‘Stardew Valley’ adds couch co-op in its biggest update ever
With less than two months before its fifth anniversary, farming sim Stardew Valley has just received its biggest content update ever. As Polygon points out, there are far too many changes to list in a short article, but some of the more notable will appeal to those of you who have put countless hours into the game.
On that front, the biggest addition is a new beachside farm that adds a slight wrinkle to gameplay. You’ll find plenty of opportunities to fish and forage here, but farming will be more difficult since you won’t be able to use sprinklers to water all your plants. Veteran players will also find a new late-game area that adds, among other things, a volcano-themed dungeon to explore.
That said, you don’t have to start a new save file to experience everything the update has to offer. There are new townsfolk to meet, additional items to collect and a new quest to complete. However, the biggest change is a new couch co-op mode that builds on Stardew Valley’s existing multiplayer functionality. It allows you and up to three other people to play on the same screen. You can start playing co-op by asking Robin the Carpenter to build a cabin on your farm. There’s also an option that enables co-op play as soon as you start a new game.
Stardew Valley’s 1.5 content update is available to download today on PC. According to developer Eric “ConceredApe” Barone, it will come to consoles sometime early next year, with a release on mobile devices to follow later — though there’s no definitive timeline for the latter just yet. And if you’re new to Stardew Valley, the game is currently 33 percent off on Steam in honor of today’s update.
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