Video Game of the Day is a daily show available on Amazon Alexa devices and here on this website. Each day, we briefly discuss the history of a single game, randomly chosen. If you would like to listen on your daily flash briefing, you can enable Video Game of the Day here: https://amzn.to/2CNx2NJ.
Transcript:
Hello and welcome! My name is Katosepe and I’ll be your host for today’s Video Game of the Day.
With all of the action, excitement, and world-saving that video games can offer, sometimes it’s nice to just be able to sit back with a cold drink and play something relaxing. Something that lets you play at your own pace. Something that doesn’t stress you out with goals, timers, or enemies. Today’s game has become the relaxation game of choice for many people in the last few years. Today’s game is Stardew Valley, developed by ConcernedApe and released on PC in 2016.
Stardew Valley has players start off in a corporate jungle before they escape to the country life of the idyllic Stardew Valley. Their grandfather had left them land in town but it has become massively overgrown over the years so the player will have to clean up and rebuild to become the farmer they’ve always wanted to be.
Stardew Valley begins as something of an homage to the relaxation games that came before. It’s impossible to miss the inspiration from Harvest Moon, a franchise all about becoming a farmer, but there’s significant doses of Rune Factory and Animal Crossing in there as well. Players can focus on becoming the best farmer they can be but they can also make friends or more with the various townsfolk of Stardew Valley, each with their own personalities and backstories. There’s a mine that the player can delve into for rare materials, which adds a bit of combat into the mix. Town festivals, collection quests, and new areas to discover all make Stardew Valley a game where there’s always something new around each corner that you can discover at your own pace.
Stardew Valley received critical praise and was lauded as the Harvest Moon follow-up we just weren’t getting from the Harvest Moon developers. It was also a massive commercial success, selling more than a million copies in only a couple of months. This would have been a massive accomplishment for a team but it is all the more impressive that Stardew Valley was actually made by just a single person, Eric Barone. The game has since been ported to Linux, Mac, Playstation 4, Xbox One, Switch, the Vita, and mobile devices. Since its initial success, ConcernedApe has continued to work on content updates over the years, adding full multiplayer support, additional cutscenes and festivals, and more. He is continuing support on the game to this day, with a promised 1.5 patch coming in the future.
Thank you so much for listening and a special thank you to nigelpornberry for suggesting today’s game. If you want to request a game, send me a message on Twitter @vg_oftheday. Archives and transcripts for every episode are available on videogameoftheday.com. Don’t forget to check back here tomorrow for another Video Game of the Day!
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Devin "Katosepe" Sloane is a long time gamer and host of the show Video Game of the Day. He firmly believes Darklands is the pinnacle of gaming achievement and this is a hill he will die upon. Where his nickname came from is a secret to everybody.
