Every game is influenced in some way by the ones that came before it, andEverdream Valleywas clearly inspired by a veritable pantheon of cozy farming games and life sims that have defined and redefined the genre over the last few decades. Although it’s easy to draw comparisons between games in such a specific genre, theindie gamedevelopers behindEverdream Valleyalso looked to titles somewhat outside the realm of farming sims.
In an interview with Game Rant,Everdream Valleydeveloper Marek Maruszczak spoke about how the game was not only inspired by classics within the genre but also bygames likesGrand Theft Auto, a game that on the surface bears very little resemblance to the idyllic and warm-hearted farming sim. Of course, he also mentioned a few inspirations likeAnimal Crossing,Pokemon, theOriseries, and Studio Ghibli when it comes to some gameplay and visual elements.
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Everdream Valley Is Inspired By Grand Theft Auto’s Freedom
TheGrandTheftAutoseriesis a peculiar reference point for a developer working on a cozy farming sim, but Maruszczak’s reasoning makes perfect sense. The defining characteristic ofGrand Theft Autois player freedom: players can aimlessly explore the activity-rich environment on a bicycle or in a stolen fighter jet, all while completely ignoring the plot in favor of bowling outings, crime sprees, or offroad racing in the surrounding wilderness.
What was always important for me was this feeling of freedom in the game, like you can go follow the main story, but anytime you could just go on an adventure and look under a stone or just go looking for random encounters like inFallout.
InGrand Theft Auto— the first two versions andGrand Theft Auto: London— I wasn’t doing the story missions at all. I was just wreaking havoc in the city. I wanted this kind of freedom in our game. Of course, the emotions are different — like we didn’t want to have any killing — but the sense of freedom, yes. I think we achieved that at least to some degree. Of course, our game’s smaller, but the sense of freedom is something that is showing in the reviews, so I think we succeeded at least partially in this area.
Everdream Valleyleans heavily into this open-ended design, although it doesn’t abandon more focused and guided gameplay in the process. There are still plenty of quests to complete, and they help introduce players to the game’s various systems along with providing long and short-term goals to pursue. Another noticeable influence is inEverdream Valley’s minigame content. Similar toGrandTheftAuto’s minigames, they’re seamlessly integrated into the game’s sandbox and are welcome distractions from other tasks. A recent update has also thoughtfully made minigames optional in case players prefer to skip to the reward.
Everdream Valley Looked to Animal Crossing and Pokemon for Collectible Gameplay
Maruszczak also enjoys the satisfaction of building and completing a collection which is one of the key draws forgames likeAnimalCrossingandPokemon. There are loads of things to collect inEverdream Valleyincluding dozens of insects, clothing items, decorations, fish, and farm animals. This gives completionist players a long-term progression goal to work toward as they wait for crops to grow, and it always feels good to find that last missing piece of a collection.
Animal Crossingwas a huge influence, especially with the collectibles like different insects, etc.
We have 30 different kinds of butterflies, 16 different kinds of beetles, and 12 different kinds of frogs, but we wanted to make them not only for display. You can actually use them in-game. Some of them can be used as material for animal treats, and some of them are used for other things. We were also inspired byPokemon, again, when it comes to the collectible mechanics.
Visually, Maruszczak referred to theStudio Ghibli filmsfor their dreamy atmospheres while the visual depth and clever use of parallax in theOriseries inspiredEverdream Valley’s enthusiastic use of particles and other effects. Overall, the game has achieved its goal of offering players an aesthetically striking environment in which they can peacefully adventure.
Everdream Valleyis available on PC, PS4, PS5, and Xbox One, and is coming to Nintendo Switch on June 23.
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