5/5 ★ – gumgy's review of Stardew Valley.

pretty much the idealized version of the farming sim style game. the greatest aspect of stardew valley in my opinion is the replay-ability of it; having at least 5 different starting farms, 12 different marriage candidates, and multiple ways to complete the main goal. i find myself coming back to this game around once per year and each time I can play differently enough to have an enjoyable experience. this alone probably makes it one of the best values in terms of hours per dollar at only $15. the skills in farming, foraging, fishing, mining, and combat are fairly generic and somewhat unsatisfying to level, due to lack of leveling rewards; but they provide plenty of content to the point where in years 1 and 2, you will not have a problem using up all your daily stamina. one of the few complaints i have about the game is that the stamina at the beginning of the game really limits how quickly you can get off the ground - but it doesn't take too long to really get going. back on the positive side, there is plenty of postgame content plus a pretty robust modding scene that add a ton of value to the game itself. there's an interesting story that doesn't take much to get invested in, and while the characters are somewhat shallow (most repeat the same 5-6 lines depending on situation), there is a lot of depth to the world at large that sort of trickles down to the characters as well. so this is very much a game worth buying and trying - especially during sales, where it's a real bargain in my opinion. 100% completion is somewhat tedious (due to the sheer amount of money needed), but just completing the main objective feels satisfying, then the endgame content kinda takes over the intrigue and propels everything forward. i have over 600 hours in the game, so that should summarize my opinion on it pretty well. i think a playthrough of the game just completing the main objective would take somewhere between 20 and 30 hours, whereas 100% completion would take somewhere near 60. update 5/10/25: I got 100% achievements after all - fector's challenge is a nightmare and the joja run hurt my heart. would definitely recommend just doing 100% completion within the game and not worrying about steam achievements unless you are a grade A achievement whore (like me)