For Aiko, Hazumi, and Oto-chan, this should have been a time when they focused on their studies.
But Aiko was a top student — she never needed to worry about academics.
Oto-chan was relatively disciplined too, so there was no real concern when it came to her studies. Among the three, Hazumi was probably the weakest. She was always a bit naïve and didn't like studying.
However, with two strong role models beside her, their regular study sessions were still very helpful to her, so she hadn't fallen behind too much.
Today, the three of them had originally planned to have a study session.
But before that, they decided to try out Stardew Valley, the brand-new game made entirely by their idol Takayuki.
From the looks and the promotional content, there wasn't anything particularly appealing about this game.
If Aiko hadn't known it was created by the so-called "God of Games," she probably would've never touched it in her entire life. She would've considered it a waste of time and thought she should be spending her energy studying how large-scale games were made.
...
...
But just because it had Takayuki's name on it, she decided to give it a shot.
The other two girls had similar thoughts — though Hazumi was a bit more enthusiastic, because she knew it was a game where you could mine and pick mushrooms. For some reason, she was naturally drawn to that type of gameplay.
In Monster Hunter, she had no interest in hunting monsters. All she liked was mining and mushroom gathering.
So far, Hazumi had caught over a thousand different kinds of fish in Monster Hunter, and had mined and collected countless mushrooms. Through online play, she had even given equipment materials to Aiko and Oto-chan, while she focused only on mining and gathering.
If she could love a side activity in Monster Hunter that much, then a game centered entirely around mining and gathering mushrooms would naturally attract her.
The three girls each had different expectations as they tried the game — two of them weren't particularly excited.
But after a single night passed, Aiko and Oto-chan were a bit dazed, while only Hazumi was still full of energy, operating the computer and playing Stardew Valley.
What did we even do all night?
The whole night, the three girls were caught up thinking about what tasks to do in-game today, and what to plan for tomorrow.
In the game, the character's days were incredibly productive. Time management was used to the fullest, and with a top student present, managing time was never an issue.
But Aiko and Oto-chan just couldn't believe they were immersed in this game.
It was seriously unbelievable.
This had never happened before!
The game looked so rough. The graphics were very simplistic — only as good as SFC-era 2D visuals, or maybe even worse. The only thing nice was the beautiful and soothing music.
But beautiful music alone shouldn't make people this invested — it wasn't a rhythm game.
The only way to describe it was that this game had a unique kind of magic.
Aiko didn't understand it. Oto-chan didn't either.
As for Hazumi, she had already forgotten about her two best friends and was completely absorbed in the game.
She swore it was the best game she had ever played. It was a perfect match for her.
"Oto-chan, what do you think of this game?"
Aiko had a very complicated expression.
She really wanted to deny that a game with such simple graphics could be interesting or attractive. She wanted to find someone who could deny all of it with her.
But Oto-chan answered without hesitation, "It's fun. I can't really explain why. These kinds of boring-sounding tasks should feel tedious, but once you start playing, you just get absorbed."
The only explanation was that the game truly was different.
Hearing her close friend say that made Aiko start to waver inside too.
Could it be... that games didn't necessarily need top-tier graphics and high budgets?
Maybe other people didn't know who really made this game, but the three of them did. They also knew the entire development process. The three of them had practically watched the whole thing unfold from start to finish.
Of course, making a similar game themselves right now would still be hard — game development experience isn't something you pick up overnight.
But making something with similar gameplay — even just a simple farming game — was something they could manage.
Because when Takayuki demonstrated it, he deliberately chose the simplest development method. He barely used any visible code — most of it was done with Unreal Engine's built-in tools, just dragging and dropping some key instruction sets into the game framework.
There were downsides to this, like a lack of stability, but that didn't matter much to Takayuki. As long as the game wasn't too complex, any bugs that popped up wouldn't be severe.
And yet — this kind of game, something anyone could make — had such incredible magic.
Takayuki had basically just put in his experience and wisdom, then spent a month to prove a point to the three girls.
Fun — fun is the essence of video games.
Graphics, big budgets — these were nice bonuses, but not the core.
Without them, a game could still be successful.
Aiko suddenly said, "To be honest, this game reminds me of a summer vacation I once spent at my grandfather's house. That time was so peaceful. All I had to think about was how to tend the field, and I didn't have to worry about school at all."
Oto-chan nodded. "I had a similar experience. Maybe that's where the charm of this game lies?"
Aiko shook her head. "I don't know. But at least I can say for sure — this game is really fun."
Oto-chan said, "Of course! Just look at that dummy Hazumi — she's about to climb inside the computer. That alone proves how charming this game is."
Right then, Hazumi suddenly shouted, "Hey hey! Don't badmouth me! We're playing this together! Hurry up and tell me the most efficient way to play!"
The two looked at Hazumi, then the three of them once again dove into another day of Stardew Valley time.
"Stardew Valley? What kind of game is that?"
"The graphics are trash. The character animations suck. How did this even get on Battlenet? Aren't they worried about ruining the platform's reputation?"
"Hmm… but it's pretty cheap. Whatever, I just played a few online StarCraft matches and my blood pressure is through the roof — I'll try this to chill out."
At that moment, many players on the Battlenet platform were noticing this unique game.
The graphics looked rough, but after the high-intensity StarCraft matches and the gory violence of Doom, they all wanted something more relaxing — and Stardew Valley seemed like a good option.
Then, without realizing it, they too got deeply immersed in the world of Stardew Valley and couldn't pull themselves out.
What? The whole night passed?
What even happened?
Almost everyone who played the game ended up saying something similar a few days later.