It has been almost a month since the popular game “Stardew Valley” received a huge update, and I must say, it really has been game-changing. 

For the uninitiated, “Stardew Valley” is a farming simulation game that follows a farmer who has recently left their corporate job in the city to take over their grandfather’s old farm in Pelican Town. With an entire town of people to meet and a farm to revive to its former glory, the player has so many things to do with the option to start anywhere. 

The game is often known for simply “doing chores” all the time, and the update may have added even more chores to do, but it is still much more fun than doing chores in real life. 

The update included a variety of things ranging from new craftable items to entirely new festivals. My personal favorite is the seemingly endless amount of new dialogue for all of the townspeople. It is a small detail, but with the villagers now reacting more to the world around them, the game feels much more lively—and it makes the townspeople actually mildly interesting to talk to.

Outside of the update itself, the little renaissance that the game has received has been incredible. With over 30,000 people on the Twitch page the day of the update and many streamers continuing to play the game, those of us who already love the game are thriving. 

Additionally, the coverage that the game has gotten due to the update has led to many new players, and a growing community is rarely bad. It is not unhelpful that the game is generally more accessible than many other popular games.

While only the PC version of the game has received the update as of now, the game is available on mobile, console, and Switch. And the game is only $15 on a normal day—if on sale, it is even less, often reaching less than $10.

Overall, it was already a fun game that I had put hundreds of hours into, but now it is even more fun.