Stardew valley the board game review

 Stardew valley the board game solitaire review

This is a solitaire review for the Stardew Valley board game.

What I will cover in the review 

• A brief gameplay overview.
• Replay ability.
• Theme.
• Is Stardew Valley the board game good?
• Should I buy Stardew Valley the board game?
• Stardew Valley the board game final rating.

A brief gameplay overview 

This game is meant to be a recreation of the cult classic video game stardew valley. The goal of the game is to finish the year having completed all of your grandpas goals. You can complete all his goals by just having a very well rounded playthrough where you cover all the different things you can do in the game. The first thing you would do in a round is flip over the season card this will have multiple effects on the game like watering your crops, changing the player order or allowing you to sell your items. On your turn you will choose which location to start at and then you can do 2 actions at your location or 1 action at your location move and then 1 action at the other location after your turn is down the next player will go. Some examples of actions you can take are befriending villagers, descending down the mines, donating to the museum and completing community centre bundles. 

Replay ability

This game is a euro board game andhas a lot of different mechanics and mini games which have their own depth and complexity so you can’t experience all of them in one game. During setup you will pick one of 4 professions, the intention of the professions is to add variety to the games. You get even more variety from the events and item decks.

These decks can make the game feel kinds swingy since the events can really boost you and the items are also super helpful and can drastically affect what you choose to do on your turn. From personal experience it changes quite a bit . A lot of the other things that are used to add variety and replay ability feel completely random. The only thing that they have added that actually made a difference to me has been the events because it is really enjoyable and satisfying when you get the perfect card for the situation that you are.

Theme

The games theme is meant to be based off the Stardew Valley video game, so you have a lot of the really interesting features but because of the limitations of it being aboard game they have had to cut down on a lot of the story elements. But they haven’t cut down on them completely, they have sprinkled little pieces of lore throughout the game for example you can get the ring of Yoba as an upgrade for the mining profession . 

Yoba is the god of main religion in Stardew Valley. There is no desert in the board game so you miss out on a lot of story elements from the video game but some of the events add in reference's to the desert. Over all there isn’t much theming in the game it really relies on mechanics.

Is stardew valley the board game good?

This game has a lot of things going for it since it is part of the Stardew Valley world so already a lot of people are going to want the game. All of what i have just said doesn’t necessarily make the game good though. I personally feel that a lot of the feature in the game are really pointless or way too random and really detract from the gaming experience, for example the mines in this game are done horribly you have the level you are on and then a map representing everything that could happen on that level and to decide what happens you roll a set of dice and depending on your results you will get different outcomes. There was so much potential in that mining system, in the video game you have a cool combat system, he could have easily implemented a combat mini game into the mines to make it more engaging. The mines aren’t the only example of this most of the activities in the game lack depth or strategy they just rely on luck or basically play themselves. They are a couple of more interesting ideas and mechanics in the game for example I really enjoyed collecting everything to complete the community centre bundles and I also enjoyed the crop system, in the crop system you will pant crop on spaces 1-5 the space you place the crop on depends on what the crop is so a turnip is a 2 so you place it on space 2 and then you have to water the crops to get them to grow so you can harvest them. What I have found is that the bad systems are kind of bearable because completing the community centre bundles is really fun.

Should I buy Stardew Valley the board game? 

The answer to this question really depends on what you want from the game. If you want the novelty of owning a Stardew Valley board game and you want it for the IP not the gameplay then yes definitely buy it. The other situation where I would suggest you buy this game is if you are not a massive tabletop gamer because then the gameplay will be super engaging and unique, the gameplay will probably be the most interesting and engaging gameplay you have ever seen in a board game. Another thing to note is just how much table space this game takes up, I had to use 2 tables to play the game.

 I would maybe buy the game if you don’t mind randomness or really swingy gameplay. For most people I would say if you like the video game get the board game but be aware you will not be getting incredible gameplay or super deep strategies.

Final rating

7 /10 

If you have enjoyed this review please share this blog with your friends and repost this link it will really help me to continue posting review.