sale payments.[2] The game was released on Steam and GOG.com for Windows on February 26, 2016.[25] After its release, Barone continued to work on it, taking feedback from the community and patching bugs, and stated plans to add more features.[18] Barone anticipated adding more end-game content, as well as ports for other platforms.[3][29][26] He said that he initially planned a four-player cooperative mode to be released in the game at launch.[25] In this mode, Barone planned that players would share a common farm, each player tackling different tasks, such as one player mining while others tended to different parts of the farm.[29] The multiplayer feature supports both local area network and remote online connectivity.[30] Barone had planned for public beta testing of the multiplayer feature in late 2017 for the Windows version, but was still working to improve the network code by early 2018.[31] The multiplayer beta for Windows was released in April 2018 and officially launched for all PC platforms on August 1, 2018.[32][33] In December 2018, the multiplayer update was released for the Nintendo Switch.[34] An official sheet music book for piano and album was released in 2018 by label Materia Collective.[35]
Mobile versions for iOS and Android were developed with help of The Secret Police, with the iOS version released on October 24, 2018, and the Android version on March 14, 2019.[36] Both versions include the ability for Linux, macOS, and Windows users to transfer progress to their device.[37][38][39] In 2018, Barone said he wanted to assemble a team of developers to help continue the game's development.[40] By 2019, all versions of the game, except on mobile, were self-published by Barone.[41][42] In 2020, Barone collaborated with Fangamer to announce the physical release of the game's standard and collector's edition, as well as the Nintendo Switch and PC versions.[43] In March 2024, Barone published an update significantly expanding on the initial features of the game.[44] The update was later made available for mobile and console platforms in November of that year.[45] The Nintendo Switch 2 edition of Stardew Valley was released on December 25, 2025.[46]
Chucklefish's involvement
In May 2016, Barone announced that Chucklefish would help with non-English localizations, Linux, macOS, and console ports, and the technical aspects required for online cooperative play, allowing him to focus solely on the first major content update.[47][48] The Linux and macOS ports were released on July 29, 2016.[49] Ports for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One were announced at E3 2016 in June.[50] At the same event, Barone said that a port for the Wii U would also be released; that version was later canceled in favor of a version for the Nintendo Switch.[51] The PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions were released respectively on December 13 and 14, 2016.[52] The Switch version, ported by Sickhead Games, was released on October 5, 2017.[53][54]
In early 2017, Barone stated his intentions for the possibility of a PlayStation Vita port, which was released on May 22, 2018.[55][56] Retail versions for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One are published and distributed by 505 Games. A collector's edition released at the same time included a physical map of the game's world, a download code for the soundtrack, and a guidebook.[57] In December 2018, the publishing rights for all platforms outside of Android, iOS, and Nintendo Switch reverted to Barone.[58] He regained the rights for the Nintendo Switch release in October 2019,[59] the official wiki in February 2021,[60] the iOS release in December 2021,[61] and the Android release in March 2022, ending Chucklefish's involvement.[62][1]
Mods
Stardew Valley has also seen an active modding community, with players adding various new features to the game.[63] As of 2026[update], over 28,000 mods have been created.[64] One of the most popular mods is Stardew Valley Expanded, which adds multiple new characters and locations and has been downloaded over 3 million times.[65] Devin Hedegaard, the mod's creator, later joined the Stardew Valley development team.[64] Other mods offer more cosmetic options ranging from changing the overall appearance of the game to introducing new animal designs.[66] The majority of mods are only playable through the PC version of the game.[66] Later updates to the game have added features for mod developers.[67][68][69]
In March 2025, a fan made Baldur's Gate 3-themed mod was released, titled Baldur's Village.[70] The mod received praise from Larian Studios founder Swen Vincke. In the same month, lawyers representing Wizards of the Coast have had the mod removed under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). Vincke took to social media to voice his support for fan-made mods, raising concerns about how they are handled and urging for a solution to be found. On April 1, 2025, Wizards of the Coast issued a statement on the DMCA, saying that it happened in error and apologized for the situation.[71]
Other media
In September 2016, Stardew Valley: Original Soundtrack was released, containing the game's official soundtrack.[72] In November 2016, the Stardew Valley Guidebook was released, written by Barone and Ryan Novak and illustrated by Kari Fry. The book has been revised and reissued multiple times to align with the game's update versions.[73] Polygon's Liz Richardson praised the book for making the game more relaxing to play.[73] In September 2017, Jason Schreier described the development process of a number of games, including Stardew Valley, in his book Blood, Sweat, and Pixels: The Triumphant, Turbulent Stories Behind How Video Games Are Made.[74] In December 2019, Stardew Valley was added to the Tesla Arcade, a Linux-based video game service incorporated within most models of Tesla electric cars.[75] On August 15, 2020, the orchestral album Symphonic Tale: The Place I Truly Belong (Music from Stardew Valley) directed by Kentaro Sato and performed by the Budapest Symphony Orchestra was released.[76]
A cooperative board game adaptation, Stardew Valley: The Board Game, was released in February 2021.[77] Barone collaborated with Norihiko Hibino on the album series Prescription for Sleep. The series remixes video game soundtracks with piano and saxophone. Prescription for Sleep: Stardew Valley, released in May 2021, features 10 tracks from the game's original soundtrack and one new track called "Beauty in the Seasons".[78] In September 2022, a collaboration with Terraria added one of its signature weapons, the Meowmere sword, to Stardew Valley.[79] The Official Stardew Valley Cookbook, featuring adaptations of more than 50 in-game recipes was announced in August 2023 and released on May 14, 2024.[80][81] Barone promoted the first Stardew Valley concert tour, Stardew Valley: Festival of Seasons, on October 10, 2023.[82] At BrickCon 2024, the 2-year-long construction of the Stardew Valley town out of Lego won the "People's Choice" award.[83] In October 2024, American singer-songwriter Soccer Mommy released a song called Abigail, in reference to the Stardew Valley character Abigail.[84] In October 2024, "Friends of Jimbo 2" update for the Balatro video game featured some Stardew Valley characters.[85] Barone has announced the second Stardew Valley concert tour, Stardew Valley: Symphony of Seasons, on November 20, 2024.[86] In August 2025, Infinity Nikki announced a collaboration with Stardew Valley.[87] The collaboration introduced music and rhythm games-inspired content to the former, unlocking cosmetic items.[88] In August 2025, the instrumental album Stardew Valley (Festival of Seasons) was released, featuring 16 songs from the game.[89] In November 2025, Among Us announced a collaboration with Stardew Valley that ran until February 18, 2026. A range of unlockable Stardew Valley-themed cosmetics was introduced.[90]
Reception
Critical reception
| Publication | Score |
|---|---|
| 4Players | 8/10[97] |
| Game Informer | 8.75/10[98] |
| GameRevolution | 9/10[15] |
| GameStar | 86/100[99] |
| IGN | 10/10[i] |
| PC Gamer (UK) | 80/100[102] |
| Polygon | 9/10[103] |
Stardew Valley received "generally favorable" reviews, according to review aggregator website Metacritic.[91][95][92][93][94] Fellow review aggregator OpenCritic assessed that the game received "mighty" approval, being recommended by 99% of critics.[96] It has been cited by several publications to be among the greatest video games to date.[j] Yasuhiro Wada, creator of Harvest Moon, said he was "very happy" with Barone's game as it has led to Harvest Moon not being forgotten. He added that Stardew Valley captured the sense of freedom he had envisioned for the series, while bringing more focus to animation and graphics.[117]
Farm life simulation and the overall gameplay experience were widely praised by critics. Jonathan Leack of GameRevolution wrote that the game effectively integrates its progression systems, activities, and rewards in a way that makes each in-game day feel distinct and cohesive.[15] Writing for Game Informer, Javy Gwaltney commended the farming mechanics for creating a relaxing and rewarding gameplay loop.[98] Daniella Lucas of PC Gamer highlighted crafting and farm customization as enjoyable features that enhance the player's ability to design and improve their farm.[102] Kallie Plagge of IGN praised the combination of RPG and farming elements, noting that it creates an engaging experience without feeling stressful.[100] Carli Velocci of Polygon underlined that Stardew Valley gives players a strong sense of achievement, with even simple daily tasks feeling satisfying.[103] Conversely, Jan Wöbbeking of 4Players wrote that repetitive farming actions made the early hours feel tedious. However, he noted that as progression systems expand, the farming routine becomes less monotonous.[97] Gwaltney criticized the absence of fast travel and considered the map system as lackluster, as it made moving between locations repetitive and time-consuming.[98]
The narrative and characters were generally well received by critics. Leack praised the dialogue and writing, stating that the villagers feature distinct personalities supported by strong writing.[15] Gwaltney similarly highlighted the townsfolk’s varied personalities, noting that they respond differently to the player.[98] Lucas commended the depth and realism of the town's residents, highlighting their eccentricities and believable personalities.[102] Plagge observed that although the townspeople have detailed, interconnected lives, the related mechanics for building relationships are simple in comparison.[100] Velocci praised how small interactions with NPCs gradually reveal their personalities and challenges, providing narrative depth.[103] Elena Schulz of GameStar noted that while certain story elements, such as the haunted community center, add interesting narrative touches, the game does not offer a particularly compelling or deep overarching story.[99] Steven Wright of Paste described the game as being anti-capitalist, citing the negative portrayal of the fictional Joja Corporation.[118] Many media outlets praised Stardew Valley for its LGBT options and representation, notably including the option for the player character to marry one of 12 villagers regardless of gender.[119][120][121][122] Aimee Hart of Gayming Magazine criticized the lack of racial diversity.[121]
The visual style received positive reviews by critics. Leack described the sprite-based visual style as visually pleasing and well-suited to the game, highlighting the environmental variety across its four in-game seasons.[15] Schulz praised the colorful pixel art style, calling its implementation particularly charming.[99] Wöbbeking commended the attention to detail thanks to its charming animations and described the visual atmosphere, particularly the lighting effects, as magical.[97]
The soundtrack was praised by critics. Leack complimented it as imaginative and beautifully composed.[15] Gwaltney positively noted the music as light and enjoyable.[98] Plagge singled out the music in the mine, writing that it reduces stress during combat and enhances the underground atmosphere.[100] Schulz stated that the soundtrack, in combination with retro visuals, creates a picturesque atmosphere.[99] Wöbbeking wrote that the soundtrack complements the atmosphere of the different weather conditions and seasons with relaxed chiptune melodies.[97]
Combat and dungeon exploration were received mostly positive, though the combat's simplicity received criticism by some. Leack described combat as entertaining and further noted that it adds variety to the overall experience.[15] Gwaltney had mixed feelings about the mine dungeon, calling it rather simple but noted that its combat and exploration offer a change of pace from the rest of the game.[98] Plagge described combat as straightforward and repetitive, but enjoyable due to the sense of discovery and the reward of finding valuable items in the mine.[100] Schulz similarly noted its simplicity, but highlighted that combat benefits from a rewarding progression loop centered on defeating enemies and acquiring better equipment.[99]
The game's lack of a helpful tutorial and its controls received criticism. Leack considered the tutorial as underdeveloped and insufficient for most players.[15] Velocci observed that the tutorial is minimal and does not clearly explain all gameplay mechanics. They additionally considered controls as imprecise, making some tasks frustrating to perform.[103] Schulz similarly criticized the lack of guidance in form of a tutorial or tips on the controls.[99] Conversely, Wöbbeking praised the simple control scheme for contributing to a relaxed gameplay experience.[97] Lucas noted technical and interface issues at release, including cursor glitches, missed festival triggers, and confusing menus.[102]
Retrospective reception
Eight years after its original review, Polygon highlighted Stardew Valley’s enduring popularity and continued relevance, noting that it still resonates with players and continues to grow without compromising its original charm.[123] In a 2018 reassessment, IGN raised their original score, with Miranda Sanchez noting that updates since launch have added new items, objectives, and events. These updates improved accessibility for newcomers and provided fresh challenges for veteran players, while the multiplayer mode further enriched the experience.[101] Following the release of the 1.6 update, IGN gave the game a perfect score, with Shailyn Cotten writing that the eight years of updates had transformed Stardew Valley into a modern classic.[8]
Sales
Stardew Valley sold roughly 425,000 copies across Steam and GOG.com in its first two weeks,[124] and more than a million within two months.[125] Valve reported that Stardew Valley was in the top 24 revenue-generating games on Steam during 2016.[126] Journalists noted that the gaming community had shown support for Barone and his game. While some players obtained the game illegally, many of them were impressed and indicated they planned to buy it. Others offered to help cover the cost for players who could not afford it.[2][127]
By the end of 2017, Stardew Valley had sold more than 3.5 million copies across all platforms.[128] The game became the most downloaded title on the Nintendo Switch for 2017, despite launching on the platform in October.[129] Following its mobile launch in October 2018, Sensor Tower estimated that the game generated more than US$1 million in revenue within its first three weeks on the Apple App Store.[130] By February 2026, Stardew Valley had sold over 50 million copies, 26 million of which were on PC and 7.9 million on Nintendo Switch.[131]
Accolades
Stardew Valley won the Breakthrough Award at the 2016 Golden Joystick Awards, in addition to receiving two other nominations.[132][133] At the 13th British Academy Games Awards, the game was nominated as Best Game.[134] It received further nominations as Best Debut at the Game Developers Choice Awards and Best Independent Game at The Game Awards.[135][136] At SXSW Gaming Awards, it was nominated as Most Promising New Intellectual Property.[137] It further was nominated for the Seumas McNally Grand Prize at the Independent Games Festival.[138]
Several Publications have placed Stardew Valley in their year-end lists, including The Guardian (5th),[139] Paste (8th),[140] Polygon (8th),[141] Slant Magazine (25th)[142] and The Verge.[143] Game Informer awarded the game as Best Simulation Game of 2016.[144] In 2024, the game received the Best Ongoing Game award by PC Gamer.[145] Gamesindustry.biz featured it as one of their Games of the Year in 2024.[146]
| Year | Award | Category | Result | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Golden Joystick Awards | Best Indie Game | Nominated | [132][133] |
| PC Game of the Year | Nominated | |||
| Breakthrough Award | Won | |||
| The Game Awards 2016 | Best Independent Game | Nominated | [136] | |
| 17th Game Developers Choice Awards | Best Debut | Nominated | [135] | |
| Independent Games Festival | Seumas McNally Grand Prize | Nominated | [138] | |
| SXSW Gaming Awards | Most Promising New Intellectual Property | Nominated | [137] | |
| 13th British Academy Games Awards | Best Game | Nominated | [134] | |
| The Steam Awards | The 'Best Use Of A Farm Animal' Award | Nominated | [147] | |
| The 'I Thought This Game Was Cool Before It Won An Award' Award | Nominated | |||
| 2017 | The Steam Awards | 'The World Is Grim Enough Let's Just All Get Along' Award | Won | [148] |
| 2018 | The Steam Awards | Labor of Love | Nominated | [149] |
| 2024 | The Steam Awards | Labor of Love | Nominated | [150] |
Legacy
Stardew Valley popularized farming and cozy games and helped define the modern farming simulator genre. According to Jess Reyes of Inverse, the game has played a key role in bringing farming and cozy games to broader audiences over the years.[151] Noelle Warner of Destructoid credited it with much of the recent resurgence in farming simulators, calling it a "full-on cultural phenomenon" and one of the most successful indie games.[152] Paige Lyman of Digital Trends highlighted its influence on both the indie space and bigger companies like Nintendo.[153] Wes Fenlon and Kara Phillips of PC Gamer described Stardew Valley as the backbone of modern farming simulators, noting that new entries in the genre are routinely compared to it. They further wrote that its success sparked a wave of similar "Stardew-esque" games, with many developers drawing inspiration from its formula.[154]
According to Ali Shutler of NME, Stardew Valley has been ranked first among the best video games for reducing stress.[155] Gamasutra named Barone one of the top ten developers for 2016, identifying that he had "single-handedly" developed something that "breathed new life into a genre" otherwise dominated by the Story of Seasons series.[156] In 2017, Matt Perez reported that Forbes named Barone one of their "30 Under 30" people to watch in the area of video games by citing his commitment towards making Stardew Valley.[157]
Notes
- Previously published by Chucklefish[1]
