Co-op Days: Stardew Valley

The coziest not so cozy game

Co-op Days is a series where I write about the multiplayer/co-op games I’ve played with my friends and let you know my unfiltered thoughts. While I usually play games with my brother and our childhood friends every Sunday, I may also talk about games that I’ve played with my partner or with my other friends.

You can check out the other entries on this series here.

Play time: 80 hours
Played on: PC
Difficulty: Default

The quintessential cozy game - or is it?

When I first tried out Stardew Valley on my own, I was overwhelmed. The time mechanic felt restrictive, my energy wasn’t enough for anything, I sucked at fishing and watering my crops one by one was frustrating.

As you can probably tell, I don’t do very well with resource management games.

So when my childhood friend group suggested that we play it together, I was skeptical.

Well, we ended up sinking almost 80 hours into the game. Needless to say, my opinion on this game has changed quite a bit.

To be clear, it’s still not a game that I’d play on my own. But it’s incredibly fun with your close friend group.

Well, my friend group is made up of perfectionists. We have to find all the secrets, grow all the crops, do everything that you can do in the game. This tweet basically describes us:

Especially at the beginning of the game, I couldn’t leave the farm because I was tasked with watering the crops. One of us complained about never being able to see daylight because he couldn’t leave the mines. We always joked that our third was not doing anything and just socializing with the townspeople, though he was actually the brains behind the farm and did all the quests and planning.

My house

My house, as unorganized as it may seem, is really efficient. The preserves jars are placed in the most effective way possible. My lower floor is full of wine barrels.

And see the bed next to the door? That’s for the miner friend who always comes home late and can’t make it to his house in time before passing out. His house is the farthest from the farm entrance and mine is the closest. He used to rush back, then crash in my place, in my own damn bed. So, I put a new bed in the most convenient place possible.

Our little farm

Stardew Valley is a game that becomes what you make of it. It gives you a lot of freedom. And with others by my side to manage the resources for me, I was able to overcome my anxiety and water the crops in peace, then go to the mines and battle some slimes, and then do some fishing while trying to woo Elliott. The other two bagged Abigail and Alex, so our little farm eventually became a big home with six people in it.

It’s incredible just how much content is in Stardew Valley, especially considering that only one guy is behind all of this. I’m not sure if he has a team to help him with some stuff like making assets, but it’s impressive nonetheless.

There is just so much to do in this game.

Even after ‘finishing the game’, mastering all our skills, completing all the big quests, there is still a lot to do. We booted the game up the other day after months and got completely overwhelmed because we had forgotten what we were doing the last time we played.

I imagine that if you add in the mods, you can easily spend hundreds of hours in the game.

It is not a surprise that a lot of the newer games take so much inspiration from Stardew Valley; its scale is really commendable.

It’s still funny to me that my friend group who usually likes action-packed, competitive games (whether PvP or PvE) enjoyed Stardew Valley this much. It goes to show you that its audience is not only cozy gamers.

Overall, Stardew Valley is a game that deserves its hype and reputation. While not really a game for me to play solo, it has been a wonderful experience in co-op. You probably know this game anyway, but still, absolutely recommended!