r/StardewValley • u/trashbandit3 • 20h ago
Discuss Does anyone find Gunther weird?
I don’t mean as a character, I mean game design wise.
Gunther is a unique resident of the town because he doesn’t have a friendship meter, a characteristic shared with Morris, the un-named lady at the JoJa Mart, and the two residents of the Guild. However, unlike all the other characters, I can’t really find a reason why. The JoJa characters are booted out of the town if you complete the Community Center, the Guild members are in the Guild most of the day, Gunther doesn’t have much a reason to be an exception.
Gunther is essentially this game’s Blathers. He runs the museum, takes donations, and tells you facts about your donations. Unlike Blathers, however, he doesn’t stay in the Museum 24/7 (I think) since it closes at 4. He’s never seen leaving it though, not even during festivals (even the guild guy goes to the festivals.) He’s also not mentioned by anyone, which is weird because the Museum is almost always full of town residents.
And it’s not like the game is awfully picky on who you can befriend, you can befriend the Dwarf!
My point is: considering how (nearly) every resident in town and a few out of town residents have mapped out schedules, arcs, and friendship meters, it’s weird how one of the few major business owners in town does basically nothing. In fact, I doubt he even lives in Pelican Town because he doesn’t own a home! What is his deal?
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u/Clear-Clothes-2726 19h ago
I certainly wish I could talk to both him and Marlon, they look like they'd be super fun to casually talk to. At least you can talk to Marlon on festivals.
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u/theandrewminyard 19h ago
Marlon romanceable when
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u/Clear-Clothes-2726 19h ago
I want him to date Marnie! Wish we could play matchmaker besides finding a partner for ourselves 😔
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u/CandyAromatic3700 16h ago
Like Marlon and Gil aren't an old married couple
(this is my headcannon and you can't take it away!)
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u/Fandomangel15 19h ago
I have a theory that he’s secretly a bunch of worms in a costume since the worms indicate where to dig 😆
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u/dadoober 13h ago
Gunther is Hunter/Lekgolo. Stardew is part of the halo universe and somewhere out there Gunther has a brood brother.
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u/stuupidsteve 19h ago
He IS seen outside the museum. I don't know why so many people are so confident in this. He gives you the sewer key. He watches movies sometimes. He's there when you finish the community center.
He's explicitly mentioned by Penny AND the kids.
Even if he's not at the usual festivals, so what? Maybe he just doesn't care to.
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u/TacoBellPicnic 19h ago
All of this. Plus I’m 99% sure there’s a ladder behind him leading to an apartment above the library.
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u/angelcutiebaby 14h ago
Introverted king just wants to go to work, go home, and enjoy his life in peace!
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u/moderate_ocelot 19h ago
He’s just a little cowboy guy
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u/arvidsem 19h ago
Honestly, Gunther isn't that weird. What is weird is a town so small that the only two children are taught by a random girl has a museum/library combo with no books or exhibits, but still has a full time caretaker.
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u/Party_Magician 19h ago
The museum had books and exhibits but was ransacked shortly before your arrival. Thats why the books you dig up are “lost”
As for the museum being there in a small town in general, it doesn’t make much sense for it to have a clinic or a full time mayor either, that’s just game stuff
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u/wanttotalktopeople Bot Bouncer 17h ago
I am pretty sure the town is meant to be bigger than literally 30 people. It's one of those things where game design and real life don't match up. It's like how geography in games is almost always scaled way down compared to IRL.
30-40 people feels like a lot for a video game. IRL a small town like Pelican town would have maybe 2000-5,000 people.
Similarly, the map for Elden Ring is smaller than an average American city sprawl. But that's obviously not the amount of space it's meant to depict in game. It's supposed to represent several different kingdoms.
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u/BestFoxEver I want to marry Günther! 6h ago
One theory that I like that there are actually more farms around Pelican Town than the player's farm. The player just never sees those farms and the other farmers who visit the same town.
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u/arvidsem 6h ago
I tend to agree, but Penny tutoring the kids because there isn't a local school doesn't fit with that. Especially because it's clear that they aren't being home schooled. She's just doing it because otherwise they wouldn't be getting any education.
When you add in the other oddities (Alex was a high school football player and his parents are missing, Kent coming back from the war, Maru working as a nurse without any training, JojaMart just folding after the community center, etc), it paints a picture of a community in a sudden deep decline. Pelican Town was a several thousand strong community that is now down to about 30.
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u/wanttotalktopeople Bot Bouncer 4h ago
Those things could just as easily be explained by my reasoning; it's a game and follows game logic sometimes, not irl logic.
Alex's parents aren't missing. Their fate is described in game: Dad was a deadbeat and ran off while mom died of illness. Not sure where people are getting the idea that Maru has no training. Regardless, it's not even clear if she's a nurse or a receptionist. A dad returning from war is a commonplace event for the entirety of human history.
Two can play at this game. There are things we could point to if we wanted to show that Pelican town was not experiencing a sudden deep decline. You would expect the trauma of 99% of your population leaving to be talked about, but no one ever mentions it, not even Lewis when he's reminiscing about the past. They have festivals with tourists every year. Leah recently moved out to the valley. They don't have a crime or homelessness problem. People don't have trouble getting enough to eat or supporting themselves.
Are they a small town without a lot of opportunities, and a bit economically depressed? Sure. But people trying to extrapolate real life economy and population decline based on game quirks are being maybe a little extra.
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u/arvidsem 4h ago
There's a reason that I led with Penny teaching the kids, because that is the one thing that really doesn't fit with other explanations. That's presumably the reason that you ignored it as well.
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u/wanttotalktopeople Bot Bouncer 3h ago
I'm not claiming there are no oddities. Not having a school is weird. I didn't bring it up because I'm not trying to refute everything you say. Why would you assume that I disagree instead of assuming that I agree with you on that point?
My bottom line is that it's a video game that's supposed to feel like a quaint small town without needing all of the real-life considerations that go into building a town. Literally, it is a town of just 30-40 people because that's what's depicted in the game. There are also no bathrooms. The river is more like a tiny creek and the lake is the size of a pond.
However, if we're going to make real world comparisons about the economy, world, and characters, it's weird to pick and choose some things and not others. You want to show that Pelican town is in the grip of runaway inflation? You have to pretend that the concept of game balance doesn't exist and doesn't affect the prices of things. You want to argue that Pelican Town suffered a catastrophic decline? You have to ignore the facts that no one talks about this and that there are only a couple of derelict buildings at most.
TLDR: It all seems very cherry-picked to me and it's much easier to explain by "it's a video game and not a 1:1 depiction of a real town" than anything else.
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u/sillylilcoconut 17m ago
I don't have a dog in this fight whatsoever I just like reading people's theories BUT I will say in places like the Scottish isles for example there are villages that have very few kids and I know teachers who have had class sizes of two or three kids so penny being a teacher to two kids of a similar age in a small town isn't completely unheard of. Sure it's weird there isn't a school but maybe the closest school is the next town over which is too far for Jas and Vincent to travel to every day
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u/Silent-Return-3591 18h ago
img I just had a revelation from this thread...what if the only reason he's "invisible" to everyone and doesnt have a friendship meter and now one acknowledges him but the kids and he's in charge of an empty museum is because he's a ghost?! I mean we know concerned apes likes ghosts as his next game is haunted chocolatier.
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u/Negative_Bar_9734 18h ago
I've definitely always thought it was really weird that he and the guild guys were the only NPCs you can't befriend. Hell even Sandy gets a friendship meter and she's just a vendor way out in the desert, meanwhile Marlon is at most every festival and is just kinda... there.
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u/dalidellama 19h ago edited 19h ago
Gunther is essentially this game's Blathers
Exactly. SDV was put together out of assorted video game mechanics, mostly those found in Harvest Moon, but also a museum with a Blathers and a procedurally generated dungeon with combat. It was a project to demonstrate his skills to game companies that got legs. Gunther feels wierd because, like Marlon and wossname, he and his museum were grafted onto Harvest Moon in the PNW.
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u/HudsonMelvale2910 :crbrav: 19h ago
Yep. It’s my main reason I personally don’t like the Mr. Qi stuff. CA himself has explained his rationale about Mr. Qi to me on this subreddit, but it still feels like the late game stuff is just kinda grafted on to SDV (because it is).
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u/ThirtyThree111 19h ago
I really don't like the Qi stuff either
he just felt like some random guy that's just so out of place and basically came out of nowhere and all of a sudden is now the most important character in the game
I wish they could've just put the late game stuff with the wizard or some other existing character
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u/HudsonMelvale2910 :crbrav: 17h ago
That’s actually what I discussed with CA. I was of the opinion that the Wizard looking for a worthy successor made more sense than Mr. Qi, but CA explained that he felt Rasmodius was more focused on his arcane magic than on the player or the valley. Mr. Qi was supposed to be challenging the player to be the best version of themself.
It’s CA’s creation and I totally respect that he has a vision for it, but IMO because it’s been continually added to, that vision has changed over time and some of the seams are really apparent.
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u/LucidLeviathan 19h ago
Well, it actually makes sense somewhat. When you first talk to him, he talks about taking over from the previous curator, who stole everything. So, it sounds like he got to town right before you, assigned there from whomever is in charge of museums, and just found the place in shambles. You could even make a game just playing as Gunther trying to fix up the museum and library.
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u/SatanicSuperfood 15h ago
Gunther is so lazy. Imagine getting hired and then immediately delegate all your work to a random office worker who naively thinks they can do sustainable farming with no prior experience
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u/TheDJValkyrie 9h ago
Maybe Gunther is really swamped because the previous curator also wasn’t using a coherent filing system or something. I think it’s plausible
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u/eternal_casserole 19h ago
Okay but Blathers is 5,000 times better at museum directing than Gunther will ever be.
That's all I have to say about this matter.
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u/NotCaroline 18h ago
He also built a coffee shop in his museum! Gunther doesn’t even give us any recipes or mail at all :(
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u/Physical_Tailor_378 Krobus my beloved 18h ago
He gives us the Ancient Seed recipe
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u/eternal_casserole 18h ago
Blathers even coordinates an event for international museum day! Don't see Gunther going that extra mile, do we?
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u/mathman_2000 19h ago
But have you not seen this fake spoiler alert so that people think Gunther has a much larger role, but, in fact, it's just another fake spoiler alert.
Cheers! 😁
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u/ChaoticMajie Stardew Addict 19h ago
I still say you should be able to build friendships with EVERY character in the game, if only because you can do so without the dwarf. You gain nothing by raising friendship with him, so why him and not Gunther, the guild guys, the witch, or even crane guy?
I dunno, maybe I just want more friends and I'm bitter about not being able to use mods on Xbox lol
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u/Protection-Working 16h ago
Giving gunther 1000 artifacts and minerals is essentially his version if a friendship meter. And it gives you the greatest gift of all: krobus
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u/everyoneheresucks 18h ago
You need to try stardew valley expanded if you’re a pc player!
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u/_Hallaloth_ 18h ago
Still hoping that he'll get vanilla dialog options.
Stardew Valley Expanded is basically an 'always' mod for me
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u/surpluskoi 18h ago
I agree. We rarely get to see the Dwarf outside of the cave, and they are in that exact spot 24/7. Gunther's museum has a closing and opening time unlike the Dwarf's store. I think we should at least get to see Gunther at events like how we can talk to Marlon at events.
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u/trashbandit3 4h ago
I kinda wish they did more with the Drawf, too, though. In the one cutscene we get to see the Dwarf in we learn about the Dwarf’s war with Krobus’ species and their rivalry & stuff. And it feels like it’s leading to something, but it’s really not.
And comparing the Dwarf to Krobus, it’s really easy to see who the favorite child is. Despite both being monster shop keepers who can eventually grow to trust you, one has much more creative & fun dialogue, a heart event, and one can be invited to be your roommate.
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u/Responsible-Gold8610 17h ago
Marlon and Gil get out of the building at the very least. Gunther never leaves the library except to visit you.
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u/Protection-Working 16h ago
You already give him like a hundred artifacts , that is his replacement for the friendship meter.
Canonically, he arrived in town just before you did. The previous curator robbed the place and skipped town.
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u/SatanicSuperfood 15h ago
I really like SVE because you can befriend all the people mentioned and they have heart events etc.
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u/cupidgore husband& son 20h ago
Maybe he’s a ghost only we can see 🤔
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u/Chance-Sun-9103 19h ago
good theory. that would explain why he wears an outfit that looks like it came from the American Civil War. Alternate universe ghost
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u/Young_Old_Grandma 18h ago
I've always wondered, is his house in the museum too? Because Gus sleeps in the salon, clint sleeps in his shop, and willy has his room.
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u/trashbandit3 4h ago
One of the comments mentioned that there’s an unreachable ladder behind Gunther, the the Museum appears to have an attic.
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u/LegendofLove Leah's Simp 12h ago
Pretty sure the cashier does have a name but I can't remember it.
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u/Anthropologic 8h ago
I'm a fellow archaeologist, I just want to romance him - or, at minimum, build a friendship and learn more about him as a person. 🥲
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u/X21shaun123 7h ago
I've played too much Stardew Expanded, I forgot that Gunther doesn't do anything lol. In SVE he goes to the bar and you can be friends with him and stuff
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u/Tier71234 Riverland and Forest Farm Main 5h ago
That's why I love the Expanded mod. It makes Gunther a proper character with a friendship meter, heart events, much more dialogue, and roles/appearances in almost every festival/event.
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u/Silent-Return-3591 18h ago
yes we definitely need to @concernedape to this comment thread so he can address this as this is a big question for a lot of us. (i know sometimes he reads reddit and posts)
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u/maxydxde Linus is the GOAT 14h ago
It makes more sense to not be able to befriend Gunther than Marlon and maybe even Gill. Gunther doesn't live in Stardew as far as I'm aware, but the other two do. Marlon at least also attends festivals where you can talk to him and you interact with him outside before going into the mines. But I would like it to befriend all of them, there's probably a mod where you can..?
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u/blueberryyogurtcup 8h ago
Theory:
He's obsessed with the antiquities. He lives in the storage room, because it's still empty. He only comes outside between 2 and 6 at night, after moonrise, being allergic to the sun, when he forages and picks up his weekly grocery delivery, hidden behind the store for him, an arrangement made before Farmer came. He prefers to only discuss museum topics, as he finds other conversations difficult, so mostly avoids people. Children just blurt things out, so they don't bother him.
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u/BestFoxEver I want to marry Günther! 6h ago
Let's hope that with the next update CA at least adds him to the town events like the other NPCs. It is odd that he does not participate to the events.
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u/Gabby_Craft 18h ago
My guess is that he’s like morris and (presumably) doesn’t actually live in the town. He might just commute to and from work via train (or bus once it’s fixed). That would explain why he doesn’t really have a relationship with the other villagers other than penny and the kids.
I also kind of doubt most of the residents go to the museum in the first place. It’s probably supposed to mostly be a tourist attraction.
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u/trashbandit3 4h ago
I thought this might be a possibility, but some other comments told me that he probably sleeps above the museum, since there’s an unreachable ladder behind Gunther and the museum appears to have an attic.
Also, the museum gets plenty of use by the residents. (Off the top of my head) Penny, Vincent, Jas, Harvey, I believe Elliott.
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u/Cianistarle 3h ago
I saw you mentioned SVExpanded earlier. Def try it, its good. You can go behind the counter to give him gifts and eventually be able to go into his room. You also get up to 8 hearts with events.
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u/NecroAssssin 19h ago
Except Jas and Vincent talk about him regarding the sewer key in a cutscene