Sustainable Play in Video Games: A Case Study of Stardew Valley
(2026) SMMP40 20261Department of Service Studies
- Abstract
- Research on video games and sustainability has predominantly focused on game design — examining
how serious games, gamification, and narrative design can transmit ecological knowledge or shape
sustainability-related behaviour. This design-centred approach, however, treats sustainability as a property
to be embedded in the game system and received by players, leaving a theoretical blind spot: it cannot
explain why, in games without any explicit sustainability-education intent, players nonetheless develop
ecological awareness, behavioural change, and lasting community attachment through sustained play.
This study proposes that play behaviour itself — not merely game design — can serve as a generative
practice of sustainable value, and... (More) - Research on video games and sustainability has predominantly focused on game design — examining
how serious games, gamification, and narrative design can transmit ecological knowledge or shape
sustainability-related behaviour. This design-centred approach, however, treats sustainability as a property
to be embedded in the game system and received by players, leaving a theoretical blind spot: it cannot
explain why, in games without any explicit sustainability-education intent, players nonetheless develop
ecological awareness, behavioural change, and lasting community attachment through sustained play.
This study proposes that play behaviour itself — not merely game design — can serve as a generative
practice of sustainable value, and develops the concept of ‘sustainable play’ to articulate this possibility.
Drawing on Stardew Valley and its player community as a case study, the research adopts an interpretivist
qualitative method that combines netnography of r/StardewValley and Xiaohongshu with semi-structured
interviews of eleven long-term players. Through thematic analysis, five core themes were identified:
ecological meaning-making, behavioural spillover, place attachment, social connection, and community
cohesion.
The findings reveal that play generates sustainable value along two parallel but distinct pathways. At the
individual level, players translate in-game engagement with farming, seasonal rhythms, and resource
cycles into ecological awareness and concrete real-life practices such as gardening, slower consumption,
and renewed attention to nature. At the community level, sustained play and interaction transform the
digital community into a third place that produces belonging, emotional support, and both bridging and
bonding forms of social capital. Together, these two pathways constitute sustainable play: a mode of play
in which playing behaviour, while remaining non-instrumental, continuously generates value at both the
individual and the community level.
This study contributes to video game research by shifting analytical attention from game design to play as
practice, and to sustainability research by extending its conceptual reach to a domain — video gaming —
long excluded from sustainability discourse. It argues that play, when sustained and embedded in
community, is not merely a transient form of entertainment but a practice through which ecological
meaning and social relations are continuously produced. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9233477
- author
- Wang, Yiran LU and Chen, Yikang LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- SMMP40 20261
- year
- 2026
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- Play Behavior, Sustainable Play, Stardew Valley, Netnography, Digital Third Place, Sustainability
- language
- English
- id
- 9233477
- date added to LUP
- 2026-06-10 09:13:17
- date last changed
- 2026-06-10 09:13:17
@misc{9233477,
abstract = {{Research on video games and sustainability has predominantly focused on game design — examining
how serious games, gamification, and narrative design can transmit ecological knowledge or shape
sustainability-related behaviour. This design-centred approach, however, treats sustainability as a property
to be embedded in the game system and received by players, leaving a theoretical blind spot: it cannot
explain why, in games without any explicit sustainability-education intent, players nonetheless develop
ecological awareness, behavioural change, and lasting community attachment through sustained play.
This study proposes that play behaviour itself — not merely game design — can serve as a generative
practice of sustainable value, and develops the concept of ‘sustainable play’ to articulate this possibility.
Drawing on Stardew Valley and its player community as a case study, the research adopts an interpretivist
qualitative method that combines netnography of r/StardewValley and Xiaohongshu with semi-structured
interviews of eleven long-term players. Through thematic analysis, five core themes were identified:
ecological meaning-making, behavioural spillover, place attachment, social connection, and community
cohesion.
The findings reveal that play generates sustainable value along two parallel but distinct pathways. At the
individual level, players translate in-game engagement with farming, seasonal rhythms, and resource
cycles into ecological awareness and concrete real-life practices such as gardening, slower consumption,
and renewed attention to nature. At the community level, sustained play and interaction transform the
digital community into a third place that produces belonging, emotional support, and both bridging and
bonding forms of social capital. Together, these two pathways constitute sustainable play: a mode of play
in which playing behaviour, while remaining non-instrumental, continuously generates value at both the
individual and the community level.
This study contributes to video game research by shifting analytical attention from game design to play as
practice, and to sustainability research by extending its conceptual reach to a domain — video gaming —
long excluded from sustainability discourse. It argues that play, when sustained and embedded in
community, is not merely a transient form of entertainment but a practice through which ecological
meaning and social relations are continuously produced.}},
author = {{Wang, Yiran and Chen, Yikang}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Sustainable Play in Video Games: A Case Study of Stardew Valley}},
year = {{2026}},
}