![]() I love Stardew Valley and it’s a game I return to, from time to time, if only to see if my wine has matured yet. He’s done what not a lot of people are capable of doing and that’s create a video game with such broad appeal and he did it by himself. ![]() You don’t have to grow crops, you could just fish? And it’s testament to Eric Barone’s vision. There’s humour and sadness but yet there’s a defining atmosphere that encapsulates the idea of freedom. The characters all have their own personalities and secrets. The world he created is an absolute joy to explore. It’s an incredible accomplishment and it that took him four years and probably his sanity. Not only did he program Stardew Valley, he created every single art asset, every line of dialogue, every sound and even the music. While it borrows key gameplay mechanics, the inherent charm is all the work of one man and that is Eric Barone. It takes time and dedication but after a few seasons you’ll have learned from your mistakes and you might have made a few friends along the way.Īs polished and beautiful as Stardew Valley is, some players will instantly recognise it as a Harvest Moon clone, that’s not a bad thing at all. Everything from sowing seeds and harvesting crops is the video game equivalent of popping bubble wrap but attaining that level of carefree abandon takes work.įrom the first day on your new farm you’re given a packet of parsnip seeds and a few essentials such as a watering can and axe to fell trees. He raises demonic chickens and has named his pigs after characters from Game of Thrones.ĭespite the horror that I have described, the game is so cute and relaxing. ![]() He’s also married every woman in the village, had a couple of kids, cheated on said wives and divorced them only to use witchcraft to erase their memories and used the same witchcraft to abort the children in the ninth trimester. ![]() The amount of money he has owned is in its millions. His cellar has near countless barrels of wine that is maturing. At the moment, my avatar has been focusing on hops, grapes and coffee beans. I’ve sunk more hours into this game than I care to admit and “Farmer Graham” of “Stoner Farm” has grown every type of produce imaginable. Marriage and divorce can happen on a whim and it is possible to murder your own children without repercussions. In the dessert there’s a gambling den that is only available to a select few. The mine conceals dangers but offers high rewards. The village shop’s profits are being threatened by a new supermarket. Every season there is a cute tradition that everyone partakes with gusto.īut there’s hidden depths. On Friday evenings, nearly everyone meets in the bar. On the surface, the gossip is wafer-thin and everyone gets along. What if you could escape to the countryside? A picturesque approximation of aforementioned countryside? Along with a cosy village full with memorable characters, each their own archetype. That salary isn’t just your mortgage payments or disposable income, it’s a ball and chain that weighs you down with the depressing reality that a majority of your waking week is spent looking at emails, trying to stay awake in meetings, dealing with all the banal bullshit that comes with pathetic, little office cliques and the vacuous personalities that inhabit them. And yet there’s a certain romanticism towards the ideal of honest farm work, which is impossible to relate back to a boring, tedious office employment. ![]() All colour from the world has drained leaving only various tones of grey.Īnyway, I digress, office work sucks but you know what also sucks? Actually working long hours on a farm. Soon you’re encased in a cubicle, in a seemingly endless liminal space. From the first moment of waking up with that dreadful sinking feeling, tugging at every nerve in your body to that begrudging morning commute is only the beginning. Many of us have worked in tedious office jobs. ![]()
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