Soccer Mommy’s Guide to ‘Stardew Valley,’ the Coziest Video Game Ever

Back in October, the Nashville-based musician Sophie Allison—who makes beautiful and brooding indie rock as Soccer Mommy—became the envy of every Stardew Valley fan when she got her own avatar in the video game’s signature SNES style. It was a must if she was going to release “Abigail,” a writing-exercise-turned-single inspired by her preferred love interest—a purple-haired weeb hottie—in the wildly popular farm sim. While preparing her excellent fourth album Evergreen last year, Allison and her team got in contact with Stardew creator Eric Barone early on. “We were originally hoping we could make something together but he didn’t have the time,” Allison tells me by phone. “He gave us permission to use the likeness, and we figured out how to use scenes that are already in the game with another designer.”

Set within Stardew Valley, where stressful city living is traded for rehabbing the family farm and settling into a small town, the song’s video portrays a special heart event—a cutscene where two characters solidify their relationship—for Sophie and Abigail at a rock show. “That’s actually a heart event for the character Sam,” she says. “Sam, Sebastian, and Abigail have a band, and you take a bus to their concert and they give you a shoutout. Sorry to kick you out, Sam, but I thought that’d be really cute for me and Abigail.” 

The clip’s true-to-game details—like knowing that Abigail loves chocolate cake and hanging out in the graveyard at night—made it clear that Soccer Mommy is a serious Stardew fan. And with a highly social game like Stardew, there are various ways to be hardcore that don’t involve a typical mission or sense of competition. “I love the dating aspect,” Allison says. “I know that’s not the point of the game, but as a Gemini, it’s the most fun part for me. I like dating a lot of people in a low stakes kind of way.” 

In that way and so many others, Stardew Valley reminds Soccer Mommy of Harvest Moon, the whimsical ’90s farm sim she adored as a kid. “These kinds of games are really an escape if you’re feeling overwhelmed—I feel this way about Pokémon too,” she adds. “You can just disappear into this little world that’s so positive and nurturing. As much as I loved Harvest Moon, it’s missing an element of deeper characterization that Stardew does so well. I’m not the hugest video game person, but Stardew Valley totally changed what I think a video game can even be.” 

Below, Soccer Mommy and I go deep on the ins and outs of Stardew Valley. Spoilers ahead.