An ideal digital environment is one that can be easily accessed and provide the user with a varied range of emotions. These emotions can either be of an excitatory group, imposing thrill onto the user, or from a milder group, imposing comfort onto the user, or a combination of the two. One of my preferred places is the town of Stardew Valley from the adventure-farming video game with the same name. You are placed into this town, which contains many mysteries and a grand population of interesting characters, after an initial backstory of your ow character. You start from scratch on a farm that is overrun by pests, with the initial goal of growing crops, obtaining funds, and discover the backstories of the area and the characters. As in any adventure game there is a lot of grinding that takes place and ability levels that need to be upgraded.
With so much initial information given and the promise for more, this town is much more than a simple digital space. It is a digital place because it has been given a history, placed the user in the present, and offered the user the freedom of choice for its future. It is up to the user to discover the area and choose how to build their farm and upgrade their own levels. Each moment played gives the town more meaning and importance because of the inputted effort to grow the game. The characters, their histories, and their varied responsive behaviors (they can give the user gifts if they like them or say different things depending on what they see the user do) make the game unique in the sense of it not feeling pre-programmed. Even after discovering everything (which hasn’t been done yet according to the developer) the game still has a replay value due to the possibility of redoing everything and being more efficient or playing with a different style.
The place that offered through the town has been given a basis though its characters, surrounds, and goals but it has also kept the possibility for freedom of choice and imagination. The distinctive difference between this location and a space is that the player has the possibility to live in it instead of just visit it. Growing the farm and exploring the surroundings gives the user a sense of pride and happiness in their achievements, which translates into the addictive urge of wanting to continue playing. It is a wonderfully designed digital place that I highly suggest tying out yourself.
