I had never seen Stardew Valley until last Friday, and if not for the cloud of all-consuming capitalism hanging over the town, it seems like a purely relaxing game. At least four person-days were spent fishing then dashing madly towards home. Aside from everyone making it back home in time, it also doesn’t seem like a game where collaboration is particularly necessary. As long as players don’t actively mess with other players’ farm plots or spend copious amounts of money, the co-op version of Stardew Valley could be seen as four players playing relatively separate games in the same room just happy with each other’s company. This doesn’t take into account the online version where you are matched with players you don’t know. The idea of no collaboration required goes further when you realize that despite it being a co-op game, only two players are required to continue playing a save. This means that two players could complete the entire plot line, all the mining levels, or a maze of fences around a player’s house to be discovered when they log back on. This is one of the most interesting differences between the single-player and co-op modes: That in co-op, life can go on while you don’t play. In this way, it is much more realistic, and may add new explorational elements to the game as you discover what has changed while you were gone. Some might construe this as “cheating,” changing things without your fellow players around. But only playing when all four players are available presents an interesting challenge outside of the game itself. Also can you really cheat in a game about living a fulfilling life on a farm and romancing shopkeepers?
If Stardew Valley is the multiplayer game that feels like it could be single player, Mario Kart is the game where even if you’re playing by yourself, it feels like a multiplayer game. When playing with friends, if a human hits another human player with an item, the ire goes straight to that person, likely in the form of several choice words (at least in my friend group). But an interesting thing can happen in single-player modes. If the CPU players are inconsistent and different players vie for the top spots, then attacks may feel like more of a product of a hostile environment than anything else. Frustration is towards luck and circumstance, not a specific player. However, if Diddy Kong is right on your heels in second place time after time and keeps getting red shells, players often may start ascribing personal characteristics towards the CPU player. They begin to have evil intentions, and losing doesn’t feel like losing to a CPU, it feels like Diddy Kong cheated you out of first place with a lucky green shell throw. A similar feeling can be felt in online multiplayer games, but players already know that other humans are behind the frustrations they will experience.
Team races and battles add an interesting twist as they are modes where cooperation is explicitly encourages, and often required to win. The atmosphere of players groaning or trash talking as they pass each other is quickly replaced with surgical communication skills, encouragement, and an us-versus-them mentality, as long as there’s at least two humans on a team.