This week, I played my favorite game, Stardew Valley. It is designed by Eric Baron himself in 2016, targeted for teens and adults who are interested in farming simulators and looking for a cozy solo gaming experience, available on Steam, Switch, and most mobile app stores. I’ve played it on Steam and iPad, both with very good game experience.
As discussed in the book “Play like a Feminist” by Shira Chess, a game with a feminist perspective is not just a deviation from the traditional “boys’ club” of gaming, but also a playground for future feminist leisure. In Stardew Valley, the farming mechanics and pacing dynamics are nothing close to toxicity, violence, or sexualization. Beyond that, through its “affection system“, Stardew Valley provides enough room to explore feminism via relationship-building that is free from a heterosexual masculine perspective. The never-ending narrative structure in Stardew Valley invites players to think about real-life difficult issues from relationships, to abuse, to mental illness, and etc..
Analysis, Learning, & Critiques
The first layer of gaming as feminist is to include gender equality and break sexual stereotypes. In Stardew Valley, to begin with, players can choose the gender of their character with customized looking, and this choice won’t influence any biased capabilities of the character, or add any relationship-building (potentially romantic) gender limitations. For example, I, as a girl farmer, has a crush on Emily, who is a very cool and sweet diva girl, then I could freely interact with her through dialogues and gift-giving, and gradually building affection between us. During the whole relationship building process, no one in the game will judge us, which feels very inclusive and supportive. Another design I think is a good reflection of feminism is that Robin, as a warm and talented woman, is the town carpenter, which breaks gender stereotypes on feminine professions.
The “affection system” mechanics of Stardew Valley helps construct the playground for feminist leisure. In the game, the player can interact with NPCs through dialogue and gift-giving, and gradually building affection with them. As the affection level increases, the characters will start to share their life with the player. If the character is single, the player might consider pursuing a romantic relationship and building a family with them. On the one hand, this romantic narrative offers diverse emotional experiences: sunny and energetic Alex, romantic poet Elliott, rebellious and lonely Sebastian, pretty and soft Haley, kind and shy Penny… On the other hand, for the other married villagers, as the player gradually knows them, they’ll share vulnerabilities or seek for help, which prompt events that drive the player to reflect on real world difficulties. This is the core of the valuable feminist perspectives in Stardew Valley, as I’ll discuss more in the next paragraph. As the narrative loops through the four seasons and recurring festivals, players begin to feel at home, warmly greeting villagers each day and becoming part of a supportive and emotionally rich community.
As mentioned above, the feminist core of Stardew Valley is embedded in the real world issues raised by the interactions during the relationship-building dynamics. One example is about commercialization. As the major choice, the player can choose to either revive the Community Center by bringing the farm back to prosperity, or to join the Joja membership and naturally abandon the Community Center to embrace industrialization and make everything more convenient, commercialized, yet less “organic”. Another example is about abuse in relationship. Pam, the mother of Penny, is alcoholic and constantly abuse Penny verbally, like yelling at her or blaming her to make her feel guilty, even though Penny does nothing wrong. The player can decide to intervene into this to help Penny from the abuse, while helping Pam from the alcohol addiction. There are more examples like environmental discussions with Demetrius, mental health faced with Sebastian, etc.. All these scenarios provide rich playground to explore feminist themes. This dynamics between the player and the game design is so valuable to encourage critical thinkings about real world difficulties. And in my opinion, this is the essence of gaming as feminist: caring and thinking, emotional storytelling, and imagining better futures.
Lastly, the art in Stardew Valley aligns with its feminist core: pixelated and simple visuals, soft and time-suspending musics constructed by Eric himself. These aesthetic elements together give Stardew Vally an unassuming appearance. No emphasis on any characters’ appearances or body shapes, no strong emotionally manipulative musics, Stardew Valley creates a respectful and welcoming aesthetic experience.
If there is any critique I have towards Stardew Valley, it’s probably the lack of diversity in the designer team, which is just Eric himself. While he is undoubtedly a great designer who has successfully embedded profound feminist ideas into the game, the absence of diverse cultural and gender perspectives may cause issues. For instance, in 2024, Eric updated the Chinese version with a new translation team. The stiff tone and occasionally frivolous dialogue prompted backlash from Chinese players. Eric was very understanding and quickly worked to reverse the changes. This wasn’t his fault — but with a more diverse team from the outset, the game might have been more inclusive in terms of culture, gender, and race. As Shira Chess notes, feminism is about engaging all parties, balancing the marketplace, and playing against the systems of masculine power.
All in all
The feminist strength in Stardew Vally lies not only in its gender equality perspectives, but also its affective mechanics that brings emotional values, its farming simulator structure that drives players to care more about living in harmony with nature, its never ending dynamics between the players and the triggered real-life issues, as well as its beautiful and unique art. These elements together intertwine with the feminist theories, creating a great playground for future feminist leisure.
