The 1.6 update for Stardew Valley is now available. It was released yesterday after Eric "ConcernedApe" Barone had had enough time to get up and make coffee. After sitting next to my PC all day waiting for signs, I quickly updated and jumped into 1.6 and started a whole new farm (and tried to start my romance with Sebastian all over again).

Stardew Valley broke the Steam player count record yesterday, reaching a whopping 146,159 players. That means it is currently the seventh most played game between Helldivers 2 and GTA 5. The previous record for the number of players for "Stardew Valley" was 94,879 around January 2021, when patch 1.5.4 was released.

This is not a bad number for a game more than eight years old, but 1.6 is a truly enormous (and free) addition. There's drinkable mayonnaise, cats in hats, and a whole new farm type, the Meadowlands (very huge, with chickens). 1.6 also introduced some great updates to the multiplayer game: on PC, you can play with up to 8 friends, and Steam 's multiplayer authentication, which should make for smoother connections.

If the 1.6 update isn't enough, or if, like me, your friends need a little more convincing, the fact that Stardew Valley is now on sale for 20% off at $11.99 / £8.79 will also appeal in the sales pitch! This would be a great selling point. Of course, it's not a huge price cut, but it's pretty cool to be able to buy it at a discounted price right after so much has been added.

1.6 could have easily been hidden behind a pay wall and other developers might have made the decision to do so. Now is the perfect time to start a new farm, get some friends together, or continue a project you have saved in a save file.