Returning to/Abandoning Farming Games

[Igor-Rowan]

I heard about Stardew Valley's newest update, and I'll start a new game after the multiplayer comes along (possibly with some other additions). But why exactly did I stop playing that game?. Then I thought about how developers of a game try to add some replay value, but games like Harvest Moon or Animal Crossing are definitely designed to get some milleage out of their players on the first go, and then comes the question: "When is it the time to put down such games and move on? Or replay such games".

The original Harvest Moon had a time limit for how much you could play on your farm before the game simply ended, kinda making up for the lack of many things to do, fast forward to HM: Friends of Mineral Town, it had way more things to do, and had some achievements and milestones to get, yet as soon as I ran out of things to do or acomplish, it wasn't doing for me anymore and a new save didn't help either. Then the next years it would come to this, I would usually get as far the second in-game month before abandoning the game, because the overload of new features would exhaust me. The same with those cash-grabbing social network games. And I haven't played Animal Crossing yet, but I will after the 3DS updated version comes out.

Finally Stardew Valley came along, a game that is Harvest Moon back to pixelart, with sort of a plot, achievements and all of the things I've been petty about, but even I couldn't believe I went through an entire in-game year in that thing before realizing it and kept playing after that. Then I did eventually stop playing after getting almost everything and my in-game routine not changing, but now the eagerness to play it again has risen, not because of the new stuff they added, but because everything the game did work so well that I want to play it again.

Why is that? Is there a formula for doing "Farming games" right, that the Story of Seasons/Harvest Moon series wasn't doing it for me as of recently? Or is it another case of nostalgia goggles, where I'm hard-wired to love the classic games, by ranting about everything the newer ones do different? I think it was the Minecraft inspiration: the interface, the crafting, the materials, all of that was kind of familiar it's not like I love Minecraft to death or anything (it's another game I abandoned after doing everything), but it really worked for me.

 

[RedDeadFred]

To be honest, I've never really like these kinds of games. Sure, there was a time when I played Farmville, but once I realized the game was just an elaborate timer, it really lost its appeal. I'm sure Stardew Valley and similar games are a lot more mechanically robust, but reading about it makes it sound more like a chore than fun IMO. I can see how they might appeal to others though. Probably a very relaxing experience.

 

[Igor-Rowan]

snip

I guess the appeal lies on making the player comfortable with a routine, then usually mixing it up so it doesn't get stale, in my first experience I had no idea of what I was getting into, yet went all of the way. Kinda sad that those Social games are many people's first exposure to farming games.

 

[Redryhno]

snip

I guess the appeal lies on making the player comfortable with a routine, then usually mixing it up so it doesn't get stale, in my first experience I had no idea of what I was getting into, yet went all of the way. Kinda sad that those Social games are many people's first exposure to farming games.

It's sorta because it falls into the same category as the "Architect" and "Tycoon" games more than anything I think. You start out rushing around trying to get things running somewhat smoothly, then you finally get to the stable point and for most people, when the challenge is gone, so is the fun.

I'm not a completionist or much of a collector, and once your farm is at the point where you click around and have everything else in order to go and do something else for a week straight in-game, it's not really any fun anymore because all that's left is to fish for the special fish each season, mine for a drop on floor 58, etc. And that's not entertaining, it's waiting out the clock or sitting at an MMO spawn for six hours for a 2% drop without the fun of sitting around shitting up the place with friends. It's why I normally stop CK2 around the time I get a kingdom up and running smoothly, sure you can go for Empire, but it's more waiting at that point than struggling and climbing the ladder with every trick and marriage you can to eke out any amount of advantage with alliances that'll still be relevant two generations down the line.

Nothing wrong with Farming games, I really wish I liked them more than I do because I like the idea and theory behind them, I just can't get into them past a certain point.

 

[pookie101]

stardew valley didnt grab me as much as i thought it would despite all the glowing reviews i walked away from it.

that said something like farming simulator 15 is for me at least oddly relaxing and when you have a large enough farm there is always something to do