Henry Kathman

[Early Access] Stardew Valley, Wylde Flowers, and the Future of ‘Wholesome’ Games

Added 2022-11-13 20:37:23 +0000 UTC

Early Access Time! October was such a busy month for me that this video took a little extra long to get out, but I am looking to try something a little different for the holiday season this year so I hope you will stay tuned for that. Thanks for your continued support and enjoy the early access to this video!

Best Wishes - Henry

Spoiler Warning: the following video contains some light spoilers on elements of the game Wylde Flowers, so if you are interested in going into this game blind, consider playing it on PC, Switch, or Apple Arcade before diving in.

This video will be exploring the emergence of the "wholesome" video game first seen in games like Harvest Moon and Animal Crossing, now becoming a genre onto itself with the success of games like Stardew Valley. What is the draw of these sorts of games? Can this truly be considered a genre? What should be the platonic ideal that future wholesome games should strive for?

Original Music by Molly Noise

Additional Music from the Wylde Flowers Original Soundtrack by John Guscott

Script Editing by Argus Swift

Recommended Readings & Sources

Danskin, Ian, "Who Shot Guybrush Threepwood? | Genre and the Adventure Game" Innuendo Studios, YouTube, July 8, 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMVl5U3SlS0

Grayson, Nathan, "The Past, Present And Future Of Stardew Valley" Kotaku Austrailia, Pedestrain Group, March 23, 2016, https://www.kotaku.com.au/2016/03/the-past-present-and-future-of-stardew-valley/

Marks, Tom, "The creators of Stardew Valley and Harvest Moon talk to us about farm games" PC Gamer, Future US Inc, Dec 1, 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ceFR8--6Obo

Nicholas, Heidi. "The rise of wholesome games: A roundtable interview" TrueAchievements, TrueGaming Network Ltd, April 18, 2022, https://www.trueachievements.com/n49021/wholesome-games-interview

Taylor, Matthew, "The Rise of Wholesome Games" Wireframe Magazine, Raspberry Pi LTD, 2020, https://wireframe.raspberrypi.com/articles/the-rise-of-wholesome-games