Do you like cozy games? Spending hours of your free time immersing yourself in a fantasy world where the oppressive loom of bills and taxes don’t exist?
For the last couple of years, I have been completely hooked on what I believe to be one of the best cozy games – Stardew Valley.
This farming sim was made singlehandedly by Eric “ConcernedApe” Barone released in 2016 and is incredibly easy to get sucked into.
Think of it like Minecraft with a plot. You leave your corporate job to take over your grandpa’s farm in Pelican Valley.
Really, who doesn’t dream of that instead of the corporate slog?
Once you start farming you meet the local townspeople and start uncovering the huge collection of secrets the valley and its surrounding areas have to offer.
You can fish, mine, fight monsters and start a family. If you thrive on drama, you can even catch the mayor getting a little too friendly with one of his citizens.
I’ve already put about 325 hours into the game across two farms and I’m not done yet.
The game has attracted a large following of a wide variety of players since its inception, and eight years later we’re still getting updates.
Recently, Barone announced that he was working on a major update to the game, update 1.6. On Feb. 27, the eight-year anniversary of the game’s release, he announced that the update would be coming to PC on Mar. 19 with console and mobile following soon after.
This is the game’s first major update in a while, and the list of promises keeps getting better. So, what can we expect from the update?
According to Barone, we can look forward to three new festivals, late-game content, items and crafting recipes, over 100 new lines of dialogue, winter outfits for villagers, and a new type of reward. To top it all off, a new farm type will be debuting.
Barone has also said that the update will have small additions and adjustments alongside new secrets, and PC support for up to eight people in multiplayer. With a long list of new features, it’s clear to see why fans of the game (including me) are so excited.
I can’t wait to start a new farm and see all the additions in context. In the meantime, I’ll have to keep working on my current farm.
Hopefully, once the update releases we’ll get more news about Barone’s next game, Haunted Chocolatier, which seems to be similar to Stardew Valley at least in aesthetic.
I cannot recommend the game enough, and now I need to stop writing and log more hours.