Stardew Valley: Corporate vs. Human Greed

By Sophia Pascoal

Capitalism — an economic system characterized by private ownership — has been on the rise since the 16th century, spreading across the world, and even making its way into video games. Stardew Valley is a prime example of this phenomenon. Single-handedly developed by Eric Barone, or ConcernedApe, Stardew Valley is an indie farm life simulator in which players manage a farm by growing crops, raising animals, and selling produce. The game also incorporates role-playing elements with the development of various skills, as well as the opportunity to marry and have children. Such features are familiar to those who have played Story of Seasons (previously known as Harvest Moon), as it is heavily inspired by the classic. However, while it sounds innocent enough, Stardew Valley has caused disagreements and debates within its community since the release in 2016. This is particularly because of one feature — the JojaMart route (see Image 1).

To understand such controversy over pixels, one must first know what Stardew Valley (SDV) entails. SDV takes place in a fictional village named Pelican Town; it is where the player resides after inheriting their grandfather’s old farm. Consisting of several small businesses, such as Pierre’s General Store and The Stardrop Saloon, Pelican Town is also home to a major supermarket chain known as JojaMart. In fact, it was the player’s former employer before moving to the village (see Video 1).

JojaMart is essentially SDV’s version of Walmart or Target; it sells a variety of flower / fruit / vegetable seeds, cooking ingredients, wallpaper and flooring, a furniture catalogue, etc. The store is located to the far right of Pelican Town and is managed by a villager named Morris, whom players demonize for his stereotypical money-hungry attitude (see Image 2).

Although JojaMart is just one of the numerous locations that players may visit, it has an important role in SDV. Because while there is no end state to the game, players are provided with two routes — the Community Center and JojaMart. Recall that the JojaMart route is the center of SDV’s controversy. To begin, the player must purchase a Joja membership for 5,000 gold — the in-game currency. Then, they will be given a Community Development Form to which they must input gold towards various projects, totaling out to 135,000. But what about the Community Center route?

Firstly, the Community Center is a dilapidated building located north of town square (see Image 3). It is locked for the first few in-game days, until a cutscene occurs in which the mayor of Pelican Town, Lewis, speaks to the player and explains what happened (see Video 2). In short: “It used to be the pride and joy of the town, always bustling with activity. . . These days, the young folk would rather sit in front of the TV than engage with the community.” This conversation results in Mayor Lewis unlocking the building and a quest that jumpstarts the Community Center route. Players are prompted to “investigate the Community Center.” Once that is settled, they are requested to collect several specific items by farming, fishing, and mining.

It is optional, but encouraged to complete one of the two routes, as they are highly beneficial to the player by rewarding otherwise locked features. This includes the greenhouse, minecarts, and many others. Nonetheless, players may advance their farms without completing either one; they simply will not have access to certain aspects of the game. That being said, the majority of players do work towards one or the other.

It is important to note that both sets of requirements are seemingly distinctive; one asks players to donate items, whereas the other asks them to earn gold. Without a doubt, this is where the controversy lies — strenuously working to give money to an already wealthy company (see Image 4).

By choosing to complete the JojaMart route, players essentially decide to continue to live under capitalism, despite SDV’s storyline of leaving that kind of harsh lifestyle to start a farm. They are siding with a stereotypical major corporation that could not care less about the well-being of their employees as long as money is involved. At least, that is what the bulk of SDV’s community believes. And it is for this reason that many players shy away from ever completing the JojaMart route, with a mere 4.4 % recorded on Steam compared to 20 % for the Community Center route (see Image 5).

However, this is the same community that maximizes in-game profitability; the same community that frequently shares the newest lucrative methods with each other (see Image 6). Regardless of players’ decision to complete either JojaMart or the Community Center, money-making has become the sole focus of the game. And that is not the fault of the creator, but of the consumers, though one can argue that Eric “ConcernedApe” Barone purposefully created JojaMar with such dichotomy in mind. Joja Corporation was never meant to simply be the antagonist; rather, it was designed to evince the greed and hypocrisy in all of us. Because no matter who players side with, the pursuit of profit is the ultimate goal.

Let’s begin with the simple fact that the completion of either route unlocks the exact same features. The full list includes: the bus to Calico Desert, the bridge to the Quarry, a panning tool, minecarts, and the greenhouse. This is the first indication of correspondence between the Community Center and JojaMart. The sole difference in receipt is the Soda Machine (from JojaMart) and the Stardew Hero Trophy (from the Community Center) — two ordinary decor pieces that players often forget about (see Image 7). After all, they exert immense labor to reach completion; such items are not worthwhile.

Speaking of labor, both routes require considerable effort and time. Though some may say that the Community Center requires more. In Ana Diaz’s essay, “In Defense of the JojaMart Route in Stardew Valley,” she states: “. . . the JojaMart route gives players more freedom and flexibility to pursue what they want.” And in contrast, “the Community Center route lend[s] itself to grinding and subsequent productivity dread.” This is a valid claim in view of both sets of requirements. Recall that to complete the Community Center, players must collect copious, and oftentimes valuable items, not to mention the season-dependent crops and fish. This is particularly important, because while there is no time constraint, the game does keep track of days.

The player has 28 days every spring, summer, fall, and winter to gather what they need specific to the season; therefore, the Community Center may only be completed in one year minimum. But if players miss a spring-time crop, for example, they will have to wait 84 in-game days for spring to arrive again to purchase its seed, to then wait some additional days for it to grow. Or they may purchase crops from the traveling cart at any time of year on Fridays and Sundays (see Image 8). That is, if they are willing to spend double, sometimes even triple, the normal cost. And this is on top of the fact that its selection varies from visit to visit — it is not guaranteed to sell what the player may need.

On the contrary, the JojaMart route is relatively lightweight. Yes, there is an abundance of gold to be earned, but it may come from anywhere. If players want to earn all of their gold with the very first vegetable seed they receive, parsnips, then they can. It may prolong the route’s completion, as parsnips are one of the cheapest harvestables, but it can absolutely be done. There is no need to go fishing for hours at a time (in-game) in hopes of catching a catfish. There is no need to purchase hundreds of gold worth of melon seeds in hopes of harvesting five gold quality ones. Players merely sell whatever their hearts desire, and the JojaMart route will be completed in no time (see Image 9).

Returning to similarities, the second indication of correspondence between the Community Center and JojaMart is none other than music, or the lack thereof. Players of SDV know that its soundtrack, composed by the developer himself, is a major aspect of the game. Each season consists of an array of instrumental tracks — even the mines has its own distinctive music. Because of this, one would assume that if the Community Center is as crucial as most players make it out to be, it would have a specially made track play while inside. Funnily enough, it does not.

Before the restoration of the Community Center (i.e., completion of the route), the building is, as mentioned, run-down and abandoned. Therefore, it is expected that no music plays while inside. The most it has is white noise and wind chimes (see Audio 1). The significance in music, however, comes after the Community Center is restored. Because after restoration, there is no longer that reposeful ambiance; instead, it will be the current track that is playing before the player enters the building (see Video 3).

This seemingly small detail holds great significance due to SDV’s purposeful soundtrack. As stated, it is pivotal to the game; it is influenced by the seasons, location, etc. But why is the music not influenced by the Community Center if that is the supposed be-all and end-all of SDV? Well, simply because it is not. And in the same way that the Community Center does not have a specially made track, neither does JojaMart, nor its warehouse (see Image 10).

All of this goes to say that those who glorify the Community Center, but bash on JojaMart, are for the same concept that they deem disgraceful — labor and money. The Community Center may not outwardly solicit gold from the player like JojaMart does (apart from the Vault bundles, in which 42,500 gold is required to repair, or unlock, the bus to Calico Desert), but note all of the costly items that must be given for full completion of the route. This includes, but is not limited to: red cabbage (260g), wool (340g), rabbit’s foot (565g), and truffle oil (1,065g). Keep in mind that these selling prices are the base; in other words, if the quality — silver, gold, iridium — is higher, so is the selling price.

In conclusion, the Community Center route is no better than the JojaMart route and vice versa. Of course, players may have their opinions on which is easier or more enjoyable to complete. But in regards to economic-related morals and values, the two routes are essentially the same. And the correspondence, as presented above, is intentional. Barone seamlessly weaved such similarities into the gameplay to portray a hypocritical divide by reason of money. He did it to showcase that money is humanity’s holy grail, regardless of who you are or what you do. However, that is not shameful. It is simply how the world came to be.

Author

Sophia Pascoal

View all posts