One of the most remarkable things about Stardew Valley is how different it is now to when it first came out, and that's down to developer ConcernedApe continuing to add features and content in free updates. We're currently up to 1.5, which added a whole new area and several new characters amongst a ton of other new stuff, but for folks that haven't played in a while, it can be a bit overwhelming.
We've put together 19 of the coolest features that ConcernedApe added to the game post-launch that you may not have noticed — things that perhaps went under the radar, drowned out by all the bigger stuff, or things you haven't experienced since putting down the game a while ago. Maybe this will get you back into the game!
(Extremely large hat tip to the Stardew Valley Wiki, whose database was invaluable in putting together this list!)
19 Features Added In Stardew Valley Updates
Clean up the beach
Finally, you can clean up that messy, inaccessible part of the beach in Cindersap Forest — as well as all the crap outside Pam's house. The way you can do this is to head to the entrance to the Sewers in year 3 onwards, as long as it's not raining, and find the Trash Bear. He'll ask you for a few random seasonal items, and once you fulfil his requests, he'll gladly clean up those areas, and even upgrade the dog pen in town, too.
Combining rings
The Forge on level ten of Volcano Dungeon can be used to upgrade and enchant weapons, but did you know it can also combine the powers of two rings? Apparently your farmer only has two fingers, so it makes sense to maximise the power of the two rings you can wear. It costs 20 Cinder Shards to combine the rings, but it will also combine the effects to create an ultra-powerful piece of kit.
You can also un-combine the rings for free, but you'll only get back some of the Cinder Shards you used to make it.
The Lost & Found box
Mayor Lewis' house now contains a "Lost & Found" box, which contains items that have been lost through failed quests, items from offline players, hats from children that have been turned into doves, and items left behind in the grange display at the Valley Fair. Do we trust Lewis to keep all this in his house? Noooot really.
Auto-petting animals
The Auto-Petter was added in update 1.5, and does exactly what it sounds like — it provides your animals with that sweet TLC, without you having to be present. Sure, it doesn't actually give you as many friendship points (animals aren't stupid), but it will improve their mood the same amount as manual petting.
It costs 50,000G and can be bought from JojaMart after completing the Joja Community quest, or if you're not a monster, you can get it from Skull Cavern treasure chests.
Upgrade your sheds
As of 1.4, there is now a Big Shed, which is the same size as the shed on the outside, but twice as big on the inside — 137 space in total. All the kegs you can dream of1
You'll just need to head to Robin's Carpenter's Shop to purchase the upgrade for 20,000G, but you have to have a shed ready to upgrade. Also, in update 1.3.36, ConcernedApe centered the doorway. That's very important for some of us.
Mayor Lewis' Book of Divorce
Mayor Lewis also has a new feature in his house as of update 1.1 — the divorce book, which lets you divorce your spouse for 50,000G. This returns that NPC to zero hearts and changes their relationship to "ex", and they'll also comment on the failure of your marriage in future. It's much more expensive and much more difficult than using the Witch's Hut to erase your spouse's memories... but it's perhaps kinder, no?
Change gender
In the 1.5 update, ConcernedApe added the ability to head to the Shrine of Illusions in the Wizard's basement and change your name, favourite thing, and gender for just 500G. You'll need either 4 hearts with the Wizard, or access to the Witch's Hut — the red portal will take you to the Wizard's basement.
The Man in the Moon
On the 27th of any month, on a non-rainy day, there's a chance that a full moon will appear on the shipping screen at the end of the night. If you click that moon 11 times, it will turn into a grumpy, monocle-wearing man's face — which could be a reference to French silent film, A Trip to the Moon, in which a rocket crashes into one of the man in the moon's eyes.
Getting caught cheating
If you try to rename yourself in the Shrine of Illusions using the item spawn code cheat to get items without earning them, you'll get one of these messages (from the Stardew Valley Wiki):
- ConcernedApe: What kind of a name is that? Seems fishy...
- Mr. Qi: Easy {{item name}}, huh? I'm disappointed, kid. I thought you wanted to beat this game fair and square?
- *Grandpa is shaking his head... 'I built this farm the old fashioned way, not with unlimited {{item name}}...'
- ConcernedApe is mad that you're cheating...
ConcernedApe: I'm not actually mad... have fun. - Calling all cars! Calling all cars! We've got [a/an] {{item name}} thief on the loose!
Rearranging the Museum artifacts
You can now rearrange the artifacts in the Museum if you've come up with a better method of displaying them, or if you've gone off the method you were using previously.
Double-width gates
As of 1.4, you can now place gates side-by-side — which means double-wide gates are finally possible.
A choice of fish bites
There are now four different options for the "fish bite" sound effect, if that blerp-blerp has been driving you crazy. You can find the option to change it under the Options tab in your in-game menu.
Sorting inventory (but not tools)
Do you love sorting the inventory, but hate when it mixes up your carefully-arranged tools? You're not alone — evidently enough people requested the ability to sort inventory and leave tools alone that ConcernedApe added this feature in 1.5.
Item Recovery Service
Speak to Marlon in the Adventurer's Guild to get access to the Item Recovery Service. If you pass out in a dungeon, a cavern, or a mine after losing all your stamina or health, Marlon will be able to recover one of the items you lost — for a fee. You'll have to pay the cost of that item or stack, so it really isn't about saving items that you were going to sell, but you can get back precious and priceless items. For a price.
The Deluxe Scarecrow
There are eight Rarecrows in the game, which can be found through various means — but, as the name suggests, they're quite hard to get. But once you've got all eight, you'll get a crafting recipe in the post, which teaches you how to make the secret ninth Rarecrow... which is easily the best scarecrow in the game, with double the range of the other Rarecrows.
Changing Junimo colours
As of update 1.4, you can place gems inside a Junimo Hut to change the colour of the Junimos that live in it. This is hinted at in one of the Secret Notes!
Randomise the Community Center
Bored of the same old challenge? When starting up a new game, you now have the option to randomize the Community Center bundles, which will mix things up nicely. Or horribly. It's just the luck of the draw!
A secret tribute to Krobus
Go fishing from the southernmost point of Cindersap Forest, right by the sewer, with fishing level 15, and you'll have a chance of catching a secret Iridium Krobus statue, in homage to everyone's favourite roommate.
Break up with everyone by setting fire to flowers
Pop a Bouquet in a furnace to get a Wilted Bouquet, which works in the opposite way to a regular Bouquet — instead of using it to ask someone to be in a relationship with you, a Wilted Bouquet breaks up with them. This can only be used on people you're dating, not those you're married to. Divorce ain't that easy, pal.
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Did you know all of these updates? What's your favourite thing that's been added to Stardew since launch? Give us your thoughts in the comments!
Comments 15
My gosh he added so much, I should jump back in... Is what I WOULD say if I didn't have such a hefty backlog. Fairplay though, ConcernedApe went above and beyond for this game, and any farming game ever to exist in the future is damned to always be compared to this.
I don't think I started playing until after 1.5 came to Switch last year. Interesting to see how much changed before I played though. I need to get back to that game again.
Although this isn’t my kind of game, I absolutely admire ConcernedApe’s dedication towards Stardew Valley. We need more devs like him.
I randomly started a second farm and loving it more than my first playthrough from couple years ago. Bittersweet seeing the play time reach 30 hrs since I mostly play it when I cant sleep.
As someone who didn’t play the game until it was a few years old, I was surprised to learn that Shane and Emily weren’t always Bachelors.
The Lost & Found and divorce book are in Mayor Lewis' house, not Pierre's.
I actually sold my 1.4 cartridge to get a 1.5 cartridge lol
This game is fantastic. Probably one of the best deals in gaming for the price. Cannot recommend enough. I think what is nuts is despite ConcernedApe working on Haunted Chocolatier(?), they are also working on 1.6. Even if it doesn't add much, the game has evolved so much that any future update at this point is practically a win.
Cool to see so much added to vanilla. Though I play on PC with about a billion mods now. Still, it was nice to play handheld on Switch.
I haven't played my game in about 2 years. I should get back to it but at this point I don't remember what I was doing and just get that overwhelmed feeling thinking about it. Maybe I should just start over.
@Tasuki this past year, I was looking for a new farm sim and revisited my Stardew valley farm. At first I saw it and wanted to make a couple changes and upgrades. Before I knew it, I was back in, putting another 40 hours on top of my initial 100. Now my farm looks so good to me and I had fun doing it. I encourage you to go back.
This game is so good!
I'm always on the look out for a new farm sim and always forget that Stardew Valley is the best and can't be beaten. I will go back to it one of these days and probably start again using the Randomise Community Centre bundles option, will also try to strike up a relationship with someone, never did get THAT involved in a save to do that
Did everyone go down the Community Centre route? Been tempted doing the Corporate route but never have...
@JugOfVoodoo oops, good catch!
Can you believe it, I just started playing Stardew for the first time on Christmas Day LAST MONTH, and it’s already 2nd place on my Switch’s “most hours played” list. It’s coming for you Breath of the Wild, and it’s bringing a watering can.
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