Can't say I've actually seen anyone complaining about Stardew Valley or Animal Crossing for those reasons, seems like everyone loves Stardew, and AC complaints are just about nintendo's content pipeline being sparse on release.

That said, if people are complaining about "doing tasks" in Stardew and AC, I'd imagine that it's because it's mostly things you can do IRL. I can decorate my place or plant flowers or talk to other people in real life. I can't go kill bad guys in real life. In a way casual cozy lifesim games make me feel self-conscious, that instead of improving my virtual life, I could instead be doing this same stuff for my real life. Games that are more detached from real life don't seem as likely to trigger this guilt.

Also I'm fully expecting someone to respond that owning a house/etc is a fantasy, which is the fantastical appeal of Stardew/AC.

I'm not going back through the ZP archives to find it but Yahtzee once likened FPS to point-and-click games where the only command is "use gun on man"

To play devil's advocate, for those types I suppose it's that there's active resistance to you accomplishing the (violent) task, as opposed to more relaxed games where that may not be the case. And if you want your tasks to task you, that's fine, but like, let other people enjoy what they like, it doesn't affect you whatsoever.

This has the same energy as that post that's "Red Dead Redemption is just Barbie's Horse Adventure with violence”.

Yeah, that’s how I played with Barbies as a kid, of course that’s what I want in a video game as well. Who doesn’t want to dress up their cowboy before going bang bang?

Stardew Valley lets me feel like that I have a satisfying job, when real corporations would abuse and discard me at their convenience. It is quite the power fantasy, being a productive member of humanity without having to sacrifice myself.

Missed opportunity to mention that Doom Guy loves playing Animal Crossing, and Isabelle loves playing Doom and they're best friends.

I mean, Factorio is just work disguised as a video game. Doesn't make it any less fun. It's work that I choose to do rather than work that I have to do.

It's talking about skill based games vs "casual" games. I LOVE Stardew Valley, but I'm not going to pretend it takes a lot of skill.

I mean one of the good parts of Stardew is you can play it a bunch of different ways and it doesn't place a lot of restrictions on you.

In the cave exploration parts you can basically play it like a full-on combat simulator.

You can also play it like a fishing game, a dating sim, and several other things. Or you can also completely ignore certain parts of the game if you want.

In this week's episode of "tumblr makes up a man to be mad at".

Also you literally kill things in Stardew Valley

Plant 28 apple trees (world of Warcraft) 🤑🤑🤑

Plant 28 apple trees (stardew valley) 😴😴😴

Plant 28 apple trees (real life) 😱😱😱

Why even make this about gender at all?

It's kind of insulting to men who like games like stardew valley and animal crossing. What, are we not man enough because we don't fill our free time with simulated blood and gore?

Both are fun. In the same year I put 100hrs into Oblivion cracking High Elf skulls, and plenty sawing Locusts in half in Gears of War, shooting endless waves of bots in GRAW, literally railroad spiking people to walls in FEAR, and bustin caps in fools in Saints Row;

I also became world Table Tennis champion in Rockstar Presents Table Tennis and put ~70hrs into making pinatas have sex and growing plants in Viva Pinata.

I can enjoy two things.

If Barbie's Horse Adventure had violence, I'd probably try it.

No, I have literally never heard men criticize Animal Crossing or Star Dew Valley for any reason, really. But I guess they do in your head while you shower.

If SDV was made as a “walking simulators” with decision making, would people still like it?

…I would.

Maybe I’m just getting old, but as another an example, I got into Knights of the Old Republic (the Star Wars MMO). But all that stiff grinding just wasn’t worth the rare view, music, or interesting character arc.

And as I’ve gotten older, I’ve found that more and more gameplay feels “pointless” like that. My brain can engross itself in Satisfactory setups, but after like a day I stop when I realize I’m grinding all alone. I get into Age of Wonders or Stellaris until around mid game, when AI civs get too dumb to be convincing.

So yeah. I think there’s a grain of truth there. I adore SDV, but some aspects do feel like “chores” just to see the passion and writing they gate.

We are just seeking positive feedback.

When you clean that trash pile in the game, it's as satisfying as cleaning the kitchen at home. but the trashpile in the game stays gone.

The kitchen is a shithole again 3 days after someone gets sick and it becomes another insurmountable task

I personally like action RPGs like Fallout NV and Outer Worlds, I mean yeah shooting people is a task but its a task to get to the fun part which is the funny (or cool) dialogue choices and seeing the story progress.

No, haven't heard much criticism about those games. Me and my friends play like every genre of game.

What kinda asshole disses Stardew Valley? That game's awesome.

If you reduce any game to its core loop, all of them are pretty simplistic. That's just what happens if you simplify things ad absurdum.

• Counter strike is just running around and shooting people
• BoTW is just walking around, killing monsters and replacing broken weapons
• Need for speed is just driving
• Factorio is just automating everything

And all these things are nothing but tasks.

That said, while this is pretty lame critique, that doesn't mean that every game is good and it also doesn't mean that every game is good for every player.

Maybe this hypothtical man gamer meant the tasks in some games feel more like chores

Man I love Yahtzee. I obviously don’t always agree with him, but Extra Punctuation/Semi-Ramblomatic are amazing.

The only criticism I've heard about stardew is that you end up one day moring into morning and now you have to go to work.

That's a good game thing.

Edit: forgot about that time you get fucked by a bear

I play GAMES so that I can accomplish TASKS without physical EFFORT. Get with it, "gAmErS", this is peak living. And SOMEtimes I don't even have ENERGY for fake video game TASKS. Your move, BITCh