It isn’t surprising for videogames to be turned into tabletop games and vice versa. But could you imagine turning a farming simulator into a board game? Yep, I couldn’t either. That is until two graphic design students from the Netherlands decided to take on that challenge with beloved game Stardew Valley.
The students, Sanna Vonk and Mikail Yucel, were both interviewed by PC Gamer to talk about their school project which garnered a lot of attention on Reddit.
“The project task was to create a board game about whatever you wanted,” Sanna said. “Since we both love videogames, we figured that making the board game about a videogame we both played would be the most fun and logical. When we got the assignment it didn’t take very long to come to the conclusion to make it about Stardew Valley.”
“We chose to make the game about Stardew Valley because we love the art style,” Mikail added. “And the base of the game fits perfectly into a board game.”
The gameplay is rather simple, inspired by the mechanics of Monopoly and Ludo. You are tasked to grow one of each crop—a carrot, potato, strawberry, and onion—before your opponents do. To do so, you’ll need to draw four of the same type of seed card from the deck. All the while, you move around the board according to the number of steps shown on a 6-sided die and perform the action specified on the spot you landed on. Actions can involve drawing cards, planting seeds, and harvesting crops. Meanwhile, the cards you collect will allow you to perform actions anytime during the game such as avoiding skip-a-turn spaces, stealing someone else’s harvest, or willingly giving an opponent an extra turn—if you were nice enough.
There’s a twist to the game, however. Some spaces signify a change of seasons, and landing on that space will mean all your previous crops will wither and die, just like in a real farming simulator. So it would be best if you strategize by making use of your collected cards.
There’s also a fun little extension to the game—a mini-board of a mine where you can collect treasure cards that give you even more abilities to help you win the game!
Sadly, this is just a school project and will most likely not be made available for sale especially with copyright issues. But I do wish it was real because I’d want to play it ASAP!
(ALSO READ: Gather Up Your Friends: These Board Games Require Deception!)
What are your thoughts about this game? Share them in the comments below!
Images from Sanna Vonk and Mikail Yucel
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