Video Games

Stardew Valley 1.6 on mobile adds a secret third thing – a hidden multiplayer mode

Stardew Valley 1.6 update is live on console and mobile, and along with all the standard additions, the mobile version has a secret multiplayer game mode

Josh Broadwell

ConcernedApe

The hotly anticipated Stardew Valley 1.6 update is live on console and mobile, and in addition to a sweeping set of changes and additions, the mobile version has a secret multiplayer game mode. It’s not fully official, but Stardew Valley creator Eric Barone added it in himself as an “experimental feature” to see if multiplayer Stardew on mobile could even work well.

“It’s an experimental feature, so it might still have some bugs or issues,” Barone explained in a blog post outlining how to access multiplayer on mobile. “[And] the nature of the mobile platform could make a multiplayer session frustrating, under certain scenarios.”

Which is probably why Barone made it so challenging to even start. You have to tap the leaves around the Stardew Valley logo in a certain direction in a specific order, press the button that appears to open a new menu, exit that menu, and, assuming everything worked as intended, you can choose “co-op” as an option.

“The ideal ‘mobile multiplayer’ scenario would be to connect to a PC-hosted farm from a high-end mobile device on a local network (using wi-fi, unless you have some way to connect your mobile device to ethernet),” Barone said. However, if you want to try [hosting from a mobile device], there’s nothing stopping you. Just be aware that there are inherent connectivity issues that can arise when attempting to host a multiplayer game from a mobile device.”

Aside from having to jump through hoops to get started, Barone says Stardew multiplayer functions the same as it does on other platforms. You can’t search for other people’s farms, though. You need to give out your IP address if you’re hosting, and you need the IP address of the friend you want to play with if you’re joining. If you decide to give it a try, definitely make sure the person you’re playing with is someone you trust.

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Josh Broadwell
JOSH BROADWELL

Josh is a freelance writer and reporter who specializes in guides, reviews, and whatever else he can convince someone to commission. You may have seen him on NPR, IGN, Polygon, or Rolling Stone shouting about RPGs. When he isn’t working, you’ll likely find him outside with his Belgian Malinois and Australian Shepherd or leveling yet another job in FFXIV.

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