| Stardew Valley | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | ConcernedApe |
| Publisher(s) | ConcernedApe[a] |
| Designer(s) | ConcernedApe[b] |
| Engine | MonoGame |
| Platform(s) | |
| Release | February 26, 2016
|
| Genre(s) | Farm life sim, role-playing |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
Stardew Valley is a 2016 farm life simulation role-playing video game developed by Eric "ConcernedApe" Barone. Players take the role of a character who inherits their deceased grandfather's dilapidated farm in a place known as Stardew Valley. The game was originally released for Windows in February 2016 before being ported to other platforms. Stardew Valley is an open-ended game, allowing players to grow crops, raise livestock, fish, cook, mine, forage, and socialize with the townspeople, including the ability to marry and have children. It allows up to eight players to play online together.
Barone solely developed Stardew Valley for over four and a half years. He was heavily inspired by the Story of Seasons series, with additions to address some of the shortcomings of those games. He used it as an exercise to improve his own programming and game design skills. British studio Chucklefish approached Barone midway through development with the offer to publish the game, allowing him to focus more on completing it.
Stardew Valley has been cited as one of the greatest games of all time. Yasuhiro Wada, the creator of Story of Seasons, also praised the game for retaining the freedom that later entries of his series had lost. The game sold more than 30 million copies by February 2024, also making it one of the best-selling games of all time.
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