Stardew Valley | VGC Score 94

Screenshots & trailers

What players say

Why the number is what it is: aspect mentions counted across 423 sampled Steam reviews (417 positive / 6 negative), recent and most-helpful. Plain keyword counting, fully reproducible; nothing here is written by a machine.

What positive reviews talk about

Grind & repetition11% mention it
Story & writing9% mention it

What negative reviews complain about

Negative reviews don't converge on specific aspects.

Satisfaction by hours played

Same score, different games: see how sentiment holds up the longer people play.

Under 5h

93%

30 reviews

5-15h

96%

47 reviews

15-40h

100%

78 reviews

40-100h

99%

91 reviews

100h+

99%

177 reviews

Review sentiment over time

Weekly positive-review rate (green) and review volume (bars). Dashed lines mark significant patches; the amber line is the start of the current scoring window. Hover the dots to see what drove a dip or a jump.

How this score was computed

The VGC Score is a weighted blend on a press-comparable 0-100 quality scale. Steam approval rates are first calibrated (95% positive on Steam ≈ 89.5 quality, since Steam approval skews high). Press and tracked creator reviews each count ~2x a player review and share one cap against player evidence (creator buy/skip calls pool into an approval rate, calibrated like Steam approval); all-time sentiment is capped and halved (it's context, not verdict); reviews of the current build carry the most weight when a fresh patch anchors the window; and a 'typical game' prior keeps small samples from pegging the scale. Because press reviews and Metacritic user aggregates describe the launch build, their weight decays as the game ages (3-year half-life after a 1-year grace). That's how a game that launched rough can outgrow its old reception once updates win players over. Reviews under 2h playtime (the refund window), non-Steam activations, and free copies are downweighted.

Component	Positive	Quality (0-100)	Weight (pseudo-reviews)
Press reviews (OpenCritic)	–	90	23
All-time Steam reviews	98%	94	2015
Metacritic user ratings	–	92	83
Post-patch Steam reviews (trust-weighted)	98%	94	3000
Calibration prior (typical game)	–	72	50

Scoring window: since the last significant patch (Dec 20, 2024) · 300 reviews sampled · 222959 total reviews in window · weighted 255.6 up / 3 down · computed 1h ago · full methodology →

Press & Creators reviews (80)

Individual verdicts from outlets we track: scored reviews first, most trusted outlets first among them. The small badge is each outlet's trust score: how well its scoring history aligns with players.

90
Gaming Professors
trust 68Jul 19, 2021
“The game pretty much builds on the fact that at the beginning you start with a tiny farm, on which you have only a few beds and you grow little until you get to a proper farm and also better equipment. This will take some time, but it will definitely be worth it. Most importantly, Stardew Valley offers incredible freedom and liberty - every day is up to you, and it's entirely up to you what activity you choose to do. You can choose to spend all day in the mine or in your garden, or just goofing around with the other NPCs in town and hanging out on the map. All of this makes Stardew Valley a game that kept me incredibly hooked and entertained for a few dozen hours, and if you get a friend to join you, trust me, the game will take another level up and be a lot more fun.”
read full review ↗
90
Nintendo Life
trust 68Oct 7, 2017
“Stardew Valley offers its players a chance to live a second life, one where you can forget the troubles of the real world and get excited over finding a particularly rare carrot. It is a truly magical experience; games can often be enjoyable but they don't all manage to be as captivating as this. This is the sort of game that ideally requires a significant amount of time to be invested; the enjoyment doesn't necessarily come from the day-to-day actions you perform, but rather from the general growth of pride, satisfaction, and sense of security as the days go by. Fans of games such as Harvest Moon and Animal Crossing will be right at home here and, for those who aren't, there is a decent chance this game might just surprise you. For the asking price the risk couldn't be more worth it.”
read full review ↗
90
PLAY Zine
trust 67Apr 6, 2016
“It's not often that we see a one-man project leave such an impact on the gaming community, collectively putting us into the "just one more turn/day" mindset, but Stardew Valley manages it in a spectacular way.”
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80
RPGamer
trust 67Sep 30, 2018
“Stardew Valley is an excellent game that let me quietly relax and enjoyably lose myself in for hours on end.”
read full review ↗
90
Cubed3
trust 65Dec 30, 2017
“The portability of the Nintendo Switch makes this undoubtedly the best way to play Stardew Valley. Unless you are really keen on modding the game, the combination of easy portability and excellent controls makes this a staple in any well-rounded Switch library. It's still the same great farm simulator it was on PC - robust, full of secrets, and comes with an inescapable charm that will keep pulling you back in, season after season.”
read full review ↗
100
Nindie Spotlight
trust 65Oct 8, 2017
“Stardew Valley is a game I came to adore on the PC and I’m thrilled that it is now on the Switch so it can be played anywhere. Within my family there’s so much love for this game that my oldest daughter specifically bought her Switch for this very reason. Though she has “finished” the game at least 3 times already, and is a walking encyclopedia of Stardew factoids, she still keeps playing. That’s the power of this game, and the sense of serenity that’s so easy to have when playing it, and it is why I’m giving it the first 10 I’ve ever awarded for this site. It truly is a modern classic, blending elements multiple games have touched on before and combining them in just the right ways to make something truly special.”
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90
NintendoWorldReport
trust 64Oct 12, 2017
“I've played over 30 hours of the game, and I don't plan on stopping anytime soon. More crops are always available to grow, more upgrades are ripe for boosting my farm, and more minerals are mine to mine. It's a game I can see myself coming back to time and time again for years, and that'll be easy to do with the portable nature of the Switch. It's a masterpiece, and a perfect game for Nintendo's newest console.”
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97
SomosXbox
trust 64Jul 21, 2017
“Stardew Valley is a one-of-a-kind game. In appearance it is a pixelated Harvest Moon, but when you scratch a bit you discover an alternate reality that you don't want to leave.”
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95
PPE.pl
trust 64Oct 27, 2017
“Stardew Valley is a fantastic title that every Harvest Moon fan should play. In nothing better in this genre currently you will not find, the game delights on every front. Take and play!”
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90
The Escapist
trust 63Mar 16, 2016
“Stardew Valley is an absolutely charming little gem about forgetting all your worries and relaxing on a farm.”
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95
The Game is a Lie
trust 63Dec 10, 2017
“Stardew Valley is an extremely relaxing and fun game. The variety of activities to perform keeps the player glued to the screen and turns this into one of the most addictive games of the last years. It deserves to be played by anyone with access to it.”
read full review ↗
100
Eurogamer
trust 63Oct 10, 2017
“A modern indie classic on PC finds in Nintendo's Switch the perfect platform.”
read full review ↗

…and 68 more tracked reviews.

Patch history

Stardew Valley 1.6.15 Patch now available
Dec 20, 2024significant · resets scoring window
1.6.14 Update
Nov 12, 2024
Minor update 1.6.13
Nov 8, 2024
1.6.12 Update
Nov 7, 2024
Update 1.6.11
Nov 6, 2024
1.6.10 Bug Fix Patch
Nov 5, 2024
1.6.9 Update Now Available
Nov 4, 2024significant · resets scoring window
1.6.7 -- Fixes a bug in 1.6.6
Apr 28, 2024
Stardew Valley 1.6.6 Patch Notes
Apr 26, 2024
1.6.5 patch notes
Apr 19, 2024
1.6.4 hotfix 1
Apr 19, 2024
1.6.4 Patch
Apr 18, 2024significant · resets scoring window
Stardew Valley 1.6.3 Patch
Mar 27, 2024significant · resets scoring window
Patch 1.6.2
Mar 21, 2024
Patch 1.6.1 -- Bug fixes
Mar 20, 2024
Patch 1.6.1 -- Bug fixes
Mar 20, 2024
Stardew Valley 1.6 Update Available now!
Mar 19, 2024
1.6 Release Date Announced!
Feb 26, 2024
A Sneak Peek into the upcoming 1.6 update
Sep 28, 2023
1.5.6 -- Minor Update
Dec 21, 2021
1.5.5 update
Nov 30, 2021significant · resets scoring window
1.5.4 Patch Out Now
Jan 23, 2021significant · resets scoring window
1.5.3 Patch Out Now
Jan 15, 2021significant · resets scoring window
1.5.2 Patch Out Now
Jan 8, 2021significant · resets scoring window
1.5.1 Patch Out Now
Dec 25, 2020significant · resets scoring window
1.5 Content Update -- Now Available!
Dec 21, 2020significant · resets scoring window
1.4.5 Patch available now
Feb 11, 2020
Stardew Valley 1.4.4 patch out now
Jan 31, 2020significant · resets scoring window
1.4.3 Patch Out Now
Dec 13, 2019
1.4.2 Patch Now Out
Dec 5, 2019significant · resets scoring window
1.4.1 Post-Launch Patch Now Available
Dec 3, 2019significant · resets scoring window
1.4 Content Update -- Now Available!
Nov 26, 2019significant · resets scoring window
Update 1.3.36 now live
Mar 1, 2019significant · resets scoring window
Open beta for new langauges: French, Italian, Turkish, Hungarian, and Korean
Jan 24, 2019
Patch Notes -- 1.3.33
Jan 8, 2019significant · resets scoring window
Patch Notes -- 1.3.32
Nov 19, 2018significant · resets scoring window
Stardew Valley 1.3 (Multiplayer Update) is now available!
Aug 1, 2018significant · resets scoring window
Stardew Valley available to play in 7 languages!
Apr 25, 2017significant · resets scoring window
Stardew Valley available to play in 7 languages!
Apr 25, 2017
v1.11
Oct 7, 2016significant · resets scoring window

…and 17 earlier patch announcements.