Is Stardew Valley Making Me More Sociable?

I am a bit of a recluse homebody.

I really like my home, my partner, and my dog, and besides my small circle of friends and family, most of the time I think I would be fine never speaking to a new person ever again.

I have my books, my crafts, and my writing. What more could I need?

One of the newer hobbies I’ve picked up in the last few months is playing Stardew Valley. I’m new to the video game world, but my new toggle covers come in today so I guess you could say I’ve acclimated quickly.

If you’ve played Stardew, you know that it’s a farming simulation game where you move to a cute new town and have to build a farm, learn new skills, and connect with other townspeople to progress the story and build relationships.

The last part is what I didn’t realize was becoming engrained in my brain. Things like not being disappointed in myself when “my energy bar is low.” Even just acknowledging that I only have so much energy or brainpower per day is a helpful tool for a recovering overachiever.

The other behavior that I didn’t realize was worming its way into my brain was the necessity of interacting with strangers. I feel like I, like many people, am still recovering from some of my pandemic behaviors. One of those behaviors is limiting my interaction with strangers as much as possible. Grocery pickups, drive-through windows, and having a cozy home all seem to make it pretty easy.

Of course, we go out to eat, I go to my local bookstore, etc. I do leave the house, please believe me. I just try my best not to most days.

But yesterday I needed to drop my dog off for her grooming appointment on the other end of town and to get some work done, so I decided to go to my favorite nearby coffee shop. When their parking lot was so crowded that I ended up having to park two stores over, I genuinely considered calling it then and there. I really wanted to write in a coffee shop this week to try to get more words in, but with that many people? No thank you.

But I really like their coffee and I know I feel comfortable in that particular shop’s space and can usually get a good bit of work in there, so I just decided to go in and try to find a spot (after sitting in my car for an unspecified amount of time).

The thought that got me out of the car? Sometimes you have to interact with strangers to progress the plot.

I didn’t even realize I’d taken it from Stardew Valley until I thought about it for a minute, but it’s true - sometimes you have to talk to strangers to progress the plot. And often, you’ll be surprised by how nice of an interaction you can have.

I even got a smiley face drawn on my coffee cup.

:)