Stardew Valley: A Cultural Model of Capitalism

After going through my abridged/altered version of the start of Stardew Valley, you may have felt more inclined to pick to work on the Community Center. Why might have this been the case? Was it the way Joja Corporations was being depicted? What exactly does that say about players who decide to go down the Joja Corporations route anyways? Regardless of the path you would've decided to take and the reasoning behind that choice, they each offer some cultural model of capitalism.

While my version isn't exactly able to capture the same experience that new players would experience in-game, it serves to highlight how new players feel more inclined to work on the Community Center rather than giving it up to Joja Corporations. After being faced with the introduction of the game (where players receive the letter and then decide to open it XX years later), players get a negative impression of Joja Corporations. The negative depiction only continues to get reinforced throughout the game through the JojaMart manager Mr.Morris and other game elements such as the ability to fish up garbage and Joja Cans. Meanwhile, the idea behind fixing the Community Center centers heavily around the idea of reconnecting with nature, as seen through the items needed to complete the bundles and the rewards that come with it.

The Importance of Choice: Community Center versus Joja Corporations

These two depictions work to create two types of models depending on the player's decision: a group model of the working class and the general model of the working class. As defined by James Gee in his essay "Cultural Models: Do You Want to Be the Blue Sonic or the Dark Sonic?" the group model is when someone is acting "good" in a way that aligns with the views of the group they feel associated with and value; on the other hand, the general model is when someone is acting "good" in a way that has them put aside their own values and memberships with other groups (614). In other words, acting in a way that is considered for the greater good.

Stardew Valley becomes a group model of the working class when players choose to repair the Community Center. Here, players are acting in the interest of the group they are a part of and take value in: the working class in the face of corporations. Players resonate with the idea of standing up against corporations like Joja Corporations, thus repairing the Community Center would serve to benefit and reinforce their own beliefs towards corporate life while it benefits the town and its townspeople. To them, this would be the "good" route.

On the other hand, Stardew Valley becomes a general model of the working class when players choose to go down the Joja Corporations route. While Joja Corporations is depicted as the antagonist throughout the game, selling the Community Center still gives players the same options to repair the town albeit in a faster way, as instead of gathering items to complete bundles players just pay off the repairs with gold instead. Players may share the same views as seen in the group model, however they are able to put these beliefs aside for the greater good, with the good in this case being the town being repaired faster. This may not be considered the "good" route compared to the other one, but it benefits the town/townspeople and the player regardless. This can then be interpreted as the working class striving for upward mobility through any means possible, even if it does not necessarily align with their own views.

The views enforced through these two models, then, reveals the player's ideal life under capitalism: the ability to exercise control over their own working conditions.