Stardew Valley's Update 1.6 arrives tomorrow, March 19th, and marks the final series of major additions to the game from creator Eric “ConcernedApe” Barone. Barone says to expect:a lot more… than people think” and in the lead up to the release of the patch he got drunk with power and posted a single patch note every day.
This has now reached a level of absurdity that one can only admire, as Barone's Sunday announcement read: “You can now drink mayonnaise.”
Believe it or not, there is a context for this. Back in October 2021, a fan of the game named Sage asked Barone about a rumor they had heard: “We can't eat mayo and pickles in Stardew Valley because you don't like any of those foods. Is that true?”
“I like pickles,” Barone replied at the time. “But mayo… I'm advocating for the 5th. But if I remember correctly, the real reason you can't eat them in the game is because they're in a glass jar and I didn't want to draw a special animation for that Fishing out the cucumbers, and I would definitely not allow drinking mayonnaise.
“No way” has now clearly become “Yes way”. The reason this bothered Barone in the first place was that it was self-contradictory: “You can eat certain glasses but not others.” […] With a game as big as Stardew Valley, I forgot to make everything consistent. There was a lot to think about.”
Finally, drinkable mayonnaise almost certainly means another feature will be included in 1.6. “When the roe was added in Update 1.4, my opinion about eating jars had changed,” Barone said in 2021 (Fish Roe was added with this patch which could be stored in jars and eaten). “But when I first made Stardew Valley many years ago, I think I had a different mindset. I don’t know, maybe one day I could do another update to make cucumbers edible.”
You heard it there first, folks: It's time to get our pickles on. For long-time fans, Barone clearly put a lot into 1.6, and referencing a few old jokes makes it clear the attitude behind the patch.
In addition to drinkable mayonnaise, Stardew Valley's 1.6 update will also add a week-long honeymoon period for newlywed players, preventing spouses from “laying in bed all day out of excitement.” Barone also shocked players when he revealed that left-to-right harvesting was 100ms faster than right-to-left harvesting over the last eight years. We'll all find out tomorrow what other surprises await us.
