I have a confession: I have never made it to a full year in Stardew Valley, that beloved simple life simulator about fleeing your responsibilities for more responsibilities. It’s not for lack of interest, or lack of trying. I want to get into it–but then I read the guides.
I’ve started Stardew Valley a few times on Switch, and really liked it. I most enjoy the farming aspect: planning my layout, doing my chores, dreaming of future upgrades. In my real life, I have a lot of houseplants and had a really enjoyable time growing food on my fire escape a few years back, so I like the idea of a game that lets me live out those dreams alongside the dream of home ownership. I’m less interested in the friendship and dating stuff, because I am dour and practical. Fishing and the mines I find kind of annoying, though I know they’re an integral part of the game.
My Stardew problem is that, since the game’s been around since 2016, there’s a lot of information out there about how to play it. I’ll start up a new game, bumble around a little, and then inevitably take a peek at a guide or tips video just to see if I should really use all that wood repairing the bridge, or when the best time to upgrade a tool is, or to assuage (or confirm) my fear that I’ve committed to the least lucrative crop. And then I’m down a hole of the “best” way to start the game, or the “perfect” farm layout, or how I’ve made all the BEGINNER MISTAKES TO AVOID. Even when I tell myself I don’t care, the game goes on forever, there’s plenty of time to fix anything I’ve done wrong, all this advice starts smashing around in my head, and I get an itch to start over.
Usually at this point I put the game down for a bit, and then I lose momentum for a new try. When I do start again, I’ll get through a season or two armed with all my new expertise, but then I’ll look up what I should do in fall to prepare for winter, only to be faced with a flood of information about how I've done everything wrong again. I’ll decide to start again again, and this time totally do it right, and then the whole cycle repeats.
Over the summer Steam sale, I bought Stardew on PC, both because I’d rather play on keyboard and mouse, and because I want to check out all the new update stuff that isn’t on Switch yet. I’m telling myself that this will be the time that I just play the damn game, but then I hear that seductive whisper: Just one video to refresh my memory… Just one article about the update…
These are bad thoughts! I don’t need any more advice, or to look at any more wikis, or to watch any more virtual farm tours of people with thousands of hours in the game! I just need to play the game, and learn through making my own mistakes.
This isn't the fault of people making these guides, which are obviously useful. Instead it’s my own weird brain when it comes to games like this, and the fact that I’m trying to get into a game that’s been thoroughly dissected and optimized. I need to turn my back on the universe of Stardew Valley knowledge, or at least save it for a second run. But there'll never be a second run if there isn't a first run, and there'll never be a first run if I keep reading about the game too much to actually play it.
