Stardew Valley: Relationships and “Responsibility”

(Content Warning: This post talks slightly about some topics regarding mental health.)

Stardew Valley is famous for being a cross-genre game: players can choose exactly the type of game they wish for it to be. For some, Stardew Valley is a game to plant crops, wait for them to grow, and sell them; for others, fishing or mining gameplay is more their speed. There is then the aspect where Stardew Valley may call itself a dating simulator, however: the player is able to make friends with the townspeople, growing to know them all the better, and eventually can marry a character and start a family in their own little farmhouse. Many players ignore the townspeople altogether, of course, but many also find themselves delving into the lives of the townspeople, wanting to win them over to be their friends.

Of course, even after speaking to the townspeople for just a few days, it becomes incredibly apparent that there is much hidden behind the facade of the happy little valley town that is first presented to the player. Many, if not all, of the characters are struggling with issues–Shane is an alcoholic, Abigail is plagued by her father’s misogyny, Sebastian has some deep-seated issues with his parents–etc. etc..

Stemming from this is where the player comes in. Even after a few conversations, it becomes achingly clear that the characters are looking to the player as someone who can help them–this is also where the player’s dilemma comes in. If the player chooses to interact with the townspeople, they are put front and center to see how the lives of these villagers are going, being exposed to their problems directly. For Shane, he is always lurking in the corner of the Saloon. Pam is also shown to always be at the Saloon, drinking to the point of being incomprehensible–and we know Penny is left at home to pick up the pieces.

This is where Stardew Valley pushes the players who wish to interact with the townspeople to delve further in, to try and further create a positive influence in the lives of these people. The game itself places the responsibility of these characters’ problems near-fully onto the player. The characters are basically helpless when it comes to their own happiness, and seemingly their only hope lies in the player choosing to talk to them and give them gifts.

Take Penny for example–she was probably the first character that made me take a step back while playing and go “Whoa, I have to help her…” before stopping and going, “Wait. Why?”. It begins even at a subliminal level, of course, as the player interacts with Pam and further finding out that Pam is Penny’s mother–the player at that point is left to wonder what kind of life Penny must have as she takes care of her mother, especially tied to how the player sees Penny taking care of the town’s kids all the time. Then, already at Penny’s 4-heart event, the player attempts to help Penny with the mountain of chores that Pam had left behind for her–and as Pam comes home and finds out, she flies off the handle at Penny for “letting the player see their house like that”. This is where the player is pushed to further befriend Penny–maybe they can help her! Marry her to get her away from Pam! Save her, as the game seems to be pushing!

Yet, why are we so compelled to save her from this situation?

Our next example is with Shane. This one is a little more cut and dry–he is a heavy drinker, and most of his heart events are about his very poor mental health and how he copes with his depression by drinking. At one point, the player even talks him out of thoughts of ending his own life with a single line during a heart event–thinking about this in retrospect, it feels all the more odd how little the player must do in order to “fix” him–the next heart event of his, he is off drinking, and has found new happiness in raising chickens. Thinking about this further, however, what would happen if the player chooses just not to befriend him, or befriend Penny, for that matter? This is not even taking into account the number of other characters who have issues that are solved by the player…Giving them gifts?

This could bring up the simplicity in the gift-giving system overall, but I think it lends itself to really talk more about the expectations in Stardew Valley for the player to both “fix” up their farm as they “fix” up the town and its people. Even when it comes to the Community Center–if the player doesn’t fix it up, then poor Pierre will just continue to be terrorized by the Evil Corporation! All in all, Stardew Valley as a game almost relies on the savior complex that the character attains through osmosing information, no matter whether they’d like it or not. This is built into the game design itself, but it is interesting to think further about the implications of why the player is so compelled by what can really be seen as lines of writing put into lines of code. For one, perhaps the escapism of Stardew Valley itself is what allows the player to really put on a cape and swoop in to help all these suffering villagers–but also, it really goes to show the effect that characters in games where the player takes on an active role in their lives can cause the player to actually feel responsible for them. With this, the interactivity of game design containing the active player is clear and strong in the pathos of Stardew Valley.

(Cover art by me 🙂 )