Stardew Valley
It was this last August when I fell down the never-ending rabbit hole of Stardew Valley. For months on Tiktok, I saw various edits of Haley with Good Luck Babe! playing in the background. That was what initially drew me in, and little did I know the digital world I was about to dive into.
Stardew Valley is commonly described as a “comfort game,” and I think to some extent, that is true. If most of the gameplay is the player just farming the land with sprinklers and petting the farm animals then I can see the game being labeled as comforting. But that’s not what I do. That’s not how I play. At the start, I was all about just fishing, farming, and petting my cat, Miso. But then I was sent on a quest by the Adventures Guild to explore the mines, and this moment is when everything about Stardew Valley changed for me.
It’s not like I didn’t know that the mines didn’t exist, it’s just I’d never really cared about them. I heard that they were difficult and could cause players to lose items and money, and I care a lot about my money in Stardew. But I also hate having the quest journal filled completely, and hitting level 40 in the mines was the last quest I had left to do. It was taunting me every day when I checked my little journal. Finally, I decided to brave the mines with the raggedy sword supplied by Marlon. My goal was to move down the mines ten levels (or floors) each day. (Little did I know this wouldn’t be the last mining adventure I had.)
As I swiftly defeated slimes, cave crabs, and the other monsters within these caverns, I realized that every ten levels I would be given something to aid in this journey. A pair of boots that boosted defense stats, or a sword that didn’t have dents. I had hit level 40, my original quest goal, but I found my journey in the mines was not over. A new quest hit my journal challenging me to reach the very bottom of the mines. The Bottom! I thought I had already hit the bottom. At first I didn’t want to keep going into the mines and fighting new monsters. The bugs in the tropical area of the mines were my least favorite and I couldn’t bear the thought of fighting more of them.
Alas, I chose to keep going. I don’t know if I’m simply a completionist, but every day when I was petting my pixelated chicken, Bropella, I couldn’t shake the thought of the mines. They were taunting me from the other side of Pelican Town. I eventually decided I would finish the quest and reach the bottom of the mines.
The game doesn’t tell you how many levels there are to the mines there are until the bottom, and I didn’t want to go in blind. After doing some research, I found out there were 120 levels to the mines. I decided I would continue my initial strategy of trying to get ten levels down each day so I could use the elevator shortcut, which appears every ten levels, to pick up where I left off. Now with my plan in action, I continue to slay slimes, dust sprites, metal heads, and squid kids. These monsters were some of the most difficult ones I ever faced. One specific monster I remember quarreling with was the shadow shaman. The shadow shaman can shoot green fireballs at the player which lowers their defense by 8 points. It didn’t matter what magical items I had picked up from previous levels, the shadow shaman could take it all away with one hit.
Finally, I had reached the bottom of the mines. It was my biggest in-game triumph, as I hadn’t finished the community center yet, another part of the game that can be so stressful. I had completed the task! I was so proud of myself until I found out about the skull cavern… That’s right, there were even more mines to be conquered.
It’s because of these mines that I personally don’t view Stardew Valley as a comfort game. I like the challenge of the mines, the annoying fishing minigame that only becomes easier if you keep playing, and the second level of the Prairie King that I can never get past. These parts of the game challenge me, but Stardew also gives the choice for players to not interact with these challenges if they don’t want to. It’s up to the player how much of a comfort game Stardew is for them personally. I’m grateful for Stardew Valley, as it’s now become one of my favorite games, and I recommend it to anyone willing to be adventurous, or to anyone who simply wants to plant pretty crops.
(Photo courtesy of Game Rant)
