Stardew Valley was a truly legendary game.
It was a farming simulation and management game developed entirely by one person, taking five years to complete.
Its inspiration came from the classic Harvest Moon series, and later games like Minecraft and Animal Crossing also influenced it.
Though Stardew Valley couldn't exactly be called the ultimate culmination of all these titles, it successfully captured the core essence of each, blending them into something unique. It was a rare, top-tier indie game.
And the person behind it?
A single individual — who, by the time Takayuki crossed into this world, had already sold an astonishing 20 million copies.
Keep in mind, Stardew Valley was released in 2016 — an era overflowing with AAA blockbusters and flashy sandbox games. The gaming scene was saturated with dazzling titles.
Yet, Stardew Valley still managed to attract players through its distinct charm. Anyone who played it became hooked.
…
…
That said, the idea of one person taking five years to make a game like that was a bit staggering.
In reality, the developer didn't have a high-efficiency work rate. Out of those five years, only a small fraction was spent in a consistent state of productive development.
At one point, he even relied on his wife's support just to get by. But it wasn't that he was slacking off — it was the burden of going it alone. With almost no feedback during development, he had no idea whether what he was making would be well received, or even if he was on the right track at all. Everything was a shot in the dark.
That kind of pressure cast a heavy shadow over him, often making him question whether his game was truly good enough.
But Takayuki didn't have to worry about such things.
First of all, he was now one of the world's top game developers. His grasp of creative mechanics and gameplay design was already masterful.
Even if he returned to his original world, he'd still be considered a top-tier developer — a result of ten years of experience shaped by countless excellent games.
Secondly, Takayuki was an extremely efficient worker. He wouldn't slack off during development. On top of that, he had a well-established development process and knew exactly how to proceed, which would save a lot of time.
He estimated that, under ideal "no-sleep" conditions, he could complete the initial development of Stardew Valley in just one to two months — enough to include all the core features like farming, decorating, mining, and social interaction.
That would already be plenty. From there, he could continue expanding the game over time, adding new features to flesh it out even more.
"Takayuki, are you really doing all this just to set an example for those three girls?"
Tsukino Aya was a bit taken aback by Takayuki's plan after hearing it.
He was planning to develop the game entirely by himself, without relying on anyone else. For someone like Takayuki, this kind of solo effort was actually a bit inefficient.
There was no real reason for him to do this — and if he was doing it now, the only possible explanation was to inspire the three girls.
"That's part of it," Takayuki replied. "But not all. What you told me about them reminded me of the current state of the industry. I want more developers to realize that games don't have to be massive productions."
Takayuki didn't want the entire gaming industry to grind to a halt without him. He wanted people in this world to keep releasing their creativity and making brilliant games.
His original motivation had never changed — he wanted to enjoy this world's excellent games. Simply recreating games from his past life would get boring after a while.
Now that he had a direction, there was no reason to delay. It was time to begin.
This time, he wouldn't be using his own name. In fact, he didn't even plan to release the game on his own home consoles or handheld platforms at first.
His target was the PC platform.
He had been working on building user habits for PC players via his custom Battlenet-style platform — similar to Steam in his previous world. Now, it already hosted hundreds of games.
But aside from first-party titles like StarCraft and Doom, there weren't any other strong titles.
Some netizens had even joked that it was basically the "Takayuki Launcher" — only good for playing Doom and StarCraft.
Not because other developers were incompetent — it was just that most players still focused on console and handheld gaming. The PC space remained a bit underdeveloped.
But the PC was a perfect breeding ground for indie games. If he could make it thrive, then Stardew Valley would have fulfilled its mission.
Takayuki immediately set down his controller and returned to his bedroom. He couldn't wait to dive into a new round of development — leaving Tsukino Aya behind in a daze.
Once in his room, Takayuki booted up his desktop computer and logged into an old user account he hadn't touched in years.
"Nintendo is the god of the gaming world."
A joke no one in this world would understand. It was a private bit of nostalgia — a romantic notion that belonged solely to Takayuki.
He hadn't used this account since guiding Murakami Kazuo, now the top voice in game criticism.
He had intentionally let the account go dormant, feeling that using it too often would raise suspicion. Besides, Murakami had become the leading figure in game reviews — there was no longer any need for Takayuki to intervene.
But now, after all these years, he felt the urge to use it again.
Seeing that familiar username brought a sense of warmth and nostalgia.
This would be the name under which he launched a new platform.
But that alone wouldn't be enough.
What was his goal? To give indie games their own place in the market — and also, to encourage those three girls. To show them that not all great games required massive budgets.
Indie games could be just as amazing. And for people like them who wanted to break into the industry, indie development might actually be the best path forward.
So this development process — he had to show it to them properly.
And he knew exactly how: by documenting it in the form of a behind-the-scenes documentary.