I played the game: Stardew Valley. It is a farm life simulation game developed by ConcernedApe. It is available on Nintendo Switch, macOS, Android, PlayStation 4, iOS. The target audience is anyone who enjoys peaceful farming and building relationships with other characters.
In Stardew Valley, players can choose to play as a male or female character. As I identify myself as a female, I chose a female character (Figure 1), but it goes beyond just playing as a female character. It involves engaging with the game’s systems and mechanics in a way that challenges traditional power structures and explores alternative ways of living, including farming, mining, fishing, and building relationships with other characters. The game’s non-traditional narrative structure, which exists in a “never-ending middle” rather than following a traditional climax-centric story, aligns with feminist narrative theory. This structure allows players to explore complex social issues including relationships, abuse, mental health, environmentalism, and commercialization at their own pace. The game gives players significant agency in how they build their farm and relationships, allowing them to practice decision-making and create order in their virtual world. This agency serves as a form of “agentic training” that can help players understand and challenge power dynamics in both the game and real world. The game’s open-ended nature allows players to define their own success metrics, whether that’s through maximizing profits, building strong community relationships, or creating a sustainable farm (Figures 2-7). This flexibility in gameplay objectives reflects feminist values of personal choice and self-determination. Additionally, the game’s emphasis on community building and relationship development provides a platform for exploring different types of social interactions, from romantic relationships and friendships to economic participation and community involvement. The ability to engage with these various aspects of the game at one’s own pace and according to one’s own priorities creates a uniquely empowering gaming experience that aligns with feminist principles of agency and autonomy.
Figure 1. Character Creation
Figure 2. My home and farm.
Figure 3. Meeting a friendly villager, Leah.
Figure 4. Meeting an unfriendly villager, Shane.
Figure 5. Now the character can go fishing.
Figure 6. Store.
Figure 7. List of goods.
While Stardew Valley already has a strong feminist narrative, it could be improved by incorporating more diverse characters and storylines to enrich players’ agency and create a more inclusive environment. As suggested in the book, feminist gaming isn’t about abandoning traditionally masculine elements, but rather about making all types of gameplay accessible and meaningful for everyone. The game could expand its current family system to allow for more diverse family structures and relationships like polyamorous relationships. It could also enhance its existing competitive elements to create more meaningful competitive farming mechanics, and develop more substantial community leadership opportunities beyond the current system. These improvements would better reflect the book’s argument that feminist gaming should expand possibilities rather than replace one type of content with another. By including both traditionally feminine and masculine gameplay elements, Stardew Valley could create a more truly inclusive environment that challenges traditional gender boundaries while maintaining the full range of gameplay possibilities. The game’s current structure, while progressive in many ways, could benefit from a more comprehensive approach to gender representation and gameplay mechanics. This would not only enhance the gaming experience but also better reflect the complex realities of modern society, where traditional gender roles are increasingly being challenged and redefined. Such improvements would make Stardew Valley an even more powerful platform for exploring feminist perspectives while maintaining its appeal to a broad audience of players.
