Stardew Valley remains a charming farming sim celebrated for its bright cartoon visuals and the way it nods to Harvest Moon while carving its own path. Players sow crops, raise livestock, mine for minerals, trade goods, and gradually widen their homestead. The game earned widespread praise and sold over 30 million copies, with a major patch arriving in March 2024 that brought version 1.6. This guide highlights every innovation packed into that update and what it means for players in North America and beyond.
Remark. Although Stardew Valley launched on modern consoles and mobile devices, update 1.6 was initially rolled out to the PC version and may apply differently on other platforms.
New festivals
The spring brings a three day Desert Festival on the 15th, 16th, and 17th. A repaired bus is required to join the celebration. Arrive at the desert stop at 10:00 and follow the route to the oasis. Calico eggs serve as the event’s currency and can be traded with the merchant for valuable resources. At the festival’s close, any unused eggs are burned for good measure.
Within the festival, participants can enjoy several activities:
- Horse racing with bets. Victors earn 20 calico eggs. To boost odds, players can consult a suspect near the oasis and suggest which racer should lose, in exchange for a single egg.
- Fishing challenges. Willie assigns specific fish to catch, rewarding successful catches with calico eggs.
- Conversations with a scientist. The professor poses questions, and answering correctly yields a 50 calico egg reward.
In addition to games, the festival area hosts shops selling clothing and resources for calico eggs, a medical station for restoring health, and a car that functions as a teleport to the farm.
Trout Derby takes place in summer on the 20th and 21st from 6:10 am to 2:00 am. The event location sits along the riverbank in the Sindersap forest near Marnie’s ranch. Participants can target rainbow trout and chase a gold tag that can be exchanged for valuable resources. Gold tags are rare and may appear in hidden places rather than in the fish or tackle boxes. Bringing a bait-making device ahead of time can help increase fishing success.
Squid Party happens in winter, on the 12th and 13th. Depending on the number of creatures caught, players can earn copper, iron, iridium, and gold rewards. These prizes are redeemable in stores for various goods. Crafting a bait-making device is advised to improve odds.
New farm type: Meadow
Before update 1.6, Stardew Valley featured seven farm styles, each with its own pros and cons. The Meadow Farm is added with the patch, offering thriving pastures where cattle graze on lush grass. You start with a chicken coop and two birds, and the meadow is an excellent pick for players aiming to focus on livestock farming.
New benefits and valuable items
Unlocking fresh bonuses requires some deliberate actions. Start by maxing out all basic skills to level ten. Then head to the forest’s southern area and explore a seemingly ordinary rock doorway, which only opens once your skills reach the limit. Inside, you’ll discover five totems corresponding to your abilities and a letter from Grandpa in the corner that you can ignore. Return to the open world and open the skills menu to see a new Mastery bar. It fills through regular gameplay like fishing, ranching, and other activities. When the bar is full, revisit the cave and select a skill to receive a unique bonus or a valuable item tied to that skill.
This progression system adds a layer of long-term strategy and rewards steady, repeated play across the game.
Other innovations
- Multiplayer supports up to eight players on PC.
- More pets are available, including turtles. It’s best to nurture your first pet before adopting a second. Hats for cats and dogs appear, with new varieties to accessorize. The carpentry workshop offers bowls for pets.
- Animals are happier when stable and chicken coop doors are closed at night.
- There are more interactions with the horse and expanded NPC dialogues, including responses to gifts and invitations to dances.
- NPCs wear warmer clothes in winter, and books appear twice per season for shopping and learning.
- The map shows the player’s current view, and a Ginger Island map is added with seasonal changes in appearance.
- Joja the parrot helps locate golden nuts on Ginger Island.
- Lewis’s house features a slot machine that awards quest tickets, orders, and event participation points.
- New seeds arrive for planting: melon, carrots, zucchini, and broccoli, available in stores.
- House upgrades become possible, adding an attic, dining room, closet, and corner room.
- A wide assortment of new items arrives: furniture, clothing, chests, mannequins, and even a blessing statue that temporarily boosts a random skill.
- The farm computer expands its scope, providing information about the entire game world, not just the farm plot.
- Completing the First Meeting quest with Emily may unlock a new task with a chance.
- After finishing Mister Key’s quest and visiting Skull Cave, a new statue appears to unlock a harder game mode.
- Waterfalls appear in the open world, adding scenic variety.
- New edible items include pickled cucumbers, jelly, and mayonnaise.
Other guides
End note: content reflects the game’s broader expansions available through version 1.6 and related updates.