Update [Wed 15th Jun, 2022 01:25 BST]: Following on from last week's news Stardew Valley would be the next Switch Online trial for Europe, Australia and Japan, it's now gone live in North America as well. As usual, you'll need to be a Switch Online subscriber to participate.
This offer will run from now until 27th June and you'll also receive 20% off the full purchase. In addition to this, you can earn 100 Platinum Points by participating in this trial.
Original story [Wed 8th Jun, 2022 03:30 BST]: Nintendo has revealed its next free trial for Switch Online service subscribers in Europe, Australia and Japan will be the farming, lifestyle and social sim Stardew Valley.
This trial will be available from next week (starting 13th June) and will be playable until the 19th of June. There'll also be a discount on the full version of the title in certain regions.


You can enjoy this game solo or with friends in the online multiplayer. Here's a bit of backstory, along with our review:
"You’ve inherited your grandfather’s old farm plot in Stardew Valley. Armed with hand-me-down tools and a few coins, you set out to begin your new life. Can you learn to live off the land and turn these overgrown fields into a thriving home? It won’t be easy. Ever since Joja Corporation came to town, the old ways of life have all but disappeared. The community center, once the town’s most vibrant hub of activity, now lies in shambles. But the valley seems full of opportunity. With a little dedication, you might just be the one to restore Stardew Valley to greatness!"
And for those wondering, the most recent trial in the US was for Dragon Quest Builders 2:
Will you be trying out this latest trial on the Nintendo Switch? What other trials would you like to see? Tell us in the comments.
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Last few game trials have been pretty awesome! Really wish Nintendo would extend these to 2 weeks, that would actually give me fair time to actually check them out.
Interesting they are giving a trial to a very well known and fairly cheap game. I feel like a lot of people who would be interested would have already played it, but maybe not. Certainly worth a try for anyone who hasn't played it before.
Personally a huge Harvest Moon / Story of Seasons fan but I've just never at all gelled with Stardew Valley. Really just don't at all like the controls or the aesthetics of it, I've tried multiple times in multiple formats but think my farming game of choice on Switch is going to continue to be Friends of Mineral Town. ... Yes I realize a lot of the quality of life improvements in the FOMT remake are directly ripped off from Stardew Valley.
@FishyS They also previously did it for Among Us, which is both more well known and cheaper, so isn't really that odd.
Wish it was available in the US. I have been interested in the game for years, but the game genre is hit or miss for me. A free trial would be nice.
Edit: a least my comment was valid for a week.
@blindsquarel It looks like Nintendo of America is back to not giving us Americans game trials again. I remember a few years ago they did this and for a year we didn't get any trials while all other regions got a new trial each month...
@blindsquarel If you have Gamepass it's available on there.
Gotta love how they always skip out on North America. Like, they know most people still aren't satisfied with their online service, yet they always drop the ball when it comes to one of--if not--their largest territory. It's incredibly stupid, and this is coming from someone who has gone on record multiple times to say he loves the NSO Expansion Pass. We shouldn't be expected to make alternate accounts set in different regions to get access to this stuff. That's an annoying amount of work you shouldn't have to put up with for a paid subscription.
If this trial came to America, I would honestly try it out. I don't think I would care about farming simulators, and I'm not really the biggest Animal Crossing guy. But Stardew Valley is one of those games (well...like Animal Crossing) where it's just SO popular that I feel like I owe it to myself to play it at least once. I very well might end up hating it, but it'd be great to at least try it without having to make that financial commitment.
@Lizuka
Sadly I only have Nintendo consoles and a ps4.
Stardew Valley must be one of the Greats in gaming. I’ve loved it for years and just recently got the board game as well. ConcernedApe has really managed to make a deep game with a cast bolstering massive personality and charm. I own the game on PS4 and Switch and my partner loves it just as much (but sometimes I think she’s more into mining than anything else). With that said, I would’ve guessed that those mildly interested in the genre would’ve tried it by now. No farming som has come close to this one since Marvelous and Natsume split paths.
Be aware it’s really addictive!
As a person that played it once and then forgot to put the save data onto my drive when getting a new phone, I don't ever wanna get addicted again.
I also got jumpscared by Shane's most recent character portrait update, as a person that aimed for him before the update, I've never felt such conflicting feelings.
Anyways a very good game and I hope this will help the chocolate game thingy gets more people hype for it.
I tried the game already and it just didn't really click with me unfortunately. I can tell it's a good game though regardless.
Kinda too short for someone with work and kids (who aren't gaming all the time lol)
I hope I can hop in, but with a game of that scale, its pretty much like a very timed demo-experience that doesn't necessarily feel like an exclusive advantage for NSO-people.
But of course after reading "Blood, Sewat & Pixels" by Jason Schreyer, I guess I have to at least check it out to see what a single person can achieve.
I can appreciate Stardew Valley for being developed by one guy and still having so much content and also for getting so many free updates.
But I'm sorry to say it never clicked with me either. I got way more engrossed in Rune Factory 4.
@Zimon Yeah I just smashed through RF4 and its post-game in about 60 hours — while I appreciate SV and what it does, and I did put a lot of hours into it, after completing the Community Centre, progress seemed to slow down considerably, and a lot of the things I was tasked with left me at a dead end (and I didn't really fancy looking online for solutions). RF just felt so streamlined and efficient — teleporting using ZL for example, item stacking and organising (something that I found really stressful and cumbersome in SV) made everything such a breeze
I swear I downloaded this game like 2 years ago and I STILL haven’t played it yet.
Yay!!! .... 😕. This is the last game I thought would need a demo.
I caved in and started the demo since I hadn't played a lot before and never on Switch. So I guess the trial is succeeding; there may be a bunch of people who buy it on a second platform. 😆
I already have the game, but... you know what, sure, I'll take this as a sign to give the game another chance as I didn't get into it at all the first time I tried it.
I've been on the fence, about this game for a while now, so this is definitely good timing.
I downloaded it earlier and I played it for a bit, seems decent enough so far. I'm looking forward to sinking in a few more hours over the next couple of days.
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