Eight years after its 2016 launch, Stardew Valley developer Eric “ConcernedApe” Barone has finally completed 100% of the game he created.
Naturally, Barone–who single-handedly crafted every inch of Stardew Valley, from its art to its soundtrack to its code–has completed full start-to-finish playthroughs of his game in the past. But this week, Barone revealed that he’s recently completed the game in its entirety by unlocking all of Stardew Valley’s 49 Steam achievements–and that the game’s 1.6 update now has a concrete release date for console and mobile devices.
“I had to do it over a couple days because I was on a multiplayer farm,” Barone told a curious fan on Twitter. “But I didn’t ‘cheese’ it with the reloads, it was a legitimate no-death run.”
Obviously, player-characters can’t just keel over and literally die in Barone’s cozy little farming sim (although they can pass out). But Stardew Valley includes several arcade-style mini-games in which the player-character’s player-character can, in fact, die. This doesn’t have particularly dire consequences… unless you’re shooting for the Fector’s Challenge achievement. Unlocking this achievement requires players to beat one of the aforementioned arcade mini-games–Journey of the Prairie King, a Smash TV-style game found in the Stardrop Saloon–without dying. Journey of the Prairie King consists of three stages, with a total of 10 areas to navigate (plus a boss fight at the end of each stage). The minigame is notoriously difficult, and is often the last achievement that Stardew Valley completionists manage to finish.
“I deliberately worked on Fector’s Challenge because it was the only one I didn’t have,” Barone said, confirming that just like many other Stardew Valley achievement hunters, Fector’s Challenge was the final hurdle he had to overcome.
The Haunted Chocolatier dev also shared some tips for players who are struggling to master Journey of the Prairie King.
“You need money, so don’t use the ‘nukes’ because the enemies don’t drop anything from that,” Barone explained after a player asked for advice. “Purchase the best item you can afford in this order: ammo > revolver > boots. Save a machine gun power-up for fighting Fector, you can take him down before he even has a chance to attack you.”
Barone also shared some helpful info on fighting the Outlaw:
“He has two moves, one where he moves across the screen and shoots,” Barone tweeted. “For that one, move in the opposite direction as him to avoid his bullets, and then hit him diagonally when he pauses. The other move, he pops out and shoots straight at you. If you position yourself right at the edge of his ‘cover,’ he won’t be able to hit you, but you can hit him.”
But perhaps the most interesting info Barone revealed during his chat with players regarding the achievement had nothing to do with minigames at all. Instead, Barone confirmed that Stardew Valley’s long-awaited 1.6 update is hitting consoles very soon.
How soon, exactly?
“1 week,” Barone tweeted in reply to a player who had asked if there was any news about the console update.
The 1.6 update launched for PC last March, and features a massive amount of content, including new items and crafting materials, improved NPC dialogue, new pets for players to adopt, a quest about a really big tree, and more.
Unfortunately, the initial PC launch introduced a few bugs, and the update itself wasn’t yet ready for release on console or mobile. Barone pledged that he would temporarily cease all work on Haunted Chocolatier until the Stardew Valley 1.6 update was “settled.”
“I am eager to get back to work on [Haunted Chocolatier],” he said at the time. “But I have to see Stardew 1.6 settled, bug-free and out to all platforms first.”
In September, he provided an update on the state of Stardew 1.6, acknowledging that the console and mobile ports were taking some time.
“I was originally hoping [the PC update and console/mobile updates] would be [releasing] maybe one month apart, max,” Barone admitted. “At any rate, I feel bad about it.”
Later that month, Barone quietly made a post on the official Stardew Valley website revealing that the update would come to console and mobile devices on November 4, which tracks with Barone’s recent statement that the update is just a week away.
“The console and mobile ports of the 1.6 update will be released on November 4th, 2024,” Barone’s post reads. “Thank you for your patience. The console and mobile ports will release at version 1.6.9, which will also come to PC around that time.”
Barone’s wording makes it sound like 1.6.9 might not release for PC at the exact same time it lands on console and mobile devices. So it’s unclear if he means the 1.6.9 update will come to PC a few hours after it hits console and mobile, or if PC players will have to wait a few days or weeks to gain access. Regardless, this is good news for both die-hard Stardew Valley fans and players who are itching to get their hands on Barone’s next creation.
“I’m looking forward to having 1.6 fully released on all platforms,” Barone said after announcing the release date. “Then I would like to finish Haunted Chocolatier next. Thank you.”
