Eric 'ConcernedApe' Barone gave us a little preview of what the 1.6 update for Stardew Valley will look like.

Initially, it was not at all clear if there would even be a 1.6 update; in November 2022, he revealed that he was working on it, but that it would be a mod-focused update, much less than the big 1.5 update He quelled the hype by making it clear. He further emphasized its smaller scale this April, but added that there would be new game content.

Now we have a very small insight into what some of that new content might be; Barone tweeted a few bullet points of what to expect: a new festival, new items, possibly an iridium scythe, additional dialogue, "secrets," etc., and ended with ?" He's right, it's certainly less than past Stardew expansion-scale updates, but still much more than what I was expecting when he announced last year that he was working on 1.6.

New dialogue options are always appreciated, especially at this point when you can quote most Pelican Town residents from memory. I wasn't a big fan of the Stardew festivities, but am looking forward to seeing what Barone has to offer. Of course, I'm also sincerely curious to see what secrets and question-mark-worthy content await us.

The 1.6 update will still focus on improving the modding experience, but it's nice to look forward to the additional goodies. It is still unclear when the update will be released, but we can expect it by the end of the year, especially considering that Barone is taking a break from developing Haunted Chocolatier to work on this.