Game on Mac or Linux? You can star farming in 'Stardew Valley' next week

By Gabe Gurwin July 21, 2016

Stardew Valley, the “country-life” RPG from developer Eric Barone, was originally released on PC back in February. It will finally see its official release on Mac and Linux next week, but if you want to play on console, you’re going to be waiting a little longer.

Developer Eric Barone (better known as “ConcernedApe”) made the news official Wednesday in a tweet originally spotted by Polygon. The game’s official launch date for both Mac and Linux is July 29, though it appears that it isn’t entirely finished.

“Multiplayer, localizations, and the version 1.1 update are still in progress,” Barone adds. The update will include “new building types,” including sheds for storage and windmills used for producing both flour and sugar.

But the aforementioned platforms aren’t the last on which you’ll see Stardew Valley. Ports for the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Wii U are also in the works, with plans for release by the end of the year. Barone says that current controller support for the PC version of the game is “far from ideal, and it will need to be adjusted prior to launch.”

The Wii U seems like an especially appropriate platform for the game, with its item toolbar being a perfect fit on the system’s GamePad. Stardew Valley clearly draws influence from classic farming-RPG hybrid series Harvest Moon, but its aesthetic is also evocative of classic Super Nintendo and Game Boy Zelda and even Pokémon games.

Stardew Valley was met with critical acclaim when it originally released earlier this year. Polygon‘s Carli Velocci said that the game “expertly explores the connection that someone can have with their environment, their work, and the people around them,” while Giant Bomb‘s Dan Ryckert remarked that he “fell in love with it almost instantly.”

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Gabe Gurwin has been playing games since 1997, beginning with the N64 and the Super Nintendo. He began his journalism career…

Gaming

If you can’t get enough Palworld, try these great games next

A pal aiming a gun in Palworld.

Palworld took the world by storm following its early access launch on January 19. It peaked at over 2.1 million concurrent players on Steam, selling over 12 million copies on that platform alone and amassing at least 7 million more purchases via Xbox Game Pass. That means you’ve probably played it at this point, even if you aren’t playing many other video games right now. Thankfully, the melting pot -- or derivative, depending on who you ask -- design of Palworld makes it a gateway game to several other amazing titles.

From fellow captivating survival crafting titles to games in other genres that Palworld has pulled features and inspiration from, there’s a lot to try out if you're looking to branch out and play some other games the next time you take a break from Palworld. In particular, we recommend playing the following five titles to get a better idea of where Palworld's inspiration came from and where it might go in the future.
Minecraft

Gaming

Fae Farm is an approachable Stardew Valley riff lacking in personality

Farming in Fae Farm

I’ve played several farming and life sim games since I fell in love with Stardew Valley in 2017, but nothing has been able to live up to that game. In the past, I’ve attributed these shortcomings to things like slow-paced openings or mechanics that lag behind what Stardew Valley offers. But after playing through the first season in Fae Farm, Dauntless developer Phoenix Labs’ new cozy farming game, I finally recognize the real problem with most of these Stardew Valley clones: a lack of distinct, charming characters full of personality.
Fae Farm is a game designed for ease of use to a fault. It’s a very approachable farming sim game that recognizes the cozy appeal of living in a virtual town and tending to a farm on a daily basis. And while all of the genre’s mechanical rough edges are smoothed out, so is a lot of the personality. Because of that, I’m left focusing on the fact that this is a genre where games can get too repetitive very fast if you aren’t fully invested.
Characters not different enough
In Fae Farm, players show up on the island of Azoria and start tending to a farm there, completing quests for the townsfolk and eventually diving into dungeons for some light combat and resource gathering. It’s nothing wildly ambitious for the genre, but it feels great to play. Fae Farm will automatically equip whatever tool needs to be used for a situation, which pairs well with the tool improvements that allow players to cover greater swaths of land with their abilities.
There’s even a deeper amount of home and farm customization that feels more similar to Animal Crossing: New Horizons than Stardew Valley here. At first, I loved all of this. I’m all for games being more approachable, and the mechanics and enjoyment held up when I played a bit of the game’s multiplayer with someone else. The more time I spent with the game, though, the more its main shortcomings showed.

While the early missions of Fae Farm bring players around Azoria to introduce a cast of characters, none of them look or speak in very unique ways. Whereas characters like Abigail and Leah felt distinct from each other the first time I met them in Stardew Valley, few Fae Farm characters feel like anything more than vendors or quest givers. Even if this improves a bit as I play more, the fact that I’m already running into repeated quips from characters and anecdotal lines shared between different people isn’t a good sign.
While I could initially ignore Fae Farm’s lack of character and charm, the more I played, the more it felt like I was just filling out a checklist. I’d collect the resources, craft what I needed to process those resources, and then use those resources to craft more things and repeat the cycle. The world feels welcoming and charming, but everyone who lives in it failed to leave any impression. That means that Fae Farm’s repetitive gameplay loop lacks enough personality to make it feel distinct, which in turn leaves a game full of checklist-based quests and systems that don't provide many challenges.
As a result, some of the more repetitious aspects of farming and life sim games are exposed here. That's not to say that being repetitive is inherently negative; if you have a solid core gameplay loop, you can get a lot of mileage out of recontextualizing it. Stardew Valley has more nuanced and engaging stories and characters on top of its repetitive mechanic. Fae Farm lacks that extra layer and it sticks out in the current farming landscape because of it.

Computing

Resident Evil Village shows just how good Mac gaming can be

resident evil village on mac performance residentevilvillage09

Resident Evil Village launches in the Mac App Store today, and it's been a long journey to get here.

Ever since the launch of the M1 Pro and M1 Max in the MacBook Pro last year, we've all been wondering if Mac gaming was about to make a true comeback. HDR screens, 120Hz screens, great GPU performance, and even Apple's own MetalFX upscaling tech? It's all the ingredients you'd need for a solid gaming experience. The only thing missing was games, and with Resident Evil Village, I finally got a taste of the future of Mac gaming.