I am Mog Anarchy, and I like to play games. Whether they are old, new, retro, modern, online, offline, console, computer, critically acclaimed or notoriously bad. Here on my blog, I rant about, review, trash talk, praise and generally talk about all of my favourite and least-favourite games. I also write my own guides on how to accomplish tricky tasks, show off my creative endeavors and challenge myself with crazy in-game tasks. I also have a bunch of gaming merchandise which I am glad to show off. So drop me a comment, I love hearing your questions, criticisms, comments and general gaming discussions. :)
What would you get if you threw Harvest Moon, Rune Factory, Minecraft, Terraria and Animal Crossing into a blender, filtered it through an 16-bit retro sieve and served it on a Steaming indie community buffet table? Well, asides from the confused looks from the guests reeling from the pile of crushed cartridges and discs emitting smoke - it's likely someone would mention they'd rather be at home playing Stardew Valley.
Stardew Valley is a 2016 RPG/farming simulator game developed by Concerned Ape and published by Chucklefish on Steam, and later ported to the Xbox One, PS4, PS Vita, Android and Nintendo Switch. The game begins with a player creation screen in which you can customise your character avatar by changing their hair style, hair colour, eye colour, clothing and accessories such as beards or glasses. You can also name yourself, your farm, your favourite thing and choose your preference between cats or dogs. You can also choose between 5 different farm layouts, each of which is tailored to a specific play style or the focus on one of your characters’ main skills.
Unlike Harvest Moon however, you aren't limited to just farming to progress and generate income. Your five skills, which can be advanced by simply using them day to day are farming, foraging, fishing, mining and combat. Farming focuses on growing crops and raising livestock, foraging focuses on collecting wild fruit and herbs and chopping trees and logs for lumber, fishing is exactly what it's name suggests, using your fishing rod and also crab pots to catch fish and seafood, mining focuses on digging up ore and gemstones and combat involves using swords, daggers, clubs and slingshots to fight wild monsters in specific areas. Each of these skills can be used to earn you money, by selling whatever you grow, harvest, pick, chop, catch, dig up or by selling monster spoils and treasure - and whether you choose to focus on one, a mixture of several or even all five is entirely up to you.
The storyline of Stardew Valley opens with your player character working a dead end, soul-sucking repetitive job at the evil Joja Corporation before he or she remembers their grandfather left them a sealed envelope as part of his will, which he instructed you to open when you were in need of a change. As it turns out, your grandfather left you the deed to his old farm and his cottage - so naturally you move in and attempt to clear it up and make a go of living off the land.
The most impressive aspect of Stardew Valley in my opinion is the fact that Concerned Ape, the development studio is literally one person. That's right, every aspect of the game’s development was done by the same person, Eric Barone. The script, programming, art, sound and animation - everything was done painstakingly by hand over the course of a four-year development period by Eric himself, working out of his home in Seattle. To this day, Eric still takes time out of his day to answer questions from players and fans, and once-over hand-restored several players’ corrupted save files.
Unlike the majority of video games that are wholly driven by progression, scoring or the amount of money you can make in the shortest space of time, Stardew Valley shuns this in favour of encouraging players to play at their own pace, to take their time exploring, experimenting and making friends with the residents of the local town. There aren't any major expectations hanging over your head, so whether you want to build a fully automatic blueberry factory and roll around in your profits or spend a whole day walking through the forest picking flowers - you're welcome to play exactly how you please.
For completionists like me, there are some goals to work towards but the majority of them are self imposed tasks. There is the obvious challenge of maxing out your skills, which will come naturally through gameplay if you experiment with all of the different tools - and there is also the Community Centre. There are two large buildings within the town of Stardew Valley, the run-down and abandoned community centre and the large and intimidating Joja Supermarket. It is up to you who you work with. The Joja route is noticeably easier as all it requires it for you to raise a set amount of money, whereas the Community Centre encourages you to try different things by asking you to create “bundles,” i.e. a bundle of ocean fish, a bundle of summer crops, a bundle of smelted metals. Ultimately they lead to unlocking the same rewards - such as rebuilding a broken bridge, fixing a mine cart or opening up a bus route in order to allow you to access new areas. Each route also unlocks its own respective achievement or trophy and related in-game items.
My biggest irritation with Stardew Valley is its hands-off approach. Unlike many modern games that have a tendency to hold your hand throughout the game, Stardew Valley throws you in with little to no instruction whatsoever beyond the controls. There is no tutorial, no on-screen hints or any beginner quests that could offer first time players an idea of where to begin. And as the game itself is so broad with a vast amount of different things you can do, it lead to me feeling very overwhelmed - thus once I finished my first month, I restarted the game not once, not twice, but four times - as it took that long for me to feel comfortable and confident enough that I'd learned enough of the game to actually enjoy it. Even adding a tutorial or beginners mode or adding the option to enable hints or tutorial quests would solve this issue, in my opinion. Personally I also despise games that guide you through the game with you on a set of toddler reins, but sometimes there is such a thing as stepping away a tad too far. Some players may love learning through trial and error, but I'm a needy sort who needs constant validation that what I'm doing is what I'm supposed to be doing!
This is a little guide for the Steam title Kindergarten - it's a great little puzzle/logic/interactive story game, costs only £3.99 and will keep you entertained and scratching your head for hours. Many of the puzzles and characters' storylines require strict timing and succession of events - and I recommend you try your hardest to figure out the puzzles on your own before consulting my guide below. With that being said, if you're pulling your hair out - here's the guide. Obviously, it contains SPOILERS. (Click on the screenshots to enlarge them!) ------------------------------------------------------------- Before school starts:
Withdraw $3.00 from your piggy bank.
Take Ms. Applegate's phone from your shelf. (You must've first completed Buggs' storyline for this to become available.)
Take the forged key to the Principal's office from your shelf. (You must've first completed Monty's storyline for this to become available.)
Take Billy's note from your shelf. (You must've first completed Nugget's storyline for this to become available.)
Playground:
Talk to Lily and tell her you do know what happened to her brother Billy while showing her Nugget's note.
Unfortunately neither you or Lily can read yet, so find someone who can - Monty! He will charge you $1.00 to decipher the note.
Return to Lily and tell her what you found out. Then show her the key you have to the Principal's office.
Talk to Monty and purchase the pack of cigarettes. ($1.00)
Talk to Nugget and follow the conversation branches until you are talking about Billy. Press Nugget for information until you are sent to the Principal's office.
When being interrogated by the Principal, agree that you have been feeling sad about Billy. He will give you some of Nugget's special pills.
When allowed to leave, go and check the suspicious and somewhat "out of place" rug - ta-da, it's the secret hatch!
Morning time:
Upon returning to the classroom, talk to Lily and tell her that you found the hatch.
Try to leave the classroom - Ms. Applegate will stop you. Ask her if you *may* use the bathroom and she will give you the bathroom pass. Use this to get past the hall monitor.
Inspect each toilet cubicle and the dirty toilet then tell the Janitor to do his job for a change and clean it up!
Inspect the bloody bags and take the severed finger...
Lunch:
Talk to Lily and tell her that you found a severed finger...
Talk to Monty and ask him if he has finished deciphering the note from earlier.
Take the note to Lily. Agree to team up with her and go to the bathrooms to deal with the hall monitor.
He is easily bribed with the pack of cigarettes you bought earlier from Monty. Lily will then use the phone to call the Principal in order to get him to leave his office. Go to his office and use your key to gain entry.
The hatch needs a code to access it, so inspect the drawer on the left-hand side of the Principal's desk and enter your code.
Ah! A secret underground laboratory with bio-organic weapons in cultivation tanks! How novel, what an original concept for a video game!
Ahem. Anyway, Billy is the creature suspended in the central tank. There is a specific order in which you must press the coloured buttons. Incorrect guesses will either result in monsters escaping or Billy being... liquidised.
This is a little guide for the Steam title Kindergarten - it's a great little puzzle/logic/interactive story game, costs only £3.99 and will keep you entertained and scratching your head for hours. Many of the puzzles and characters' storylines require strict timing and succession of events - and I recommend you try your hardest to figure out the puzzles on your own before consulting my guide below. With that being said, if you're pulling your hair out - here's the guide. Obviously, it contains SPOILERS. (Click on the screenshots to enlarge them!) ------------------------------------------------------------- Before school starts:
Withdraw at least $3.10 from your piggy bank. You will need to start a fight with Buggs, so ensure you have over $3.00.
Take the lunch pass from your shelf. (You must've first completed Ms. Applegate's storyline for this to become available.)
Playground:
Buggs will try to steal your money - accept his threat and give him half.
Speak to Ms. Applegate and tell on Buggs. She will encourage you to start a fight with him then call for her help once he starts beating you up. Refuse.
Talk to Nugget until the option to ask about Billy comes up. Keep pressing him for information until you are sent to the Principal's office.
In the Principal's office, admit to feeling sad about Billy. He will give you one of Nugget's special pills.
Once you get back to the classroom, Ms. Applegate will offer to buy the pill from you for a dollar. Agree.
Morning time:
Buggs will call you over and offer a partnership in which you will work together to murder Ms. Applegate. Agree to help him.
Show Buggs your lunch pass as your method of getting Ms. Applegate alone.
Go to Nugget's cubby and steal the nugget. (Don't worry, Ms. Applegate is too high on pills to notice you stealing this time.)
Go to Jerome's cubby and steal the explosive device.
Talk to Monty about arranging a distraction, then give him the explosive device. He will rig it up with a remote control.
Show the device to Buggs, who will instruct you to stick it under a table.
Stick it under the table at the top of the room where Lily and Jerome are sitting.
Lunch:
At the start of lunch time, use your lunch pass to have lunch with Ms. Applegate.
As she instructs you to take a bite from your (poisoned) Silly Meal, activate the distraction. The sound of the explosion will cause her to turn her back to you.
While her back is turned, plunge Buggs' knife into her spine.
Recess:
Talk to Buggs, who will order you to find a hiding place for the murder weapon, the knife.
Talk to Nugget and ask him if you can "contribute" a knife to the Nugget Cave.
Remind Nugget that you two are friends by showing him your "Nugget of Friendship." Nugget will agree to let you dispose of the knife.
Show & Tell:
As the Principal calls Buggs over, he will slip you Ms. Applegate's phone secretly. At the end of the day, he allows you to keep it.
