I first played “Stardew Valley” around March of 2016, and I currently have 155 hours of play time on record. That may seem like a lot, but in a game as expansive as “Stardew Valley” it’s not hard to pull off. The game begins with the creation of your character. You can choose your gender, hair color, skin tone, eye color, your name, and more importantly, the name of your farm. Once this is done, a cutscene is triggered. Your character is conversing with their grandfather, and he says this-

Super cheerful, I know. Some years later your character is shown to be working a boring desk job for a corporation, and opens a drawer to find a letter that your grandfather wrote, telling you that he has left you his old farm in Stardew Valley. You take a bus to Stardew Valley, and are shown what can best be described as a mess.

As you can see, it’s a bit... chaotic. You also start off with several hand-me-down tools which include a watering can, a pickaxe, an axe, a hoe, and a scythe. One of the first missions in the game is to introduce yourself to the people who live in Pelican Town, a city near your farm in Stardew Valley. You soon meet a blacksmith, who tells you that he can upgrade your tools with some material and money. A big aspect of the game is the community, and the improvement of it.

Although it’s more similar to “Harvest Moon” when it comes to gameplay and how it looks, the community aspect reminds me of :Animal Crossing: New Leaf.” Although your character is not the mayor of the town (His name happens to be Lewis, and he was friends with your grandfather), the player has the ability to rebuild the Community Center, which once united the members of Stardew Valley but now is in ruins, can find lost books to restock the library, and find artifacts.

Here’s some before and after photos of the Community Center.

As you can see when comparing the Community Center before and after it is restored, before it is mostly ignored by the townspeople, and after it is celebrated, with several people going in and out of it.

Also, your character can befriend everyone in town, and unlock cutscenes that provide depth for certain characters, showing that looks can be deceiving, and sometimes those that seem to be the most confident are the most uncertain of the future.

Another positive note is that your character can marry whomever they please regardless of gender, and it doesn't affect child-rearing options. Much like in the “Sims” Series (I’ve played around 127 hours of the “Sims 4” so that’s what experience i’m referring to) same-sex couples can adopt children.

For example, here’s a male player getting married to Sebastian, a male character in the game.

Although one could argue that letting the player marry whomever they want was only out of convenience because it was easier to code, I think it is a sign of inclusivity from the developer, since the developer of the game (which was only one person by the way) took the time to add in adopting children for same-sex couples, showing that he does care about giving players who choose to marry a person who is of the same gender the same experience. Just because a person is LGBTQ+ doesn’t mean they don’t want a family.

Here’s a male character married to another male character named Elliott, with their adopted child.

Also, just because a person marries someone of the opposite gender doesn’t mean they want a family, which is why the developer adding in the option for the player to say no to having/adopting children is important. Although in the “Sims 4” the player has to purposefully try for children (such as adopting, or selecting “try for baby” with a romantic partner) it is significant that this happens since unlike the “Sims 4,” the player does not have control over every event that can happen (or the option to have control). The ability to choose who to marry, whether to have children, and even what the player looks like gives the player agency, which is incredibly important in games in general.

Since there are so many different ways to play "Stardew Valley" it appeals to many players, and was one of the biggest hits of 2016. You can focus on farming, fishing, foraging, exploration (there are mines with monsters inside that can be explored and you can find artifacts there) raising animals, crafting, making friends with the townspeople, or a mix of the above. I fully recommend Stardew Valley, and I hope you play it.