Many games, such as Destiny 2, regularly lure players with limited-time events and offers. We respond to this call, often because of special items or fear of missing out. Micha struggled with this until she found a game where she could truly relax.
Games have increasingly relied on FOMO: Fear Of Missing Out. Players remain attached to the game out of fear of missing something. In games like Destiny 2 or Fortnite, this is often driven by special, limited-time events.
Especially in “my” game Destiny 2, a lot has happened in recent weeks:
- The Tribute Hall came into play, which you can enhance to a shooting range with resources
- The Triumph Moments 2019 have started
- The Solstice of Heroes 2019 ran concurrently and ended with the reset on August 27
If you want to keep up and get everything done quickly or still participate while these events are running, it can get quite stressful. At least the Tribute Hall is permanent and only puts pressure on the Guardians who want to quickly grab the Bad Juju, the weapon that came into play with the hall.
FOMO has a side effect: The actual game soon feels like work. You have to log in and farm the various activities, as these are only accessible for a limited time in Destiny 2.
Does a farming game provide the desired distraction?
Eventually, I grew tired of the grind and searched my Steam library for a game that could distract me. I noticed Stardew Valley, a farm-dating-sim-RPG with pixel graphics that had long been on my wish list, and which I had only snagged during the Summer Sale this year.
The start didn’t captivate me much: As a city person, you are tired of your job (what irony) and move to the farm you inherited from your grandfather some time ago. You cultivate your fields, build various shelters for the farm animals, and get to know the different residents of the nearby village of Pelican Town.
What at first glance seems like a nice clone of the Harvest Moon series reveals its full depth after a few hours of gameplay: the more you engage with your crops and animals, the better returns they yield. Additionally, you want to level up skills RPG-style, befriend residents, and explore dungeons.
I was delighted.
No more “work” in the game, I’m going farming!
For a long time, I hadn’t been able to relax with a game like this. Stardew Valley gives players all the options, but what you engage with is entirely up to you. Do I go collect wood, fruit, and vegetables of the respective seasons today, or do I stay on the farm and take care of my harvest? Do I visit the residents of Pelican Town, feel like fishing, or venture into the mines or the skull cavern in search of rare resources?
In Stardew Valley, everything runs by the motto “anything goes, nothing is required”. If you want, you can also spend days on your farm, rearranging the layout of your farm or the furnishings of your house.
Moreover, there are all sorts of curious or simply wonderful little things to discover: I will never forget the laughter of my pals on Discord when a YouTube video was forwarded to me with the best tips for Stardew Valley. The first tip in that clip was that high-quality or legendary fish in the game should never be stored in the refrigerator, as they might accidentally be turned into food. In amazement, I exclaimed, “There’s a refrigerator in the game?”
I’m going back to hunt aliens, but I’ll surely come back
Of course, I can’t stay away from my Destiny for too long, but I enjoy visiting my farm in between. Not only is the game very relaxing, but so is the Stardew Valley community. Tips and modifications are exchanged in forums and thousands of YouTube videos show guides or just all sorts of nonsense.
Stardew Valley didn’t stop me from farming the Solstice of Heroes in Destiny 2 hard, but it was a great distraction when everything became too much again.
By the way, there is also a multiplayer mode in Stardew Valley. There, you can manage a farm together with your friends and explore the world.
I will definitely tackle this mode another time. For now, I’m just glad that in this game, I can do whatever I want. And now I have to go, the PvP event Iron Banner has just started in Destiny 2 …
