Stardew Valley arrived in 2016 and was one of the year's biggest surprises. Among a plethora of great games like Uncharted 4, DOOM, Dark Souls 3, and Overwatch, the small pixel-art farming sim was extremely pleasant, with an initial launch on PC followed by console versions and a Switch port doing well to make it mainstream. The exploits of the player character when they move into an abandoned farm offer compelling freedom of choice, and it's a format that has since been replicated.
While Harvest Moon originally carried the load for farming simulators, Stardew Valley has quickly become the most beloved game in the niche genre, with fans already excited about the developer's follow-up Haunted Chocolatier. It borrows much from the Natsume-published franchise, but since its release Stardew Valley has soared beyond the series that inspired it. There were plenty of great farming sims in previous years and on older hardware, but the success of ConcernedApe's achievement has ushered in the genre's golden age.
Stardew Valley is the Farming Simulator Benchmark
Stardew Valley is the only game developed by ConcernedApe thus far. Games made by a single person aren't anything new, as Mike Bithell and Toby Fox have proven with titles like Undertale and Thomas Was Alone among others. However, the sheer depth of Stardew Valley is a marvel, and shows that innovation is more important than huge worlds developed by massive teams. Tending to crops is only the beginning, as wandering the streets of Pelican Town and interacting with compelling, down-to-earth characters will take up a lot of the player's time. It's proof that the farming simulator genre is fertile ground for fresh ideas inspired by old ones, and that the feat can be achieved with restrictions.
The influence of one game can make all the difference, as titles like Overwatch, Super Metroid, Halo, and Final Fantasy have defined genres, and have provoked other companies to fill out a specific space with similar games. Stardew Valley is young compared to the aforementioned titles, but may prove to demand an equal amount of credit, as it has inspired other studios and gotten people talking about farming simulator games that share nothing in common with the Chucklefish-published project.
Stardew Valley-Inspired Games Proliferate Online
The Washington-based developer looked to Harvest Moon for guidance and inspiration for Stardew Valley, but whereas the former franchise is struggling to rekindle the magic of old under company disputes, the latter is everything that Harvest Moon should be in 2022. The results are hard to ignore, as games like My Time at Portia, Moonlighter, and Potion Permit offer similar gameplay loops, design formulas, and aesthetic flourishes that Stardew Valley provoked.
There are a litany of farming simulators available in 2022, from realistic offerings to pretty pixel art experiences, and it's hard to believe that the slew of games available in the rapidly expanding genre would have gained anywhere near the traction they have without ConcernedApe. Like the player tending to livestock on their Pelican Town farm, Stardew Valley is shepherding an entire genre to new horizons, and will surely continue to herald in a truly special time for farming simulator fans everywhere.
Stardew Valley is available on Mobile, PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.