Farming life simulator games are among today’s most popular cozy games, following the success of Stardew Valley, an expansive indie farming game inspired by Nintendo’s long-running Story of Seasons series. It prompted not only Stardew Valley’s creation, but also many of its mechanics: farming, mining, fishing, foraging, and, of course, marriage.
Romance has become a key feature of farming sims, with many indie developers using their games’ attractive, eligible characters as a selling point. However, romantic storylines and marriage options aren’t just bonus content to draw in players; they are often central to the gameplay itself.
One of the earliest Story of Seasons games, Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life, originally released in 2003, follows the player character from humble beginnings as a single farmer to his eventual son’s adulthood (and, yes, the player character and his son can only be male in the original version of this game; an entirely separate “girl version” of the game, Harvest Moon: Another Wonderful Life, was released the following year). In order to have that son and for the game to progress, the player has to get married. If you don’t propose to one of the eligible female characters by the end of the first in-game year, the one you have the best relationship with proposes to you. If you reject her, it’s an immediate game over.
Similarly, in Harvest Moon: Seeds of Memories, many “memories” (necessary for full completion of the game) require getting married and having kids.
Other Story of Seasons games aren’t so limiting, but marriage is still a core aspect of the gameplay, and players are incentivized to pursue it. Befriending an eligible character can lead to them becoming romantically interested in you, and you might feel urged to put a ring on it before another NPC does, since romantic rivals exist in several games throughout this series. Marriage offers in-game advantages like anniversary gifts and new dialogue/events.
Even now, with countless Stardew Valley-inspired games that allow new options like non-male player characters and queer romantic relationships, this emphasis on marriage as a game mechanic is still heavily felt in the farming sim space. In Sun Haven, players can receive unique and considerably powerful armor and weapons from the characters they date and marry. In Littlewood, dating and marriage earn you additional Dewdrops, the game’s primary currency.
Even in Stardew Valley itself, spouses offer the gameplay advantage of giving the player gifts and helping with labor on the farm. However, Stardew Valley also has something that, to my knowledge, no other well-known farming sim does: a non-romantic equivalent.
In addition to the six bachelors and six bachelorettes the player can choose to pursue, there is also the option to befriend Krobus, the shadow person vendor who lives in the sewers below town. Being a monster, unlike the twelve human options, Krobus comes from a presumably aromantic culture (since living together platonically—and not out of necessity—is canonically commonplace for shadow people) and isn’t available to marry, but you can ask him to live with you as a platonic roommate.
While Krobus can’t help out with chores around the farm due to his species’ aversion to the sun, he still offers most of the practical advantages of a spouse: giving the player gifts and a Stardrop, changing the furniture, and even caring for the player’s children from any previous marriages. He has unique dialogue just like any spouse, too, meaning any player who chooses to play the game entirely without romance isn’t missing out on a vital part of the experience or at any kind of technical disadvantage.
Krobus may show his affection through hugs instead of kisses and smiley faces instead of hearts, but choosing to live with him is never discouraged or made less valuable than marriage; it’s simply a different option.
Cozy games, a genre I’d say has a largely queer playerbase, and farming sims in particular have increasingly embraced queer players and relationships in recent years. Most games, including even recent Story of Seasons titles, allow players to marry any eligible NPC regardless of gender, and Fields of Mistria has a long list of pronoun options for player characters. However, there is little consideration given to aromantic players, and even less representation of aromantic characters, since all single adult characters are considered romanceable in most farming sims (although Stardew Valley is notably not one of them).
People often assume that queer inclusivity necessitates romance, but it can also be about a lack of romance. I think the inclusion of Krobus in Stardew Valley is a positive step toward aromantic inclusivity (and for anyone who might not be interested in in-game marriage, or even people who just enjoy Krobus as a character—myself included), and I wish more games inspired by Stardew Valley had taken inspiration from Krobus, too.
Besides, he’s just pretty cool.
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