A new patch for the hit cozy farming sim "Stardew Valley" rolled out this week, adding small bug fixes and translation changes for the game's major Version 1.6 update that landed on PC last month. But if you're holding out for the Nintendo Switch version, you may still have a while yet to wait.
This week, "Stardew Valley" creator Eric "ConcernedApe" Barone reassured fans on X (formerly Twitter) that "console and mobile ports are still in progress." He went on to thank fans for their continued patience. While we don't yet have a specific release date for when Version 1.6 will land on one of the best handheld consoles, Barone previously said the aim is to release it "as soon as possible."
The latest update for PC (Version 1.6.6.) includes balance and gameplay changes, translation changes, some mod-related patches, and bug fixes. That includes a fix for issues related to the Chinese translation that had proven game-breaking for some Stardew Valley players. One small but significant rework has the Stardew Valley community flooding social media with excitement and more puns than you can shack a stick at. "Bee houses now work with flowers in garden pots," reads the official 1.6.6 patch notes.
While that may not sound like much at first glance, it solves a reoccurring headache for players trying to maximize their profits and perfect their farm's layout. When fully-grown flowers are planted near bee houses, it affects the type of honey produced, increasing the product's sale price. But, until this update, those flowers had to be planted in the ground within five tiles of a bee house to produce any effect, thus taking up valuable real estate. Now, you can pop a flower into a pot and set it down near a bee house anywhere you want to make some flower honey. That frees up more tillable land to use for growing more profitable crops.
As one of "Stardew Valley's" most significant updates to date, Version 1.6 introduced a slew of new content, including new farm layouts, an RPG-inspired skill system, new festivals and events, additional weather events, more varieties of pets, and 40 new mine layouts. It's so massive that Barone has suggested fans should start a fresh save file just "to see everything in context." "Stardew Valley" is one of the top contenders on our list of the best Nintendo Switch games, so here's hoping that Switch players will soon be able to join in on the fun.
