The ‘Korean Retro’ mod aesthetically reformats the Stardew Valley experience in order to give it a 90’s Korean countryside feel. From a high-level perspective, the modifications mainly relate to buildings that have Korean signs and accents, including roofs and colour schemes that utilise a more striking palette, such as white and bright blue. However, smaller details are also expressed, in particular in the form of store products; wine is turned into soju, jars become pouches and pickles become kimchi. Similarly, users can now move around on a scooter.
While these alterations may seem somewhat superficial and arbitrary, especially for a non-Korean player, reddit and gaming forum posts from Korean users paint a different picture. They emphasise a highly nostalgic and affable sentiment towards the mod, highlighting the authenticity and care with which the specific features were selected. For example, the greenhouse is now covered in plastic as opposed to being transparent, a practice that is commonplace in Korea in comparison to other parts of the world. Similarly, the mill becomes stainless steel in order to resemble the steel mills that are commonly used to ground red peppers in Korea. The level of detail and specificity that the Korean mod designer employed suggests that the understated aesthetic created is intentional in order to be more authentic, as opposed to over-deploying Korean elements that would make the aesthetic appear artificial.
This also raises the question of who the mod was designed for and which players find it engaging? One obvious answer is Korean people, for whom it may make the game more relatable and accessible, particularly given the game’s standard western-central aesthetic. It gives them an avenue through which to connect their virtual in-game existence to their real world heritage without changing any underlying game mechanics as the changes are exclusively aesthetic in nature. As the forum posts suggest, the mod has been extremely successful in achieving this, owing to its authentic and highly deliberate design.
Another less obvious answer is that it gives non-Korean players an opportunity to immerse themselves in and learn about elements of Korean culture. Recent years has seen the global proliferation of Korean culture, with K-Pop, Korean food and even Korean TV-series becoming global phenomena. This suggests that the mod could allow non-Korean players a different mode through which to further embrace a unique and hugely popular culture.
However, could such a superficial interaction with Korean culture perpetuate an almost perverse form of cultural appropriation? After all, non-Korean players will fail to appreciate the nuances of the mod, such as the significance of a plastic-covered greenhouse and a stainless steel mill. Instead, they will be attracted by the scooter, bright shop signs and basic Korean products. Indeed, given the designer’s focus on intricate details that would scarcely be discernible for non-Koreans, it is difficult to imagine they had non-Korean players in mind as their desired consumer. While the answer to this question is challenging and non-binary, the simplistic manner in which non-Korean players interact with the mod indicates that its use by non-Korean players does fall on the spectrum of cultural appropriation and proves that such difficult subjects also exist in a virtual gaming world.
