Stardew Valley
A solo-developed farming sim that revived the genre.
Stardew Valley is a 2016 farm life simulation video game developed by American indie designer Eric "ConcernedApe" Barone. The game places players in the role of a character who inherits a dilapidated farm from their deceased grandfather, tasking them with restoring it and aiding in the revival of the nearby town. It is noted for its open-ended gameplay, which includes farming, foraging, fishing, mining, combat, and social relationships, and for being created entirely by one person over five years.
- developer
- Eric "ConcernedApe" Barone
- release_year
- 2016
- genre
- Farm life simulation
- platform
- Windows (initial), later ported to several other platforms
- sales
- 50 million copies by February 2026
- publisher
- Chucklefish (initial), later self-published by Barone
Lore & Background
Eric Barone, known as ConcernedApe, created Stardew Valley over five years as an indie developer. He began the project to improve his programming and game design skills, drawing heavy inspiration from the Harvest Moon series (now Story of Seasons) while aiming to address shortcomings he perceived in those games. Barone was the sole developer, handling all pixel art, music, and sound effects, using tools such as Reason Studios and Paint.NET. The game was originally programmed in C# using Microsoft XNA, later migrating to MonoGame in 2021.
Barone announced the game in September 2012 via Steam Greenlight. After strong community support, he was approached by Chucklefish, which offered to publish the game, handling non-development tasks like site hosting and wiki setup. Stardew Valley was released for Windows on February 26, 2016. Post-release, Barone continued development, adding features such as multiplayer and expanding the game with major updates. He regained publishing rights for most platforms by 2019, ending Chucklefish's involvement by March 2022.
Reader's Guide
Stardew Valley received generally positive reviews from critics, including Yasuhiro Wada, the creator of Harvest Moon. It has been cited as one of the best video games ever made and is credited with causing a resurgence in popularity for the farming sim genre. The game became one of the best-selling video games, reaching 50 million copies sold by February 2026. It appeared on several publications' year-end lists and received accolades, including the Breakthrough Award at the Golden Joystick Awards and a nomination for Best Game at the British Academy Games Awards. Its influence is seen in the revival of the farming simulation genre and its status as a benchmark for solo-developed indie games.
Did You Know?
- Stardew Valley was originally titled Sprout Valley.
- Barone chose not to include the butchering of farm animals for meat, encouraging players to name and tend to each animal.
- The game's multiplayer beta for Windows was released in April 2018, with the official launch on August 1, 2018.
- Barone regained publishing rights for all platforms except Android, iOS, and Nintendo Switch by 2019.
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