Hey everyone, welcome to English Sponge.
My name is Aliyah and today I am playing Stardew Valley.
I'm going to be starting a new game so that we can share this journey together.
I really love the opening to this game.
It's It has really nice music and is very comforting.
Whenever I open the game and I hear the music, I think, h, I'm going to Stardew Valley.
So, let's start a new game together.
The first thing that we're going to have to do is create our new character.
So, I am going to type in my name and let's name our farm English sponge farm.
And let's put in our favorite thing, comprehensible input, CI for short, because it won't let us type in the whole name.
Okay.
Gender.
So, I am a woman, so I would like to change my character.
That's very cute hair.
She has her hair up, but I have long hair and I usually wear my hair down.
So, I am going to change the hairstyle.
That's still a little bit too short.
Okay, this is more accurate.
Okay, that looks pretty good.
But let's keep looking at a little bit more.
This one has like bangs.
Oh, that one's pretty cute.
Oh, it looks like there's braids.
Okay.
I don't usually wear braids, so I'm going to change this one even though it's a cute hairstyle.
This is kind of the most accurate.
I have long wavy hair, so let's stick to that skin color.
I'm just going to make myself a little bit more tan.
And let's see my shirt.
That's a cute color.
This one looks like a crop top.
Some of my stomach is showing.
This looks like a suit.
This one has a heart on it.
That one's cute, but it's kind of hard to see.
I honestly liked the first option the most.
See if I can find that again.
This one is a mouse.
Looks like there are hundred over a hundred shirt options.
So, let's just hope that we can get back to number one unless I find something better.
Actually, I like this color.
Oh, here's shirt number two.
Okay, we made it back.
So, I'm going to keep this one.
I really like this shade of yellow.
It's like a mustard yellow.
And then for pants, I can do a skirt.
Can do a short skirt.
I could do an even shorter skirt.
Pants.
Let's just do regular pants.
Facial hair.
Well, I don't And that looks like it added earrings.
glasses.
Lipstick.
Oh my necklace, sunglasses.
A duck bill.
Can't even tell what these are.
Okay, this one has looks like gold earrings.
We'll stick to that.
Animal preference.
So, I am definitely a cat person.
Let's see.
Okay, there's a black cat.
I think I want to do an orange cat eye color.
My eyes are brown, but for the sake of the game, we could make them something else.
You myself like dark purple eyes.
Hair color.
So, I need to make my hair darker for sure.
My hair is basically black.
and pants.
Let's make my pants a little bit darker as well.
I am a dark wash person.
And then let's pick what type of farm we want to do.
So, there's a standard farm, large amount of space to design a beach farm.
It's not the best for growing crops, but there's a chewy blue grass that animals love.
You start with two chickens.
Interesting.
Um, to make things simple, I think we should just start with a standard farm.
And I'm not going to skip the intro because I want to summarize it for you.
I'm probably not going to read every single uh piece of dialogue that it shares, but I am going to summarize so that you understand um what the purpose of the game is.
Okay, let's get started.
So, we have an old man sleeping in a bed by a fire.
And for my very special granddaughter, okay, so that means he is our grandfather.
I want you to have this sealed envelope.
He's holding the envelope in his hand.
No, no, don't open it yet.
Have patience.
He wants us to wait.
Now, listen close.
There will come a day when you feel crushed by the burden of modern life.
Don't we all?
And your bright spirit will fade before a growing emptiness.
He's worried that we won't feel fulfilled in our life.
When that happens, my dear, you'll be ready for this gift.
So, he's planning something for our future.
Now, let grandpa rest.
XX years later.
Maybe that's 20 years later.
This is a workplace.
Jojo company.
All of these people are sitting at their desks.
They look really gross.
Terminated.
Somebody lost their job.
They were fired.
Some of these people seem happy, but the desks are really gross.
And there's cameras looking at every single person.
It looks like that's me, and I'm sad.
Oh, I opened the drawer in my desk and there's the letter from my grandpa.
Dear Alia, if you're reading this, you must be in dire need of a change.
The same thing happened to me long ago.
I'd lost sight of what mattered most in life.
Real connections with other people and nature.
So, I dropped everything and moved to the place I truly belong.
I've enclosed the deed to that place, my pride and joy, English sponge farm.
It's located in Stardew Valley on the southern coast.
It's the perfect place to start your new life.
This was my most precious gift of all and now it's yours.
I know you'll honor the family name, my dear.
Good luck.
Love, Grandpa.
How sweet.
He gave us the property that he used to live on and loved.
P.S.
If Lewis is still alive, say hi to the old guy for me, will you?
Okay, let's look out for Louis.
It's like there's some mountains in the background and the ocean and I'm on a bus.
Bus is moving towards Stardw Valley in half a mile.
A how sweet.
And a bird landed on the sign.
Okay, looks like I just got off the bus.
Hello.
You must be Aliyia.
This woman's name is Robin.
She has red hair.
I'm Robin, the local carpenter.
Mayor Lewis sent me here.
She's going to show me the way to my new home.
And Louis is going to be there waiting for us.
Okay.
And now she wants me to follow her.
This is English sponge farm.
Oh, and it looks like I'm unhappy because the farm looks pretty full of stuff.
She says, "Sure, it's a bit overgrown, but there's some good soil underneath that mess."
Okay, so she's saying that I need to have dedication to clean it up so that I can start farming.
So, she's already given me a job to do.
She's presenting my house.
And out comes Lewis.
Welcome.
I'm Lewis, the mayor of Pelican Town.
Everyone's been asking about me.
It's not every day that someone new moves in.
It's quite a big deal.
That makes sense for a small town.
So, you're moving into your grandfather's old cottage.
It's a good house.
Very rustic.
Robin's making a joke.
Rustic.
That's one way to put it.
Crusty might be a little more apt, though.
So, she's saying that he used the word rustic to make it sound nice.
Um, but Robin's implying that it really looks a bit old.
Don't listen to her, Alia.
She's just trying to make you dissatisfied so that you buy one of her house upgrades.
Okay, so that's good to know that if we want to improve our house in the future, we have to go find Robin.
And he says, "I should get some rest.
Tomorrow I should explore the town and introduce myself.
So, it looks like I have two things to do.
If I have anything to sell, just place it in the box right there.
I'll come by during the night to collect it.
So, I have two things to do.
So, I need to clean up my farm and then I need to go explore the town and introduce myself to everyone.
What's this?
Click.
It was a gift that was left inside my house.
You received 15 parsnip seeds.
Here's a little something to get you started, Mayor Lewis.
So, that's really helpful because I'm supposed to be starting a new farm and I need some supplies like seeds.
Parsnips are a vegetable.
Um, they're kind of similar to carrots.
They're in the same family as carrots.
So, I have a nice TV, a bright window, a chair, a table, a fireplace, and I turn on my fireplace.
And I'm going to head outside.
So, the first thing that I'm going to do is I'm going to start cleaning up my farm.
So, I have a few tools in my pocket.
I have an axe to chop wood.
I have a hoe to dig and till soil.
I have a watering can to water my crops.
And I have a pickaxe to break stones.
I have a scythe to cut grass and I have those 15 parsnip seeds.
So, I can't really plant them until I clear up some space.
So, let's start with that.
So, this tool is faster.
It's a scythe.
Oh, and there's a frog running away.
Every time I cut some grass, I pick up some fiber like this.
So, let's keep cutting.
Now, this is wood, so I need to get my axe out.
This one takes a little bit more work.
Okay, so I've started to clear up some space, but there's still a bunch of rocks in the middle.
So, I'm going to take my pickaxe And every time I break one, I start to pick up stones.
Let's get this one and this one.
Okay, so now we have a nice clear space.
So, let's take out the hoe and plant my parsnip seeds.
So, I need to make 15 spaces.
One, two.
Oops, wrong way.
I'm going to go over to my seeds and start planting.
So you can see I can't plant in an area where I have not used my hoe to till the soil.
I have to prepare the soil for the plants.
That's showing me with that green square where there's a free space.
Okay.
So I put them all in the ground and it actually the game actually gave me two mixed seeds as I was picking up some of those.
um while I was clearing up the space.
So, I found them in the ground.
So, let's plant those, too, because I need space in my pocket.
Next thing I'm going to do is I'm going to water my plants.
If you don't water them, they will not grow.
You could even lose them.
The plants might die if you do not water them every day.
And the purpose of this game is to sell as many fruits and vegetables as you can.
So, now that I have watered all of my plants, I am free to go check out the rest of the town.
Let's read this sign.
The bus stop is above and Pelican Town is to the right.
Okay, so let's just quickly look at the bus stop.
Okay, so this was the bus that I arrived on.
The bus to Calico Desert is out of service.
Okay.
So, we'll have to check back and see when it is in service.
Let's head to town.
Some nice cobblestone steps.
Oh, someone came out.
Ah, Mayor Lewis just told me that you arrived.
I'm Marne.
Marne is a woman with long light brown hair.
I sell livestock and animal care products at my ranch.
You should swing by sometime.
Okay, that's good to know because in the future we might be able to have some animals on our farm, but right now we're just getting started.
Who are you?
Harvey.
Harvey's a man with glasses, a mustache, a green jacket, and brown hair.
It's a pleasure to meet you.
I'm Harvey, the local doctor.
Good to know.
If we're ever sick or injured, we might need to go to Harvey.
I perform regular checkups and medical procedures.
It's rewarding work.
And who is this?
Leia.
Leia is a woman with orange hair and a long braid.
Hello.
It's nice to meet you.
You picked a good time to move here.
The spring is lovely.
There's a big question mark here.
So, I think I need to check this out.
It's calendar.
Okay, so the calendar is saying that it's the spring of year 1 and there's pictures of the town's people and it says when their birthday is.
So Louiswis's birthday is at the end of the week.
Haley's birthday is on the 14th.
Okay.
13th there's an egg festival.
So it's marking a holiday.
And this is marking that the book seller is going to be there on the 12th.
I wonder why it has a hot air balloon instead of a book.
You would think that it would have a book if the book seller is going to be in town.
Okay, book seller again.
Flower dance.
Looks like it's another celebration.
And these have question marks.
So, we need to pay attention to these dates.
Make sure we don't forget to figure out what's happening.
Looks like there's a lot of birthdays this month.
I'll have to keep that in mind.
talk try to talk to those people on their birthday.
Maybe give them a gift and someone just went into this shop.
Okay, it's a nice big shop.
Lots of colorful products on the shelves.
You can't actually pick anything up though.
So, let's go over here.
Talk to this person.
I heard someone new was moving to that old farm.
Her name is Abigail.
She has purple hair.
It's kind of a shame really.
I always enjoyed exploring those overgrown fields by myself.
Oh, so she's actually not happy that we moved in.
Let's talk to the shopkeeper.
So, this is a place where we can purchase some supplies.
Parsnip seeds, just like the ones that we got.
So, the thing is I don't have a lot of money.
I only have 500, let's just say dollars.
I only have $500, 500 pieces of gold.
Um, so let me just buy a few things and keep it at that until I have more money to shop.
These are cheap, so let's buy four.
Let's see.
Hey, it's Miss Alia, the new farmer.
I'm Pierre, owner of the local general store.
If you're looking for seeds, my shop is the place to go.
I'll also buy produce from you for a good price.
Good to know.
Okay, so this is going to be the place where I get my supplies.
Hello.
You must be Alia, the new farmer.
I'm Caroline.
And she has green hair.
Everybody seems to know that I'm here and they were expecting me.
They even know my name.
I'm not good enough friends with Abigail to enter her bedroom.
Makes sense.
Shouldn't be able to enter her bedroom without her there.
This looks like a big living space.
What is over here?
Altar of yoga.
Okay, so this is an altar.
It looks like it's a religious space like you would go to some religious services in here.
Interesting.
Nobody has mentioned religion in this game yet.
So, I'm going to keep going around town to see who I can meet.
There's a woman here.
Evelyn looks like an old woman with gray hair.
Welcome to our community, dear.
It's very sweet of her.
You can call me granny if you like.
We just met this woman with the green hair.
My husband runs the general store.
Have you met my daughter Abigail?
She's the one with the purple hair.
Makes sense.
So, mom Caroline has green hair.
Her daughter Abigail has purple hair.
and they are the wife and daughter of the guy who runs the the store that we were just at.
This is Jodie.
She says, "I'm not exactly how I imagined, but that's okay.
I'm Jodie.
I wonder how she imagined me."
She has light brown hair with a braid.
And this looks like a little kid over here.
Oh, a stranger.
My name's Vincent.
Mama says not to talk to strangers, but you seem okay.
Okay.
Let's look over here.
This looks like it's a cemetery.
Can I read what it says?
It's old and faded.
So, I cannot read who is buried here.
Our beloved Mona.
Oh, and this is nonsense.
Yeah, it's nonsense.
There's a bridge.
Ooh, Elliot.
Elliot looks like a handsome man with like long brown hair.
The new farmer we've all been expecting and whose arrival has sparked many a conversation.
So, he's saying that all of the people in the town have been talking about me, having conversations about my arrival before I got here.
I'm Elliot.
I live in the little cabin by the beach.
It's a pleasure to meet you.
See what's on the other side of the bridge.
Looks like it's the beach.
And this must be the cabin Elliot lives in.
I hear the water and the seagulls.
Beautiful beach.
And there's a building down here.
Oh, there's the mayor.
So, how was your first night in the old cottage?
Your grandpa used to complain about the rickety old bed, but I think deep down he actually loved that house.
That's what he told me.
Okay, the sign on the door says gone fishing.
I'll be back tomorrow.
So, whoever owns this fish shop is not there today.
We'll have to come back tomorrow.
Let's just go in the same direction as Lewis.
These two people are sitting on a bench here and I'm sitting right next to them.
Penny, she has bright red hair.
Oh, she doesn't want to say anything else.
She just said hello.
This is Maru.
She has dark red hair or dark brown hair.
And she says, "Oh, aren't you the one who just moved in?"
She's been looking forward to meeting me.
I just saw someone new go into the Starrop saloon food spirits.
Sam.
Sam has very tall hair.
He's styled it so that it sticks upwards.
He has blonde hair and a blue jacket.
Hey, I'm Sam.
Good to meet you.
Hey, you're the new girl.
I think we're going to get along great.
This is Alex.
He's wearing a green jacket.
He has brown hair.
There's a sign that says dog.
The dog must be in there.
The music changed.
It's like music for a diner or something like that.
And there is actually a jukebox.
Pam.
Pam looks like an older woman with dark blonde hair.
This guy's behind the cash register.
Well, hello there.
I'm Gus, chef and owner of the Starrop Saloon.
Okay.
And who's this?
I am behind the counter.
I don't know if I'm allowed to be here.
Emily has blue hair and a red jacket.
She says, "I can read it on your face.
You're going to love it here in Pelican Town."
Okay.
If you're ever looking for something to do in the evening, stop by the saloon.
That's where I work.
Great.
So, it is 6:10 p.m.
So, yeah, it is the evening.
I don't know you.
Why are you talking to me?
That's very rude, Shane.
Shane has dark hair, a blue jacket, a green shirt, so he doesn't really want to talk to me.
It's an arcade, a vending machine, a couch, a game of pool.
I am going to head back home now.
See if I can clean up a little bit more of my farm.
I have to switch tools every time I want to do something different.
This tree is taking a long time.
Oh, but it looks like it drops a lot of wood.
My axe isn't strong enough to break this stump.
So, that means I need to get a stronger axe.
Okay, I bought those four seeds.
So, let's make room.
Plant them here.
So you can see the difference between the spots that I watered and the spots that I didn't because the spots that I watered are darker just like real water.
Let's cut down this tree as well.
It's kind of in the way.
I think I'm going to need this space.
Oh no, my energy is shaking.
It says you're starting to feel exhausted.
So, the more activity I do, the more energy I lose.
So, that is good to know.
And Louis said that he's going to collect stuff that I sell in this box.
So, let's see.
Let's just sell the fiber that I picked up.
Since I am all out of energy, I think I should go to bed.
Let's see what's on TV first.
It's a weather report.
The forecast for tomorrow is going to be clear and sunny all day.
There's a fortune teller on TV.
I sense that a new viewer has joined us, a young lady from Stardew Valley.
So, if she's saying that on TV, then she really is a fortune teller.
She really is psychic.
The spirits feel neutral today.
The day is in your hands.
Living off the land has a tip for me.
This one's for all of you green horns out there.
Chop wood and search for wild forage to earn some cash while waiting for your first harvest.
Okay.
So, I can chop wood and sell the wood to make some money.
That is good information.
I am going to go to sleep now.
So, that was the end of my very first day after I moved to Stardew Valley.
Clearly, I have a lot to do to clean up my farm, start growing products.
I think there's still a lot of people I need to meet.
So, let's continue in the next episode.
I'll see you there.
