Stardew Valley is a role-playing game crossed with a farming simulator that has attracted many players over the years for a relaxing farming experience. Many players would argue that Stardew Valley is one of the greatest farming simulators that has been published in recent years, setting up an example that all future titles should aim for.

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Some players may wonder how the game has managed to make a difference and why this farming simulator is enjoyed more than others in the genre. With so many reasons to pick up Stardew Valley, these are by far the best features that put the pixel title above the rest.

8 Better Dialogue And Relationships

Stardew Valley - RPG With Great Romances

Due to the RPG mechanics of Stardew Valley, players are able to meet and interact with the various residents in Pelican Town. All of these characters have their own likes and dislikes as well as heaps of dialogue for the player to interact with when meeting them in town.

Some of these residents can even be romanced by the player and therefore achieving certain heart ratings with them will cause a scene to play where the player can learn more about them. While other games have implemented these features, Stardew Valley feels the most like a living, breathing town where the residents all have their own issues like the average person.

7 Worthwhile Tool Upgrades

A player mining copper in Stardew Valley

Some farming simulator games provide the player with various farming tools they can purchase or craft, though it doesn't make a difference to the speed or efficiency of the player's farming workday. Stardew Valley tasks the player with earning various ores, so they should purchase better upgrades for their tools that make a difference when harvesting them.

A better hoe can be used to dig up a larger grid of dirt to grow crops, or a better watering can is used to water a larger field. All these upgrades make changing a player's tools worthwhile, especially as many will not want to return to the basics.

6 Expansive And Interesting Gameplay

A player attacking a slime in Stadew Valley

Stardew Valley does a good job of covering all fields in a captivating farming simulator, as it does so much more than simply introduce farming. Players can search for challenging combat to farm other resources, go mining to find ores or spend their rainy days fishing.

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These activities are varied, and therefore players are less likely to get burnt out by the daily grind of the farmer lifestyle. If that doesn't interest players then there is still the feature to keep animals, which includes a lot more than the usual cow, chicken, or sheep, as players can even purchase rabbits, goats, or pigs.

5 Introduction Of Technology

Stardew Valley Field of Sprinklers

Many farming simulator titles tend to force players to do everything by hand. This tends to make players limit their amount of farming space, so they are able to avoid spending the majority of the day watering all their crops which may waste a substantial amount of energy.

Thankfully, Stardew Valley has found a way around this. When a player levels up, their farming skill they will begin to unlock the crafting recipes for sprinklers. This introduction of technology in a farming simulator that rivals Story of Seasons means players with the right crop setup will never need to worry about watering crops ever again.

4 Simpler Farming Mechanics

A field of seeds in Stardew Valley

What surprisingly puts Stardew Valley above the rest when it comes to a farming simulator may be due to how unrealistic it is. Players enjoy how much simpler farming is in Stardew as they don't have to worry about seasonal pests or possible crops not making it through the season (provided the crop is grown during the right season, of course).

This allows for incredibly straightforward gameplay that lets farmers enjoy Stardew Valley with less stress. That being said, there are still some issues with occasional bad weather or forgetting to invest in a scarecrow, but other than it's an incredibly simple game to learn.

3 An Assortment of Crops

A farm on Stardew Valley full of many different crops.

While many farming simulators allow players to grow various crops, Stardew Valley takes it one step ahead with an even larger assortment of fruits, vegetables, and other plant types. Many of them realistically match the seasons they would grow in, with a couple more unique crops such as the starfruit thrown in.

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Players that enjoy maximizing their profit will need to educate themselves on what the best crop to grow each season is, while also having enough of the other crop types to cook an assortment of recipes that can be gifted to the residents of Stardew Valley.

2 An Interesting Story With A Goal

concernedape farm sim genre revival

The average farming simulator tends to only task the player with taking on the role of the farmer, which can get quite boring after a while. Stardew Valley's role-playing elements mean that even this cozy game provides the player with numerous goals that advance the story of Stardew Valley.

The main objective is rebuilding the Community Center (if players choose this path instead of the Joja Mart path), which requires completing different collections of items found within the game. Players will also unlock new residents in the second year, and alternative areas to explore like Ginger Island, meaning there is always something to do.

1 Relaxing Above All Else

Stardew Valley Farm and Crops

While many similar games are similarly relaxing, none of them seems to truly match the amount of relaxation players find in Stardew Valley. Overlooking the goals to achieve and the farming to get done, Stardew Valley is a staple cozy game for players to enjoy when winding down.

What makes the indie game even better is that Stardew Valley is found on multiple platforms. This means that regardless of the player's main source of gaming (whether it's PC, handheld, or console), they will still likely have access to Stardew Valley.

Stardew Valley is available on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Android, iOS, and PlayStation Vita.

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