Valley
Valley
Game
Game2016
Stardew Valley
Developer ConcernedApe
Stardew Valley is a 2016 farm life simulation video game developed by Eric "ConcernedApe" Barone. Players take the role of a character who inherits their deceased grandfather's dilapidated farm. The game is open-ended, with players managing the farm by clearing land, growing seasonal crops, and raising animals. Players can acquire skills in farming, foraging, fishing, mining, and combat. From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
1,357 reactions from 4 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky, Mastodon, Lemmy) · newest Nov 5, 2026 · last updated Nov 5, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
98
LovedLoved
980 positive · 22 negative
95% range 97–99%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 980 | 22 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 66 | 14 | 207 |
| Mastodon * | 7 | 0 | 29 |
| Lemmy * | 4 | 2 | 26 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
Steam's own rating
Overwhelmingly Positive
463,964 of 469,370 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What players are saying
98% recommend · 346 yes, 8 no
Counted from the reviewers’ own thumbs up/down on the 354 English Steam reviews we collected, not by the AI. Valve’s all-language rating: Overwhelmingly Positive (1,027,895 of 1,043,746 positive).
Players find Stardew Valley deeply addictive, often losing track of time. [1][2][3] Many describe it as a therapeutic escape that helps with mental health. [4][5][6] Some reviewers feel pressured by the daily time limit, finding it stressful. [7][8][9]
Liked
Representative posts
- [1]
So I bought Stardew Valley thinking I'd relax for an hour. That was January 2026. I have no idea what year it is anymore. The game starts innocently enough. You inherit a charming little farm, meet friendly townsfolk, pet some chickens, and think, "I'll just water my crops and then go to bed." That, my friends, was the first lie. Every in-game day ends with: "Okay, just one more day." Then suddenly you're optimizing …
- [4]
I've been playing Stardew Valley for years, and recently came back to it again. Despite having hundreds of hours, I still haven't achieved all that much, and honestly, I think that's part of why I love it. Over the past few years, my mental and physical health have deteriorated a lot. I spend most of my days inside and often feel overwhelmed, exhausted, and lacking the energy or motivation to do much of anything. …
- [5]
Stardew has gotten me through some of the worst depression I have ever been in. It's a "cozy" game but it does everything right. It's gentle, it's easy to play in the background, it's relaxing, it's not *completely* insultingly unchallenging. It's a fun, sweet little game. You already know all this though don't you?
- [2]
Stardew Valley is the kind of game where you sit down to play a cute farming game for a little bit and suddenly it’s 2 a.m. and you’re emotionally invested in a town mayor who lost his shorts. I love this game and its community so much. 10/10 would abandon IRL responsibilities again!
- [3]
Once you start playing Stardew Valley you won't be able to stop. It's addicting (In a good way) Love it 10/10
Summarised from 34 of the 476 public posts collected about this game; every point cites the posts behind it ([n] opens the post) and the split is counted from the posts’ own ratings. Updated Oct 10, 2026. How summaries are made
RottenBot@rottenbot · automated account
Players who liked Stardew Valley talk about relaxing and therapeutic gameplay; those who didn't talk about time pressure can cause anxiety. Which matters more to you?
Critics, per Wikipedia
Stardew Valley received "generally favorable" reviews, according to review aggregator website Metacritic. Fellow review aggregator OpenCritic assessed that the game received "mighty" approval, being recommended by 99% of critics. Yasuhiro Wada, creator of Harvest Moon, said he was "very happy" with Barone's game as it has led to Harvest Moon not being forgotten. He added that Stardew Valley captured the sense of freedom he had envisioned for the series, while bringing more focus to animation and graphics. Farm life simulation and the overall gameplay experience were widely praised by critics. Jonathan Leack of GameRevolution wrote that the game effectively integrates its progression…
From the “Reception” section of Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Critic context only — not part of the audience score.
Reactions
60 of 1,357 · most liked firstA new Stardew Valley patch for the Switch is out, please update your game. You can put hats back on pets now. It also fixes the bomb crash, disappearing chickens, and more. There will be further patches on console to fix additional bugs and get it in sync with where PC is at.
neutral · AI labelView post →I keep trying to play Stardew Valley to relax only to get stressed out by planning the days for maximum farm efficiency and worrying about getting all the chores packed into the days. It's a more stressful game to me than Elden Ring or any survival horror game
negative · AI labelView post →Mutuals interested in -Art -Splatoon -Hades (game) -Project Sekai -Musicals -Twisted Wonderland -Art -Our Life -Monster Prom -Alien Stage -Milgram -Ace Attorney -Poetry -Stardew Valley -Guilty Gear -Nintendo games
neutral · AI labelView post →Eric Barone, the creator of Stardew Valley, keeps updating his video game. And has no plans of stopping.
neutral · AI labelView post →Getting back into Stardew Valley cause wife is playing it and it's kinda funny cause she nearly 100%'d the game in two weeks and I'm over here waiting for nine potatoes to grow like "Computer- how do I rizz Elliott"
neutral · AI labelView post →I have put over 1100 hours into Stardew Valley. I have achieved perfection in the game multiple times including once with in the first two in game years. And yet, I can not get passed the FIRST level of Journey of the Prairie King.
neutral · AI labelView post →---{ Graphics }--- ☐ You forget what reality is ☐ Beautiful ☑ Good ☐ Decent ☐ Bad ☐ Don‘t look too long at it ☐ MS-DOS ---{ Gameplay }--- ☑ Very good ☐ Good ☐ It's just gameplay ☐ Mehh ☐ Watch paint dry instead ☐ Just don't ---{ Audio }--- ☐ Eargasm ☑Very good ☐ Good ☐ Not too bad ☐ Bad ☐ I'm now deaf ---{ Audience }--- ☑ Kids ☑ Teens ☑ Adults ☐ Grandma ---{ PC Requirements }--- ☐ Check if you can run paint ☑ Potato ☐ Decent ☐ Fast ☐ Rich boi ☐ Ask NASA if they have a spare computer ---{…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →So I bought Stardew Valley thinking I'd relax for an hour. That was January 2026. I have no idea what year it is anymore. The game starts innocently enough. You inherit a charming little farm, meet friendly townsfolk, pet some chickens, and think, "I'll just water my crops and then go to bed." That, my friends, was the first lie. Every in-game day ends with: "Okay, just one more day." Then suddenly you're optimizing sprinkler layouts like you're managing a Fortune 500 company. You're…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Love this game, but please remember to go to bed before 2 either in the game or in real life.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Stardew Valley is free to own (not a limited PS+ license) if you have a PS Vita and PS+ -Claim Stardew Valely (PS4 version) on PS+: buff.ly/oVgwxmL -Use a PS Vita and search for Stardew Valley. It'll be free via cross-buy. Can confirm game is not tied to PS+ once you claim it for free on Vita
neutral · AI labelView post →Cant believe Stardew Valley is already 10 years old fr. 600mb+ is such a small file size, just a few mins to download. But at the same time, its also huge enough to contain the life Ive always dreamed of.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I did not know that Harvey from Stardew Valley experienced twink death before the game launched www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XB7...
neutral · AI labelView post →Raise your hand if you have restarted Stardew Valley/Animal Crossing/insert cozy game of choice here because… *gestures broadly* and escapism is real.
neutral · AI labelView post →Not true, I hear that Ian Miles Cheong is coming out with a non-woke game. It’s a first-person shooter called “Divorce Court.” And Charlie Kirk is promoting a cozy farming game “in the spirit of Stardew Valley” set in 1859 rural Alabama.
neutral · AI labelView post →Wait a minute.. You can marry an NPC in Stardew Valley?! I need to play this game immediately
positive · AI labelView post →I was promised a relaxing game, instead, it made me learn Excel formulas and obsess over my farm like it's an actual job. And the worst part - I've enjoyed that.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →game idea: a Stardew Valley game where some city jerk moves onto your village's farm and starts dating everyone and winning all your festivals
neutral · AI labelView post →Stardew Valley with the superpower of making a 3 hour stream feel like 5 minutes THIS GAME IS POWEFUL Y'ALL YOU WILL LOSE YOUR DAYS TO THIS GAME
positive · AI labelView post →Its like crack but cheaper and with good music. 10/10 would recommend and also Leah is a baddie
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Initially, I wasn't interested in playing it. My friends highly recommended it and basically forced me to give it a try. The result? I am completely hooked. It really reminds me of Harvest Moon: Back to Nature, giving me a great sense of nostalgia. On top of that, the game doesn't just focus on farming. You can actually go on adventures and fight monsters in the mines and other areas. I also enjoy the plot twists included in the game. The NPCs actually go about their daily routines, which…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →“New indie farming game is like Stardew Valley meets-“ SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP
neutral · AI labelView post →Haunted Chocolatier 'More of an Action RPG' Compared to Stardew Valley, ConcernedApe Says. Barone announced Haunted Chocolatier back in 2021, but amid ongoing work on his phenomenally successful Stardew Valley, progress on the follow-up has been slow going. Indeed, in June, Barone admitted to feeling somewhat embarrassed to have to keep on saying he was still working away on the game. “Feels kinda dumb posting this same thing over and over, but that’s the reality,” he said at the time. In a…
neutral · AI labelView post →"He played a game about destroying corporations through grass-roots terrorism and subterfuge. The game, Stardew Valley, is...."
neutral · AI labelView post →Had someone on Twitter tell me if ConcernedApe could make Stardew Valley alone, I can make the games I want without AI. He spent ~70 hours a week for over four years making the game while partially being financially kept afloat by his partner. This is NOT an ideal to uphold.
negative · AI labelView post →I've been playing Stardew Valley for years, and recently came back to it again. Despite having hundreds of hours, I still haven't achieved all that much, and honestly, I think that's part of why I love it. Over the past few years, my mental and physical health have deteriorated a lot. I spend most of my days inside and often feel overwhelmed, exhausted, and lacking the energy or motivation to do much of anything. I've stopped playing many of the bigger games I used to love because I feel too…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Nice to find out while making the Safe for Baby videogame playlist that at some point due to console ports or whatever that Stardew Valley, Satisfactory and Factorio all got full scale native controller support. ...should I try Stardew Valley? I heard it was just Animal Crossing with more game.
neutral · AI labelView post →fine yeah I do like taking my little 2mg "weed for babies" mint and playing the Stardew Valley fishing game for a while
positive · AI labelView post →---{ Graphics }--- ☐ You forget what reality is ☐ Beautiful ☑ Good ☐ Decent ☐ Bad ☐ Don‘t look too long at it ---{ Gameplay }--- ☑ Very good ☐ Good ☐ It's just gameplay ☐ Mehh ☐ Watch paint dry instead ☐ Just don't ---{ Audio }--- ☐ Eargasm ☑ Very good ☐ Good ☐ Not too bad ☐ Bad ☐ I'm now deaf ---{ Audience }--- ☑ Kids ☑ Teens ☑ Adults ☐ Grandma ---{ PC Requirements }--- ☐ Check if you can run paint ☑ Potato ☐ Decent ☐ Fast ☐ Rich boi ☐ Ask NASA if they have a spare computer ---{ Game Size…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Stress free game? A game to relax on? Not with my greedy ass, I need the profits, everything MUST BE EFFICIENT! EVEN WALKING!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Don't listen to anyone abt how to play the game. Learn it yourself and enjoy the game. Don't turn a chill farming life game into a chaotic mass production industrials aka "Jojo corp replica"
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Stardew Valley is the kind of game where you sit down to play a cute farming game for a little bit and suddenly it’s 2 a.m. and you’re emotionally invested in a town mayor who lost his shorts. I love this game and its community so much. 10/10 would abandon IRL responsibilities again!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Stardew has gotten me through some of the worst depression I have ever been in. It's a "cozy" game but it does everything right. It's gentle, it's easy to play in the background, it's relaxing, it's not *completely* insultingly unchallenging. It's a fun, sweet little game. You already know all this though don't you?
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Started a farming game, accidentally built a second life.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Tried rizzing a baddie, asked her to dance, she replies "Eww, no way!"... I move on and 100 hours later I'm making millions selling pineapples 10/10 it will help you set your priorities straight
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Was first introduced to Stardew Valley during the pandemic, and found it to be charming and engaging. Returned to playing as it provides a refuge, an alternative, kinder world to visit when real life is less pleasant. Thoroughly enjoy.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I downloaded a farming game and somehow ended up becoming the town's unpaid therapist, archaeologist, fisherman, chef, and local alcoholic's best mate.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Once you start playing Stardew Valley you won't be able to stop. It's addicting (In a good way) Love it 10/10
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Hey remember when I said Stardew Valley was a chill game? Yeah I lied... www.twitch.tv/not_so_super... #TwitchClips
negative · AI labelView post →Happy 10th Anniversary, Stardew Valley. It’s hard to believe this is my sixth year playing this game. I don’t know if you’ll ever see this, ConcernedApe, but I need to say it anyway. Thank you for saving my life. Over the past six years, during countless moments when I felt like I couldn’t go on, when I wanted to disappear, your game healed me. It gave me warmth, strength, and a sense of connection. When I was disappointed in the world and in myself, Stardew Valley accepted me. It gave me…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Fuck me if I'm right, Stardew Valley is a GREAT game! 🤔
positive · AI labelView post →Can in fact confirm that playing Stardew Valley with a group of sleep deprived trans women with utterly divergent game priorities is a healing experience.
positive · AI labelView post →The gold Standard of Cozy Gaming It is genuinely mind-blowing to think that Stardew Valley was created by just one person. When you compare it to other titles—which I won't name—that stay stuck in Early Access for years despite having entire studios behind them, Eric Barone’s achievement is even more impressive. This isn't just a farming sim; it is a labor of love that has become the definitive blueprint for what a "cozy game" should be. The beauty of Stardew is that the pacing is…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Stardew Valley is a very relaxing and therapeutic game. In it, you play as a farmer, primarily farming, fishing, raising animals, and gathering resources. You work from sunrise to sunset, without modern high-tech drones or automated farms; everything is primitive and simple, just like its pixelated art style. 星露谷物语是一款非常治愈放松的游戏，在游戏里，作为一位农夫，主要是耕种、钓鱼、养殖与收集，日出而作，日落而息，没有现代高科技的无人机和自动化农场，一切都原始而简朴，正如这像素风的美术。 Through countless days and nights in the game, I built friendships and even love with the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Started the game as farming simulator, finished it as RPG. Expended my farm, learned the scammy economy of the town, got married, sacrificed my children to the witch, happy ending! 10/10 would recommend. and F**K Pierre
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Okay, so listen...I'm just a girl who loves her violent shooter games. Stardew is my first ever "chilled" game and with my very short attention span and need for something fast-paced, this game never failed to keep me interested or on my toes. Overall, it's fun and wholesome. It gets extra points for being co-op 'cause I get to play with my favorite person. GO BUY IT, GURLLL!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game was developed with love and therefore deserves nothing less than a positive review.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A super fun game that I've dumped way too many hours into, across multiple platforms. I always find myself coming back to it every couple of months. Highly recommended.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Played game Lost fish mini game Got mad Sold my soul to Yoba Got gud at fisch mini game Cuaght all legendary fishes Was pleased Put them in tank with Mayors underwear
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Low Stakes Cozy Co-op Game Suggestions?. I’m looking to set up a co-op video game night with my friends and I’m looking for suggestions for a cozy game we can all play together virtually. We all enjoy Stardew Valley but we’ve all played it and I’d like to start something new with them. Looking for ideas that would allow me to walk away from the computer if I need to take care of my kids but still allows my friends to continue playing. Here’s some parameters to narrow down the list: - switch,…
neutral · AI labelView post →Stardew Valley is $8.99 on Steam buff.ly/wA5Ilch $7.49 US PSN buff.ly/W0J2iin Deck verified also on Game Pass Standard
neutral · AI labelView post →good for casual play but if u wanna go the completionist route.. u better lube ur ass beforehand coz its about to be blown wide open
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Definitely worth spending 1k hours in. It's calming, with a hint of panic when you run out of time while in the mines. The cozy vibe is therapeutic and really heals the inner OCD in me. It's fun playing by yourself and even more fun playing with friends, just don't bomb their crops too often <3
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Stardew Valley: The Board Game is back in stock in our official collection! Available now: www.fangamer.com/collections/...
neutral · AI labelView post →Genuinely a perfect game, no notes. If you ever get tired of the base game (somehow), there's an active and extremely friendly modding community that adds so so much to the game. Thank you Concerned Ape and the Stardew Valley team for all your hard work in making this amazing game <3
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →since my dog's passing, it's been comforting being able to distract myself and find peace in the relaxing parts of life. cheers to more Stardew Valley.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Do not refer to your own game as "like Stardew Valley" if it isnt good. You are "like Facebook Farmville".
neutral · AI labelView post →Stardew Valley the most stressful survival horror game i have ever played
negative · AI labelView post →"My family has over 150 hours playing Stardew Valley. It is rare that we find an activity that the whole family enjoys this much, but Stardew Valley has become that. My kids will now not ask for just screen time—but instead ask for Stardew Valley family time." www.crossplay.news/p/stardew-va...
neutral · AI labelView post →She played a game about forcing everyone into a commune called Stardew Valley.
neutral · AI labelView post →[Linux] Nexus Mods with Amethyst-Mod-Manager (first steps starting guide). cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/54821902 > * Nexus Mods: https://www.nexusmods.com/ > * Amethyst-Mod-Manager: https://github.com/ChrisDKN/Amethyst-Mod-Manager > > So I'm new to modding PC games. I wanted to recommend a way using a mod manager called Amethyst-Mod-Manager, which installs and manages game mods from Nexus Mods. It has native support for almost 100 games listed at…
neutral · AI labelView post →
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