Category: Games

Stardew Valley developer Eric Barone has announced a new board game adaptation of the popular farm life game, and it’s available to order now for $55.

The result of a collaboration between Stardew Valley’s sole developer Barone (who often goes by the moniker ConcernedApe) and Cole Medeiros, ConcernedApe’s head of operations and business development, the project took a total of two years to design.

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“In 2018 Eric Barone and Cole Medeiros, introduced online through their mutual friend Matt Griffin, played a co-op game of Stardew Valley and discussed the idea of making a Stardew Valley board game,” the announcement reads. “They didn’t know exactly what it would look like, but they knew Stardew had all the components of a great board game.”

After two years of refining and playtesting, all spent in between development time for the video game, the pair officially had a board game.

Much like the original video game, players work cooperatively to grow crops, raise animals, build out their farm, and gather resources from across the valley. Players can also befriend the familiar townspeople and earn hearts to reveal secret goals. To win, you’ll need to restore the Valley to its original greatness and keep Joja Mart from mucking it all up. The game can be played with 1 – 4 players, with an estimated 45 minutes of playtime per player.

To do all that, players need to achieve four “Granda Goals” and restore all of the community center rooms before a deck of season cards is exhausted.

The game, which retails for $55, comes with a board of Stardew Valley to play on, tiles (for items like crops, ore, buildings, animals, etc), numerous cards for things like events, epic items, and mine levels, gold tokens, and more.

ConcernedApe notes to fans that the board game is meant to evoke the lengthy nature of playing Stardew Valley, so while it’s designed to be easy to play, it will have a lot of complexity to it, so check out the official rulebook to see if it’s your jam.

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ConcernedApe also says that once the first print run is sold out, future prints will depend on how much demand there still is.

“If there’s more demand for it, then we’ll definitely do more print runs, and maybe slowly expand… we’re kind of just testing the waters for now and see what the response is,” ConcernedApe wrote.

The Stardew Valley board game is almost certain to prove popular with fans of the original game. We here at IGN proclaimed it one of the best Nintendo Switch games, and the original video game has now sold more than 10 million copies across six platforms. ConcernedApe also has two new projects in the works, both of which will tie into Stardew Valley in different ways.

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Joseph Knoop is a writer/producer/geode smasher for IGN.

Stardew Valley is available on pretty much every gaming platform at this point, but it’s now branching into an entirely new medium. Stardew Valley: The Board Game was announced today by developer ConcernedApe, and even better: It’s available to buy now. The official Stardew Valley board game costs $55, and you can get your copy through the Stardew Valley website. Unfortunately, orders ship only to the US for now.

According to the official website, Stardew Valley: The Board Game is a co-op game where you work together with other players to restore the Valley by building up your farm and growing crops, raising animals, and harvesting resources. Of course, a major part of Stardew Valley is also forming friendships with the local villagers, and that plays a role here as well–as you deepen your relationships, you’ll earn hearts that reveal hidden goals. The ultimate goal, of course, is to prevent Joja Corporation from taking over and preserve the thriving local community of Pelican Town.

The Stardew Valley board game is designed for one to four players, with each standard playthrough lasting roughly 45 minutes for each player participating (so about an hour and a half for a two-person game, for instance). There are rules that make the game harder or easier based on your preferences, but it’s emphasized that this isn’t a quick casual board game–rather, it was designed with some complexity and depth in mind. The rulebook PDF is available online, if you want to check that out before buying.

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In a reply to one follower on Twitter who asked if the board game will be an exclusive release or in constant production, ConcernedApe explained that the long-term plan for Stardew Valley: The Board Game will be based on the level of interest it garners. “If there’s more demand for it, then we’ll definitely do more print runs, and maybe slowly expand,” he wrote. “We’re kind of just testing the waters for now and [seeing] what the response is.”

The Stardew Valley board game has been in development for over two years and marks the first project that ConcernedApe (whose real name is Eric Barone) has been the publisher on from start to finish (the video game was published by Chucklefish until 2018).

“For more than two-and-a-half years I’ve been working together with board game designer Cole Medeiros to make a board game that captures the essence of Stardew Valley,” ConcernedApe wrote in the board game’s announcement post. “It has pretty much everything from the video game: villagers, crops, animals, fishing, foraging, mining, and more. We worked hard to make a board game we think is really fun to play and to look at. I hope you enjoy it!”

Read more: The best board games to play in 2021

PlayStation has announced a State of Play will premiere later this week on Thursday, February 25 at 2 pm PT/5 PM ET. The new State of Play will feature updates and deep dives on games coming to both PS4 and PS5.

PlayStation published a new blog announcing the newest State of Play will premiere later this week and will “serve up updates and deep dives for 10 games coming to PS4 and PS5.” Along with updates on existing third-party and indie titles, there will also be new game announcements.

State of Play returns this Thursday! Tune in live at 2 PM PT/5 PM ET to see updates and deep dives for games coming to PS4 and PS5.

Full details: https://t.co/qMFCMCuIGU pic.twitter.com/NjwB40YlU1

— PlayStation (@PlayStation) February 23, 2021

PlayStation says the show will be around “30 minutes or so, give or take” and that there will be no hardware or business-focused updates during the show. That means the full 30 minutes will be spent on games.

This is the first variety State of Play from PlayStation since August 2020, which showcased a variety of third-party games coming to the PlayStation 5. A smaller State of Play focused entirely on Destruction AllStars was released in January.

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Sony has been slowly ramping up its announcement cycle as the company announced it is working on a PlayStation VR 2 headset for PS5, a delay for Gran Turismo 7, and that it’s bringing more first-party PlayStation games to PC such as Days Gone later this spring. The zombie game from Bend Studio will be the second PlayStation-exclusive coming to PC after Horizon Zero Dawn.

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Matt T.M. Kim is News Editor at IGN.

DC is making a Blue Beetle film, and it already has a director. The Wrap reports that Charm City Kings director Angel Manuel Soto is set to direct Blue Beetle, which will focus on Mexican-American teen Jaime Reyes, the third character to adopt the Blue Beetle name.

Writing the film is Mexican-born Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer, writer on Universal’s upcoming Scarface remake.

“It is an honor to direct Blue Beetle, the first Latino superhero film for DC,” Soto told TheWrap. “I want to sincerely thank everyone at Warner Bros. and DC for trusting me to bring Jaime Reyes to life. I can’t wait to make history together.”

The film is scheduled to start production in the fall.

Debuting in 2006, Jaime Reyes is noted for being significantly different from previous Blue Beetles. With no prior connection to superheroes or super abilities, Reyes’ origin story sees him discover the titular Blue Beetle scarab, a piece of alien technology which grafts itself onto the base of his spine and gives him a powerful suit of armor, an energy cannon, powered blades, wings, and several other abilities.

Reyes was quickly found by Booster Gold, another DC hero, who introduces him to the Justice League, and the two eventually become frequent partners in crime fighting.

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DC originally announced a Blue Beetle movie was in the works in 2018, with Dunnet-Alcocer still attached to write. A Blue Beetle and Booster Gold live-action film was previously rumored in 2015, but nothing ended up materializing.

Blue Beetle also ended up becoming a popular character in DC’s animated universe, including Batman: The Brave and the Bold and season two of Young Justice.

Blue Beetle is also set to appear in a new DC animated film sometime in 2022.

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Joseph Knoop is a writer/producer for IGN.