Stardew Valley PvP — taking the cosy out of the farm
Tales from the Crypt #4
When I was a kid, my gaming preferences were different. I would get bored easily, and quickly hop from game to game, sometimes dropping titles that gave me a hard time. If I was shown an ominous ‘GAME OVER’ screen too many times in a row, I would bail.
I liked my games fun, but not frustrating. So how, exactly, did I end up creating the most miserable version of Stardew Valley ever played?
I was introduced to video games through platformers like Super Mario, Donkey Kong Country, Sonic and Megaman. These games, while fun, would often annoy me: I was the absolute worst at them. I’ve had a hard time finishing every platformer I’ve played to this day.
Perhaps because of that, I found solace in a different type of game. When I was 9, I picked up a copy of ‘Harvest Moon: Back to Nature’ for my PlayStation 1. The slow rural life, the captivating community of that small town, the passing seasons… all of that ignited my love for the Harvest Moon franchise, which continues to this day.
The Harvest Moon games are known for being early examples of a particular set of social + farming + dating simulators. I haven’t seen a specific term for this type of game, so from now on, I will refer to them as DAT SOFA (for DATing, SOcial, and FArming). Yes, I know, this is a great term and should become industry standard jargon.
P.S.: Disappointingly, there’s an official term for these games: "farm life sim", a subgenre blending elements from farming, social, and dating simulators. But let’s be honest, this uninspired term lacks the charm of DAT SOFA, a far more fitting (and comfortable) name.
Anyway. In DAT SOFA, players not only manage a farm — growing crops, raising animals, cooking and crafting goods — but also engage with a digital rural community. They befriend non-player-characters (NPCs), build relationships, and can even pursue romance, leading to marriage and family life.
The Harvest Moon series built DAT SOFA, kickstarting the subgenre. Since then, many other games have been inspired to follow it. Among these more recent titles, one shined brightest; and in public opinion, even brighter than Harvest Moon itself.
The new monarch sitting on DAT SOFA (this is such a good term) is Stardew Valley, created by the indie developer ConcernedApe (the pseudonym of Eric Barone).
Stardew Valley came out in 2016. As someone who played it quite a lot, I can safely say that Eric Barone achieved his vision. His game built upon Harvest Moon’s foundation, surpassing it with a richer story, memorable characters, and deeply engaging gameplay.
Two years later, Stardew Valley released a multiplayer update, allowing players to create farms with other real-life players. This led to the creation of many digital agricultural cooperatives, usually managed during voice calls where the team interacted.
After a year of peacefully tending to our farms, some wild — but irresistible — ideas began to take root. Experimenting with different strategies was one thing, but whispers of a new way to play started spreading like weeds.
One day, during a voice call, a friend casually planted the seed of chaos:
“Playing Stardew together is so much fun. The farm grows so fast with everyone pitching in.”
“Yeah, it’s a huge difference!” I agreed.
Then, out of nowhere, my friend dropped a question that shook the peaceful atmosphere.
“But… what if we fought instead?”
“…Excuse me?” I blinked.
“Like, imagine if Stardew Valley had a versus mode.”
Blasphemy. Stardew Valley was meant to be cosy, fun, relaxing. Why would anyone ruin that with competition?
“How would that even work…?” another friend asked, clearly intrigued.
“I don’t know…” the first friend mused. “We’d have to build defences, destroy each other’s crops, sabotage homes and farms…”
It’d be a player-versus-player (PvP) Stardew. This idea was so absurd, and a complete departure from what Eric Barone probably intended with his game.
But we did it anyway. Stardew Valley is fundamentally a game about growth — of crops, relationships, and wealth. But in our PvP version?
Growth was impossible. Only destruction remained.
We created a new farm, with 4 players in total, including me. With the players on the table, it was time to pick the board.
In Stardew Valley, there are different farm layouts, each with unique advantages — some favour crops and animals, while others offer spots for fishing or mining.
Among all these maps, one option favours multiplayer: the Four Corners farm. The property is broken down into 4 sections, each with its perks, and each player is housed in one of these areas. This was perfect for our Stardew Valley PvP experiment.
We started slow, invading each other’s houses and farm sections to investigate. As soon as someone started growing something, the other players would destroy their crops with axes.
The next step was crafting defences, like walls and fences, and placing them one after the other to make it harder for enemies to approach our land. Of course, this also meant that it was harder for us ourselves to access our property.
To break through enemy lines more quickly, we needed to go deeper. Axes and pickaxes were not enough. BOMBS were integrated into our strategy, starting an arms race on that desolate farm.
Soon, every player abandoned the futile effort of growing crops; it was no use. Fishing and mining were much better strategies, and even then, it was hard to manage inventory space. You could use your bag to carry objects, but there are limited slots; and if you made a chest to store items you couldn’t carry, other players were quick to steal and sell all of it.
Needless to say, this was a short-lived experience. It was so frustrating to never grow anything, have your fences exploded, and your house emptied almost daily. But it sure was fun for… a few days of heavy game sessions, if I remember correctly.
In the end, Stardew Valley resisted our best efforts to turn it into a battleground. It was as if the game itself whispered: “This is a place for growth, not ruin”. And honestly? Maybe that’s why I love it so much.
— The ghost who grows digital crops,
almoghost.exe (or André Almo if you’re feeling serious) 👻
Amo esse jogo!!
bombing crops! how you guys dare 😭