Introduction
When Stardew Valley first came out my significant other played it a lot. I saw her playing it but it didn’t look too interesting, so I never tried it myself. Recently, however, I decided to pick it up. My first session was 5 hours. It sucked me in just like it did her.
Being sucked into a game doesn’t belong to a particular genre, and I think it is the smoking gun of a good game. Obviously there are very good games that don’t have this quicksand I’ll-just-play-a-bit-oh-look-there-goes-the-entire-day effect. I know of two games that do this very well: Civilization 5 and the afformentioned Stardew Valley.
This list could probably be much bigger if I tasted more games, and I’m sure any given gamer that would read this could think of at least one more good example. As for me, these two have achieved this effect spectacularly well. Not often outside of these games do I put my head into the game, look up, and realize I’ve just lost many hours.
Civilization 5 — One More Turn
If you’re unfamiliar with it, Sid Meier’s Civilization is a series of games (6 isn’t far off) that belong to the turn-based strategy genre. The map is laid out in a grid of squares or hexagons, and you spend your turn telling each unit or city what it is to do this turn. This could mean researching a new technology, building a new structure, creating a new unit, or telling an existing unit to perform an action.
This makes you plan out your turn meticulously. Each little step is it’s own decision, and you can take as much or as little time as you want to decide. Eventually you amass an empire with dozens of units and cities spread out over a map of varying sizes and complexities as you pit your strategy against other human or AI players. What you end up with is your ‘civilization’ being hand crafted. Everything that is in every spot is there beacuse you decided it should be there. It approaches a level of detail that could let us label it as a work of art. Each game a masterpiece of your own creation.
After each turn is over, you click “next turn” and wait for the other players to take their turns. If you’re playing against computers then this can be a very fast process. You have to only wait a few seconds until you’re back to crafting your empire.
Stardew Valley — One More Day
This game is different enough to warrant it’s own explanation. Simply put, you play as a farmer. If you think farming is boring, maybe, but farming is really more of the feel of the game. Mechanically it maybe shouldn’t be called a farming game. Yes you wait for crops to grow, but the process of digging soil is a click. The process of planting the crop is a click. The process of watering the crop is a click. The process of harvesting the crop is, you guessed it, a click. Not too complex.
There is plenty more to go with the game, as well. There exists a combat system, a leveling system, mobs that drop unique items, equipment, a fishing system, npc interactions, and so much more. What I think makes Stardew Valley so great is that as it implements these systems it only includes the bare minimum of that system for it to be fun. It forgoes unnecessary details, and in its simplicity it is easier on the brain. There is no min-maxing, there is no levels of strength, intelligence, or dexterity to balance, there is no system to ‘find’ fish in the water. If you were to boil down Skyrim into it’s most bare bones basic essential systems, including graphics and making it 2D, what you’d be left with wouldn’t be too awfully different from Stardew Valley.
Everyone loves a feel-good movie, and in that same vein I feel like Stardew Valley is a feel-good game. There is no great tragedy to overcome, or big baddy to defeat. There is no world ending monster that must meet their doom. Your character isn’t the bravest hero in all the land, nor is he some wizard, master of the arcane. He is just a simple average joe, escaping the mundane office life for a serene and tranquil alternative. This game tries to embody the meaning behind the phrase “a day in the country is worth a month in the city.”
