Despite being known for its cute art style and charming gameplay, Stardew Valley still has more than a few darker elements to keep its story engaging. As if there weren’t enough ways to torture your fellow villagers, one player has invested a considerable amount of time in completely ruining the town’s social circle.

After spending 7 in-game years accomplishing the task, Reddit user Sad-biitch has managed to marry and divorce all 12 candidates in Stardew Valley, with more on the way. As if that wasn’t bad enough, the Stardew player even constructed fenced-off shrines to their past loved ones, each with a painting and a favorite item to represent each villager.

Stardew Valley Has Plenty Of Ways To Be A Villain

An Evil Playthrough Isn’t For The Faint Of Heart

Even if Stardew Valley doesn’t go as far as other role-playing games, it still offers plenty of villainous choices to help spice up your next playthrough. While Pierre’s shop prices may cause you to ask if JojaMart is as evil as it seems, siding with JojaMart is still the closest thing to an evil route, even if it lets Shane keep his job. To make things even worse, you can also encourage Shane and Pam’s alcoholism, choose more hurtful options during heart events, and even poison the town’s soup during the Luau festival.

While you can’t marry him, Lewis is easily the most tormentable resident in Stardew Valley, with a practically endless number of ways to tease the Mayor with his purple shorts. Even if you get the Mayor and the rest of the town to hate you after a divorce spree, the Farmer is simply too “important for the local economy” to get rid of, as noted by Reddit user Bagel_Bear. Although dedicating so much time and entire sections of your house to this cause is a little extreme, it’s easily the most respectfully diabolical way to ruin the town.

Stardew’s Marriage System Was Originally Even Messier

ConcernedApe’s Plans For Stardew Were Even More Cruel

As if the current options for spreading heartbreak in Stardew Valley weren’t enough, its developer, ConcernedApe, has gone on record outlining the even messier plans for Stardew‘s marriage system. On top of stealing love interests away from other characters, Stardew Valley‘s creator originally wanted to incorporate relationship affairs and the ability to break up marriages between characters like Robin and Demetrius. While it’s hard to imagine mechanics like these in an upbeat game like Stardew Valley, the added drama would have been a surefire way to spice up the replayability of your next playthrough.

Unfortunately for those hoping to live out their soap opera dreams in Stardew Valley, these plans were eventually scrapped due to time constraints. Even if Stardew Valley had the opportunity to add more controversial relationship mechanics, it would likely go against the upbeat spirit of the game, with the current divorce options being more of a necessity for its gameplay. Given the surprising amount of depth that Stardew Valley has as a whole with its gameplay systems, I wouldn’t be surprised if some of these mechanics made a partial appearance in the upcoming Haunted Chocolatier.

Source: Sad-biitch/Reddit, Bagle_Bear/Reddit

Stardew Valley

Systems

Released

February 26, 2016

ESRB

E for Everyone (Fantasy Violence, Mild Blood, Mild Language, Simulated Gambling, Use of Alcohol and Tobacco)

Developer(s)

ConcernedApe

Publisher(s)

ConcernedApe

Engine

Proprietary