Video: Check Out The Stardew Valley Multiplayer Update In Action

This might be my best chance at actually enjoying this game. If someone who knows what they’re doing in this game can play alongside me in real time, perhaps I’ll finally be able to understand why people find this game so compelling. I just can’t get into it otherwise.

@thesilverbrick You completely read my mind! It's a great game, I just can't get into it like I can with Animal Crossing or some other game that I've poured countless hours into.

@MH4 It’s funny you say that, because every time I ask fans of this game why they like it so much they tell me that it’s like Animal Crossing. The difference is, in Animal Crossing there is a clear objective (paying off your home) and the game makes it very clear what you need to do to accomplish this and also provides you with at least some kind of tutorial to get you started. Stardew Valley simply drops you off and leaves you to figure it out for yourself. Problem is, the game is not structured in an intuitive way to give you any clue as to what you should be doing next. And nobody seems to be able to tell me exactly what the long-term goal is, leaving me to simply harvest turnips for months while waiting for something fun to happen. I just find it way too open and aimless. To each his own, though.

@thesilverbrick what a relief - I thought I was the only one who didn’t ‘get it’. I don’t dislike the game, but I don’t much like it either. I figure I’m missing something as it seems outrageously popular...

Ah it's a wonderful game. Have already sunk 80 odd hours into it. It's all about being intuitive and making your own missions. Like working out how to make more money, getting to the bottom of the mines, collecting everything in the community centre etc etc. You sort of have to go with the flow and the longer you play it the more involved you get in its mysteries.

I'm hopelessly addicted to Stardew. Currently passing 50 hours. I've just caught my first catfish!

Does anyone know if this is cross platform? If I play on my Switch can I play with my brother on PC?

I feared I wouldn't enjoy it as much as I didn't really even know what to do at first. I usually want some kind of goal to work towards. I did random things for a while until I found something I really liked: fishing. I know a lot of people don't really like the fishing mechanics but catching every fish was my first real goal. Later I discovered the community center and that gave me more goals I could work towards. There are many goals you can work towards, it just takes some time to really hit you.

I played over 40 hours until I stopped. I wanted to take a break and play some other games for a while. I'm pretty sure I'd play another 40 hours if I were to continue. Maybe I'll pick it up again after the update.

@thesilverbrick Really? I thought it was pretty clear that the goal was either to join the big multi-national chain store and ruin all the local businesses, or to restore the community center and help rebuild the local community. The game strikes me as a lot more clear than Animal Crossing which I also love, but has always felt like there is no real goal - paying off the house never struck me as important, just something to do.

I dropped my than 140 hours into this game and all I have left to do is build the golden clock and find a dinosaur egg - the latter being entirely based on luck however - frustrating me to no end, while the form is just inevitable as I save up enough money.

@Heavyarms55 After playing Stardew Valley for five hours, none of the objectives you mentioned presented themselves to me as relevant or even an option. Granted, I absolutely believe you that such things are possible in the game and I know it does technically have a lot to offer. I just find myself at a complete loss as to where to go next or what the heck to do. Animal Crossing at least forcefully introduces you to the major characters and gives you a loan to pay off. There’s no way to avoid it; at least some major objectives are handed to you and you discover things to do while paying off that loan. You have to go looking for important things to do in Stardew Valley, and if you don’t look in the right places, you will never find them.

Does it come with friends? I'll pay extra.

Love the game, also poured countless hours in it. As I read somewhere before, it's more a relaxing game than one you have to really achieve something. If you want then get a lot of money, clear the community house from the nice ghosts, get married with children, try to get all receipts and cook them, and and and...i made a break from it now but 2 player mode will definitely put me back inside.

@thesilverbrick Never played the Animal Crossing game, but I also considered it my long term goal to finish the community center which as you finish parts of it then it will open up new things to do. I never quite got it done. It's a pretty good investment of time to basically do everything possible to fix it whether it's cave exploring, fishing, harvesting, chopping tress, raising animals.

I think it’s a such a shame this game doesn’t get the credit it deserves. Especially when some aren’t happy that you can choose your own goals and work towards them. I truly think that’s the beauty of it. I’ve just finished my first year in the game and have earnt a healthy some of money, upgraded my house and tools and got myself a fedora! Making plans for the winter month as crops don’t grow, thinking of productive ways to spend time to earn money etc is excellent.

I recommend you give it a little time and you will begin to see it’s worth. I cannot wait for the multiplayer element, this will change the dynamic once again and will be groundbreaking for a game in this genre.

Wasn't this supposed to come to switch before PC?

https://twitter.com/NintendoAmerica/status/836626303222624258?s=17

@Radbot42 The tweet you linked says: "First console to support the new multiplayer feature".

I LOVE THIS GAME!!!
I got it on launch played it a bit and I didn’t get what all the fuss was about then about 2 months ago I tried it again and it just clicked I’ve played about 80 hours there’s so much to do and every time I think I’ve done it all I quickly realize I haven’t even scratched the surface of what’s available in this game.

The 1st year I had no friends and nobody would dance with with me while now I’m in year 3 I’m married with 12 cows,6 goats,28 chickens and a cat,I’ve completed 2 mines,I’m singlehandedly fixing up the whole town and I’ve had an article written on the success my farm is having that’s led to random women from multiple towns over to appear on my doorstep and that’s just a small sample of the stuff that’s happened so far and to me that’s the beauty of this game you can do very little or you can do a whole lot it’s totally up to you.

@Late How is PC not a console

You can play games on it's a console. Hell Phones can even be consoles even if the games are [removed].

@Radbot42 Generally speaking, the word console is used to differentiate a system that is mainly created for playing games from arcade machines and home computers. I have personally never heard anyone using the word "console" when talking about PC.

Still waiting for a physical release on the Switch before I dive in headfirst!

@Late And yet so many people will buy a "console" to primarily use as a Netflix box. So many people won't get a Switch until Netflix or other aps are available. The console is dead if people only want things to play games on. I see a console as anything I can play games on whether that be my Switch, PC, PS4, 3DS or phone (phone games are crap though)

@thesilverbrick I have an eleven-year-old sidekick who assists me. Well, it's more critiquing than assisting.

@Radbot42 That's fine. I'm just saying that the tweet was excluding PC. That's why it's worded that way. They would've just dropped the word console if it were to be first on Switch.

Here's what the developers said on the game's website last year: "We currently expect to be able to start a beta test at the end of the year for Steam users to help us test the game. Mod authors will be encouraged to update their mods during this beta period. Then, in early 2018 we will release it as the 1.3 patch on Windows, Mac and Linux. Consoles will get the patch too, starting with Nintendo Switch."

@james_squared Haha, that’s awesome. I had the same situation with Minecraft. I couldn’t get into it at all and so I had my 12-year-old nephew walk me through it and tell me everything I was doing wrong. Maybe he can help me with Stardew Valley, too.

Can I designate tasks for player 2? Like the only thing they can hold is a watering can..

@Radbot42 Mind your language!

If they would discount the game to say half off when this update is released I may just be tempted to double dip because I love the game that much, I have put over a 100 hours into to it on Xbox or else I would already own it on Switch but it took a tad longer to come out than I was willing to wait. Fantastic game no matter where you play it though.

@thesilverbrick I am not trying to be rude by saying this... but how did you play for 5 hours and not see any of that? I know the question sounds rude, but honestly I just cannot even imagine what you would be doing for 5 hours and not have that be pretty glaringly obvious. I am pretty sure I caught on by the 3rd or 4th in game day.

@thesilverbrick @M4H BOTH of you literally stole the words out of my mouth. I heard nothing but amazing things about this game leading up to the Switch release and I was nothing but let down when I finally played it. I just can’t get into it like I did Animal Crossing and even Harvest Moon. That lack of any sort of objective is really damaging to me. I’m with anyone who hates tutorials — I utterly hate them sometimes — but SOMETHING would have been better than nothing for this game. I feel like I’m wasting resources sometimes and I think the controls are a tad awful and I hate how you have to “drop” and item (as opposed to consuming it or swapping it) to make room for another. Oh well, I’ll give it another shot probably.

@MeatSauce DANG if I can get to this point I know I’d love it. I’m going to have to give it another shot for sure.

@Alto it’s worth giving it another shot like I said I was pretty underwhelmed playing it at launch so I didn’t play it for months and then on a whim I started playing it again and I’ll admit I had no clue what I was doing for the most part till fall of year 1 but once I figured some stuff out I realized it’s pretty limitless what you can do in this game.

@Radbot42 The same reason squares are rectangles but rectangles are not squares. All gaming devices as you described them are computers but not all computers are consoles. Consoles are a subclass of computers.

@thesilverbrick I also do a lot of things wrong on Minecraft.