‘Stardew Valley’ has become escape from quarantine boredom. Game’s creator grew up nearby

As the stay-at-home order continues in Washington, people are trying to find different ways to keep themselves entertained at home.

There are things like Netflix, reading books or working on those projects around the house that have been put off for months.

Then there are video games. While there is a bias that the best ones are action-packed, some have a beauty in their simplicity.

“Stardew Valley” is one of those games. It whisks players away from reality and puts them on their own virtual farm where they are asked to forge their own story.

“It was inspired by a farming game I played as a child called ‘Harvest Moon.’ I wanted to recreate the magical feeling that that game gave me and take it even further with modern game design sensibilities,” said game creator and Auburn native Eric Barone. “I’ve lived in the Pacific Northwest my whole life, so the feeling of this nature is deeply ingrained in me. Many items in the game are local to this area, like salmonberries, ferns and chanterelles.”

The entire world of “Stardew Valley,” right down to the pixel art, is the sole creation of Barone, who now lives in Seattle. It has struck a chord with many video game players across the world. The game has been translated into several languages and sold over 10 million copies.

Before “Stardew Valley” became a hit, Barone wanted to go to college. Growing up in Auburn, one of the more popular choices would have been the University of Washington.

Instead of the main campus in Seattle, Barone chose to go to the Tacoma branch to pursue his degree.

“I liked that UWT seemed more laid-back than the Seattle campus and was more focused on the local community,” he said. “After ‘Stardew Valley’ got popular, I talked to some of my old teachers again, and they were very happy about my success. I even went back to UWT and gave a talk to some computer science students.”

Upon his 2011 graduation from the UWT with a degree in computer science and systems, Barone began working as an usher at the Paramount Theater in Seattle.

Wanting to recreate his nostalgic feelings of “Harvest Moon,” Barone set off on his journey of making one of the biggest indie video game hits ever.

“I started development in late 2011, after I had graduated from UW Tacoma,” said Barone, 32. “My original idea was to create a very small and quick game in order to get better at programming. That ended up evolving in ‘Stardew Valley’ over the course of the next 4.5 years.”

Barone’s time quickly became engulfed in developing “Stardew Valley.” He often spent 70-80 hours a week creating the original build.

Typically, a game developer would hire specialists to work the technical aspects of a particular title. But again, that huge undertaking was all done by Barone: the writing, coding, music, art, sounds.

With the game’s growth in popularity, it not only gathered comparisons to “Harvest Moon” but also the praise from that series’ creator Yasuhiro Wada.

“That was really a huge honor. Mr. Wada is a big inspiration for me and someone I really admire. He came up with the original idea of a ‘farming RPG’, which was something very unique at the time,” Barone said. “I’m really glad he likes ‘Stardew Valley’ and appreciates that people are continuing the tradition that he started.”

It may be a tradition that Wada started, but Barone has brought it back to the mainstream with his interpretation of the genre. In fact, it is a “surreal” feeling for Barone to see his game compete for attention with the ones that inspired him.

Although Barone is used to it, it can still feel abstract with even more attention being thrown his way.

Many people seeking entertainment in these days of COVID-19 have turned to “Stardew Valley.”

A game as large and as expansive as “Stardew Valley” can seem daunting at first, but it was Barone’s intention for players to carve their own path.

“Take your time. Although the game has a daily time limit, there’s no punishment for taking things as slow as you want,” Barone said. “Explore and experiment at your own pace. It’s all about having fun.”

The game is available on all the major game consoles, PC, Apple and Android smart phones. It runs $14.99 for a digital copy and $19.99 for a physical copy from Amazon.

Of course, Barone also is staying at home during this new normal, working on continuous updates to “Stardew Valley” as well as other projects he hopes to publish in the future.

“As a solo game developer, I’m accustomed to spending most of my time alone in front of the computer, so the stay-at-home order doesn’t really affect my lifestyle much,” Barone said. “If ‘Stardew Valley’ can help a lot of people get through this difficult time, that makes me very happy.”