Stardew Valley’s 1.5 update will have a new ‘beach farm’ and remixed community center bundles

It’s wild how the smallest of things can whip this community into a frenzy

With hundreds of hours logged in Stardew Valley, I find myself saying often: “yeah, I can start another farm.” Such is the power of the dew.

It helps that it’s run by one of the most affable and approachable developers in the gaming industry right now: as Eric “ConcernedApe” Barone is constantly teasing little updates that are going to come together to form a Justice League-like explosion. This week? Beach farms.

Again, for bystanders, it seems like such a small thing. But the ability to essentially start fresh with a completely new farm theme is huge for folks who play often. Barone notes that this is for “seasoned players,” and will debut alongside of an “advanced game options menu,” which showcases some new changes to mix up subsequent playthroughs.

As for the beach farm, the description notes that it’s good for “foraging and fishing, with tons of open space,” and that sometimes “supply crates wash up on shore.” Its downside? You can’t use sprinklers on sandy soil. Barone clarified on Twitter that there is “some regular soil, but not much.” As it stands, you’ll have to water it manually, and “any crop can be planted in the sand.”

The advanced tweaks include remixed community center bundles, a guarantee to make them completable in Year 1 (time saver!), a mine rewards drop-down menu toggle, and a “spawn monsters on the farm” checkbox. Remixed community bundles require further investigation, so here’s a rundown from Barone: “It’s a randomized mixture of some brand new bundles and also old bundles, but sometimes the old ones have variations, for example they might require different crops or fish. If you choose ‘normal’ then it’s just the classic Stardew Valley set of bundles.”

There still isn’t a firm release date for the 1.5 update, but as a reminder, it’ll come with split-screen co-op and a bunch of other changes. As one final tease, Barone says that “maybe” they’ll reveal their secret unannounced project in 2021. 

ConcernedApe [Twitter]