Why do people consider this game fun?

DISCLAIMER:
Not meant as a rude insult but as an actual question out of curiosity. Another note is that I haven't actually played this game or Harvest Moon.

Anyways, why do people see this game as fun? To me it looks pretty boring. I already know that I don't like my actions being limited by an energy meter and such.

 

Because that's the only limitation there is.

 

There is no energy bar theoretically speaking, I have a bunch of cheese, and I recover almost all of my energy with just one cheese.

This game is fun because you can do pretty much anything, you can become a fisherman, a miner, a farmer, and you can earn living anyway you want. It's like a life simulation where you grow crop as a farmer, sell it to the villagers, they also have requests for certain items that you can produce, you can get married and have kids, basically a second life type of game.

 

enegery is not really is not really the problem, time is

 

I think there will always be games to appeal to different people. Some of the most popular games of all time I cannot find any entertainment in. The fact we are different makes the world a more interesting place.

The reason this game does keep my attention is the sense of personal achievement. I like being able to set myself personal goals and reach them. I like the fact this game gives such a huge scope for goals I can choose to set and those goals become additive into make a story progress, relationships develop and there is a visual indication for how well I am doing. Seeing my farm progress over time, become more efficient, become more aesthetically pleasing is an incredible incentive for me.

There is also not many limitations, for example if I work hard to grow crops and treat my animals right I can turn that in to cooked meals that I can use to refill my energy bar as many time a day as I please. Even time is not a limitation because there is always another day.

 

The better question is why are you even here if you feel this way about the game

 

He is curios don't scare him away bro he just wants to know what the community thinks​

I also never played a harvest moon game.When i first saw it about a year ago i thought the same thing "Dose not look very fun for what i enjoy doing". I ended up getting it cause i was watching my friend play it It was far more in depth then i was expecting. I have since buying it a week ago played 72 hours. The energy bar dose not really limit you once you get started maybe the first day or two a small bit but you find fruit and stuff on the ground to refill it. This is very much a casual game i will agree with that. but its not overly complex. You can jump straight in without having any idea what you are doing and easily figure everything out within the first few days. The only real challenge for most in the game is the fishing mechanic. I am a massive CSGO (1000+ hours) player and i personally like to calm down and detox after playing a match with Stardew valley. All the sprite work is really well done and tons of different ways you can play your run. I suggest you watch some people play it on twitch. You might get a better understanding of why we enjoy the game watching it.​

 

Maybe it's just not for you. I never played any of the Harvest Moon-type games before either, but I saw this being streamed on Twitch and knew right away I could get into it. I'm sure I will eventually get burned out on it, but I feel the 65 hours I've put into it so far, I've more than gotten my money's worth. Also, as others have pointed out, time is the more limiting factor than energy. There are many ways to mitigate energy loss. Managing time is part of the progression of the game; via leveling, time-saving items(sprinklers for farming, bait/tackle for fishing), more efficient farming tools.

 

Ainzoal, it might be possible there is something within the game the OP might like. Maybe there's something "late game" that might interest him...kinda like MMORPG's, many people are concerned about the "late-game" / "post-game" play stuff.

Phantaeon, I would say that this game is not meant for everyone. It's a bit of a simulator and most of the time does not appeal to the masses. It's not action oriented and mostly slow paced without forcing task completion on the player. In a sense, I think many people like this about the game. It's slow paced and does not push the player to do things they don't want to do. It does not make people feel "rushed" for completing certain tasks. It's a rather relaxing game and allows the player to mostly take the game however they want and whenever they want. Some people like easy-going games. Most of the game is based on farming...but if you don't want to do that, you don't have to. As others said, you can fish or go adventuring. It's really hard to explain to someone that never played this type of game before. I would honestly probably not even tried a game like this unless I tried Harvest Moon. I'm so glad I did try to play Harvest Moon, because I ended up enjoying games like this. If the game doesn't really hold your interest...no biggie, there are other games out there and you can at least said you tried the game and just couldn't get into it. Perfectly fine

 

That's pretty much the reason why I asked why people find this fun. Because it, of course, appeals to people. Why else would it be popular?

 

Tme and Energy management is the main challenge of the game. But the game has a casual enough tone that, even if you aren't good at it, you wont really fail.
Then there's the whole role playing aspect, complete with marriage even.

 

Because I have been a fan of Starbound and of course I would at least show some consideration. Besides, who knows if people can persuade me. Liking things is good after all.

 

It's like doll house but with farming, think of the Sims but with farming aspects and roleplaying a single character. It's like Sims 3 with farming.

 

@Phantaeon I respect your interest in the game one other reason that i didn't put in my previous post is the community is for the most part pretty nice and accepting of new players i also like you am a giant fan of star bound (sorta how i found out about stardew) and with co-op coming sometime soon (hopefully) i look forward to possibly playing with some of the people in the community Specifically @Afterscore (He is really funny i enjoy reading his posts)

 

Fantasy Farm Life. Emphasis on the Fantasy part; hence why there are people you have choice to hook up with while tending to a farm.

Really it is what you call a niche game, since there are some that will like and some that will not.

I find it relaxing, and more so than the games it has inspiration from. The limitations of the originals have been freed a bit in this one. Technically there are not that many limitations, at least few in comparison to a survival game; which this game is not meant to be. It has simple mechanics that you improve over time in a progressive manner. Also having more things to do besides just farming & decorating said farm.

Collecting things in game as well, at my own pace. I am usually drawn to collector type games with a theme I like.

If I was to compare to the FB game Farmville... It is hardly anything like that beyond the fact you farm and decorate to an extent. No money transaction, and a lot more to it than waiting real time for a crop to grow. Time it based on an in game clock, and not your computer clock. It is a time management game yes. But always has been like that within the genre of games. Some people enjoy that aspect more than others.

It is also a game in which one could feel accomplishment through progression, and not just equipment upgrade like in so many other games. There are quite a few more aspects to progression, then tool upgrade. But like most other games it starts off more difficult than it ends with in quite a few aspects. This will vary from person to person which aspect will actually be difficult, but by the end of the progression overcoming said challenge everything will be quite much easier; most things. I mean in fishing for example there are legends to catch, and those sometimes give people a run for time.

I get that not everybody will attach immediately to the game, being a niche, however there are just many simple things within the game that are simple in concept that strikes on the natural things we do in life to begin with. Time management is something that people in life do all the time and usually take for granted at times. This does show it in a more sped up manner that can equate to fun for those that enjoy the genre one way or another. Since there is more to the game then just flat out time management. Hence all the things to do in a short day.

It is like the concept that one can not build rome in a day, but can sure progress in building it over the years. In the game sense it would be shortened and be like months or seasons as the game has it.

Why I find it entertaining/fun:
--Collecting
--Sense of Progression
--Quite more open than the inspiration series
--Decorating the farm and inside the buildings; primarily the house
--Social single player (people in town growing to like you over time of chats.)
--Love interests to aim for
--Adventure (meaning a bit of exploration, cave diving, secrets to be found, and few other thing beyond making thing efficient)
--Simple mechanics in all the things you can do
--Several ways to go about claiming a fortune
--One of the few of its' genre actually being on PC, which has been a long time waiting for such.

That is basically most reasons, although I think there might be even more, as it fits in with a certain mood of mind when I go looking for a game to fill the specific mood.

 

Based on the replies, I probaply won't pick it up. Since I do really prefer my fast-paced platforming. Granted I do like building., which is slower. But from everything I've read this probaply isn't for me.

It's still really nice to know what people's opinions are. And I wish everybody best of luck with thier playthroughs.

 

@Phanetaeon No problem man Best of luck on your games also man

 

Thanks for the kind words and it's always a good idea to get more information about a game first, no one enjoys dropping dollars and then having a boring time. Definitely a large part of Stardew's success is from the niche community that played Harvest Moon and Rune Factory, it's like a spiritual successor that's been optimised for PC and having played those games SV really tickles all the right bones.

 

Same reason people love Harvest Moon 64 kind of like this guy's reasoning. I think this guy's closing statements really ring true with Stardew Valley personally. Remember this video actually made me cry from nostalga and I found his closing statements beautiful.

 

Its funny cause most people seem to like to play this game casually...

I dont play it casually... I play it like a time management game, rather intensly trying to make as much money as i can and unlock everything in a timely manner, making use of every hour of the day...

I sometimes hear of people hibernating through winter cause they cant grow crops or whatever... but i prepare for winter by having money making animals, or go mining and fishing...

Its far from a casual game for me... I get lost in it, addicted... until i start to hear real life birds chirping away outside cause its morning, and i forgot to sleep all night.