70 Fun Facts About Stardew Valley

Stardew Valley was created almost entirely by one developer. What name does Eric Barone go by?

He spent five years building the game alone after failing to land a job in the industry with his computer science degree.

Which game series was the main inspiration for Stardew Valley?

Barone felt the series had gone downhill after Back to Nature and set out to build the version he wished existed.

What was the game's original working title?

Barone spent five years on it, and it began as a fan-made alternative to later Harvest Moon games.

What job was Barone working while making Stardew Valley?

He had graduated from the University of Washington Tacoma in 2011 and could not find programming work.

Which British studio published Stardew Valley at launch?

Its director Finn Brice approached Barone after the Steam Greenlight campaign; Barone later took back the publishing rights himself.

In what year was Stardew Valley first released, for Windows?

Linux and macOS ports followed in July, and PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in December of the same year.

The player inherits the farm from which relative?

His letter is the first thing you see; his ghost returns at the start of year three to judge how you have done.

The player quits a corporate job at which company before moving to the valley?

JojaMart then turns up in town as Pierre's rival; buy a membership and the Community Center becomes a warehouse.

What is the settlement next to the player's farm called?

The whole valley shares the game's name; the town has a saloon, a clinic, a museum and Pierre's General Store.

How many bachelors and bachelorettes can the player marry?

Six of each, and marriage is possible regardless of gender; the spouse then helps with chores like watering and feeding animals.

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

The Old Mariner sells it for 5,000g, but only on rainy days on the far side of the beach bridge.

How many hearts of friendship do you need before you can give a marriage candidate a Bouquet?

Pierre sells the Bouquet for 200g once you get there; it moves the relationship from friends to dating.

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

Complete their bundles and the building is restored room by room; buy a JojaMart membership instead and it becomes a warehouse.

How much does a JojaMart membership cost, the purchase that permanently replaces the Community Center?

After that, community upgrades are bought through the Joja Community Development Form instead of earned through bundles.

Which marriage candidate lives above the medical clinic and works as the town doctor?

His loved gifts include coffee, pickles and truffle oil.

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

He is the game's sentimental romantic, prone to flowery poetic tangents.

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

Their mother is Robin the carpenter; Sebastian resents that his sister gets all the attention.

Which bachelorette lives at Pierre's General Store and worries her mother by dyeing her hair blue?

Her loved gifts include amethyst, pumpkin and, oddly, spicy eel.

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

He is one of the twelve candidates and starts out rude and depressed before warming to the player.

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

She loves being given cloth and wool, along with a whole rainbow of gems.

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

She loves books, so much so that any book counts as a loved gift.

Leah, the artist who lives in a cottage in Cindersap Forest, spends every morning doing what?

She has a large portfolio but is too nervous to show it in public until you give her a push.

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

His loved gifts are big breakfasts and salmon dinners.

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

He lives in the Sewers and holds a grudge against the dwarves after a thousand-year war.

Krobus dislikes the Dwarf because of a war between their peoples that lasted how long?

He is the only friendly monster in the game, though he still calls the hostile ones his friends.

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

It also unlocks the Junimo Kart arcade machine in the saloon.

Gunther hands over the Rusty Key, which opens the Sewers, after you donate how many items to the Museum?

Krobus's shop is down there, selling everything from Void Eggs to an Iridium Sprinkler each Friday.

A Stardrop permanently raises the player's maximum energy by how many points?

You have to eat it on the spot; it cannot go into your inventory.

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

The shard is consumed; the Adventurer's Guild will later sell the sword for 50,000g.

Which of these arcade games in the Stardrop Saloon requires the Skull Key to play?

Beat all six levels in Progress Mode and you get your own Junimo Kart cabinet in the mail.

Journey of the Prairie King, the saloon's other arcade game, is a minigame in the style of what?

Abigail also owns a home console version, which you play in her two-heart event.

Who owns the Stardrop Saloon?

It has a jukebox, two arcade machines and a Joja Cola vending machine.

Demetrius offers to use the cave on your farm for research. What is the permanent choice he gives you?

Whichever you pick, the cave then produces free forage for the rest of the game.

How many tiles does an Iridium Sprinkler water each morning?

That is the full 5x5 square around it; the recipe unlocks at Farming level 9.

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

The Traveling Cart sells Rare Seeds for 1,000g in spring and summer, and the berry sells for 3,000g at base quality.

Ancient Fruit takes 28 days to mature and then keeps producing every how many days?

That makes it a favourite greenhouse crop, since it never needs replanting.

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

It also shows up daily during the Night Market and the Desert Festival.

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

It lives in the mountain lake and can only be caught once per save file.

Golden Walnuts are the currency of which creatures on Ginger Island?

The island is the only part of the Fern Islands archipelago the player can visit, reached by boat from Willy's shop.

How much does a boat ticket to Ginger Island cost, return trip included?

You first have to repair the boat in the back room of Willy's Fish Shop.

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

His parents were lost at sea; he is too shy to speak until you befriend the birds first.

Mr. Qi runs a Casino hidden behind which shop?

You first meet him after putting a Battery Pack in the lock-box in the tunnel.

The woman who runs the Oasis in the desert admits what about her name?

You cannot meet her until the bus is repaired, either through the Vault bundle or 40,000g to Joja.

Which celebration on Spring 13 ends with an Egg Hunt in the town square?

It is the first festival of the year.

The main event of the Luau on Summer 11 is a communal potluck soup judged by whom?

Drop in a bad ingredient and he will let everyone know.

The Feast of the Winter Star, on Winter 25, revolves around what activity?

Mayor Lewis writes a week beforehand to tell you who you are buying for.

The Spirit's Eve haunted maze is supposedly set up by which resident?

Villagers say M. Rasmodius was so committed to making it scary that it took him all year.

Which map comes with two chickens by default and encourages raising animals?

It was added in the big 1.6 update alongside the seven earlier layouts.

Which map is designed with multiplayer in mind, offering perks from several other layouts?

The Wilderness Farm, by contrast, spawns monsters at night to encourage combat.

Roughly how many copies had Stardew Valley sold by February 2026?

About 26 million of those were on PC and 7.9 million on Nintendo Switch.

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

The Switch version arrived in October 2017 and became the platform's most downloaded game that year.

What did Stardew Valley win at the 2016 Golden Joysticks?

It was also nominated for Best Game at the BAFTAs and Best Independent Game at The Game Awards.

Multiplayer officially launched for all PC platforms in which month?

The Switch got it that December, and Barone then began taking the publishing rights back from Chucklefish.

The most popular mod, Stardew Valley Expanded, led to what for its creator Devin Hedegaard?

The mod has been downloaded more than 4 million times, out of over 30,000 mods created.

Who performed the 2020 album Symphonic Tale: The Place I Truly Belong?

Barone wrote all the game's music himself; two concert tours, Festival of Seasons and Symphony of Seasons, followed.

In December 2019 Stardew Valley became playable in an unusual place. Where?

It was added to the Linux-based Tesla Arcade built into most of the company's models.

In which programming language was Stardew Valley originally written?

It ran on Microsoft's XNA framework before migrating to MonoGame in 2021; Barone later donated $125,000 to MonoGame.

Which program did Barone use to draw the game's pixel art?

He composed the music and sound effects in Reason Studios, making him the game's artist, coder and composer.

Which Valve program did Barone use in September 2012 to gauge interest in the game?

Strong community support there convinced him to go full-time, sharing progress on Reddit and Twitter.

On what date was Stardew Valley released for Windows on Steam and GOG.com?

The Linux and macOS ports followed that July, and the PS4 and Xbox One versions in December.

Which studio ported Stardew Valley to the Nintendo Switch in October 2017?

It became the most downloaded Switch title of 2017 despite arriving on the console only in October.

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

Mobile versions followed later that year, with the iOS release in October 2018 and Android in March 2019.

Roughly how many copies did Stardew Valley sell on Steam and GOG in its first two weeks?

It passed a million within two months and 3.5 million across all platforms by the end of 2017.

Which 2022 crossover added the Meowmere sword to Stardew Valley?

The cat-headed rainbow blade is one of that game's signature endgame weapons.

Which company had a Stardew mod removed by DMCA in 2025, then apologised saying it was an error?

The Magic: The Gathering owner issued its apology on April 1, 2025.

Which Chucklefish director offered in 2013 to publish the game on release?

Chucklefish handled site hosting, the wiki and later localisations and console ports before Barone took everything back in-house.

Where did Eric Barone earn his computer science degree in 2011?

He later received its Distinguished Alumni Award and funded upgrades to the campus Giving Garden.

For how long did Barone work 10 hours a day, seven days a week, to finish the game?

His girlfriend Amber Hageman worked two jobs to support them during the crunch.

What genre is Haunted Chocolatier, Barone's follow-up announced in 2021?

Barone said almost everything in it, including the combat, is coded and drawn from scratch.

What was Barone's 2008 debut title, made as a promotion for a music group?

It promoted the band 17 Colorful Feathers; Wumbus World was a comic series he made in 2011.