Why Is Stardew Valley Stressful? (And why isn't Outer Wilds?)

Watch as I publicly declare the quintessential cosy game is in fact, super stressful.
Disagree? Tell me why in the comments.
Hate the video? Leave a comment, leave as many as you like, maybe share the video with your friends so they can all watch it and laugh at me and also leave comments and share the video
This video is a bit different from what I've done so far, so apologies if you go looking for more of my content and don't find what you wanted. I'll have more like this soon :)
twitch: / alooseghost
twitter: / alooseghost
Music used in this video is from the following games (in order of appearance):
- Stardew Valley
- Unsighted
- The Sexy Brutale
- Outer Wilds
- Spelunky 2
- FTL
- Baba Is You

[@nightbane2889]

It all honestly sounds like self-imposed stress instead of Stardew being stressful itself. Most every stressfactor pointed out just isn't even a stressor. You do not need to get the center done in the first year, talk to the characters everyday, or gift them things on their birthday or heck even pet your pet everyday. Of course everyone stressed out by different things, but I would disagree with implying that Stardew Valley is stressfull

[@321cheesedude96]

"Time is the only resource you can't get back" damn I wasn't expecting an existential crisis with my gaming analysis

[@RykerJones28]

I can see why people feel overwhelmed by stardew. Theres sooo much to do and very little handholding. I refuse to let it stress me out though and don't min-max at all. Ive literally spent an hour just fishing and ignoring any quests, requests and community centre bundles. I just don't do the stuff i dont like doing and mod whatever i cant get away with avoiding. My first playthrough, I never entered the skull cavern once and instead got the statue of perfection and relied on that for iridium.

[@mk4tasha]

I knew SV was stressful when I realized I felt relaxed while playing Project Zomboid afterwards

[@alooseghost7618]

No time to read books in front of the TV in Stardew

[@Ali7of9]

You trying to plant seeds on untilled soil was the most stressful thing I’ve seen so far

[@alooseghost7618]

I put in so many mistakes just for fun

[@Ali7of9]

@@alooseghost7618 really emphasizing the stress factor

[@g00bleck]

Before watching the video: My opinion is that this game is only stressful if you inflict yourself with the stress arbitrarily

[@Earthangel76m2]

Took me 8 in game years to reach perfection. Not stressful. Took my time. Prioritized and did things I needed and liked in the beginning and the harder things later.

[@kreamies6720]

Excellent video! Great use of different music in the background to highlight how you felt about each point. Really emphasised it. Your editing is fantastic, great work mate

[@peterknutsen3070]

Two reasons I find SDV stresssful: I want to play a good early game, so that I get the wealth snowball running. If, in Spring year 1, I can build up to have 16 Sprinklers and lots of seeds, I’m set. I’ve achieved wealth, and I’ll stay wealthy. As the seasons progress. my crops get closer and closer to 100% automated watering, giving me more free time, and stuff that costs 5k or even 10k coin becomes trivially cheap to buy. Secondly, I don’t feel a need to complete the CC in year 1, but I do truly hate it when I miss out on a fish whose obscure rules I didn’t know about, and so I’m set back 2 seasons or even a full year. Well, OK, there’s a third source of stress, errors I make, like if I spend 1.5 in-game hours walking to a place to do a thing, and then I realise I forgot to bring the item required to do the thing (classic one is going to Clint to get my Axe upgraded, but the Axe is at home in a Chest). A Horse, Coffee (and Carrots if you can play 1.6 on your device) and presumably the Carts, mitigates this, by reducing travel times markedly, but early game it’s very stressful, losing 2.5-3 in-game hours to a derp. A fourth source, very minor, happens to me in late Spring year 1, when it looks like I won’t get anywhere near close to my wealth goal, and I’m just hoping that in the following few days stuff will start to finish, Cauliflowers in the ground and in Preserves Jars. But it’s still that thing, early on in, say, Spring 25 or 26, not having a clue if I’ll earn 1500 or 6000 the next day.

[@Capslok23342]

every single day is a time limit, a really strict one, and it burns me the hell out

[@Ben-Hollingbery]

I saw a mod on PC that lets you slow time

[@critdaddysama4656]

That’s the element which makes it exciting :)

[@emma_tm]

im not sure if that's what you meant, but this is so true for real life too

[@AdamsOlympia]

That's a glass half empty view of it.. It's the least stressful game I play once I stopped worrying about the day-to-day time and realized it gives you all the time in the world. If I miss a seasonal thing, you've always got next season. The sense that you need to rush is only artificial unless you're trying for some challenge or something.

[@crabby6730]

I truly felt the stress of stardew when i wanted to decorate my farm, 1 day trying to decorate a small section where i wasted a lot of hours trying things out and seeing what looked better and what not, to actually start building in like day 3 or something because days fly by so hard in this game, i think it took me 4 in game weeks to get everything in place, even ignoring festivals and stuff just to get my farm dripped out... only to still not convincing me... Even to this day when i try to play a "comfy" farm i still need to pause just to think or reset the day if i had to backtrack for something i forgot

[@squarciatore2000]

Bro this is why I miss mi blind experience with Stardew Valley, I didin't know what the game required and I was so chill about it, but now knowing everything, the min max is so powerful that I end by burnout

[@ryokuhasu9699]

Stardew is only as stressful as you make it. I just completed perfection for the first time and that took me 5 years, 2 months, and 2 days. Something that takes veterans and minmaxers about 2 years. I don't bother worrying about the time limits because I know they aren't really time limits and everything is infinite and you can take as long as you need for any one thing.

[@randomenvelope]

I feel the opposite, the fact outer wilds wastes time is the reason it stresses me out, stardew gives me a progression dopamine boost.

[@TheEE99]

outer wilds freaks me tf out. i wanna progress and understand what's going on but i never play consistently enough

[@Sultansekte]

Until now i actually thought I'm the only person in the world who found Stardew Valley extremely stressful. And the funny thing is, i love games with time management (dead rising, majora's mask, atelier rorona) but i could not enjoy these 13 minutes per day cycles. It was impossible for me to enjoy it sadly.

[@kpoppy9635]

So I did complete the community center by spring year 2 (not within one year but close enough) but it was hard and stressful trying to get money, materials and making sure to get hearts with Seb. I tried doing it again with 1.6 update...and I didnt want to keep going by the end of summer cause of all I still had to do. So I restarted again with Meadowland Farm and I'm just playing at my own pace. I try to make sure I do things within each season that needs to be done for that season but if it doesnt specifically need to be done in that season then I dont sweat it. I'll get there when I get there. And I'm back in early summer, my axe, pick-axe and watering can is upgraded. I have the fiberclass rod. I have a full backpack, a coop (although that came with the farm) and I just got a barn and cows. I reached level 50 in the minds. I hope to get fish ponds soon for Sturgeon and Rainbow Trout. And upgrade my coop for ducks. And I hope to unlock the greenhouse by winter. I use to try to unlock the Desert in Summer to get Starfruit seeds but this time I'm gonna wait for year 2. It makes more sense to complete the mines first anyways.

[@bestlaidplans2024]

You know what's stressful in Stardew? Wanting to get a mermaid's pendant and it's late Fall, not a single day of rain in sight until day 28

[@emma_tm]

havent actually watched yet but YES WHY IS IT SO STRESSFUL😭 ive never ben able to explain it

[@ThatAlleyRat]

I've found the game is only as stressful as you make it, especially if you want to do everything within one year, which is not a requirement. The joja route rids of almost all those stresses, where you can just focus on making money and building relationships. Whilst I understand people play differently, I wouldn't say the game itself is stressful, rather a reminder to reel it back and play at a comfortable pace and enjoy the time after year 1. Best to remember there is no race to finish.

[@AlizaJayne]

4:36 I have heard that friendship hearts never goes down after it is earned (unless you got a divorce). Once I knew that I felt less anxious about just focusing on specific things and not worry about checking in with everyone all the time.

[@smeeflebitch5038]

friendship hearts do decay, though it is slower than how fast you gain them. they only stop decaying once you max out the hearts, unless its someone youre married to. but, unless you fully ignore someone for like 2-3 seasons you probably wont notice much lost friendship.

[@MjDeen217]

I’m just stressed out because I’m waiting for the 1.6 update to come out on PS5 or the switch pick one … hurry up already

[@MinishMilly]

I think they should implement a "calmer mode" where you have double the time in a day in stardew. And removing the time limits in the shops would be neat. In Fields of mystria you can always go into the shops and buy, no matter the time of the day. Even if there is no one on the counter, I already found that to lighten the stress. And if the day is too long, you can just go to bed early, no problem.

[@alooseghost7618]

How is Fields of Mistria? It's on my wishlist but I haven't heard much about it yet

[@MinishMilly]

@@alooseghost7618 really fun, but there is still a lot of content to come. (hearts are capped at 4 at the moment, but at the end of the year (2024), you'll be able to get to 6) for example

[@PopcornEmma]

I wonder if the reason why Stardew is so stressful is because it’s almost possible to complete the community centre in year one but not quite (without min maxing) and so you end up getting so close that you have very little to do while you’re waiting for the time to go by for that one season with that one fish you’re missing or whatever. If it was harder to achieve maybe you would feel less frustrated with the wait or you wouldn’t really be waiting at all.

[@Sk3tchful]

This was a wild video to come across for me, I was taking a break from my checklist to complete perfection on stardew, got Outer Wilds from the steam sale, no lifed that for a few days and then this video pops up. You totally nailed the analysis I myself was feeling, from the stress of listing out every item I needed to collect in stardew to the curiosity that lead me to just float in space next to some weird floating satellite thing for an entire cycle to see if it did anything (keeping that detail vague for obvious reasons, but you've definitely seen the thing I'm talking about). I choose to believe you made this video for exclusively me lol. Very good stuff.

[@SeraphNachtnebel]

If you find SV stressful You might struggle with: ❤Anxiety 😵‍💫Perfectionism 😔Overdemanding yourself I say this from experience

[@SeraphNachtnebel]

Btw I haven't watched the whole video yet so please take this with a grain of salt.

[@kiratwo4u]

accurate

[@ChristopherBennett-jq1jk]

eh only stressful thing I find in stadew is the skull cavern aside from that it's only as stressful as you make it. Especially late game

[@alooseghost7618]

Late game the pressure really comes off, I agree

[@56purple78]

great video!! glad it's not just me that get mildly stressed by stardew :) now i wanna sink a load of hours into outer wilds lmao

[@hhhbkid]

I went into Stardew just wanting to get perfection. I don't care how long it takes. I'll make speed a priority in a later run.

[@stormzo6235]

I thought Stardew was stressful until I played it and realized it's not.

[@thecozyintrovert]

I have a mod to speed up my walking and to make the time slightly slower. It's much more relaxing now. I also enabled one click fishing because I HATE fishing and never wanted to do it.

[@NoIdleSims]

This was oddly relaxing to watch. Totally agree that stardew is stressful! I think early game energy management is also another stressor. An in the regular mines when I am just one floor away from an elevator level when I pass out or have to turn and run home. The fishing mini gane is also stressful af for the fishes that dart up and down (even with using training rod until lvl 5). Despite all this, I definitely keep going back to it because like you said: invested. 😂

[@maryi685]

Community center isn't supposed to be finished in year one. You can, but at cost of minimaxing which of course is stressful. I think we finished CC only by the end of year 2 or 3 and we weren't short on money at all. And i don't bother with socials at all, i just have a few friends i decided my character is fitting to befriend and was growing our relationships naturally. At year 4 I only have best friend with Willy. And 7 hearts with George. A few others too.

[@mariamcallister2464]

I've finished CC by the end of fall twice now by consulting a guide and being really, really stressed out 😅 True perfection though haven't done it in two years despite trying my best. The rng on community board is what's stuffing me up like not getting the right quest on time and getting Demetrios' and Pierre's quests all the time.

[@emma_tm]

7:05 i JUST did this in old school runescape literally 5 minutes ago 😭😭 i went back to pet her now

[@bluewisdomtriforce]

This made me want to replay stardew, because that way of thinking about time management you describe here appeals to me

[@tobiasnguyen2502]

What I like about the game: It gave me goals that I can achieve (accept for the Hector challenge, for now) What I hate about the game: decorating the farm

[@ConradTwigs]

I absolutely love stardew but it definitely stresses me out. I have reset days simply because I didn't get to Robin in time. 😅

[@DrPsychotic]

its you describing the exact thought prosses that causes me to jump into the sand pillar

[@FraDonaghyMusic]

For me it is exactly the opposite. Stardew Valley has been a life saver over the last few years as it helped me to de-stress!

[@ConradTwigs]

Also about truffles you can get them at the travelling cart occasionally. I got mine at the night market in winter.

[@nirn_]

8:55 Where is a special event that can happen in a new loop. But you just need to dive straight in a mystery to discover it.

[@HenryGreenEngine3]

stardew valley is more stressful than pikmin 2

[@andrewf7732]

The truffle is a big cash drain, but my goal year 1 is getting the greenhouse, which is very achievable. I always get in fall 10 or 11 with speed grow fertilizer on pumpkins. Getting the CC done is cool, but I don’t make much use of ginger island until year 2 anyway. The greenhouse allows me to get my ancient seeds planted to multiply them as well as getting strawberries ready for spring year 2.

[@benitomussolini6293]

Excellent video. I thought I was watching a big Stardew youtuber, Im sure you will get a lot of subscribers soon! I just started playing stardew recently, and am on my first year and have been feeling so overwhelmed trying to complete the community center in my first year. I gave up on that goal and have been feeling so much better playing it 😅

[@kamishiro5]

Stardew Valley is a farm and management game, with rpg touches. While I understand a lot of people can find it relaxing due to multiple reasons, it's not a game designed to make you feel relaxed. Basically, you were betrayed by your own imaginary expectations.

[@alooseghost7618]

I never thought of it through the lens of a management game, great point!

[@Joy_Fox_]

Thanks, I'm happy I finally found someone who shares the experience I had with the game (especially the stress of all the loops-within-loops), especially as a fellow Outer Wilds enjoyer.

[@Chaosloki]

IMO for people who play a lot of games of different genres I feel "cozy" games like stardew valley are actually way more stressful and you really need to change your entire mindset to really enjoy them. When you play a lot of games you naturally just build up the instinct of "efficiency" of trying to get as much done in as little of a time frame as possible. While that mindset still works for stardew valley when you miss a strict deadline like a season change the idea of needing to wait 3 seasons for it to loop back around is like a panic attack inducing event. You kind of have to let it go and be ok with just sleeping through 3 seasons and not feel like you're wasting and cope that the game has no time limit so being in a comatose state and ignoring the town for 3/4ths of the year is fine. I get that the example used in your video is more of a player imposed challenge since there's nothing that forces you to complete the community center in a year but the idea of missing 1 item whether it be truffles or a season specific crop and needing to skip an entire year just to complete an objective is pretty stressful even if you're not trying to minmax the game.

[@alooseghost7618]

Really good points, especially about changing your mindset and I wish I'd thought of that when I was making the video

[@bryonystitch]

Listening to you talk about outer wilds makes me fall inove with a game i already love! Can i rest myself so i can play it for rhe first time again?

[@woodwood2836]

This is EXACTLY my problem with Stardew and games similar to it, and why I feel that i need mods (f.e. time slow) to play it in a way i feel comfortable with! I very rarely do multiple playthroughs of a game, so I want to be able to play a game comfortably on my first playthrough without feeling that I'm "missing out" because of time constraints. I'm aware that there's no actual missing out, because the game loops after the first year, but what if I miss that specific summer thing again the second year because of being distracted with something else? Missing a time-line like that feels like actual waste of time, in a game where I'm supposed to have a cosy time and enjoy the little things. It makes me feel overwhelmed, stressed, and pretty quickly makes me lose interest aswell. Great video!

[@bryonystitch]

I'm exactly the same, I don't find stardew relaxing there's too much to do

[@MinecraftMartin]

It's possible to use it as an exercise. Any sense of urgency in this game is self-imposed. If you keep that in mind, conciously tell yourself "I'm just going to have fun today", it can be relaxing. I know everyone's wired different, the same solution won't work for everyone. I do think we're generally not so helpless though. You are responsible for your own decisions. It's very freeing. The calendar isn't your boss, you are. Personally, I'm in year 3 trying this mindset and it's been working really well.

[@RhebeDraws]

​@@MinecraftMartinyeah. I dont understand this urge to playing things so perfectly. Really self-imposed. Not like the game have a game over or something.

[@seanabbott798]

The majority of this video is devoted to reinforcing my boycott of giving Clint Fridays off. Joja Co is life.

[@RhebeDraws]

If you play stardew without watching any content about it, the stress is non existent.

[@alooseghost7618]

That's a fair point, I remember playing when the game first came out and not feeling too stressed, maybe because I hadn't watched any videos on it

[@nirn_]

12:04 FTL sleeper agent activated

[@ikeilen6049]

The stress is the RUSH 😁 Enjoy it! 😇

[@sbda]

this ROCKS bud, real good stuff looking forward to more x

[@poeticpursuits1332]

Stardew is so relaxing. Outer Wilds is so stressful and horrorifying that it induces great anxiety and has made me cry.

[@alooseghost7618]

I totally get why to be fair

[@rickykeim2005]

Mods really help the game a lot. I have this Mail system mod that allows me to Mail quest items and Gifts to everybody. so that saves a lot of time. a trip to the Mailbox is a lot faster then seeing Sandy in person. plus there are things you can do to Increase your Speed that help. like Placing Paths and using them makes you run a little Faster. Constructing a Horse shelter and riding the Horse is much faster then walking. or using Tea or Coffee or if you have lots of Coffee. (I keep a shed full of Coffee Bean Plants for this) you can turn a few Coffee into Triple Shot Expresso which have a better speed boost then Coffee. Also buying a Joja Membership and Paying for stuff with Money is way faster then doing all the CC Bundles. plus if you buy every Community Upgrade from Joja they will sell you Auto Petters for a single gold and those will pet your animals for you. otherwise you have to find them randomly from Treasure Floors in the Skull Caverns.

[@321cheesedude96]

Hell yeah new upload!

[@JAC-ofalltrades]

15:59 🐷

[@one_smol_duck]

i like to think that the thumbnail is meant to imply that marnie, personally, is the reason that stardew valley is stressful.

[@alooseghost7618]

She is always wandering off when I need her

[@NoIdleSims]

​@alooseghost7618 completely agree. Was in her shop at 3:30 on a Wednesday or a similar day when she should DEFINITELY be open, but she was in her kitchen instead. 🙄

[@alooseghost7618]

She needs a second employee I swear

[@ВиталийКотиков-т5э]

​@@alooseghost7618she finally gave you an opportunity to make purchases in your shop when she's not around

[@Maxran50]

6:51 yep that BSO is fucking awesome.

[@thekrissysally]

oh ghost how i've missed you dearly

[@stefaniegray]

I dont really understand this. Completing the community center within one year always felt like a bit of 'speedrun' to me, for people who want the challenge. So feeling stressed because of this self-imposed time limit of one year is like saying you dont like a game because speedrunning it you felt stressed cause you had to be quick? You can play however many years you like. You can even ask grandpa for another evaluation if you didnt get all candles the first time around. You got all the time you want.

[@plantagominor722]

lol the spoiler at 21:35

[@alooseghost7618]

Ah crap

[@fench1234567]

Stress in gaming is a product solely of the gamer's choice of the games out there. YOUR stress is in YOUR head, and it is not a trait of everyone's reality. Don't like a game or how you feel while you play it? Modify how you think about playing it or JUST MOVE ON.

[@Niaru.m]

Ugh, this looks like a subjective view being tried to be imposed on others... Stardew isnt stressful. You will always have next year, you can take things super slow, and the many things to do just makes the game not boring. I found outer wilds stressful and annoying, because your time IS actually limited in the loop you are currently in, and get something wrong, you have to do that crap all over again. Its a matter of what you like not what it actually is. SV is nice and relaxing for me and OW is stressful and annoying, at the same time, they are the complete opposite to you. Its a matter of personal preference.

[@Capslok23342]

i use way more than 26 hours in a stardew valley year...

[@alooseghost7618]

Yeah the time pauses really add up

[@Capslok23342]

@@alooseghost7618 i actually reset days a lot. not being sure i petted the cat would be enough to make me replay the entire day. not healthy at all XD

[@alooseghost7618]

See, you get it