Stardew Valley is a simulation role-playing video game developed by Eric “ConcernedApe” Barone. Players take the role of a character who inherits their deceased grandfather’s dilapidated farm in a place known as Stardew Valley. The game was released for Windows in February 2016 before being ported to other platforms. Stardew Valley is open-ended, allowing players to grow crops, raise livestock, fish, cook, mine, forage, and socialize with the townspeople, including the ability to marry and have children. It allows up to four players to play online together.
Barone developed Stardew Valley by himself over four and a half years. He was heavily inspired by the Story of Seasons series, with additions to address some of the shortcomings of those games. He used it as an exercise to improve his own programming and game design skills. British studio Chucklefish approached Barone midway through development with the offer to publish the game, allowing him to focus more on completing it.
Stardew Valley has been cited as one of the greatest video games of all time, with praise directed towards its music, characters, and relaxing qualities. Yasuhiro Wada, the creator of Story of Seasons, also praised the game for retaining the freedom that later entries of his series had lost. The game was a commercial success, selling over 20 million copies by 2022.