For the past two years, designers Eric Barone and Cole Medeiros—who met while playing Stardew Valley online—have been working on turning the idyllic video game into something folks can play on a table.
Their work is now done, and in addition to announcing the board game, they’ve also announced that it’s available for purchase, right now, which is a very pleasant change from the way these games are normally announced. It’s normally news first, then a Kickstarter campaign, then WHO KNOWS HOW LONG until you can actually get the game.
In keeping with the vibe of the video game, it’s a purely co-operative experience, where players are, “growing crops, raising animals, expanding their farm and collecting resources from across the Valley.”
“By befriending the local villagers, players earn hearts that allow them to reveal hidden goals,” the announcement adds. “Only by working together will they keep Joja Corporation from moving in and spoiling everything.”
Sign up now for access to Blasphemous, SNK Arcade Classics, and more.
The good news for Stardew Valley fans is that it’s available now from here. The bad news is that shipping is currently US-only.
DISCUSSION
The entire video game industry could learn something from ConcernedApe.
The more you deliver what you promise (or more), the more your customers will love you for it.
Of course, AAA development and “one guy in the suburbs who’s so talented that he made the 2016 Game of the Year” are different animals, but there’s one huge company that manages the hype machine better than any other AAA dev, and that’s Bethesda.
Think about it. The first we hear officially of any Bethesda game is generally at E3, when Todd Howard shows up and says something to the effect of “it’s just about done and you can buy it this November.” Sure, everyone and their sister knows what they’re working on (when an in-house studio only has two major IPs, that’ll happen) but they don’t drag out the actual release hype.
Customers hate vaporware. They love stuff that they can buy immediately (or very soon) when they hear it exists.