Stardew Valley - 10 Million Copies sold

Stardew Valley has sold 10 million copies:

Stardew Valley has sold over 10 million copies. It's strange & amazing to think back to when I was making this game in my bedroom w/ no clue if anyone would like it. Only 4 years ago! To everyone who has played this game, supported it, and made all of this possible: Thank you!!

Congratulations!

More information.

And none were purchased by myself. Guess I'm the odd person out.

I've also not bought this one to date, but I've heard nothing but praise from at least three mates about it. Congrats on making a well selling product!

I tried it, but I don't think I get it. Am I supposed to grow carrots, or whatever, and sell them on the market ?

Wonder if there is a correlation between the increasing success of farming games, and the disconnect of the general public on how food arrives on their plate.

Also this developer has done a freaking awesome job of balancing a very demanding fanbase, not losing his mind, and setting expectations to stop morons and media from overhyping the crap out of everything.

RPGWatch was one of the first sites that recommended the game:

Indie farming simulation - just the right mix between simplicity of gameplay and depth of content. You just want to play one more day… Addictive!

Later @purpleblob reviewed the game.

Well call me amazed. Congratulations to the developer.

Funny enough this is not the first game of this type. As this genre was pretty popular on handheld devices in the 1990's & 2000's. Nowadays the market is much larger.

It's like the movie biz now. There's a reason Steam is drowning in garbage.

But congrats to the dev. That's a lot of carrots.

EDIT: Just reread this, and I wasn't saying his game is garbage, by the way. I own it, but haven't played it. I was just saying a lot of people are looking to hit the gaming lottery, like this dev has.

Originally Posted by DR490N
I tried it, but I don't think I get it. Am I supposed to grow carrots, or whatever, and sell them on the market ?

Stardew Valley isn't just about farming. It's about letting your creative juice flow for farm layout, houses and sheds as well.

https://imgur.com/a/OUuiN

https://imgur.com/a/pmrHT

Yeah, but it isn't original at all. There were games just like it on Facebook 10 years ago. Farmville was the first I remember and that was in 2009 I think? To me Stardew Valley was just a non-browser version of all the farm games on Facebook. I think the guy just looted a market that the Facebook crowd had expanded into over time. Smart choice and it made him a multi-millionaire.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FarmVille

Originally Posted by crpgnut
Yeah, but it isn't original at all. There were games just like it on Facebook 10 years ago. Farmville was the first I remember and that was in 2009 I think? To me Stardew Valley was just a non-browser version of all the farm games on Facebook. I think the guy just looted a market that the Facebook crowd had expanded into over time. Smart choice and it made him a multi-millionaire.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FarmVille

And how many game do you know of that are completely original?

The game already states its biggest inspiration is Harvest Moon and he improved upon that formula. It has pleasing cute art style, has a lot of content (excluding just decorating farm, house/shed), music is great too - it is a work from someone passionate about his game. And it shows.

Originally Posted by purpleblob
Stardew Valley isn't just about farming. It's about letting your creative juice flow for farm layout, houses and sheds as well.

https://imgur.com/a/OUuiN

https://imgur.com/a/pmrHT

Ah ! Now I get… Err, no. :-)

Favourite RPGs: Baldur's Gate II, NWN: The Aielund Saga, Pathfinder: Kingmaker, Icewind Dale I, Stardew Valley

Does. Not. Compute. Crrrr.
:-)

(still, I'm pretty sure I'll retry it someday, maybe when I'm retired)

I don't know Farmville or other games of that type, but the impression that Stardew Valley was all about the busiwork of farming is quite off. There's actually a myriad of game mechanics, and discovering them is probably the main appeal. There's a (simplistic) dungeon romp, a (simplistic) main quest with some C&C, (simplistic) side quests, areas and items to unlock… not really deep mechanics taken isolatedly, but marvellously balanced as a whole. As for the farming, progressing through the game actually unlocks methods to automate the farming stuff, freeing up more time for other activities. It's not what I would want to be playing for the rest of my life on my Desert Island, but plenty more than just farming.

Originally Posted by you
And none were purchased by myself. Guess I'm the odd person out.

I bought it twice, actually, for different platforms. So it evens even out.



I hope that the success of Stardew Valley will be a lesson for big publishers that shiny great graphics really aren't everything.

Originally Posted by purpleblob
And how many game do you know of that are completely original?

Even the Iliad and the Odyssey are NOT original. Both drew heavily from already circulating folk-tales and myths.


… And with the Bible … flood myths are all around. Even the Sumerians had them (Utnapishtim).

It's not my kind of game but it's nice to see them have success. Maybe Stardew Valley gives inspiration to someone that makes a game I would enjoy.

Even though the game doesn't appeal to me, it's always nice to see an indie success story. Congratulations to the developer and I hope to see others follow in his steps, success wise.

Harvest Moon was a fun and enjoyable game, I well remember that one. I guess I missed out on the face-crap versions, as I personally think that face-crap is one of the top three worse things to ever infest the inter-webs. If it was within the last ten to fifteen years, I was likely neck-deep in Everquest as well during that time. I'll have to check out Stardew at some point, or wander over to a mates and watch them play it for a bit.

10 million copies, it for sure paints an enthousiastic future as all those who play are likely to scream anytime a product is made a bit more demanding than SV. Which does not required much.

Originally Posted by Wisdom
Also this developer has done a freaking awesome job of balancing a very demanding fanbase,

One of the first actions taken by dev on release was to water down the race against time feature as players could not take it. They wished a more relaxed, laid back experience.

Originally Posted by purpleblob
And how many game do you know of that are completely original?

Nothing between completely original and something else. This product is a copy, whom main merit is to have been implemented by a proper to receive dev. Main merit.
One thing to be inspired and another to copy.

Maybe, if China hits mass market, one dude manages the same trick: copying SV, sell big for the only merit of it being coded by a Chinese.

Originally Posted by Carnifex
I've also not bought this one to date,

If only at that period of time, knowing how to watch streams had been known, zero would have been spent on this product other than gathering through streaming that it is a vid product made for players. A cultural thing that has no other value than being a cultural token.

Originally Posted by DR490N
I tried it, but I don't think I get it. Am I supposed to grow carrots, or whatever, and sell them on the market ?

Lay back and enjoy a jeffersionian dream of living a land owner life. Even though there are no slaves in this product while they would have been topical.