Stardew Valley | Games of the Year 2024

gamesindustry.biz:

In some ways, this article has been eight years in the making.

Stardew Valley isn't just my game of 2024, it's quietly been my game of the year every year since 2016.

Its launch pretty much coincides with my start in games media; I started in January 2016, Stardew Valley released in February, I interviewed developer Eric 'ConcernedApe' Barone in April. And my obsession with the indie farm sim started immediately.

I have clocked just shy of 400 hours of playtime, helped this year by the release of its 1.6 update, the most significant content expansion since its original launch, adding even more layers to a world already filled to the brim with things to do, finely crafted details, and personality.

The 1.6 update, which launched in March on PC and November on console, has felt like a masterclass in how to evolve a game without taking anything away from previous versions, and how a single-player indie title can stay relevant more than eight years after release.

Quality of life improvements, new quest lines, and fresh mysteries add precious value to the title but the core experience remains untouched, challenges arising in different manners, and never in a way that's made me regret doing things differently in previous playthroughs.

While the 1.6 update has given a new lease of life to the game, I need to be honest: I'm just using it as an excuse to finally talk about Stardew Valley in a game of the year piece because I didn't get to write one in 2016. As I'm leaving GamesIndustry.biz, let this be my swan song.

Even as a lifelong gamer, I don't think I had experienced this type of obsession with a game before. The 'just one more in-game day', making pages of notes, constantly thinking about it, playing until 4am, type of obsession.

I had also never played a farming sim before Stardew Valley. I had never really cared for Animal Crossing-type titles, and Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons meant nothing to me. I was more of a Zelda and Baldur's Gate type of kid. But something about