68 Fun Facts About Stardew Valley

Under which online name does Eric Barone, the creator of Stardew Valley, release his games?

ConcernedApe. He made the whole game by himself, designing, programming, drawing, composing and writing every part of it.

Which game series was the main inspiration for Stardew Valley?

Harvest Moon. Barone felt the farming series had lost its way after Back to Nature, so he set out to make the better version he kept wishing existed.

What was Stardew Valley's original working title?

Sprout Valley. Barone started the project just to practise programming and to have a finished game to show potential employers.

What part-time job did Eric Barone hold while making Stardew Valley?

Usher at a Seattle theatre. Barone worked evenings at the Paramount for a part-time wage while his girlfriend Amber held down two jobs to keep them afloat.

In Stardew Valley, which machine turns fruit into wine?

Keg. Wine sells for three times the fruit's base price, so kegging a crop earns far more than selling the fruit raw.

Which Stardew Valley villager's lucky purple shorts must the player quietly retrieve from Marnie's bedroom?

Lewis. The mayor asks for them back 'discreetly', and if you show them off at the Stardew Valley Fair he bribes you with star tokens to keep his secret.

In Stardew Valley, the player inherits the farm from which relative?

Their grandfather. His letter opens the game, and his ghost returns at the start of the third year to judge how well you have looked after the farm.

In Stardew Valley, which building from Robin's shop comes with its animal included?

A stable. The horse comes with it, ready to carry you around the valley faster than you can walk, while a barn or coop stands empty until you buy animals from Marnie.

In Stardew Valley, what is the settlement next to the player's farm called?

Pelican Town. Helping to revive it is part of the player's task, and its Community Center begins the game dilapidated and locked.

A new Stardew Valley farmer on the standard farm starts with fifteen seeds of which fast-growing crop?

Parsnips. They ripen in just four days, so the starter seeds give a new farmer a first crop to sell before the opening week is over.

Which item do you give to a marriage candidate to propose?

A Mermaid's Pendant costs 5,000g from the Old Mariner, who turns up on the beach only when it rains. Hand it over and the wedding follows three days later.

In Stardew Valley, what does giving a villager a Bouquet do?

Starts you dating: their status changes to boyfriend or girlfriend. Pierre writes to offer his bouquets the morning after you reach eight hearts with someone.

Who are the forest spirits that live in the broken-down Community Center?

Junimos restore the Community Center one room at a time in exchange for bundles of things you grow, catch and forage. Finished rooms bring rewards such as the repaired bus or the minecarts.

Which Stardew Valley character manages JojaMart and sells the membership that replaces the Community Center?

Morris sells the 5,000g membership that turns the Community Center into a warehouse. Restore the Center instead and his store shuts for good.

Which Stardew Valley marriage candidate lives above the medical clinic and works as a doctor?

Harvey wanted to be a pilot, but poor eyesight and a fear of heights ruled it out, so he chats to passing aircraft over a radio in his room instead.

Which bachelor lives alone in a cabin on the beach and dreams of writing a great novel?

Elliott asks which kind of book you like best, then writes his novel in that genre and reads from it in public once you are close friends.

Sebastian, the loner in the basement, is the half-brother of which other marriage candidate?

Maru is the younger of Robin's two children, and Sebastian feels she gets all the attention and adoration while he is left to rot in the dark.

Which bachelorette lives at Pierre's General Store, where her mother frets over her dyed hair and occult hobbies?

Abigail answers a gift she likes, even a lump of quartz, by asking how you knew she was hungry and saying it looks delicious.

Shane, who lives at Marnie's Ranch, dreams of raising what?

Free-range chickens are Shane's dream, and at eight hearts he shows you the blue ones he has been breeding. After that, some of your own chicks hatch blue as well.

Emily works at the saloon to make ends meet, but her real passion is what?

Tailoring is how Emily dresses herself, and once you own a piece of cloth she turns up at your door to offer you the use of her sewing machine.

Which bachelorette lives in a trailer with her mother Pam and tutors Vincent and Jas?

Penny shares the trailer with Pam until you buy the town a community upgrade from Robin, who then builds the two of them a proper house.

Leah, the artist in the Cindersap Forest cottage, spends each morning on which craft before moving to her easel?

Sculpting fills Leah's mornings, yet she is too nervous to show the results until you suggest an art show in town or a website to sell them.

Alex, who lives with his grandparents Evelyn and George, dreams of becoming what?

A professional athlete is the plan: Alex says he will be the first pro gridball player from Stardew Valley, then later admits he doubts he can make it.

Krobus, the friendly shadow person, cannot be married but can become your what?

Roommate: give Krobus a keepsake sold by the Desert Trader and he moves into the farmhouse, but only if you are unmarried.

Krobus says his shadow people only recently ended a thousand-year war against whom?

The dwarves fought Krobus's people for a thousand years, and he still lives in hiding for fear they would send an assassin if they learned where he was.

Which key, obtained on floor 120 of the Mines, unlocks the cavern in the desert?

The Skull Key sits in a chest at the bottom of the Mines and opens Skull Cavern, a deadlier dig with no elevator, so every visit starts again from the first floor.

Gunther rewards 60 Museum donations with the Rusty Key, which opens which part of Stardew Valley?

The Sewers hide a shopkeeper whose rare stock includes a Stardrop. Gunther brings the key to your front door the morning after your 60th donation.

In Stardew Valley, what does eating a Stardrop permanently raise?

Maximum energy rises by 34 with every Stardrop, eaten the moment you get it. One waits on floor 100 of the Mines, and another is a gift from a devoted spouse.

What does the player take to the Three Pillars in the Calico Desert to receive the Galaxy Sword?

A Prismatic Shard held between the pillars is used up, and the Galaxy Sword appears in its place. Lose the blade and Marlon will sell you another for 50,000g.

Which arcade game in the Stardrop Saloon stays locked until you reach the bottom of the Mines?

Junimo Kart is a cart ride where all you can do is jump. The 1.4 update rebuilt it, and the developer's patch notes promised it was 'now actually fun'.

Who owns the Stardrop Saloon?

Gus cooks as well as owns the place, and as your friendship with him grows he mails you recipes from his own kitchen.

Demetrius asks to study the cave on your farm and makes you choose for good between which two things?

Fruit bats or mushrooms is the offer he makes once you have earned 25,000g: the bats leave fruit in the cave overnight, while the other choice grows fungi there every day.

How many tiles does an Iridium Sprinkler water each morning?

24 tiles is the full five-by-five block around it, so one Iridium Sprinkler does the work of six basic ones, which each water only the 4 tiles beside them.

The Sweet Gem Berry, one of the most valuable crops, grows from what?

A Rare Seed comes from the Traveling Cart, and the berry it grows has a second use: give one to Old Master Cannoli, a statue in the Secret Woods, and he hands back a Stardrop.

Which Stardew Valley crop needs 28 days to mature, then produces every week without replanting?

Ancient Fruit starts as a museum piece: donate the Ancient Seed artifact and Gunther hands back seeds you can plant, plus the recipe to make more.

On which days does the Traveling Cart appear in Cindersap Forest?

Fridays and Sundays bring the cart to the forest south of your farm. Its random stock can include the red cabbage a bundle needs, a year before the seeds go on sale in town.

The Legend, one of the five Legendary Fish, can be caught in which season and weather?

Spring, in the rain, is when the Legend bites in the mountain lake, and only for an angler at fishing level 10. A late quest from Mr. Qi brings a relative, the Legend II, to the same water.

What does the player collect on Ginger Island to pay for opening up new parts of it?

Golden Walnuts, 130 in all, are hidden across the island, turning up as you dig, fish, farm and fight. The very first one you spend opens the way north to the volcano.

The boat to Ginger Island waits for repairs in the back room of whose shop?

Willy opens the back room of his fish shop late in the game. Repair the boat inside and he sails you out to the island himself.

In Stardew Valley, Leo, the boy who lives on Ginger Island, considers which animals his family?

Parrots raised Leo on Ginger Island, and he stays wary of you until you have won the birds over. Reach six hearts with him and he moves to the valley, into a treehouse of his own.

In Stardew Valley, Mr. Qi runs a Casino hidden behind which shop?

The Oasis has a back door kept by a bouncer, who steps aside only when you finish a trail of hidden errands that begins with a battery pack left in a lock-box in the tunnel.

Which Stardew Valley shopkeeper can you meet only after the broken-down bus has been repaired?

Sandy keeps a shop out in the desert, at the far end of the bus route, and greets you by saying she almost went out of business while the bus was off the road.

Which Stardew Valley festival is the first of the year, held in the town square on Spring 13?

The Egg Festival ends with an egg hunt, and winning it for the first time earns you a Straw Hat. Its stall is also the place to stock up on strawberry seeds, which Pierre's own store does not sell.

The main event of Stardew Valley's Luau is a communal potluck soup judged by whom?

The Governor's verdict on the soup raises or lowers your friendship with most of the town, depending on the ingredient you slipped in. Add nothing and he says it is missing something.

Stardew Valley's Feast of the Winter Star, held on Winter 25, revolves around what activity?

Secret gift-giving pairs each villager with a neighbour to buy for. The mayor writes a week ahead to name your secret friend, and at the feast someone turns out to have drawn you.

In Stardew Valley, the haunted maze at Spirit's Eve is supposedly set up by which resident?

The Wizard is the one the townsfolk credit with building the maze. Find the chest hidden at its heart in your first year and it holds a Golden Pumpkin, a gift every villager loves.

Which Stardew Valley farm map starts you off with a coop and two chickens?

Meadowlands Farm, added in the 1.6 update, swaps the usual starter seeds for 15 pieces of hay. Its chewy blue grass is a treat that animals love.

Which Stardew Valley farm map was designed for co-op play, with perks borrowed from several other layouts?

Four Corners Farm divides the land into four areas, each with a perk of its own, so that every player in a group has room to run a patch of their own.

Stardew Valley, made by one developer, had sold roughly how many copies by its tenth anniversary in February 2026?

50 million is the figure Barone gave on the game's tenth birthday, which he marked by posting footage of its earliest builds. The first million had taken just two months.

Which Stardew Valley console port was announced at E3 2016, then cancelled in favour of the Nintendo Switch?

Wii U owners lost out in November 2016, when Barone chose to build for Nintendo's next console instead. The bet paid off: Stardew Valley was the most downloaded Switch game of 2017.

What did Stardew Valley win at the 2016 Golden Joysticks?

The Breakthrough Award went to Eric Barone by name. Stardew Valley was also shortlisted for Best Indie Game that night but lost it to Firewatch.

What did the creator of the hit mod Stardew Valley Expanded go on to do?

Work on the game itself: after his car was stolen, Devin Hedegaard walked into Eric Barone's office and asked for a job. He was hired, and helped to build the 1.6 update.

Which Stardew Valley villager lives in a tent on the mountain north of town?

Linus is the one villager who thinks better of you for rummaging in bins. Anyone else who catches you at it is disgusted, and the friendship drops.

In December 2019, Stardew Valley became playable in which unusual place?

Inside Tesla cars: Elon Musk announced in a tweet that a holiday software update would add the farming game to the cars' built-in screens.

In which programming language did Eric Barone write Stardew Valley, using Microsoft's XNA framework?

C# ran on Microsoft's XNA framework until the 1.5.5 update of 2021, when Barone moved the whole game to MonoGame, a step he said would futureproof it.

Eric Barone drew all of Stardew Valley's pixel art in which free image editor?

Paint.NET is a free download, and Barone had to teach himself pixel art in it, just as he taught himself to compose the soundtrack in the music program Reason.

Which Valve program did Eric Barone use in September 2012 to gauge interest in Stardew Valley?

Greenlight let Steam's own users vote on which games the store should carry. Their votes won the one-man project its place in May 2013, and Valve closed the scheme four years later.

In Stardew Valley, what does the first farmhouse upgrade add to your home?

A kitchen arrives with the first upgrade, and so does a double bed in place of your single one. No villager can marry you until that work is done.

Completing the Pantry bundles in Stardew Valley's Community Center repairs which building on your farm?

The greenhouse is a ruin on your land when the game begins. Once it is repaired, crops grow in it in any season, winter included.

Which handheld received a Stardew Valley port on May 22, 2018?

PlayStation Vita owners waited more than two years for their port, and got less than everyone else: it was the one console version left without co-op play.

In Stardew Valley, the hat shop in a ruined house in Cindersap Forest is run by what animal?

A mouse moves into the abandoned house and begins selling hats once you earn your first achievement. Each achievement after that adds a new hat to its shelves.

The Meowmere sword, a secret hidden in Stardew Valley's 1.6 update, comes from which other game?

Terraria lent its Meowmere as a well-hidden secret in the 1.6 update of 2024, returning a favour: two years earlier it had added Stardew Valley pets of its own.

Which company had the Stardew Valley fan mod Baldur's Village taken down in 2025, then called it a mistake?

Wizards of the Coast owns Dungeons & Dragons, the world the mod borrowed from. The head of Larian, the studio behind Baldur's Gate 3, had praised the mod and spoke up for it, and it was soon back online.

In Stardew Valley, a witch who flies over your coop at night leaves what behind?

A Void Egg can be hatched in an incubator into a Void Chicken, which goes on laying more of them.

Which spring crop can merge into a giant three-by-three version of itself in Stardew Valley?

Cauliflower planted in a three-by-three block can fuse overnight into a single giant crop, which you chop down with an axe. Melons and pumpkins do the same in their own seasons.

Which Stardew Valley villager spends the first year away at war and comes home in year two?

Kent comes home to his wife Jodi and their two sons, but the war comes with him: the sound of popcorn popping, once his favourite snack, brings the fighting back.

Which game did Stardew Valley's creator announce in October 2021?

Haunted Chocolatier casts you as a chocolate maker living in a haunted castle. Barone has had to set it aside to finish updates for Stardew Valley.

Which Stardew Valley villager cracks open your geodes and upgrades your tools?

Clint keeps a tool for two days while he upgrades it, so you have to manage without it. Away from the forge he pines for Emily, but he is too shy to tell her.