Capitalism Really Fun in Stardew Valley

By Noelle Medina

PELICAN TOWN – Socialists beware! Despite being advertised as a liberal paradise where everyone is bisexual, beloved cozy game Stardew Valley is actually thinly veiled capitalist propaganda meant to indoctrinate Gen Z into enabling and participating in the exploitation of cheap labor. Unfortunately for socialism, the game is so fucking fun nobody really cares about all of that.

“Even if you decide to overthrow the Joja oligarchy, you’re still living under a capitalist regime,” said cozy political strategist Pearl Sweetfield. “It’s a monopoly in disguise run by crooked Mayor Lewis and his evil lap dog Pierrelon Musk who take advantage of your labor and make Pelican Town unaffordable for its residents.”

“Think about it — you’re carrying the economy on your back and producing the majority of exported goods only for Pierre to jack up prices and take all the credit,” Sweetfield explained. “You’re aiding local development and paying for construction by yourself when Mayor Lewis could easily subsidize, since he is the sole governmental representative in the entire game. Why doesn’t he establish policies to make housing more affordable instead of making you build Pam and Penny a house on your own dime?”

The farmer is no perfect victim, either. There is no ethical consumption under capitalism, after all. Even as small business owners, players are not immune to underpaying and overworking their tiny rainbow fairy employees. Most just don’t give a shit, since fictional workplace malpractice is part of the fun.

“You think that employing Junimos to harvest your crops in exchange for raisins and affordable housing is an ethical practice, but the reality is you too are exploiting them for cheap labor,” Sweetfield said. “Incentivizing them with food and shelter doesn’t give you the right to hoard the entire profit, even if you’re not sure they are actually sentient beings.”

Some players are aware of the subliminal messaging, “but at the end of the day I just want to make my ducks happy so they’ll swim around in their little pond,” said avid player Juliet Berry, who is 88% of the way to perfection on her farm with over 400 hours played. 

When not playing Stardew Valley, Berry works 45 hours a week on a $60k salary for a company run by a billionaire CEO. She describes Stardew Valley as an “escape” from the rigid capitalist regime that defines her everyday life.