Change of Pace

Audrey started the day with $97 to her name, and her Fun, Hunger, and Hygeine needs running low. Turns out I chose a lot with the “Simple Living” lot challenge, which means you can ONLY cook if you have fresh ingredients. It’s $35 for a starter packet of herbs, flowers, or fruit. Things were looking a little grim.

I sent her around to visit all her neighbors, introduce herself, and cadge as many meals as she could.

I was on the lookout for a painting easel she could use to paint and earn some money. A basic painting easel costs $350, which is well outside her budget. Unfortunately, no one in the charming village of Henford-on-Bagley seems to have one. They also don’t have any gardens with pickable fruit or vegetables I could have Audrey take home and plant. I was starting to get desperate.

Next I sent Audrey back to Isle of Volpe park to dig up a few more collectibles. While she was there, I looked away for like TWO MINUTES and she started cooking asado, which is one of the most expensive meals on the grill.

You better like it, lady, because you’re going to take ALL those leftovers home and EAT THEM ALL before they spoil.

I was so mad.

After this she had only $67 left, although she was able to find fossils worth $265 so we still came out ahead.

On her way home she encountered a wild fox named Chestnut. After watching him for a few moments, she tried to make friends by singing him a song.

He didn’t appreciate it.

The next morning, as promised, Audrey had leftover asado for breakfast.

It was at this moment, watching my Sim eat inappropriate leftovers because it was the only food she had in the house, that I realized… This is not fun. I am not having fun.This video game is stressing me out.

So I broke one of my long-standing personal rules and used the motherlode cheat to give Audrey $50,000, which let me, you know. Enjoy the game and have fun instead of stressing out wondering how to scrape together enough money to buy the seeds to grow the food for her to eat.

The first thing I did was buy a pair of brown and a pair of black chickens to fill out her coop.

As with the delightful and incomparable Stardew Valley, the more you socialize with your chickens, the better they love you, and the healthier and happier they are. But unlike Stardew Valley, you get a whole menu of social interactions including:

• “Hug chicken”
• “Play with chicken”
• “Question the existence of a shared chicken-verse”

Audrey turns out to be a terrible candidate for the Country Living lifestyle. I thought it would be cute to give her the Squeamish trait, but it means she hates fishing, being in the rain, gardening, and picking fungus. Which is like… at least a third of everything you do with this expansion pack.

Luckily, she enjoys animal husbandry. Maybe I’ll make that her “thing.”

Next I bought her a cross stitch kit.

(How much do you love her hat, by the way???)

I was delighted to discover that you can cross stitch while simultaneously watching TV.

That evening I sent her to the local pub to meet some townies. The bartender had some errands for her to run, and I chose the one with a chance of receiving a cross stitch pattern as a reward. Yes, please!

For this errand she had to try and deliver a package which had lost its address label. I guess this was on the honor system. Six different Sims said “Nope, not my package” before she finally found its owner.

Whatever she ordered from Sim Amazon, I’ll have one, too!