If you haven’t heard of it before; Stardew Valley is now an esports title. Anyone familiar with the effort to complete one last and vital task before going to asleep knows that Stardew Valley can be tough, although it may seem like a typical farming game.
Stardew Valley Cup proved that the game could host a competitive event. On September 4, four teams competed for a prize pool of over $40,000. Each team was given a beach farm on a co-op map. They were also given three hours to complete as many tasks as they could from a list. The challenges, however, were designed by Unsurpassable Z, who broadcast the event with Stardew creator Eric Barone. (Barone also donated to the prize pool.)
These challenges ranged from easy things like giving Pam a pale beer for five points to more difficult quests like getting 25 points in the Skull Cave or reaching the hundredth floor.
The teams had two weeks before competing to come up with a plan. However, a bonus challenge of fifty points was thrown every half hour to distract teams that were fully focused on the game.
Sandy’s Candies won the inaugural Stardew Valley Cup. The team, consisting of TheHaboo, brandiganBTW, lilsimsie and Fuzzireno, beat Pierree’s Cherry, which was in second place with 597 points, with 661 points, with a last-minute banking strategy. The winning team got $28,000, while 3nd place got $10,000, 3rd $4,000 and 4th $1,600.
You can watch the commentary of Stardew Valley Cup on Twitch. You can also see how it plays out from the winners’ point of view. As the event wrapped up, Barone said, “It’s really cool to be able to do something like this. “And it’s nice that so many people are interested in this small, chirpy, independent farming game that I’m making.”
