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Katya Ryabova's avatar

Love this. SV is my most played game of all time (solo) and I don't foresee any game ever unseating it and the 600 hours I put into it 😄 I relate so hard to early-game struggles!

Also, afaik Concerned Ape is still one guy. He has people helping with Switch ports, boardgame, concerts etc, but the actual game dev is still a solo thing! So impressive. He keeps adding to the game, and had been for a decade, so the amount of content truly is massive.

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Oya's avatar

600 hours, wow! I was right that you never run out of things to do, then! Do you play with mods? I know the mods community is really good too.

That's incredible work for just one guy! Good for him, it seems like he enjoys it. I think he has a new game coming out too, I wonder how he has time for it all haha but I'm looking forward to it

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Katya Ryabova's avatar

I play only "vanilla" Stardew Valley—it has always been enough for me, but I've tried a few mods here and there and yes, the community is amazing and so creative! One mod, Stardew Valley Expanded, offers like double the content the unmodded game has, can you imagine?

His new game is called Haunted Chocolatier and I can't wait to play it, although sadly I think it's going to be a few more years at this point.

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Oya's avatar

Whoa that's like a whole new game! Impressive

Haunted Chocolatier looks really good! Hopefully it'll have co-op too, it looks like it would be fun to play with friends

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Lynsey Shaw's avatar

Playing co-op stardew valley is great for gaming with kids - my daughter doesn't like going in the mines which used to hold her back when she was playing solo but playing co-op mode she can happily tend to the animals and farm whilst I go mining 🤣

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Oya's avatar

That's really good! I don't have kids so I'm not an authority on this, but I think it's a good way to teach kids the power of teamwork haha

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Gonçalo Santos's avatar

Loved Stardew Valley! Tried for a while to get my girlfriend to play it with me, but cozy games that make you work a sort of daily job are a big pet peeve of hers haha. I loved my time playing solo, but I would've definitely played for longer if I had a group.

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Oya's avatar

I understand your girlfriend lol that was why I had more fun with co-op. It doesn't feel like a chore when you have a couple of perfectionists doing the min-maxxing and you can just fish to your heart's content haha

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Dylan Cornelius's avatar

Your article brought back memories of a few years ago when I sunk 100+ hours into it. I know that's nothing compared to some folk, but I really feel like I "completed" the bulk of the game and that was enough for me.

So cool that you and your friends had so much fun with it. And I agree: a great game, but not necessarily a cozy one!

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Oya's avatar

The same for us at 80 hours! We felt like we had enough for now, though we go back to it from time to time. It's great that you can go back to it after a long time and there is still much to do!

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James Francis's avatar

Yeah, Stardew is more hardcore than its reputation suggests.

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Oya's avatar

Absolutely!

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