Stardew Valley ▶ Trailer
Stardew Valley screenshot 1Stardew Valley screenshot 2
IndieRPGSimulationFarming SimPixel GraphicsMultiplayerLife SimRelaxing

40,608 playing#22 on Steam by players#22 on Steam

Peak in the last 24 hours: 80,406

Peak in the last 7 days: 91,739

Stardew Valley Steam store

Game description

You've inherited your grandfather's old farm plot in Stardew Valley. Armed with hand-me-down tools and a few coins, you set out to begin your new life. Can you learn to live off the land and turn these overgrown fields into a thriving home?

Basic info

DeveloperConcernedApe
PublisherConcernedApe
PlatformsWindows · macOS · Linux
Steam DeckVerified
Release dateFeb 26, 2016
Price

Prices by IsThereAnyDeal

Minimum specs

OSWindows Vista or greater
Processor2 Ghz
Memory2 GB
Graphics256 mb video memory, shader model 3.0+
Storage500 MB
steamyze

Review Analysis Score

Based on 405 reviews from the past 1 year

93.9/ 100
Top 5%

Steam rating: Overwhelmingly Positive (98%)

Metacritic: 89 /100

Review analysis summary (Reviewed Oct 12, 2026)

Played at your own pace, Stardew Valley is what 176 reviews call relaxing, and it scores 93.9, top 5% of games we analyzed.

👍 Strengths

Content Volume ranks 19th of 1351 and Gameplay ranks 54th of 1396. Reviews stress that it never demands grinding or optimization. 82 praise its world, the most upvoted calling it a cozy refuge of certainty and kindness that reality lacks, and Story & World ranks 66th of 1096. Some even joke that real life cannot match it. Multiplayer ranks 48th of 642; 33 reviews enjoy playing together with close friends and family, the most upvoted calling those some of their most intimate shared moments.

👎 Where it falls short

13 reviews say it lacks early guidance, sending players to the wiki for recipes and mechanics. 11 feel the progression loop becomes a treadmill without a clear purpose, and a smaller group finds the farming stressful for a game labeled cozy, or reaches for mods when it starts to feel samey.

Representative reviews Original reviews ↗

“relaxing casual game that doesn't demand grinding or optimization, lets you play at your own pace” · 176 reviews
“the game creates a world of certainty and kindness that reality lacks; a cozy, emotionally resonant sanctuary.” · 82 reviews
“playing together with close friends and family created the most intimate social moments” · 33 reviews

How it holds up

−50+5

Controls, difficulty, progression and depth
Mentioned in 47% of reviews · Top 5% of the games we've analyzed

Freedom +4.12 · Room to explore, build, and play your own way
Positive “freedom to fish, marry, explore caves, farm, and do things impossible in real life” · 14 reviews
Negative “cannot make children work on crops, limited freedom” · 2 reviews

Progression 25% · Difficulty 6% · Onboarding 7% · Strategy 8% · Controls & feel 1%

Plot, characters and the world
Mentioned in 55% of reviews · Top 10% of the games we've analyzed

World +4.21 · Lore, atmosphere, and how immersive the setting is
Positive “the game creates a world of certainty and kindness that reality lacks; a cozy, emotionally resonant sanctuary.” · 82 reviews

Story 9% · Characters 24%

How much there is to do, variety and replay value
Mentioned in 33% of reviews · Top 5% of the games we've analyzed

Volume +4.57 · How much there is to play, including endgame, for the price
Positive “Stardew Valley has complete story and high value” · 17 reviews
Negative “pode se tornar exaustivo, cansaço natural bate” · 1 review

Variety 12% · Replayability 11%

Graphics, art style, music and sound
Mentioned in 19% of reviews · Top 20% of the games we've analyzed

Audio +4.10 · Music, sound effects, and voice acting
Positive “music deeply moving, author created perfect detailed game alone” · 3 reviews

Visuals 13%

Playing with others, the community and servers
Mentioned in 24% of reviews · Top 10% of the games we've analyzed

Playing together +3.72 · Fun of playing with friends, teammates, or rivals
Positive “playing together with close friends and family created the most intimate social moments” · 33 reviews
Negative “friend won't play with me, sad about it” · 5 reviews

Community 4% · Servers & Connection 0%

Pricing, cheaters, balance and matchmaking
Mentioned in 7% of reviews · Top 5% of the games we've analyzed

Pricing +0.28 · Whether the price, DLC and microtransactions are reasonable, and how much paying gives you an edge
Positive “no regrets spending money across five platforms” · 1 review

Anti-cheat 0% · Balance 1% · Matchmaking 0%

Bugs, performance and developer support
Mentioned in 9% of reviews · Top 20% of the games we've analyzed

Developer support +0.19 · Updates, patches, and how devs respond to players
Positive “author continues free updates with high quality after many years” · 3 reviews
Negative “developer updates create relapse risk for players trying to quit” · 2 reviews

Stability 1% · Performance 2%

Grey means too few reviews mention it to trust. — means almost no reviews mention it.

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