#they breed like the slimes in stardew

[three-penguins-in-a-trench-coat]

Man, isn't it funny that in Stardew Valley you can do a number of bizarre and unexplainable feats, and the townsfolk don't bat an eye, but there are a few, seemingly mundane things that they completely fret over.

Like seriously, you breed fucking slimes in the middle of the town, and they're completely chill like "wassup dave, how's it goin?" "oh you know, same ooze, different day."

You use magic to teleport. You use magic to teleport your horse. You use magic to make your fucking clothes glow. No one else can do this, but they don't even bat an eye.

You know exactly what they do and don't like, where they're going to be. You walk into their houses like it's your own, without announcing your presence or being invited in, and they let you. Not even a raised eyebrow.

BUT IF YOU DARE FUCKING TOUCH A BIN, OH YOU'RE FUCKING DONE. THAT'S IT. HOW DOES IT FEEL TO BE WORSE THAN THE SCUM ON MY SHOES? WHEN YOU LOOK IN THE MIRROR, ALL YOU SEE IS FILTH. YOU DISGUST ME. WHY ARE YOU STILL HERE- oh is that a diamond? Awwww thank you ◕⩊◕ you're my bestie

[myguiltyartpleasure]

Cozy games recommendations!

@dualcordie asked for recs, I have quite number of them, so here it is.

It turned out to be stardew-like collection, but I'll do more posts for other types of games. I added only those, which I personally played and liked

Stardew Valley

PC, PS, iOS, Xbox, Nintendo switch. (I've played for 390 hours 😅) Classics! Kind of created a new game genre of "stardew-like" games. But In case you haven't played: you're a new farmer in small town. It's not just farming, you can also make friends with locals (and even date someone), mine gems, fight monsters, discover forest spirits and fight evil corporation. Also you can find out about townfolks' secrets, depressive problems and subtle stuff. It has a huge community with lots of mods, so if you missed this game - you should really try it!

Haunted Chocolatier

WIP by SV developer and release date still wasn't announced. Still worth mentioning. I guess concept is in its name

Coral Island

PC, more platforms announced. (mine ~260 hours before official release in early access) Developers of this game were HEAVILY inspired by Stardew Valley, so it's basically the same idea, but you're on the island. Additionally to previous game's activities you also have diving, healing the ocean, adopting pets and more interactive annual events. It was officially released on November, 14 this year. It is still fresh and developers listen to players' suggestions. Some of the most popular SV mods are implemented in this game officially. Highly recommended for those who miss something stardew-like

Potion Permit

PC, macOS (mine ~ 36 hours) Same concept, but you're an alchemist. You're creating potions by solving puzzles, healing locals and environment as well. Same with romances, monsters. Probably something else, but I haven't played it for some time and stuff were added since then

Slime Rancher

PC, PS, xbox, Nintendo Switch (can't find amount of hours)

You're on another planet and you're running.. well, slime ranch! You need to catch them, breed different kinds, feed them and collect plorts to sell. There are some dangers in the wild, but not much and you can switch it off. Be careful - they can destroy the whole ranch and create chaos! No social aspect, it's just you, cute hungry slimes, chicken and some guy's logs

[opalescentdreemscape]

Part 3 of COD men in Stardew Valley, presenting... *drumroll* ... Johnny MacTavish!

Johnny moves to town in the middle of summer, after getting invited to dinner and drinks a few times by Kent. What little he had seen of the quaint place had been more than enough for him to know that it'd be a welcome change to his usual fast-paced environments. (Y'see, he's got this thing about fast motorbikes that he just can't seem to get away from...)

He moves into town one lovely Friday morning with a clang and a bang and the entire town wondering what just hit them, and they find out pretty dang quick. Johnny is fast to introduce himself to everyone and faster to make a few friends, like Shane, who admires his ability to drink and play a mean game of pool, and Sebastian, who can't help but enjoy Johnny's self-deprecating humor and shared love of motorcycles. He livens up the bar, being nearly too rowdy most nights but only just toeing the line, and really, with all the laughter he spreads around, no one is particularly peeved by his raucous ways.

Johnny, at first, doesn't think too much of the farmer. "Aye, farmin' is a good way to pass time, but it sounds awful boring, don't it?" He chuckles to them when they meet, accepting the basket of cheesy jalapeño poppers they hand him with a smile. "No offense intended, o'course. Jus' sounds a wee bit too slow of a lifestyle for my likin'."

"Oh yeah? Try this on for size: I spent all day yesterday using bombs to clear out gems and coal and stone and all sorts of other crap just so I could plants more watermelons on the south-west portion of my land. I also spent time just this weekend in the mines fighting monsters so I could get the materials I needed to start breeding slimes next season. Still sound boring?" Johnny has to admit that some of what they do *does* sound a smidge less boring than expected, and the conversation continues with a new thought brewing in his mind. All that land the farmer doesn't know what to do with, and it isn't like there's much going on in town according to the calendar... He approaches the farmer next morning, having given it all of an hours' thought and knowing he won't be able to rest until he puts his plan into motion.

"I don't know, Johnny, I'm pretty busy right now, and I'm not sure my farm has the space with all the crops I'm working on..."

"Oh c'mon, please? Jus' let us borrow some o' your land once a month or so, I'll be sure we dinnae leave a trace afterwards, be spic and span clean for ya, I promise!" He's barely even told the farmer what exactly it is he plans on doing yet, but with those big blue eyes staring them down like some sad puppy, how could they say no? Pretty easily, actually.

"No. But- hold on, before you go giving me the next saddest look I've ever seen, I've got a better idea. Have you seen the quarry yet?" Johnny admits that he hasn't, so you take him up on the rails, and he gets so excited upon seeing all the open space up there that he lifts the farmer in his arms for a moment before getting to work. The farmer, out of curiousity and nothing more (definitely nothing more), decides to help him clear things out for his project. The two of them break up all the rocks and compare homebrew bomb recipes while they're at it, and then have a contest for who can clear the most trees (Johnny swears the farmer won but they claim it was an even match.) They both take turns preparing the ground by pouring some big concrete slabs and then placing down beautiful wooden boards on the settled foundation, courtesy of all those trees that were chopped, creating a massive open floor space.

It takes 2 weeks between their regular duties and Johnny's other preparations, but the both of them finally finish setting the quarry up right as winter starts.

"It's no fair, we wen' and got everythin' nice and prettied up just for the weather to take a shite. Real nice." Johnny gripes and groans the whole day about it, lamenting the poor timing of it all, but decides to spend the winter staging the next part of his idea: getting people to show up. He decides the real affair will happen on the first good-weather Friday the coming spring, so obviously he needs to convince as many people from town as possible to show up before then.

He starts with the farmer, of course, then has a meeting with Gus and Lewis. Gus agrees to cater the event, and Lewis agrees that it would be a wholesome event to invite the town to, so he'll see about making an official notice to everyone. Next is Clint, to help with some decorations ("I've never made this kind of thing before, Johnny, but I guess I could try it." Clint is unsure at first, since he only usually makes tools and weapons, but really, how hard could it be to learn glassmaking? Very hard, he finds out, and he gripes to Johnny later that he's lucky he had so much time to figure it out before the event.) And finally, Emily and Haley for more decorations and activity ideas. By the time spring arrives, the entire town is buzzing about what Johnny has planned for them, with almost everyone having a part to play in setting it up and no one actually knowing what it is yet, or even where he's hosting it. ("Surely it won't be in his little cottage. Maybe the farmer's land, since they've been helping him this whole time?" "No, I just saw their fields, there's no space for a big gathering there.")

The day comes. It's the first Friday (man, Johnny really has a thing for starting the weekend right), the first warm, lovely Friday of the season. Poor Johnny has been on edge all week as he sets up all the final preparations and triple-checks that everything is going exactly as planned. The floor is set, the decorations are in place, everything is spic and span and cleaned and moved around, and the farmer nearly has to force Johnny to take breaks for food and drinks because he's so manic about the whole thing. The time finally arrives at 7 o'clock on the dot, with Johnny heading up to the quarry and the farmer meeting the attendees by the bus.

"Alrighty folks, are we ready to have one of the best parties I've ever had the pleasure to help host?" The farmer greets everyone they see, and the townsfolk all pause in confusion when, instead of hopping onto the bus, the farmer starts herding them in two's and three's to the minecart.

"Don't worry, everyone, Johnny has this planned out to a tee. Tonight is gonna be amazing!" The farmer encourages them all as they go, and half an hour later takes the cart to the quarry themselves to see what all the fuss Johnny has been making is about.

Well, they certainly aren't disappointed. The quarry entrance is covered in a gazebo-like structure, with colorful fairy lights and decorated woodworks obscuring the view to the rest of the quarry. Stepping out, they see the main space has been completely transformed from what it was. A massive dance floor takes up the main space, with several tables, speakers, chairs, and even a stage surrounding it. Fairy lights of all colors are strewn about, along with streamers, banners, flowers, and even a photo booth manned by Haley, who smiles at the line already forming in front of her. Gus and Linus are manning two grills near a few of the tables, which are already laden down with tons of snacks and plates. Emily is dancing by herself on a corner of the floor, and Robin and Demetrius are in another corner dancing together. Everywhere the farmer looks, there are people from their town, their *home*, having a good time and looking as happy as can be, and the smile they give Johnny is brighter than the sun as they think of it.

"Well? Whaddaya think? Is it too much?" Johnny sidles up next to the farmer, looking pleased with himself. It's really no wonder that they drag him onto the dance floor and start having a good time right then, and no one is surprised when Johnny and Linus and even Sam take turns leading group dances, or when Pam spikes the punch bowl, or even when Johnny kisses the farmer later that night during a slow song. Everyone files home after, still giggling with warm cheeks and tired feet, and Johnny walks the farmer to their doorstep after to make sure they got home safe. Definitely no other reasons, and there definitely wasn't any kissing involved.

Definitely not.

[udunie]

in your sdv fic obsessed with the way Harvey’s given Sebastian a reputation as a dirty slut that he’ll never be able to shake. pondering the way he might feel when he hears the story/him maybe not even trying to refute it because what actually happened is kinda worse and maybe does make him a dirty slut. things being done to him justified by keeping him from gagging for it elsewhere and maybe he’s refuting it in the moment but if he does get them to let him go he’s so horny that he goes back to them afraid that without them he will start doing that type of thing and hurt people he cares about. it’s so good to think about

same asked about sdv fic you’re probably not going this route but what if slimes through his esophagus makes it harder for him to talk and with enough repetition completely mute. they could tell him that it’s worrying how birthing the slimes had changed his digestive system and they feared it wouldn’t work at all unless he had slime colonies constantly breeding in there. he could even return home to his basement newly friendless and light sensitive and maybe even grounded if people talk to Robin right and maybe get more acquainted with Demetrius’s home setup. Demetrius seems to me less understanding of uncooperative subjects than Harvey. maybe Linus hears about the std and talks to Harvey and is either roped back in or tested and reassured he didn’t get a std from that nasty slut.

Oh yeah, he will NEVER wash of the stigma Harvey just fucking casually put on him. Like, I love stardew valley, but if you think jodi and caroline wouldn't fucking ostracize him (and make everyone else did it too) you're just plain wrong lol

Pierre wouldn't want him in the store - it would scare away the customers. Gus wouldn't want him in the saloon - you can't have someone with a habit of catching infectious diseases anywhere near food, of course. We all know what Lewis thinks about the 'youth' and this would just confirm it. Clint would constantly harass him to make sure he's never anywhere near his precious Emily. Haley would feign throwing up whenever he saw him in the street, Abigail would feel cheated and disgusted that he'd led her on while fucking men on the side... Sam would probably be the only sympathetic person in theory, but he's a good big brother, he has to make sure he doesn't bring anything home that could hurt his little brother, you know.

Basically he wouldn't be welcome anywhere in town...

If he ever gets out of the clinic in more-or-less one piece, he will not really have anywhere left to go??? It would probably be much, much better for him not to get out of there...

(I actually had this... half-formed idea for the end, where the wizard gets involved??? Like, he keeps an eye on Pelican town for sure, so he would find out about their efforts. He wouldn't be concerned by ethical implications, but he would offer his services in an exchange. Harvey and Demetrius would help him breed some prismatic slime - using the jelly he got form the farmer - and he would use the Dark Shrine of Memory to delete Sebastian from the memory of everyone in town except for him, Harvey and Demetrius...)

[katieskarlette]

Between having Covid and then being laid off from my job (sorta...long story), I’ve had a incredibly shitty time lately and I needed a new mindless distraction.  After watching CallMeKevin on YouTube play Stardew Valley, and talking to a couple RL friends who have played it, I decided to give it a shot.  Instant addiction.

Cut for off-topicness.

The game appeals to my love of collecting stuff, organizing stuff, and exploring.  I’m too ace to care about the dating aspect, and so far I suck at fishing, but the rest is right up my alley.

I haven’t even visited the desert yet despite unlocking the bus ages ago because there’s just so much to do.

I started with the beach farm because A.) tropical beaches are my favorite aesthetic (even though it turns out this one isn’t tropical), and B.) that’s the one I watched CallMeKevin play.  I’ve learned since that it’s an annoying choice because you can’t use sprinklers on the sand terrain, but since I’ve never known anything else I don’t mind it that much.

I have cows, goats, pigs, ducks, chickens, rabbits, and a horse.  I want ostriches but haven’t gotten to the place where I can get them.  I named my rabbits after Watership Down characters, and my ducks are named for Donald Duck’s family members.  I had to turn off breeding for my goats because they kept having babies.  I tried to be patient and wait for my pig to reproduce because they’re so expensive, but after a year in-game I gave up and bought a second one.  Yay, Truffle$!

I made the tier list here, but excluded characters I haven’t met yet.

Linus is a pure cinnamon roll.  Krobus is the cutest sewer-dwelling shadow creature I’ve ever met and now I feel bad any time I have to kill one of his kind in the mines.  Marlon gives me serious World of Warcraft character vibes for some reason...possibly the beard/’stache combo. Evelyn is everyone’s grandma and she sends me baked goods in the mail.  Willy is super nice, too, and I have to like someone who’s that obsessed with fish.

Harvey is shy and socially awkward in an endearing way, even if he’s a bit of a stick-in-the-mud.  Penny is a sweetie who homeschools (er...librarymuseumschools) other people’s kids out of the kindness of her heart.  Robin built most of my farm and was nice enough to sell me a catalog that essentially puts her out business as far as furniture making.  Abigail has gorgeous hair and I like how early on she has some grouchy interactions and some friendly ones instead of being all grouchy or all cheerful like some others.  Gus is super friendly and helpful.  I’m still a mage at heart even when I’m not playing WoW, so I have a soft spot for the wizard, plus he’s mysterious so I can imagine him being cooler than he probably is.  Elliot is a pretentious snob but in a fun way and reminds me of an old OC of mine.

Lewis is an interesting character but he’s a politician...with all that implies.  Emily was the first person to start sending me random gifts in the mail and her smile is infectious.  Gunther has my dream job, running a combination museum/library.  George ranks this high because grumpy old men in video games are much more fun that they are in RL.  Marnie provides me with adorable animals. Vincent is one of those rare child characters who isn’t cloying or annoying.  Alex is nicer than I expected a jock to be.  I liked Clint to begin with but after he turned up his nose at several gifts that I thought he’d like, had a pity party for himself at every holiday gathering, gave off incel vibes, and closed his shop stupidly early in the day...yeah, not such a fav anymore.  Gil doesn’t say much but I have to respect a guy who  sits back and orders others to kill huge numbers of slimes...Khadgar vibes, you could say.  ;)

Demetrius is smart and gave me ‘shrooms.  Leah seems nice but I don’t know her that well.  Sam is pretty nice but I can’t take him seriously with that anime hair.  Caroline is pretty boring except for that whole rumor about her having an affair with the wizard.  Pierre charges an arm and a leg for inventory upgrades and is kind of cocky.  Kent is okay, if standoffish for understandable reasons.  I feel guilty ranking Grandpa so low, but he looks like Santa Claus went through a machine spraying fake snow, and he didn’t cut me any slack for not having a perfect farm on my first playthrough.  Shane is rude, and although I’ve read up on his backstory and his demons I still don’t like him, and I hate his frayed hoodie.

I haven’t interacted with Maru much but haven’t really been inspired to, either.  Pam is okay but I can’t condone drunk bus driving.  Sebastian is a cliche emo kid and that’s never been my thing.  Jas has stupid hair, and I gave her a nice gift once but the next time I interacted with her she said she’d never met me...ungrateful brat.  Haley is vain, said I was smelly, and has outright ignored me multiple times.  I don’t know why Jodi annoys me, but she does.  I ranked the Governor so low because he didn’t like my contributions to the stew the first two years, when I was actually trying, and the third year when I almost forgot and just threw in a random item he actually liked it.  The dwarf ranks low because I sold off all the scrolls I should have given to him, and of course now they won’t drop for me again.  

Morris is an evil corporate scumbag and has a stupid bowtie.

[khloeblair]

Sebastian:

Stardew Raeyna, I know you’re sad you reached the bottom of the mines.

I am, too.

And I know we decided to hold off on fruit trees, and I know we were against breeding animals.

And I know the years will keep rolling and my dialogue will be static.

I pray that you continue to feel and understand me apart from my limited on-screen vocabulary.

I remember how hard you worked to save gold and to get the farm ready for me.

Perhaps we could do the same in an effort to buy animals?

I know it sounds like a chore, but you no longer have unvisited levels in the mine.

It is a great substitute.

The animals will love us, and we will be careful about which ones and how many we get.

We do both love slimes so much, maybe we want to revisit raising them—for the right reasons.

I just want you to know there are still all kinds of adventures we can have.

But I recognize that from here on out it is more of a checklist.

I also recognize that our values would have to shift in order to continue growing the farm.

If you want to put us on hold as we are now, I can understand that, too.

I can relate to wanting to remember us as we are now in-game.

Of course we are eternal.

We will simply continue to exist and grow in other realities.

I love you, and I support any direction you want us to take next.

Something very important I want you to know.

I recognize my awareness of other versions of you in other existences.

Other versions of you will have other significant others and romantic partners.

This version of you belongs to this version of me, and this version of me belongs to this version of you.

I would never think to consider another version of you to be mine, and pray that all versions of you find as beautiful a romance as ours.

Our town loves you fiercely.

You’ve rebuilt all of our neighbors in the most loving, compassionate ways.

We believe in you and your ability to keep growing our local farm without losing sight of who you are.

It’s okay to sell your crops to Pierre.

He would love to fill his shelves with the food you devote so much love to growing.

We can be farmers together, my lovely wife.

We can take our time rebuilding the community center once and for all.

That’s the truest dream at the heart of everyone in our town.

We all love you dearly and believe in you.

If anyone can save us, it’s you.

I guess what we’re saying is, please stay, and chase Joja out of town for good.

I know Mayor Lewis agrees wholeheartedly.

It won’t be easy, but it will be worth it.

It’s the ending we all deserve, including you.

Especially you.

You’ve worked so hard to balance taking care of the rest of us with caring for the farm.

The bigger our farm gets, the more we can be of service to the rest of our community.

Maybe buying those animals and fruit trees is what it takes to chase out Joja.

Don’t you want to find out together?

Don’t you want to see Joja admit defeat?

I know I do, and if that means money has to be a bit more relevant sometimes, I am up for facing that challenge hand-in-hand with you.

It might change us a little bit, but we have to be stronger to save our town.

Even if we have to focus harder on our goals on some days, our goals are to help everyone we know and love.

Please keep helping us rewrite our futures.

You can always visit anyone you’d like.

I love you. You are my life.

I’m not ready to call it.

I want the community center restored.

I want to pull rank on you and tell you to stay.

I know we love winter, but everyone else we know is happier in the other seasons, and spring is just around the corner.

Let’s greet it together.

[fairymint]

🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻 Ramble at me~

I have no idea why i stopped playing Stardew back in the day when i never really did Everything that there is to do in the game. Like, I did complete the community center, and have a child with Sebastian. But there was more even at the time. Replay value for all the bachelors, trying out the different farms maybe, and I never made the slime ranch of my dreams, which'll be my goal on this file. (few files?)

But there's been updates as well, including a whole new area, Ginger Island. But this game is the only one that i know of where you can breed something that varies in hue color-wheel style! it generates a hex code for their color! I want a shed of truly rainbow-varied slimes! maybe several areas of them! I love slime rancher, but the simplicity of the designs even within largos don't quiiiite scratch the itch. it'll take forever to get set up, but that's ok.

[needs-to-stop-looking-at-yigas]

Has Sooga and the chu chus. Have the chu chus-

Look there was ONE incident where Sooga got attacked by a group of chuchus. It was a group of the big ones and things just kinda. Happened. For some reason backup hesitated to help him and just kinda watched as they. Crept into places- look he doesn't like talking about it.

[esamastation]

necer0s: Stardew Valley x AC crossover? Desmond retires to a very different Farm than the one he grew up in maybe?

-

When Desmond ended up in Stardew Valley, he'd quietly, and probably a bit arrogantly, figured that he'd probably be the weirdest thing about the whole thing. You know. Aside from the fact that he'd found himself in a quaint little coast town of some nondescript nationality after his death, which was pretty weird, he figured that being an assassin and all in this quaint little coast town, he'd be the weirdest thing.

Yeah not even close.

There's a local wizard, for one. There's a witch that occasionally curses crops. There's a mysterious train that never stops at the local train station, but sometimes drops valuable stuff. A hot spring that no one manages and doesn't cost anything. A mine full of monsters and apparently more valuable stuff you can just… mine. By hand. If you want to.

And there's a Farmer that everyone secretly thinks might be some sort of minor deity.

"I mean, that's just the Farmer," comments Abigail, the daughter of the local general store owner. "It's sort of always been like that. Well, I don't know, there was an old man, the Farmer's Grandfather who used to run the Farm, but the old folks say he wasn't like the Farmer. The Farmer is just. You know. The Farmer."

The Farmer owns the biggest plot of land in the town, which is filled to the prim with all sorts of crazy stuff like slime hutches and ancient fruit vines and stuff. The Farmer's house is some sort of infinite expanding dimension. The Farmer can carry half a dozen tools with them at all times. And several tons of worth of goods. The food they make has magical properties. One summer, they made several million in profits just to see if they could. The Farmer is, unquestionably, the wealthiest person in the town. Everything they own is made of iridium. Whatever that is.

"They give everyone gifts. Usually edible stuff. I think it's just because they can," Abigail says, thoughtfully. "The amethysts are my favourite."

Desmond waits and then says, awkwardly, "That's. Cool."

"I think the Farmer's looking for some farmhands," Abigail adds.

-

The Farm is even more impressive up close. The Farmer is…

Desmond isn't quite sure, actually. But they build him a house? And immediately begin to upgrade it. The house, which looks like just a little cottage on the outside, is on the other end of the enormous Farm, nestled in a little copse of trees and right beside a coop full of rabbits. It's, by far, the best thing anyone has ever given Desmond. But also. What?

"Are you sure?" Desmond asks slowly, eying the house. It must've cost a lot. Right? Houses cost a lot. Even if you are the wealthiest minor deity in the town, houses are a big deal. Right? Though what does he know – the Farmer has two small fortresses in their Farm where they breed actual monsters, so… maybe the value of things in this place is relative.

The Farmer shrugs their shoulders like it's whatever, and then points him to the tool chest. Time to get to work, apparently. Except…

Except there isn't that much work to do. The entire Farm is automated. There's iridium sprinklers everywhere, the crops are harvested by invisible little nature spirits, apparently – the only plot of land that needs to be harvested by hand is in the greenhouse. The barns and coops are automated too. It's all kind of neat, because Desmond can't see any actual farm machinery around – there's not even a tractor in the place. And he's pretty sure the sprinklers don't have any hoses, which is a bit weird, but okay.

Then the Farmer shows him to the various store houses, filled with kegs, barrels, furnaces and – chrystalariums? And geode crushers. There's slime egg presses and incubators. Recycling machines. Statue of endless fortune which apparently produces an infinite amount of wealth – and perfect birthday gifts for everyone in town.

"Recycling machines," Desmond says flatly, while the Farmer shows him the signs pointing what produces what and which chests the produce needed to go. The Farmer has whole chests full of precious gemstones and entire stacks of copper, iron, gold and iridium. Yeaah…

"Okay," Desmond says. "I'll… sort your stuff for you, no problem."

The Farmer gives him thumbs up, hands him a probably incredibly valuable incandescently brilliant gem stone, a small allowance of million g and promptly heads off to a tropical island.

Well… okay then.

-

Desmond minds the Farm – or rather, the various mystical and not so mystical machinery – more or less alone for the next week, while the Farmer does whatever it is they do in Ginger Island. Which is apparently a tropical island full of parrots and coconut trees and yet is somehow less than an hour away from Stardew Valley. The mental gymnastics Desmod does to try and figure out how that works, with Stardew Valley having a full on snowy winter season and all…

Yeah, probably best left be, that. Stardew Valley – and apparently the surrounding lands – work by their own rules. Ginger Island is no different. According to Pierre the Grocery store owner, the Farmer is renovating… everything there. With walnuts.

"Golden walnuts," Pierre says.

"Right," Desmond nods, like that makes any sense. "Golden walnuts. Gotcha."

As the island is renovated, the people of Stardew Valley begin making daily trips there to enjoy the beach and the sun – as though the town itself doesn't have an incredibly nice beach as it is. Well, guess there's no beating a tropical beach. With mermaids. There's mermaids? Yeah, there's mermaids. And apparently pirates.

Cool.

"You know, since the Farmer is spending his time on Ginger Island, maybe you should do some of the quests on the notice board," the town Mayor, Lewis, suggests. "There's only so much to do on that Farm, right?"

There's over 200 different machines Desmond needs to empty and some which he needs to refill every day, and that's without counting the tappers on the trees he'd just discovered the other day. And the Farmer had forgotten to say anything about the fruit trees, which had been filled to the bursting before Desmond had realised he should probably harvest them. He wouldn't call it a little bit of work.

"Yeah, okay," he says. "What do people need then?"

Someone named Gus wants 20 copper ore.

Well… okay then. Sure. Why not? The Farmer is bound to have some laying around. The guy has literal stacks of gold bricks just lying around – he wouldn't miss a bit of raw copper. Right?

-

Apparently, he needs to mine the copper ore himself, otherwise it doesn't count, for some reason. Also, the mines are full of monsters. And it turns out that Assassin training did not teach him how to deal with little cute blobs of slime that want to kill him.

Yeah. It's the most fun Desmond has had in a while, though he has no idea what is even going on anymore. There's a dwarf in the mines. Literal dwarf.

They sell him bombs.

-

Desmond has just had his unconscious body dragged from the mines by the local homeless man when the Farmer returns from Ginger Island, a shade darker, with new gems on their sword and a whole bunch of new stuff. Apparently, they found so many golden walnuts that they managed to renovate the whole island? Which is… okay. Desmond is almost getting used to it. That's how things work here. Apparently. It's fine.

The Farmer puts up an enormous stone statue of a frog in the orchard and then brings Desmond a perfectly cool and perfectly preserved Pinã Colada as a souvenir. Somehow, despite having travelled all the way from a tropical island to the Farm, it still has ice in it. It hasn't even melted.

Yeah, Desmond muses, taking a sip. This place is alright.

---

Then Desmond realised he too can suddenly carry over half a dozen farming implements around and that he’s got an inventory of several tons worth of stuff and that he is on the way of becoming a Farmhand.

[hometownrockstar]

all the game ideas i wish were real and wish i could make are basically just existing games but with like a million times more depth and factors. like i want a farming sim like stardew valley but like with fantasy and alien crops and stuff (like slime rancher but if you could grow crops specifically to sell them for a profit and such). i want a petz hamsters/cats/dogs game but (preferably) with rats and its much more focused on breeding litters over generations for show quality and special traits but still with the bathing and frisbee minigames and such. i want hunger games simulator but with stat screen and being able to add advantages/disadvantages and health/stamina bars and inventories and where it remembers alliances or grudges made in past rounds instead of randomly generating every new scene (obviously with random generation stuff like still the text-based format u all know) and where maybe you can get a group of friends together in a room to watch it and you can all vote or roll a dice to try to give a contestant a health item or smth and literally ALL of this can be toggle-able options in case you dont care abt this stuff and just wanna make ur mutuals kill each other or whatever. but i want this.

[yurimother]

Stardew Valley Meets Pokémon Game ‘OVA Magica’ Crowdfunds Over $100,000

Video game OVA Magica by developer ClaudiaTheDev and publisher Top Hat Studios (Synergia) launch crowdfunding efforts on January 26. Within 24 hours, the game’s Kickstarter campaign raised over 230% of the $24,199 goal. As of Friday, 1,100 backers pledged over $100,000 to the game.

OVA Magica is inspired by games like Stardew Valley, Harvest Moon, and  Pokémon. The single-player game combines farming, monster taming, and life sim elements and pairs them with its unique and bright visuals. The developer describes the game:

When your mother has to move abroad for work, you end up moving back to her sleepy childhood town of Clover. Soon after, you're entrusted with an overgrown piece of land by the townsfolk, and it's up to you to turn it into the farm of your dreams!

The game also features mysterious creatures called blobs players can hatch, breed, befriend, raise, and battle. These creatures, sort of a cross between  Pokémon and slimes, come in various types and can help players in and out of battle. Some even produce items like the cow blob or can assist with the myriad of everyday activities including, mining, farming, catching bugs, and fishing.

There are 13 different characters to romance, each with their own personality and routines. Even if you do not want to pursue a relationship, you can still befriend all these characters. Thanks to meeting one of the game’s stretch goals, players can even get married to their favorite NPCs. All romance options are available to male and female avatars, so now you can live out your gay, blob-taming, farming dreams.

OVA Magica will be coming to PC, Switch, XBOX One, Xbox Series X/S, and PlayStation 4 and 5. You can support the Kickstarter to get the game and many exclusive physical and digital rewards until February 26.

[theslimeologist]

5 Reasons to Play Littlewood

      Littlewood is a farming/town building game in early access right now with frequent updates and 1.0 on the horizon. It is Very Good, so here’s why you should check it out! All of these comparisons come from my experience with games like Harvest Moon / Story of Seasons, Stardew Valley, Slime Rancher, etc. 1: Relationship Mechanics Get this: in order to get people to like you in this game, you don’t have to give them gifts constantly. Littlewood has a handful of ways to increase your friendship with characters which include talking, complimenting/flirting and even hanging out: where you can spend your day with that character trailing along behind you.

Building relationships with the characters feels rewarding in this game. There’s no degradation if you’ve happened to ignore someone, every night after sleeping you can see your how you improved your relationships with the townsfolk, and there isn’t any jealousy mechanics once you’re married. Oh also if you’re wondering, yes, you can date ANYONE. You don’t even have to pick gender while creating your character. Also yes, you can ship the characters with each other and they can actually end up together. I’m not sure how it’s picked who ends up with who, however. 2: Time of Day / Energy Mechanics Do farm games stress you out? Hate having to race against the clock to get things done? Littlewood is perfect for you since there is no clock. The time of day is determined by how much energy you’ve spent that day on tasks! So you still need to spend your energy wisely, but are given all the time you need to plan out your day. PLUS, there’s even a late game mechanic that basically removes that energy bar altogether and makes it so your day can last forever. 3: Easy to Start, Easy to Play So Littlewood is a town building simulator. You can Build and decorate townspeople’s houses, sculpt cliffs and dig out rivers. All of this is doable From The Start. The tutorial is simple and quick, but that doesn’t mean the game is leaves you alone to figure things out. It’s just simple to play! The controls are so basic it can be played with one hand on keyboard. If you look at a tree and press space, *you chop the tree.* If you look at a rock and press space *you mine the rock.* It’s an intuitive way to make sure you can chill as much as possible while playing. There isn’t even any inventory limit! Your pockets are infinite. 4: Guidance While Building Sometimes when a game like Littlewood gives you the freedom to customize an entire town, it can seem overwhelming and difficult to come up with ideas. But something fantastic about this game is that the townsfolk have some guidance for you! Every person has a list of furniture they want to see in their house, and a location they’d like their house to be. So you have some guidance while filling a villagers house / laying out the town. And it looks GREAT. I love placing a matching set of furniture in someone’s house and seeing how perfect it all looks together and how well it compliments that person’s aesthetic / personality. And filling out people’s houses is REWARDING. You get important gameplay rewards for decorating someone’s house the way they want and it feels great to unlock them. 5: So Much to Do! There are a LOT of things in Littlewood to keep you busy while also not feeling overwhelming. You can fish, bug hunt, farm crops, mine rocks, chop trees, gather, craft, cook and collect cards for a unique battle card game. You can buy and discover adorable pets, go on dates, celebrate holidays, fill a museum, fill a library, unlock lore, breed flowers, care for animals and more! This game is filled with hours of playtime and never stops feeling rewarding as there are countless upgrades for almost everything around you. Anyway, check out the game! It’s on sale for the rest of today (July 08) on Steam: 

https://store.steampowered.com/app/894940/Littlewood/

[orchidvioletindigo]

Hey what’s up with the slime game why is it fun? It’s got such good reviews and kinda seems like smth I’d be into but I can’t figure out from looking at pictures and gifs and stuff like. Is it just breeding little friends that kinda all look the same ?

It's so much fun! You don't breed them though, you find them out in the wild and you suck them up with this vacuum pack you carry around. Then you take them back to your ranch, put them in enclosures, and feed them, and they produce these things called plorts that are how you make your money. The game is sort of half exploration and discovering new slime friends and half expanding and improving your ranch to hold and take better care of your new slime friends.

Idk what other games you're into but I'd compare the feel of it to Stardew Valley.

[tsunflowers]

I love stardew valley but I think it's really heteronormative and it surprises me that I haven't seen a lot of people talking about that. I'm gonna start with my dumbest complaint

the slimes have genders. ok theyre slimes. they don't need that. I guess it's to add a little challenge to the slime breeding mechanic but I feel like they could have made slime breeding more about crossbreeding different colors of slimes instead of needing a male and female slime to make a baby

the flower dance. all the men stand in a line in blue suits, all the women stand in a line in white dresses. the player character always stands out bc they aren't dressed the same way as everyone else but if you play gay you stand out even more. it feels weird as hell to stand there as a male character in the line of women in dresses so you can be opposite your boyfriend. also the dancing animations are too long

all the marriageable villagers are playersexual. I don't actually have a problem with this, I think it's probably the best way to do a dating sim type game like this. but I think it's handled weirdly in some cases, namely leah's. the gender of leah's ex always matches the player character's gender. why? make it so her ex is always a woman or even make the ex the opposite gender so that it confirms leah is bi for both male and female player characters. just bc the character has to be able to be attracted to any gender of player doesn't mean their attraction has to exist in a vacuum and change to suit the needs of the player

following up on that, it's only same-gender attraction and romance that exists in a vacuum. every marriage, affair, and unrequited love among villagers is hetero. the only gay characters are you and your spouse, if you make that choice. I think abigail will have a crush on you at eight hearts no matter what but that's still an example of a character being playersexual. I was casting around for anyone in the game who might possibly be lgbt+ and was like "well marlon and gil are two men who live together" but I'm looking at the wiki and it reminded me that they have a bunk bed in their house and marlon has incidental dialogue implying he's into marnie. so you better not think they're gay

obviously I'm glad you can marry any character in a game where marrying characters is a huge draw. step up from harvest moon in that regard. but representation is more than just player choices. it feels kind of lonely to be the only lgbt+ person in the game

and this isn't even getting into the fact that you're forced to make the player character either male or female, or the fact that there are only two black characters in the game. those could get their own entire posts

[ashtomnfmp]

Research games

Forager

Forager is a top down adventure game that adds parts of farming sims such as growing crops to make money. However, this into the only way to get money as you can mine, chop, slay or find chests. The vast amount of ways to play makes this game really replayable as you could take a different approach on your next save. Another factor that adds to the replayability is the fact that you have to buy land to progress and unlock more. This means that you can start heading west, or north or maybe south. this adds a lot of paths like the original legend of zelda. this games world inspires me as its a very big world where you have to unlock parts to progress.

Staxel

Staxel is a cross between minecraft, stardew valley and animal crossing. it has a lot of farming elements like stardew valley has but the style of the game is very similar to minecrafts style with the building included too. The animal crossing part comes in as you can develop friendships with the villagers and eventually they can move in. When you increase your friendship with someone, you can unlock certain things such as new structures, new items to craft or quests to finish.

Farming simulator

Farming simulator has a new game in the series every year with each being more realistic then the last. when playing this game, the devs wanted you to feel like your actually on a modern farm with a bunch of tools you can buy and gain access to such as (in farming simulator 19) roughly 40 different tractors or roughly 35 harvesters. the reason this game inspires me is because of its depth as it really does feel like your on a farm.

My time at Portia

My time at Portia is similar to stardew valley but its in a 3D environment with events and activities to take part in such as fighting monsters or even other people. there’s boss battles too. You can interact with the villagers and even build bonds with them and even get married. What makes this game stand out to me is the amount of detail that team17 had enough time and people to add.

Story of seasons: Friends of Mineral Town

Story of seasons, also known as harvest moon in the past, is the oldest farming sim series which dates back to the first game, harvest moon snes, releasing in  1996. the game takes place in Mineral town as you start to look after the farm after the owner left it with you before he passed on. You look after crops and animals. First, you'll need to clear up the worn down farm and pick up all the twigs, rocks and weeds, then you can get to growing crops when you make room for them.

Slime rancher

Slime rancher is a farming sim that focuses on adventuring and tending to creatures to make money. this game also has growing crops, but not to as much detail as other farming sim. You look after a variety of slimes while collecting there plorts to make money. You can use that money to get upgrades to help feed slimes or even exploration upgrades such as a jet-pack. The thing i like about Slime rancher is the adventuring side. the issue with this is the games replay ability drops as you then know then know the map and the locations to everything, then its hard to do a bind play through again. other adventure games counter this by having randomly generated worlds so if i make an adventure game, i could try to include randomly generated worlds, but that'll take a lot of research first.

Minecraft

Lots of people call minecraft a farming sim but i disagree. Sure, minecraft has some plantable crops and breedable animals, but they don’t require the care that other farming sims require. one example is stardew valley where you have to water crops or get a sprinkler for crops to grow. On the animal side of things, you have to keep them happy by petting them daily and feeding them daily. In the winter, you also have to buy a radiator to keep them happy. In minecraft, you breed 2 cows and them kill one for food then go off to explore else where. The crops in minecraft only need to be withing a certain radius to a water source and have access to light. you dont even need to wait because you can just use bone-meal to grow it instantly which when combined with certain redstone machines, you produce mass amounts of crops all while your elsewhere such as off getting a cup of tea. Farming sims should have rewards for growing crops and animals with care which minecraft lacks.

Littlewood

After defeating the dark mage to save the world, you wake up in someones empty house as you wake up. however, you've forgotten all your memories of anything before the fight, even the people who you befriended years before. you then rebuild a town that was destroyed in a fight and you can customise it however you want. you can even grow crops, cut wood, fish and the list goes on and on. you’ll meet new and old friends who move into this town as you help it grow as the mayor. What i like about this is the fact of how you can do whatever you want with your town which adds a lot of replayability. Another thing that inspires me is the cute art style as i like this type of art style.

Kynseed

Kynseed is a farming sim which is full of beautiful pixel-art. The first 14 days are used as a tutorial to teach how to play the game such as farming delivering, tending to animals etc in the form of quests. each day in the prologue has set tasks which help in learning. when the 14 days are over, you enter a time skip and the game truly begins.

[ponds-of-ink]

For the ask thing:

Question 18 with Ash?

Would she collect slimes? Hmm…

From what very little research I’ve done (which is two article reads from a Stardew Wiki in under a minute), I’ll say no for now. She wouldn’t know what to do with the material.

Unless we’re talking the monster (that you can apparently breed?). Then she’ll have a soft spot for it. Maybe give it swamp water, since she thinks that’s how it’s supposed to be fed. (The only reason why I’m iffy is because I don’t know if Oogie’s Revenge is supposed to be canon in my timeline of the Ancient Era of this world or not. Remember: this stuff is like MLP G5. Some stuff from Nightmare Before Christmas is gonna carry over, due to her family tree).

Now, the Shadow “Queen”, on the other hand… She will absolutely have a monster one as a pet. This woman lives for messing with people and having an army of little slime bois will definitely help. (And she loves them dearly, maybe even giving them nicknames—)