It is the eve before Stardew Valley’s 1.6 update drops and developer ConcernedApe has delivered us one last sneak peek by way of patch notes. In case you’ve missed the last week of chaos, Stardew Valley’s developer has been releasing spoiler-free teases of what’s to come in the forthcoming update and the community has been absolutely eating it up. The changes have ranged from the obscure to the subject of countless fan theories, and span the gamut of bugs and glitches, to long overdue corrections and fixing game mechanics. Over the weekend, they even teased that players will now be able to chug mayonnaise just for the hell of it. All hell’s broken loose in Pelican Town apparently.
ConcernedApe’s final tease is now out ahead of the patch’s drop tomorrow, and it’s perhaps the most substantial new addition announced yet.
Stardew’s 1.6 update will, among too many additions and fixes to count, introduce a new farm type to the game: the meadowlands farm. The new farmland will, according to ConcernedApe, consist of “chewy blue grass that animals love” making it ripe for grazing right off the bat. Stardew has seven other farm types as of update 1.5, and each lends itself to a particular playstyle, be it combat, harvesting, fishing, or just enjoying multiplayer lobbies with some of your friends.
The patch note seems to indicate the latest farm type will be especially good for players who prioritize farming in Stardew Valley. Farm types have benefits beyond just layouts, and the new meadowlands farm is no different. Players who opt to start a new meadowlands farm will begin their game with a coop and two chickens, saving them the time and money that procuring all three often costs. It’s perhaps safe to say that the new farm type is a bit more beginner-friendly, as it will cut out some of the more tedious tasks from the early game.
This last patch note follows in the footsteps of those behind it, painting the picture of an update meant to transition Stardew into a new phase of its life. The game, which has been supported more than I think anyone could have reasonably imagined when it first came out in 2016TK YEAR, has had a tremendous lifetime filled with new content and changes, and 1.6 appears like a tidy way to tie a bow on things. Most of the changes that have been announced are granular, but the kind of stuff that diehard Stardew aficionados have been clamoring for. Just look at the replies to each one of ConcernedApe’s announcements and you’ll see hundreds, if not thousands, of people losing it over changes that hardly feel impactful from the outside looking in. They’re the kind of crowd-pleasing fixes I can imagine addressing in order to make the community happy one last time for the foreseeable future.
Coming years after the last significant content arrived in Stardew—and sandwiched between it and ConcernedApe’s next game, Haunted Chocolatier—the 1.6 update was supposed to have been a more straightforward update for modders before it transformed into a tiny expansion. In the time since its initial announcement, ConcernedApe has spent more time talking about the fresh content made for 1.6, such as an entirely new festival and accompanying dialogue, than discussing its original intent. Even the teases over the last week have had nothing to do with mods. Instead, they’ve felt like a fun repartee between the developer and the huge community his game has accrued over the years, as well as an assurance that he’s coming through on some long standing promises before moving on to the next big thing for a good while.
To be clear, I don’t believe Stardew is going anywhere, and the console and mobile versions still need the 1.6 update to be ported over in the near future, but this update feels like the last big one fans are going to get for a while as ConcernedApe refocuses on getting Haunted Chocolatier out the door. If these zany patches are anything to go by, it’s definitely going out with a bang.
