Picture this: You quit your mind-numbing corporate job for an agrarian lifestyle when your deceased grandfather leaves you his cottage on a plot of verdant farmland. Soon you are tending to seasonal crops, petting your pigs and ducks, running a DIY natural wine operation out of a shed, and romancing the locals. The women are compelling and beautiful, among them a fuchsia-haired scientist, woodsy sculptor and psychonaut bartender. There are also charming men, if that’s your thing.
This is the life you lead in Stardew Valley, the pixel art indie game that is celebrating its 10th anniversary and has sold nearly 50 million copies to date, making it one of the biggest-selling video games of all time. It ranks higher than the most…