The only lesson Animal Crossing should learn from Stardew Valley has nothing to do with farming

Both Animal Crossing: New Horizons and Valley of the Stars are considered the cornerstone of the cozy game genre, but the former has a lot to learn from the latter when it comes to keeping players happy in the long run. Offering players a gaming experience that lasts hundreds of hours, Valley of the Stars It has truly stood the test of time. Setting the precedent for the cozy game genre, Valley of the Stars set an example for all slower paced gems to follow in the footsteps of.

Animal crossing was also a huge success for the life simulator genre, especially reaching new heights of success when Animal Crossing: New Horizons released in 2020. Attracting fans with its escape from the real world, players quickly loved the laid-back nature of the game on offer. But there is one thing that Animal Crossing: New Horizons failed to fulfill, something that Valley of the Stars continues to bring to this day: game updates.

Stardew Valley creator ConcernedApe kept the content coming

Big updates always keep Stardew Valley feeling fresh

Despite being primarily worked on by solo developer ConcernedApe, one of the main factors for Valley of the StarsThe continued success of the frequent free updates that the game receives. Whether it’s details like new items like mystery boxes, new events added as seen in update 1.6, or the massive addition of Ginger Island content that gave players a new focus upon completion, the game is far from running its course. With no paid DLC or incentive other than a true passion for the game’s potential, it’s clear that Valley of the Stars He thrives on being truly worshiped by his creator.

Although it has been more than eight years since the game’s first release, large and frequent updates are still released regularly for Valley of the Stars without fail. New systems like mastery and skills have increased the game’s potential tenfold, and they’re also far from the only new features in each update. With so much devotion and care, Valley of the Stars has prospered without fail and clearly has much more to offer.

Animal Crossing has a lot to learn from ConcernedApe

Animal Crossing: New Horizons becomes obsolete without updates

While ACNH was highly successful at launch, the game has had few updates since then. With its final free and paid DLC content updates coming in 2021, the game has been neglected in many ways since then. As fans fight to keep the game alive, there is little that can be said or done to keep players coming back for moreespecially since you can only have one island per Nintendo Switch, which severely limits replayability.

Despite New Horizons not delivering exactly the large amount of content that previous games had offered since launch, such as minigames, players were optimistic that Nintendo would continue to support the title after launch. While the developer never committed to this, it was widely expected, leaving a bitter taste in long-term players’ mouths now in 2024 when it didn’t happen. The game’s 2.0 update introduced some much-needed features like The Roost cafe and cooking, but there is no further support planned for the game.

There are many things that could renew ACNHThe breath of life from, not just the minigames mentioned above, but crossover content, new amiibo cards and characters, improved multiplayer, new items, new areas, deeper friendship mechanics, better crafting, and anything else anyone can imagine. Although something like combat, presented in the caves and mines of Starcan be stretched to ACNHpremise, StarIt’s many features – along with its semi-regular updates and fixes – make it ACNH I feel shallow in comparison. With Animal Crossing: New Horizons being abandoned without future content being seen, it’s clear that Nintendo needs to learn from what ConcernedApe has proven will keep players returning.