Stardew Valley Board Game Announced, Available To Buy Now

Stardew Valley is available on pretty much every gaming platform at this point, but it's now branching into an entirely new medium. Stardew Valley: The Board Game was announced today by developer ConcernedApe, and even better: It's available to buy now. The official Stardew Valley board game costs $55, and you can get your copy through the Stardew Valley website. Unfortunately, orders ship only to the US for now.

According to the official website, Stardew Valley: The Board Game is a co-op game where you work together with other players to restore the Valley by building up your farm and growing crops, raising animals, and harvesting resources. Of course, a major part of Stardew Valley is also forming friendships with the local villagers, and that plays a role here as well--as you deepen your relationships, you'll earn hearts that reveal hidden goals. The ultimate goal, of course, is to prevent Joja Corporation from taking over and preserve the thriving local community of Pelican Town.

The Stardew Valley board game is designed for one to four players, with each standard playthrough lasting roughly 45 minutes for each player participating (so about an hour and a half for a two-person game, for instance). There are rules that make the game harder or easier based on your preferences, but it's emphasized that this isn't a quick casual board game--rather, it was designed with some complexity and depth in mind. The rulebook PDF is available online, if you want to check that out before buying.

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In a reply to one follower on Twitter who asked if the board game will be an exclusive release or in constant production, ConcernedApe explained that the long-term plan for Stardew Valley: The Board Game will be based on the level of interest it garners. "If there's more demand for it, then we'll definitely do more print runs, and maybe slowly expand," he wrote. "We're kind of just testing the waters for now and [seeing] what the response is."

The Stardew Valley board game has been in development for over two years and marks the first project that ConcernedApe (whose real name is Eric Barone) has been the publisher on from start to finish (the video game was published by Chucklefish until 2018).

"For more than two-and-a-half years I’ve been working together with board game designer Cole Medeiros to make a board game that captures the essence of Stardew Valley," ConcernedApe wrote in the board game's announcement post. "It has pretty much everything from the video game: villagers, crops, animals, fishing, foraging, mining, and more. We worked hard to make a board game we think is really fun to play and to look at. I hope you enjoy it!"

Read more: The best board games to play in 2021