I keep seeing how Stardew is great here so I tried it yesterday. First I read an interview with ConcernedApe and love how he’s a solo dev, which is inspiring to me for my own solo project. So I really wanted to love stardew, become attached to it, and view ConcernedApe as a romodel.
Did not happen. Loved the music and gentle nice vibes of the intro, and the different starting choices were cool. First negative tho is something I remember from the article where he said he didn’t really like majora’s mask cuz the time aspect then laughed at the irony since he made Stardew. Well I agree. The time aspect doesn’t make it more fun for me.
I love how different the people are instead of all slight variations of the same model.
thing 2 tho that basically prevents me from getting farther is the ‘work’. Right now I’m loading back in to my Rimworld game. Comparatively, when I stepped out on to that Stardew field with no crops yet planted, my thought was, '“oh am i going to have to do all this myself?” Idk why I would want to spend my time and effort doing what someone in Rimworld does without needing micromanagement.
Tried to get farther this morning and could not.
So I guess it isn’t for everyone, and for me, this is why. Definitely admire ConcernedApe tho and his success and community he creates as a solo dev.
As a fellow management sim and automation game enjoyer, I understand your love for Rimworld and why Stardew does not scratch that itch. But the appeal of Stardew is I think just what you’ve figured out for yourself, it’s the anti-management, anti-automation game. The part of the brain that Stardew taps into is the one that likes to make things with your hands. It’s a bit more tangible feeling of involvement which is its own allure that is wholly distinct from the one where you watch a bunch of cogs turn in a machine.
I love playing Satisfactory and Factorio and Rimworld, and at work I spend a lot of time automating and analyzing and alerting. Stardew is the game I play when I’m burnt the hell out and I don’t want to diagnose why the automation I’ve written isn’t doing x thing or giving me Y result. I just buy seed, plant seed, water, and harvest. There’s very little planning and virtually no troubleshooting. You just put X effort in and get X benefit back. It’s why so many IT guys retire and become goat farmers.