Should I play stardew?

[Flora]

TL;DR: I have 100 hours of this game purely spent modding it since every time I would play I’d feel confused or lost on what to do and often become stressed with the timer. Now with the release of 1.6 I’m wondering if I should play again or if I’ve gotten into stardew a bit too late. Oh and for context the life sim genre this game exists in is one of my favorites, in fact I still play ACNL till this very day.

Apologies for the overly long post but…
I’ve had this game in my library on switch and steam and never really got into it. I’ve played it for 50 hours on switch somehow but found it boring since there wasn’t much to do compare to (ACNL) Animal Crossing New Leaf. I felt as if I was just wandering around wondering what I was doing instead of planning for the next day and doing as much as I possibly could as I would do in ACNL. So I instead modded the game and now have over 100 hours due to me leaving it on sometimes and modding the game so much that it looked completely different which is weird since I’ve never modded a game this much before in my life. Now with the release of 1.6 I thought if I should play it again and give it another shot since I do like the genre it’s in it being a life sim after all. However I’m afraid I’ve gotten in a bit to late and wish I had gotten into it sooner.

[Ykario]

You 100% should start playing it "for real".
The game is full of things to do, more than ACNL imho.
The thing is that it doesn't give you much directions as to what to do (no Nook to police you around asking for this or that) , and let you do as you please.

The only things the game says is to meet people, and you'll sometimes receive a letter telling you that this or that is available to do. So, check with people, and check your mailbox.

The main selling point of this game is that : You're free to go as fast as you want, do what you want. Take your time to clean your farm, plant different things, decorate it, spend your days fishing or mining etc.

[Včelí medvídek]

I really do nto udnerstand the mindset "too late"... what the heck?

I would say exactly opposite - in perfect situation you come to game at its last version and last patch so you can enjoy it with 100% intended content, features and balance.

[Tiddalik]

Absolutely! Just jump in. Stardew Valley is such a charming and addicting game, you're bound to have a blast playing it, especially if you love ACNL.

I was like you, afraid I missed the boat, but Stardew isn't a game like that, very free play, doesn't matter if you've just started or a seasoned speed runner, everyone is gaming their own style. The beauty about 1.6 is the new content added, even a new farm map was added, so seasoned gamers are starting fresh just like you'll be, they're discovering new things to collect and witnessing new events etc. It's never too late to jump into this game.

Right at start the game helps you with giving you intro quests, you won't be completing these in a day, so get the feel of the game by exploring the entire map, try opening all doors, explore all nooks and crannies and just get a feel of locations, what paths might be blocked for now etc. Just like ACNL Stardew works on seasons, you can't plant everything at once, it's season specific, and fishing is the same, some fish only come out in spring or rain or summer in the morning etc (sturgeons are still a uncommon fish xD). Working on the community centre goals is a great way to familiarise yourself with seasonal produce.

Failing at something is a great way to learn (took me a while to realise crows were eating my crops lol) and it's ok to fail/miss stuff because you can always do it again, no consequences if you forget to finish a quest in time, for example, you just get another, if fishing is hard and you miss a season fish it eventually gets easier when you get enough money to buy better rods/baits/hooks, and the season comes again, so don't pressure yourself to rush things.

Go for it and enjoy your time on the farm!

[romy]

"I used modes and made the game boring"
many such cases, ngl

Play vanilla and you won"t get bored,

[Flora]

Originally posted by Ykario:

You 100% should start playing it "for real".
The game is full of things to do, more than ACNL imho.
The thing is that it doesn't give you much directions as to what to do (no Nook to police you around asking for this or that) , and let you do as you please.

The only things the game says is to meet people, and you'll sometimes receive a letter telling you that this or that is available to do. So, check with people, and check your mailbox.

The main selling point of this game is that : You're free to go as fast as you want, do what you want. Take your time to clean your farm, plant different things, decorate it, spend your days fishing or mining etc.

For real, this actually sounds like the perfect game for me. A game that you can play in whatever way you want and as long as possible and it’s super addictive and you can play it with friend! I’m definitely reinstalling the game and playing it all day as soon as I possible can

[Flora]

Originally posted by Včelí medvídek:

I really do nto udnerstand the mindset "too late"... what the heck?

I would say exactly opposite - in perfect situation you come to game at its last version and last patch so you can enjoy it with 100% intended content, features and balance.

I think it comes from FOMO where since it’s the last update I’ll never experience the hype of waiting for the next update ever again. It’s kinda like what I had with one piece before I caught up. Constantly wondering what if I was there at the time and what feelings I would have, I would’ve been on the edge of my seat if I was watching the show weekly. But if it is the perfect time to play it then I’ll check it out again soon

[BirbNotBird]

I think I want to ask what were your playstyle. To be fair what you usually do and what are your goals for year 1?

So far I think you are having two issues:
+ Lack of information. I recommend checking books in library and obtain secret notes in Winter
+ Time issue. How it affect your plans?

[Flora]

Originally posted by romy:

"I used modes and made the game boring"
many such cases, ngl

Play vanilla and you won"t get bored,

I see what you mean but for me it was the opposite, I modded the game to make it more fun and it did, exploring what people had done with this indie game was entertaining even if I didn’t like the game itself. Modding it and exploring the modding scene was fun for me

[Flora]

Originally posted by BirbNotBird:

I think I want to ask what were your playstyle. To be fair what you usually do and what are your goals for year 1?

So far I think you are having two issues:
+ Lack of information. I recommend checking books in library and obtain secret notes in Winter
+ Time issue. How it affect your plans?

Can’t remember to much since it was a good while ago, but what I remember was watering everyday and either fishing since I liked the fishing mini game or going to the mines since those were the most profitable ways I can think of. I’d like to think that if I were to play this game once more I’d focus on minmaxing since trying to maximize my days and planning ahead sounds fun.