I've been getting survival horror game fatigue lately, and been looking for something to play where I wasn't one of a dozen survivors who is desperately trying to stay alive against (often literally) impossible odds, and screwing over the other survivors to do it. They were interesting way back when, but I ultimately need to come back to the fact that I play video games to be a hero, save a princess or the world, and feel like I put a little goodness back into the world. Games like This War of Mine (you're a guy trying to survive in a bombed out city by stealing and murdering other people trying to do the same) and Outlast (you're a moron of a reporter just trying to get out alive after going in voluntarily) have recently been free on PS4 and Xbone, respectively, and I just needed something happy to play instead.

Enter: Stardew Valley.

I've never played the Harvest Moon games this is supposed to be similar to, but I have now played nearly a full year of Stardew Valley and it's exactly what I wanted. Relaxed, simple, and full of opportunities to be helpful and productive, making me feel good about my time spent in video game land.

This is a game that is, almost exclusively, an investment game. There's really not much to do beyond watering your plants every day. Until you get a cow which you then have to milk every day. And so forth. Yet it doesn't get tedious. All of this is accomplished with relative ease and in very little time, and then - later - you unlock the ability to make them happen automatically (sprinklers to water the plants, for example) and the chore element goes away just as quickly as it came. It's a very difficult design goal to meet - adding chores without making them too difficult or annoying, and the game accomplishes this by making pretty much everything completely optional. There are things you can collect if you want to, a dungeon to explore if you want to, and produce you can grow... if you want to. You can choose to talk to people (or not to), make friends with them (or not), and even whether you want to attend the various events which take place throughout the year.

Having all of this be choice makes the entire game casual. Add to that the charming pixel art and nostalgic music (almost bit-tunes, but with a bit of orchestral work thrown in to remind you that this is actually a modern game) and you've got a really fun romp that's a delight to play.

If you want some challenge, you can always push yourself through the dungeon (I'm down to floor 85 so far, and guessing there are 100 total floors), or try to catch some of the more elusive fish that populate the rivers, lakes, and ocean of the game (fishing is both simple and challenging).

Everything in this game is polished to a tee, and demonstrates thoughtfulness that is rarely seen in most AAA games. Even the plot (why you're in the valley starting a farm in the first place) makes sense.

I highly recommend it.