We’ve already posted an exhaustive preview of Stardew Valley ($7.99), but I’ve been basically playing it non-stop since I first got TestFlight access last friday. This game is the real deal, and if you’ve ever found yourself annoyed that the vast majority of farming games on the App Store are all timer-laden free to play garbage, just stop reading right now and download Stardew Valley. It’s a game I’ve now bought on three different platforms, and am closing in on around 600 hours total played between all of them. That’s almost one whole calendar month of combined time, and I still feel like I’ve got things left to do.

Stardew Valley was first released in early 2016 on the PC, and with the advent of the mobile ports, is now available on basically every platform you’d ever want to play the game on. The game begins with your grandfather leaving you his farm, which has since fallen into ruin. At its most basic, Stardew Valley is a Harvest Moon-like game of planting crops then watering and eventually harvesting them, turning a profit, then re-investing that profit in expanding your farm in a variety of interesting ways. The depth of that variety is pretty incredible, particularly as crafting, multiple sub-skills, and livestock all get thrown into the mix. Of course farming isn’t all you do, there’s an entire village of people waiting for you to get to know (and eventually even marry), an extensive fishing sys...