you really have to be actively trying to have a bad time to think stardew valley has intentional pro-capitalist messages and isnt just a farming game...

nobody said it has intentional pro-capitalist messages. read the book

i have been studying anthropology and social justice for years, i have read that book, so quit the snark. this game was made as an act of love by one dude in his basement because he loved harvest moon. its 15 dollars and has constant free updates. so for you to rag on it for literally just being a farming game with basic farming mechanics makes no sense and just makes it seem like youre just flaunting your (incredibly basic) marxist knowledge.

can love bloom on the c̷̞̝̳͖͚͎̱͈͙͇̟͉̙͓̲͛̽̊̓̓̓͆̈̉̿̏̀͐͋͆̿͆̈́̏̕͘ͅą̶̡̳̜͉̰̬͚̩̟͎̟͙̘͆̇̒̚p̴̡̛̮̯̺̭͕̟̂͋̈͌͒̈̓̉̈́͂̓̂͒̃͘͝͠ǐ̴̧̘͉̺̪̥̞͙̺̳̹̭̯͉̲̥̻̭̹̲͖͖̩̹͕̂͂̏͗͘͜t̴̡̤̣͖̳̥̻͈͎̱̩̙͌̍̅̓̎̂͜å̴̡̛̛̖̙̪͖̤͙̖̬̣̼̙̺͈͚̹̣̜͔̤̪̗̩̱̘̱͌̏̿̊̅̽͂́̒͂̈͋̑͊̉̆͊̀͗͒̀̅̆̈́̀̀̋͘͘̕̚͘͜͝ͅĺ̵̨̛̛̛̟͖̔̿̂͑̃̄̉͌͐̅́̆̽̏́͂̅̀̐͒͛̀̃͗̋̈́̃̈̉̆̆͂͛̕͘͠͝i̶̛̛̟̖̿͗̈̃̊̑̐̄̃̎̽́̑͛̀̍̉̍͐͗̄̈̌̔̉̌͋̄͘̚͠͝͝͝ş̵̡͍̤͔̳̼̥͉̯̱̲͖̝̝̼͕̠̬̝͙̦̙̠̫̲̭̰̟͔̥͋̌͆̋̎̏͛̍̄̍̋̀́́͑͊̄̈͆̎̕͜͝ͅm̸̢̛͇͕͈͙͓͉͚̞̳̭͎͔͉̤̭̺̞̯͉͈͖̠͈̤̜͈̜͖̃̂̓͑̅̓̃̑̿̀̈́̍̋̊͐̕͜͠ͅ

(bad shitpost bc capitalism isn't a battlefield, let alone a cornfield - it's a slaughterhouse. anyway sorry don't mind me.)

I do think there are legitimate flaws and fumblings with the structure SV is trying to do compared to Harvest Moon/Story Of Seasons and Rune Factory which is why I bounce it off more than its inspirations, but I also think this review is rather stinky due to aiming its problems to the wrong components (Joja Co. Ending isn't near the same level of workaholic timesink BS like the farming, dungeoneering, and denizen get-togethers are, for one thing).

im not interested enough in this game to know what yall are talking about. i dont know the startup lore about how it was made in a basement or whatever. i just played a few hours and found it: basically uninteresting, boring, clunky, from gameplay and narrative angles. i thought it was wack how everything gets automagically turned into money. i think the dream of inheriting property in a small town and building a productive self-sufficient life through independent farming is dumb and bad. i think it gets seen as some kind of anticapitalist dream so the way money totally suffuses this game was surprising to me.

you only played for a few hours out of a 200+ hour experience, why even write a review? its a video game, it has to have some sense of progression for the player and for farming games its usually improving your tools/farm and people play it because its fun. stardew never once said its economy operated outside of capitalism at any point, but unlike in real life there are no rents to pay and no police to come for you if you fail to pay them, and no one in their right mind thinks this is what an egalitarian society looks like. youre mad at a farming game for having farming game mechanics. i think we should take coins out of mario because then he might spend them on the stock market

i made an account on this website as a place to keep track of what games i played and how i feel about them, then i went thru the top games and marked the ones i played and remembered how i felt about them. stardew valley is a super successful popular game that it is okay for me to not like! its also okay if you like it! i have lots of friends who like stardew, including very serious socialist organizers. i am a game designer and so am very attentive and critical of the systems and structure of games. maybe sv just like uncritically borrows some genre mechanics, idc. mario is also dumb

Ignore the troll. This whole “you didn’t torture yourself long enough to form a valid opinion” nonsense is so laughable. I had a guy tell me my Witcher 3 review didn’t count because I “only” spent 25 hours playing it. The review is good.

Also I gave this game 1 star after playing it for about 20 minutes.

its actually not okay to like any video games

backloggd moment

honestly the ultra-literal fetishization of labor is so low on my list of problems with stardew that I kind of forgot it even does that. TBF ideological bankruptcy is kind of the norm for anything even vaguely within the realm of "simulation" so I probably just turned that part of my brain off when playing

The only reason I didn't give this game 1 star is that it has multiplayer

"you only played for a few hours out of a 200+ hour experience, why even write a review? its a video game" What a hilarious take! If you aren't putting a total amount of hours equivalent to a job, why even talk about it! Are people just mad that your experience wasn't the same as theirs? So strange.

Anyways, I totally understand your take on this game. It just sounds like it's not for you and that's fine.
I do agree with Parma that one of the game's strongest features is the multiplayer.
I can fish and give the boy I like pizza and poppers while my friends/gf do the more busy work because they seem to like that more than I do.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts.