This is a game that I have been looking forward to for at least 2 and a half years. I have wanted to have a game on the PC that had the elements of harvest moon (for the little bit I played of it), Animal crossing (<3) and Rune factory. I was super excited when I was approached by Leth (publishing manager at Chucklefish) at the beginning of December to help him and ConcernedApe (developer of the game) with bug testing and QA. 400+ hours later (off steam and on steam), I still love the game.

Farming. The farming is fantastic. It is to me one of the main elements of the game, and it's just a joy. Being able to design your farm any way you want it... yes please. Planning out what to buy every season, where to plant them, on top of the thrill of when you can harvest and reap on the gold... it's so enjoyable and addictive.

Fishing. The fishing is outstanding. From playing WoW and Runescape.. or any game with fishing, the fishing in Stardew Valley is so much fun. At first, the fishing is challenging, but as you progress your skill, you become a pro in no time.

Mining and combat. Mining and combat is incredible. Going deeper into the mines can be tough, but if you're prepared with your food and weapon in hand, you can fend off the creatures and get your sweet ore/minerals/gems that you want to bring back to your house and possibly hoard. (Hi, I'm Bexy, and i'm a hoarder.)

Social. Social interactions are great. Being able to become friends with the people in the town, and eventually being able to get into relationships with people and having a family with them.. what's not to like about that? And what's great is that it gives great replayability because you can have different saves with different spouses! The backstory for each of the characters too is so in depth and well thought out, you will be silly if you don't shed a tear maybe once or twice.

Main story. The actual main story is well rewarding, and once you "complete" it, you can still continue on your adventures and farming life with no problems, hell you might even discover new things afterwards, I sure as hell did!

Yes, I was a tester for the game. Yes, I have played for ridiculous amounts of hours. It may feel like i'm being a bit overzealous with this. However you have to remember, I was a tester. I tested the crap out of every aspect with this game, even though there were massive game breaking bugs, errors, glitches, crashes. I still love this game. I reported many a bug, and ConcernedApe was quick to fix them.

And that's the thing, not only is the game amazing, the developer is too. ConcernedApe works around the clock to make sure that bugs are fixed in quick time in order for us to have an amazing experience with this game. And that's true. The experience that you have with this game IS amazing.

Minutes playing turn into hours. Hours turn into "oh no it's time to sleep".
You will forget about time. You will forget about sleep. You will forget that dinner was about 5 hours ago but you couldn't' remember because you were too busy trying to fight off 12 bats that were clobbering you inside the mines while trying to gather that 1 diamond waaaaay in the back.

So yes, I without a shadow of a doubt 150% recommend this game to anyone that wants to "escape" for days on end with what I am classifying as my #1 Game of 2016.