If you are tired of your life on the digital farm, why not turn off all this technology and go back to the real world? I don’t mean in a garden or farm with mud and stuff, I’m talking about dice, cards and small chips that you move around on a board. Stardew Valley developer Eric “ConcernedApe” Barone announced Stardew Valley: The Board Game last night, inviting players to defend the Valley from the evil Joja Corporation in table form.
“For more than 2 ½ years I’ve been working with board game designer Cole Medeiros to make a board game that captures the essence of Stardew Valley,” says ConcernedApe on the Stardew blog. “It has almost everything from the video game: villagers, crops, animals, fishing, food gathering, mining and more. We work hard to make a board game that we find very fun to play and look at. I hope you enjoy it!”
Cole Medeiros has worked on board games like Gubs: A Game Of Wit And Luck and Web Of Spies.
Stardew Valley: The board game can be played alone or in cooperation with up to four players. As in the video game, the goal is to protect the Valley, bring it back to life and expel Joja Corp. You do this by completing your grandfather’s goals and restoring the Community Center, and those goals will be random every time you tap to not be overly repetitive.
“The game has many qualities, but there are rules to make it easier or more difficult, depending on your preferences. Like the video game, we want you to be able to make it yours,” says ConcernedApe.
He emphasizes that it is still a very complex game, not the kind of casual experience you can quickly acquire. It’s easier when you understand the rules, which you can find on Dropbox here to decide if this is the type of game for you before you spend money on it.
I love a good video game adaptation, but unfortunately I won’t be able to get my hands on this for a while, as they are currently only being shipped to the USA. They plan to make it available to more countries in the future, however.
If you are in the US now and want to buy a copy, you can buy Stardew Valley: The Board Game here for $ 55 (about £ 38).