Slowing Down in Pelican Town

In the early game of Stardew Valley, I water fifty crops one by one. I pet every chicken and cow on my farm. I spend entire days chopping down trees.

Since the release of Stardew Valley in 2016, countless other farming and crafting games have followed similar structural pillars: plant, water, harvest. Rinse and repeat until you’re rich. It’s a simple formula, but one that clearly works. Farming games have become wildly popular, with new additions to the genre coming out each year.

With the stress of daily life and influx of content from all angles, it can be difficult to slow down and be in the moment. I find myself scrolling past TikToks that don’t grab me in the first three seconds, only listening to the first minute of songs before changing them. When I’m not engaged and entertained, my thoughts start to race: what will I eat for dinner? What do I have to get done for work tomorrow? What other media can I consume to keep myself from becoming bored?

The repetitive actions of a farming game slow me down. I plant, water, and harvest, and for a brief period, I am engaged. There’s relaxation to be found in the monotony of familiar places — in those little corners of pixelated Pelican Town that I return to again and again.