This review was completed as a part of my coursework at Bentley University. The goal of the review was to evaluate the usability, gameplay and mobile design of the Stardew Valley game on Nintendo Switch.

The Heuristics:

As part of my evaluation, I have employed the Heuristic Evaluation of Playability, developed by Janne Paavilainen, Hannu Korhonen, Elina Koskinen and Kati Alha in 2018.

The heuristics contain six categories: two core categories of game usability and gameplay (heuristic codes starting with GU and GP respectively), as well as three additional categories of multiplayer, mobility, context-aware, and free-to-play games (heuristic codes starting with MP, MO, CA, and FP respectively).

Findings Summary:

• Stardew Valley scored very well against most heuristics, averaging 4.14 out of a 5-point scale over 34 heuristics.

• Several recommendations are offered to improve the game, and the four most high-impact recommendations are:

  • Present system indicators such as battery level, internet connectivity, and clock in game (MO5).

  • Allow players to save the game outside of “going to bed” and advancing to the next day (GP4).

  • Make it more logical for players to obtain knowledge about the items in the game, and gameplay in general (GP6, GU11).

  • Offer more activities to withstand lulls in the game (GP8, GP5).

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