As Stardew Valley turns ten, ConcernedApe's life game still holds a personally important record

Everyone has their own reasons for loving Stardew Valley: the coziness, the music, the romance, the mods. Sure, I’m deeply appreciative of all those elements too – despite all the challengers that came after its launch ten years ago today, and the many more that will spring up in the future, Stardew remains one of the best life games ever made. However, there’s an even more important reason why Eric ‘ConcernedApe’ Barone’s masterpiece is one of my all-time favorites – it still holds the record as the game I’ve played the most with my wife.

Sure, we’ve had our fair share of fun (and yelling) with Hazelight’s trio of co-op games A Way Out, It Takes Two, and most recently Split Fiction. We’ve both reveled in the mystery of Blue Prince. We’ve dabbled in the odd Pokémon game playthrough. But over time, Stardew Valley has become the game we’ve collectively invested the most time into.

Initially, as I’m sure is the case for so many that picked up Stardew for the first time, it was meant to be a cozy, relaxing off-switch for our brains after busy days at work. Our little farm was a sanctuary, where saving up enough money for a Big Coop to get some ducks was the only real pressure. ‘I’ll do the fishing and foraging, you do the farming’ – it was a simple enough arrangement.

I don’t doubt that we still would’ve spent dozens of hours carrying out the repetitive yet rewarding cycle of growing our homestead. But the magic of Stardew, the thing that really kept us invested, begins when it pulls you out of that routine.

Bizarre events and messages hint at mysterious goings on. Finally uncovering new areas is a true thrill after having walked past those destroyed bridges and broken down buses countless times. The mines are of course a great resource, but they become a gripping distraction as they lure you deeper and deeper, throwing increasingly surreal threats at you.

While the promise of charmingly mundane farm life drew my partner and I to Stardew Valley, it’s the more supernatural elements and the clever expansions of its world that kept us there. That, and the promise of more ducks.

The ability to experience a game like Stardew together is also invaluable – it’s the reason why update 1.3, which first introduced official multiplayer support, is its most important update of the last decade. If you disagree, you better have a good argument…

Would Stardew Valley have still got here as a strictly single-player experience? Yeah, I’m fairly sure it would’ve. ConcernedApe’s gameplay changes and content drops over the years are enough to get tongues wagging, and with the upcoming 1.7 update, he’s not done yet. Two new romance options alone are enough to drag people back to Pelican Town. But if I wasn’t able to share my enjoyment of Stardew with my wife, I’m not sure if I’d rate as highly in my own personal rankings as I do today.