Rejoice, farmers: A Stardew Valley board game exists and you’ll be able to buy it soon

Confession time: I don’t like most contemporary board games. But I get to keep my geek card, because that dislike is all about to change. Stardew Valley, my absolute favorite game of all time, is getting reimagined as a tabletop game and it is available to buy right now. currently sold out, but a second printing of the game will be available soon.

Stardew Valley creator Eric Barone, also known as ConcernedApe, announced that he has been in collaboration with designer Cole Medeiros, whose credits include both board and video games, for more than two and a half years on today’s launch. According to the blog post, the board game version will translate all the beloved aspects of Stardew Valley into physical form: “villagers, crops, animals, fishing, foraging, mining, and more.” Sign me up.

To get more into the nitty gritty, rounds of Stardew Valley: The Board Game will see one to four players living a full year on the farm. That’ll usually crunch out to about 45 minutes per player, although the experience can be scaled down for a shorter session. Whatever the approach, players will need to collaborate and coordinate their efforts to get the best results on their farmstead. As with the original video game, you’ll gather resources, gain new profession skills, and make friends with the goal of restoring the Community Center. You also need to accomplish a randomized set of Grandpa’s Goals to win, meaning more replayability.

If this isn’t an insta-buy for you, Barone has made the rulebook available to read and get a sense for the feel and complexity of the board game’s systems. He clarifies in the new announcement that this game isn’t going to be a quick, casual thing (see the about 45 minutes per player) and that there will be depth to this reimagining.

As long as I can harvest piles of produce, make cheese, and hang out with Leah and Abigail, there’s no way this isn’t going to be a joyful, cozy game experience. And really, we could all use more cozy joy these days.

Updated 2/24/2021