After all these years, Stardew Valley’s iconic line-up of romance characters still has a major problem. While Stardew Valley has never confirmed the exact ages of each of the eligible beaus, rough estimations of their age can be guessed through each character’s unique dialogue, and it points to most being on the younger side. While the bachelors and bachelorettes are quite varied in their personality and style, most characters are coded to be very young adults still in or near high school age.

This younger lineup of romance options in Stardew Valley is a glaring issue for players over a certain age. Once The Farmer has met the eligible singles and learns their names, backstories, and personality, it becomes clear that there are few true adults among them. It can be awkward to play Stardew Valley as an adult when most potential romantic interests living in Pelican Town are still complaining about their parents or talking about what they want to be when they grow up.

A Limited Number Of Adults Are Available To Romance In Stardew Valley

A Small Town With Very Few Grown-Ups

The 12 Stardew Valley romance options for the Farmer to choose from are essentially cut in half if they don’t want to pursue a relationship with a character that’s seemingly still in high school. Haley, Alex, Sam, Maru, Sebastian, and Abigail all speak and act like high schoolers. These characters have just as much depth to them as the more adult characters, since they all deal with some heavy themes as The Farmer gets to know them more intimately. On the other hand, some live in their parents’ basements and others wear a high school letter jacket. While earning hearts with these characters in the lead up to a potential marriage, it can be off-putting to hear a beau petulantly mention how no one understands them.

The only romance characters that seem to be solidly adult are Elliot, Leah, Harvey, and Shane. Emily and Penny act more like adults than the high school characters, but still seem like younger adults that had to grow up faster than their peers due to life circumstances. These characters have more solid aspirations and mostly have their own place in town. This makes them more interesting to adult players, but it is unfortunate that so many other fun characters still seem too young to pursue them romantically. Additionally, many single adults living in Pelican Town are not available to romance in Stardew Valley, including a certain magical man who definitely should be.

Aging Up The Romance Characters Could Change The Pelican Town Dating Scene

A Couple Of Years Could Make A Huge Difference

One major change that could make Stardew Valley more palatable in the romance department for older players – really anyone past their high school graduation – would be to age up the younger characters by just a few years to place them all solidly in their early to mid 20s. Mentions of community college, applying for jobs, or moving out of their parents’ house would do a lot to help.

A slight age-up would be an improvement for each of the younger characters, since mentions of career plans, or lack thereof, would give more depth to their personalities and goals. While they could certainly still be living at home with their family as many young adults do, having other interests or future goals would make them much more interesting for older Stardew Valley fans.