Stardew Valley Review - No One Said Farming Was Easy

[@djfusion2808]

Always great to see Alex making a guest appearance!

[@BoardGameCo]

Lol thanks:)

[@buddyberglund]

So, I don't know all the differences between the editions of this game, but in the newer one I have, I know they fixed the museum part because now you get hearts for donating to the museum, which makes it even more useful and actually necessary, because it seems like, without that, it would be close to impossible to get all the hearts needed to win. I've played two and a half times so far and won both the completed games. I played once solo, playing two characters, and once four player, then started playing solo again with two characters but wound up not being able to finish that game. I will say that the solo play, and the four player play were both won, barely, on literally the last turn of winter, with having to do the actions of that last turn in precisely the right order to eke out the final goals, so it does seem weirdly, exactly balanced to be JUST winnable, which is surprising but cool.

[@srebme2]

I played Stardew Valley with my stepson who loves the video game. I’m a fan of any game that gets him to the gaming table with me.

[@BoardGameCo]

Agreed. 100%. Most of the 3.5s that are actually my collection, are usually there because someone else I know like that game

[@sanghoonkim1667]

My wife and I once cleared all grandpa quests, completed community center bundles, and donated to the museum fully. Got lucky with gifts and rolls.

[@bmorayta]

Can't wait for a reprint of this one!

[@Upsh1ft]

Great review! I picked this game up also as someone who's big fan of the video game who is also newly entrenched into the board game hobby and have found the board game very fun as well. However, I have one major gripe with the game: The quality of some of the components feel very subpar compared to pretty much every other board game in my collection. A bit of a shame considering the price point puts it against a lot of heavy hitters in the board game scene.

[@northsouth1256]

Your hair color is so pretty!

[@Gwanosh]

This gave me Robinson Crusoe vibes, having played only the first scenario of Robinson Crusoe so far. It's been a while since I played both, so I struggle to remember the reasoning, but I remember coming to that conclusion when thinking about it back then. I must have played the newer version, I was under the impression it did scale to the fact that I played with only 2 characters. Took me 3 games, I think, until I was able to win it.

[@BoardGameCo]

Interesting, I've never played Robinson so I can't comment on that

[@JohnnyMcNabb63]

Meg… the only person who can talk faster than Alex ! Love it !

[@BoardGameCo]

Lol I almost resent that

[@jeffhiatt1682]

Solid review. I agree this is a cute fun game which is deceptively difficult and which my wife and I both enjoy. I also agree with Alix that it does have a "same-ish" arc each play and thus loses a bit of attractiveness with repeated plays. When we set this up we typically will play 2 (maybe 3) times over the course of a few days and then put it away. It sits on the shelf for a year or so until something (such as this video) reminds us we havent played it for a long time. The long layoff and all of the other games we have played since muddle our memories (easier to do at our ages...well its true) and we find it just as enjoyable as the first time. i hope each of you have a great New Years Eve and 2024.

[@BoardGameCo]

Yeah, I've definitely enjoyed my time with it, just not one that I need to own

[@bubblebuddy8815]

Ive played this game 3 times with my partner and we love it! We've won every time before the final season, so everyone saying how it's so difficult perplexes me, but we have probably just had many strokes of good luck in our sessions. Fun game!

[@aeryellae5837]

I've never lost a game either and it's only been close once. Any game that doesn't include the reach the bottom of the mine goal has been an absolute cakewalk. But it looks like Meg and Alex are playing with the first printing and not the second printing (you can tell from the old game board in the video), so they don't have the revised Mine Deck that makes the mine less RNG dependent and they're not getting hearts from museum donations, plus whatever other small changes were after 1st printing.

[@bubblebuddy8815]

@@aeryellae5837 ohhh interesting I didn't know there were any changes from the first edition to the second. Thanks for sharing that info. Happy new year to ya!

[@christi6934]

​@@aeryellae5837 how can I tell if the game is an older or newer version based on the board? I found a version somewhere, but am unsure if it's the newest one or not

[@Aeryellae]

@@christi6934 Hi! So around the nine minute mark, you can see the game board. In the bottom right, you'll see the museum. In newer editions, you get a heart every time you donate to the museum, so there is a heart graphic at the top right corner of the museum along with the words "One heart for every donation" (or something like that). If you go to BGG and check out the images for Stardew Valley, you'll be able to see a picture of a new edition of the board so you know what it looks like. :)

[@aeryellae5837]

@@christi6934 In the bottom right of the board you'll see the museum. In the newer editions, you get a heart for each donation to the museum and there will be a heart icon and some reminder text at the top right of the museum. In the older editions, that heart icon isn't there. You can find some images of the newer board at BGG.

[@Joshua_Tymchyn]

I don't know what it is about this game. I cannot stand co-op games, I very much dislike luck, and don't find dice rolling to be all that much fun. My go to games are usually heavy euro games, but I guess my love for the Stardew Valley video game has won me over here. I just have a smile on my face when I play this game, even when my fiance and I are losing.

[@terry3733H]

Preordered it-reminds me of Harvest Moon Story of Seasons 😊

[@BoardGameCo]

Enjoy it :)

[@mkitten13]

I have only played this game 2-player and solo and I disagree heavily about your claim that you only have a chance if you play with all four characters. Several things in this game is done according to player count. Number of hearts to unlock a bundle, the amount you have to donate to each bundle is multiplied by player count, nearly all of grandpas goals are multiplied by player count, number of stones to craft staircases. I would even go as far as saying you actually benefit more at 1-2 players, since you can manage to get up to 3 hearts from making a friend (if you luck out with their birthday season and loved gifts). So if you play solo and luck out with a friend that way you already have enough hearts to reveal half of the bundles. I will say getting to the bottom of the mine is more of a challenge at a lower player count, but since the cost of crafting staircases is as low as it is, you do stand a decent enough chance. Last time I played solo, getting to the bottom of the mine was one of my goals and I managed it fine. But other goals are harder to complete at higher player counts, like filling out the museum (managing to get all the unique letters is much harder than just having to get 2 or 4) - or if you need to get legendary fish. I do think you should at least have tried it at a lower player count to see how it differed rather than assuming you cannot play it at a lower player count.

[@michelromero7658]

cool

[@BoardGameCo]

:)

[@o0TiMMeY0o]

Yeah I love the video game a lot (I'm an old harvest moon fan.). And I feel like the board game isn't provoking the same sandboxy feeling of the video game. I am very excited about what Meg will think about Mythwind as I believe that it'll catch the feeling a bit better :)

[@BoardGameCo]

I think she enjoyed the prototype of that one :)

[@CamObscura88]

Why no ratings, Meg?

[@BoardGameCo]

Not everyone likes assigning a numeric rating, my first hundred or so reviews didn't really have a number.

[@CamObscura88]

That’s fair! Just wasn’t sure if there was a particular reason.

[@borisguy1986]

Yeah, me and my bro played this and it quickly become our least favorite. It felt limited and just to repetitive?

[@BoardGameCo]

Sorry it didn't work for you

[@kghhgkgk6322]

Does she have her own channel?

[@BoardGameCo]

Yes! Linked in the description

[@tehpickle1250]

I really really don’t like this game, at all. Only played it the once but my dislike was immediate and visceral. This might be my least favourite game I’ve played in recent years. It looks the part for sure, but it’s so swamped with luck drudgery at every turn. Dice rolling, bag dipping, card drawing over and over until the game ends and you either won or lost. Potential friends need specific things at *very* specific times with no way to know what or when until it happens, and then it’s too late to do anything unless you already have it, or can get it *right now* (more luck!). Specialisations essentially force you into being the aforementioned dice roller or bag dipper for pretty much the whole game and you still may spend most of the game trying to get the specific fish or whatever if luck doesn’t go your way, and even if it does it’s not rewarding. The video game is breezy and fairly chill for the most part, somehow they made a board game that is the absolute antithesis of that. It’s difficult but with very little to control outcomes, and it runs faaar too long. It’s an absolute stinker.

[@chuckm1961]

Maybe you didn’t notice, but there are a lot more opportunities to control the situation than you allude to.

[@fy8798]

Our first play with the initial TTS version was similar to this, but we found more ways to deal with luck with more plays. It's really not that bad - if you still have it, give the rules a go-over, maybe check out a BGG thread or two, and you might find some ways to enjoy it quite a bit.