Stardew Valley updates dig deep with 40 new mine layouts, fish frenzy fun and busier bees, but console farmers face a wait

Since the release of update 1.6 for Stardew Valley, ConcernedApe has been a busy beaver, releasing five patches for the update over the last month or so, the most recent being 1.6.6.

While 1.6.2 and 1.6.3 mainly focused on fixes and QoL updates, the developer recently released patch 1.6.4, which added fish frenzies, a new cutscene, and four new fairy styles. It also features 40 mine layouts, 20 “alternatives” after reaching the bottom of the mine, and 20 new volcano layouts that appear once you have unlocked the shortcut between the caldera and the volcano entrance.

With the patch, you can now place eight additional non-fish items into fish tanks, the Raccoon Shop now includes a trade for mystery boxes and golden mystery boxes, vinegar can now be poured onto trees to stop them from ever-growing moss, and shaving enchantment will now cause tree-specific drops.

The patch notes for 1.6.4 also feature a semi-long list of fixes which can be looked over here.

Unfortunately, some issues came with patch 1.6.4, but thankfully, patch 1.6.5 rectified the problems. This patch fixes a rare crash that could happen in the mines, folks using mods shouldn’t have any issues loading their saves, a crash when loading dark mine levels in some cases was fixed, and broken villager NPCs (usually due to a removed mod) are now deleted on load. They’ll respawn when they’re re-added to the data.

ConcernedApe didn’t stop there: the developer released patch 1.6.6 less than 24 hours ago.

This patch also features plenty of fixes and a few balance and gameplay changes such as bee houses will now work with flowers in garden pots, the minecart depot alternate layout now only appears in the upper or lava mine areas, you can now turn the gold clock on or off, 50% mastery XP now only applies to farming, as originally intended, and more. Full notes are through here.

Finally, console and mobile farmers still wondering when update 1.6 will drop should know ConcernedApe recently stated that the ports are still “in progress.”

Stardew Valley update 1.6 was released for PC on March 19, and is one of the best co-op and Game Pass games you can play, in our opinion