Stardew Valley Review: A Farm That Still Has No Real Rival After Ten Years

Stardew Valley is a farming RPG from Eric Barone, who goes by ConcernedApe. You inherit your grandfather’s overgrown farm, work the fields, head into the mines, fish and get to know the people in town. The game came out on February 26, 2016 on PC and today runs on almost everything, from consoles to phones. We’ll tell you what it does well, where it stumbles and whether it’s for you.

What Stardew Valley is about

You inherit your grandfather’s farm in Stardew Valley. It’s overgrown, the town has been in decline since Joja Corporation arrived and the community center lies in ruins. What you do next is up to you. The game has five skills: farming, mining, combat, fishing and foraging. As you level up you pick a profession in each.

A year has four seasons of 28 days. At the end of a season, crops that don’t grow in the next one wither, so you plan your planting ahead. There’s no limit on the number of years. Each season has two to four festivals, such as the Egg Festival, the Flower Dance or the Luau. Over 30 characters live in the valley, each with their own daily schedule and birthday. Twelve of them can be married.

You restore the community center by completing bundles for the Junimos. The other route is a JojaMart membership for 5,000 gold, where you buy the restoration and the center becomes a Joja warehouse. The mines hold 120 floors of ore and enemies.

What has changed since launch

Up to version 1.2.33 Eric Barone made the game alone, including art and music; the original development took four years. Since 2019 he has had a small team for updates. Every major update has been free: 1.3 in August 2018 added multiplayer, 1.5 in December 2020 added Ginger Island and split-screen for up to four players, and 1.6 in March 2024 added a new festival, the Meadowlands Farm, a skill mastery system and hundreds of new lines of dialogue. Update 1.7 is in development with no release date. According to ConcernedApe’s 10th anniversary announcement (February 26, 2026), Clint and Sandy will become marriage candidates in it. What we know so far is in our article on ConcernedApe’s clues.

What critics praise and what bothers players

On Metacritic the PC version has 89 from 32 reviews, Xbox One 89, Switch 87 and PS4 86. Nintendo Life (90) called it a truly magical experience, GameSpot (90) praises how much there is to do even beyond the first three in-game years, and Polygon (90) the connection you build with your environment, your work and the people around you. IGN (88) wrote that it’s a deeper and more complex game than you’d expect after the first day on the farm.

The reservations are minor. Game Informer (88) notes that some arcane quirks may keep players at arm’s length at first. Germany’s 4Players (80) wished the game would leave the well-known path once in a while and show more identity. Steam players rate it 98.5% positive out of 1,046,310 reviews, which is Overwhelmingly Positive, and 98% in the last 30 days (as of November 3, 2026). Metacritic users give it 8.8. For the 10th anniversary in February 2026, ConcernedApe announced over 50 million copies sold.

Price, platforms and languages

Stardew Valley costs €13.99 / $14.99 on Steam (regular price as of November 3, 2026). It runs on PC (Windows, macOS, Linux), PS4, Xbox One, Switch, Switch 2, iOS and Android. The official wiki doesn’t list a native PS5 or Xbox Series version. On PC up to eight players can play online, on consoles up to four (eight on Switch 2). Crossplay between PC and consoles doesn’t work. The requirements are minimal: 2 GB of RAM and 500 MB of storage. On Steam Deck the game is Verified.

The game is available in English, German, Spanish, Japanese, Brazilian Portuguese, Russian, Simplified Chinese, French, Italian, Hungarian, Korean and Turkish.

Who Stardew Valley is for (and who it isn’t)

It’s for you if you want a game you can unwind with while always having something to do. It works solo, with a partner or with a whole group on one farm. For €13.99 you get a game its creator has been expanding for free for ten years.

Skip it if you can’t stand a repeating daily routine and want fast action. The game leaves plenty unexplained and you’ll have to figure a lot out yourself.

Verdict: Is Stardew Valley worth it?

Yes. Ten years on, Stardew Valley is still the benchmark farming games are measured against. We’re giving it 9/10.

Critics and players agree that the farm, mines, festivals and relationships fit together so well that people keep coming back for years. ConcernedApe keeps expanding the game for free, and at €13.99 it’s one of the cheapest games with this much content. Points off for unexplained mechanics and the lack of crossplay.

Playing Stardew Valley? What we know so far about the 1.7 update is in our article on ConcernedApe’s clues. More reviews are in our Reviews section, and you can find farm partners on the GamersTogether Discord.

FAQ

This review is based on player ratings on Steam and critic scores on Metacritic, on reviews from Nintendo Life, GameSpot, Polygon, IGN, Game Informer and 4Players, and on official announcements from ConcernedApe and the official game wiki. Information verified on November 3, 2026. More reviews are in our Reviews section.