"The world has become extremely harsh—let us walk forward hand in hand."

Marx's ideal life was: "In the morning, hunting; in the afternoon, fishing; in the evening, tending livestock; after dinner, engaging in critique—but without ever becoming exclusively a hunter, fisherman, herdsman, or critic." To him, all actions stem from subjective "willingness," representing work not as a compulsory social division but as arising from human passion and need.

We seem able to experience such a life only in games. Games provide rich imaginings of life; even as our bodies remain trapped in mundane routines, our spirits can glimpse more possibilities through gaming. The exhaustion of modern urban life makes Marx's proposition especially appealing. What Stardew Valley depicts is precisely a life that is less "modern."

The Dilemma

Stardew Valley's success was unexpected. Creator Eric Barone, a fan of the "Harvest Moon" series, initially developed the game to let a new generation of players experience a contemporary version of "Harvest Moon" without platform limitations.

From the first Harvest Moon game, pastoral life carried a rebellious air against urban existence. In Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town, the female protagonist leaves city life behind for a ranch. Stardew Valley handles this setup more vividly: the protagonist is a programmer at a large corporation, working in a cubicle under the ironic slogan "Life's better with Joja."

This opening feels intensely realistic, sketching modern workplace life: people become cogs in the corporate machine, confined to cubicles, with lives divided solely between "work" and "rest." Consumerism is amplified—people construct identity through consumption, which in turn fuels corporate growth.

German sociologist Siegfried Kracauer once described how modern life occupies people's minds: they stare blankly at lives not their own, chase trends for fear of being left behind, and become megaphones for noise. A century later, this phenomenon has intensified: ads are omnipresent, smartphones are millions of times more powerful than radios, and individual spirits seem insignificant against the tide of the times.

Stardew Valley tells precisely the story of an escape from modern life.

Escape

Overwhelmed, the protagonist opens a letter from their grandfather and finds a way out. Stardew Valley's world is utterly different from urban existence: blackberries in the grass, big fish on rainy days, sprouting fields, and moonlit jellyfish by the shore all bring joys absent from city living.

The game has no mandatory goals. Players can strive to earn money for a big house or simply wake up to socialize and go home at dusk. This resembles Kracauer's proposed "extreme boredom therapy": on a sunny afternoon, drawing the curtains to do nothing, letting native thoughts flow freely to rediscover small pleasures.

The game offers a path for reflection and resistance: restoring sensitivity, living without purpose, defining one's own way of being. Though the gameplay involves repetitive hoeing—a decidedly dull activity—the virtual world as an "escape" provides a sense of freedom.

Freedom

Stardew Valley's numerical system discourages capital accumulation. Early resource scarcity soon gives way to money becoming meaningless numbers. The most expensive item is a 2-million-gold return scepter, but the real joy lies in hearing your horse's clip-clop.

This recalls real-world "financial freedom." After achieving "Stardew financial freedom," players continue not to amass wealth but because this world holds things worth caring about. The game expresses a real-world value: freedom defines happiness; enjoy life itself while maintaining agency.

True pastoral idylls may not be as perfect as the game's. The internet has reached rural areas, and smartphones keep people under "the tyranny of the present." Fortunately, games provide imagination, carrying "alternative possibilities" and offering more "sense of freedom."

Meaning

Modern life provides "a sense of meaning": believing more consumption brings more happiness. Stardew Valley's popularity offers counterevidence—its joys occur not in industrialized cities but in pastoral settings.

Of course, modernization games like Industry Giant and Cities: Skylines are also popular. Games can provide countless answers. Modernity's dilemmas are human dilemmas; critiquing modernity doesn't mean "returning to antiquity."

Those trapped in urban life may not understand "modernity" conceptually but indeed live its dilemmas. Stardew Valley offers a small refuge, but upon exiting, people still face their own lives.

In 2017, Steam awarded Stardew Valley the "The world has become extremely harsh—let us walk forward hand in hand" prize. Compared to harsh reality, Stardew Valley is a world we'd rather inhabit.