I finally understood why my kid rage quit Stardew Valley

I was sitting on the couch last Thursday watching my 9-year-old play Stardew Valley on the Switch. She was trying to get to the bottom of the mines before midnight, but she kept passing out from exhaustion. I told her to just eat some fish for energy, and she snapped at me like I'd suggested something crazy. Then I noticed she had zero food and was just running into rocks without anything to refill her stamina. I realized I'd been assuming she knew the basics, but she didn't even know you could cook. So I backed off my advice and just asked her what she thought was going wrong, and we figured out the inventory problem together. Has anyone else had a moment where you totally missed what was actually frustrating your kid (or partner) in a game?

2 comments

2 Comments

piper_green2d ago

Did you check if she even knew how to open the game menu yet?

loganhart1d ago

Did you actually watch her try it, or did you just assume she'd figure it out? I've seen people stare at a screen for ten minutes before realizing they needed to press start, so it's worth a second look.