My dad asked me to teach him how to play Stardew Valley.

By @sashaok · Family

I thought it would be a one-off thing, but now he has 50+ hours logged and texts me for tips on crop rotation. He's a full-on farmer now and it's his entire personality.

The full story

so my dad is in his early 60s, retired, and his main hobbies are like, watching the history channel and doing yard work. out of nowhere last month he came to me and said he wanted to understand my hobbies better because he felt like we didn't have much to talk about. i'm a huge gamer, so when he asked me to teach him a game i figured he meant like Words with Friends or something. i jokingly suggested Stardew Valley, a 'cozy farming game', and to my complete shock he said yes. i set it up on his old tablet and walked him through the absolute basics—how to walk, how to use a tool, what a parsnip was. he was so confused and i was fully prepared for him to play for 20 minutes and never touch it again. but he didn't. the next day he texted me 'how do i build a chest my pockets are full'. then it was 'where is the blacksmith'. by the end of the week he was asking me if he should focus on farming or fishing for early-game money. it's been a month and now the man is a full-blown Stardew addict. i went over for dinner last night and he excitedly showed me his farm on his tablet. he has a coop with chickens all named after my aunts, a barn with two cows, and a huge field of melons he's very proud of. he told me, completely seriously, that he's trying to get romantically involved with Leah the artist because she's 'outdoorsy and independent'. He was genuinely annoyed that he missed her birthday and had to give her a salad as a gift. it's honestly the most wholesome thing i've ever seen. this man who used to just ask me about my 401k is now showing me his farm layout and asking if i think he should build a silo before winter. we spend more time talking now than we have in years, and it's all about his fictional farm. i'm not even mad that he's a bigger gamer than me now.

How people voted

OP Is Right — 27% (40 votes)
Both Messy — 41% (60 votes)
OP Is Wrong — 32% (48 votes)

Readers are split: “Both Messy” leads with 41% — 148 votes and 5 comments so far.

What people are saying

@hollytbh — get him an animal crossing switch next lmao
@jaredactually — This is so wholesome! What a great way for him to connect with you and your world. Love this for you both.
@forrealthough — And just like that, another one is lost to the farm. F in the chat.
@xenakinda — Has he figured out he can put hats on the chickens yet?
@tara — lmaoooo

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