Photo by: ant2506 via Pixabay

Charming and having made a rich guy out of its creator are how Matt Weinberger of Business Insider describes farming simulation game Stardew Valley, which can now be played on the Nintendo Switch portable game console.

Before its release as a US$15 independent game on Nintendo’s online eShop, Stardew Valley was already a certified hit on the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Windows, and Mac with sales of 3.5 million copies, more than enough to make its creator Eric Barone a multimillionaire.

Barone supposedly did everything single-handedly on the Stardew Valley from the graphics to the music and sound effects and writing, an achievement worthy of being included in Jason Schrier’s “Blood, Sweat, and Pixels” book.He has since gone on to enlist outside help in developing a multiplayer version of the game to be made available for the PC in 2017.

The game is played by assuming the role of a game character that has inherited a rundown farm from a dead grandfather.It is up to the character, and ultimately the user, to cultivate crops, chop wood and cut wood to return the farm to its former glory.As the character’s farming ability progresses, so will be the character’s relationship with neighbors in the town of Stardew Valley.But the majority of the game is spent on planting and harvesting crops while getting acquainted with the neighbors.It progresses to the raising of the chickens and cows, cooking, fishing, hunting for treasure and killing monsters inside a mine outside the town of Stardew Valley.There’s even an option for the townspeople to get married.

Despite not being rendered in cutting-edge graphics but rather in Nintendo-style sprite graphics the game is endearing and well-executed.The real motivation for playing the game is the desire to do more, see more and grow more.And of course, there is the absence of pressure, which initially drew Weinberger to the game.