In honor of the new update, here’s why you should try playing Stardew Valley as a college student.
Commonly referred to as the most relaxing game ever, Stardew Valley is a (relatively) low stakes Farm Life Sim that can be played as single player or multiplayer with up to 8 people. It’s part farming, part social, and part dating game. It’s also available on multiple platforms and only $15, making it accessible to play!
Stardew Valley has something for everyone. If you like farming or harvesting or mining, there’s that. If you like plot based games with quests and storylines, there’s lots of that. If you like social games where you can interact with different characters, have fun dialogue, and develop relationships, there’s that. If you’re interested in romancing a specific character or getting to know different characters in a romantic way, you can do that in Stardew as well.
My favorite characters to date are Sam, a musician who skateboards and plays his little handheld video game by the river, and Maru, a young female scientist and astronomy fan who loves strawberries. There are six bachelors and six bachelorettes to get to know!
Related: Ranking All Twelve Stardew Valley Bachelors and Bachelorettes
It’s also a low stakes game, which means it’s great for stress relief. There are achievements you can strive for and collections to try to complete if you’d like, but you don’t have to! The game has many fun areas and activities and you can do whatever you’d like. Although it’s pretty hard to make money in the game if you don’t buy seeds, plant and water them, and harvest them to sell.
I personally really like this farming aspect, even though I don’t play farming sims outside of Stardew. There are sprinklers you can create to water your crops for you, so you can be pretty hands-off of this aspect if you want to. I personally love completing quests and talking to the villagers, so that’s what I focus on. I’ve played with people who love to go mining and fight the little mine monsters, and people who love tending to the farm animals you can buy. The game is yours to do what you want!
The ability to play multiplayer games is another great reason to try out Stardew Valley. One of my best friends is British and lives in England and we like to play Stardew as a fun way to hang out and talk. You can play with up to 8 people, so no one has to be left out.
Stardew Valley is also a very accessible game. As I mentioned, it’s on multiple platforms and it’s $15 only on each platform. It’s a one-time purchase which goes directly to the developer (who is one guy!), and it updates every so often for free. Stardew is available on a computer (through Steam or Humble), iPhones & Android as an app, Nintendo Switch, Playstation, and Xbox. I personally own it on Steam and on my Nintendo switch.
If you want to do multiplayer, just make sure you and your friends have it on the same platform since the game doesn’t yet support cross-platform multiplayer. The controls are also very simple. It uses the WASD system to move your character around and left and right clicks to interact with people, objects, and buildings. You can also take a break and come back to it whenever you have time, making it perfect for a college schedule!
I highly recommend checking out Stardew Valley, whether you’re new to video games or have been playing since you were young!