4 ms·
I mean look at the success of Stardew Valley, a game whose entire premise is that you move to a small rural town to start a farm and forge relationships with th
by agentwiggles 4y ago
I mean look at the success of Stardew Valley, a game whose entire premise is that you move to a small rural town to start a farm and forge relationships with the locals. Its a well designed game to be sure but I really think some of the popularity stems from scratching that itch of communal living that so many folks feel they lack.
- TeMPOraL 4y agoBeen thinking about it a bit. Isn't the key thing about those interactions that you're all at work? You're tending your cows, Robin is running a carpentry business, that couple is running a shop, etc. (I forgot the names of everyone, sorry; been years since I binged on SDV). Closest analogue to this in modern life is... your co-workers in the office. That chat you have with Maru on the way to sell your wheat in the store is equivalent to that chat you had with Frank from accounting on the way to give your report to the manager upstairs. Therein, perhaps, lied the magic of countryside/pre-industrial socialization: everyone was always working, but always next to each other. The whole village was the office/plant.
- agentwiggles 4y agoDefinitely something to that, although I think a huge part of the appeal of Stardew is that there's no actual pressure to do anything. It's relaxing because your engagement with anything like work is entirely voluntary, you can't really fail in any meaningful sense no matter what you do.