The Humble Sweet Farm Bundle is, as the name suggests, concerned with a life of raising crops and tending herds. But "farming," in this case, is defined very loosely. At the $1 tier, for instance, you get Niche, a "genetics survival game" in which you create and evolve your own species; MagiCat, a platformer about a cat in a hat (but not the hat); and Evergarden, a narrative puzzle game set in a magical forest.

Beat the average, currently a bit north of $7, and you'll also get Equilinox, a "relaxing nature game" that lets you create your own unique ecosystem of plants and animals; Ultimate Chicken Horse, a party platformer about forcing animals to perform life-threatening stunts; and Samorost 3, a wonderfully bizarre adventure about hippies in space.

The farming finally comes into focus for $10 or more, which will top the package off with Stardew Valley, the hit retro-fantasy about life on a farm you inherit from your grandfather. The other games in the bundle are worth the price of admission, but this is the real attraction: We called Stardew Valley "the PC's best farm-based RPG" in our 2019 ranking of the 100 best games on PC. It normally goes for $15 by itself on Steam, so this is a good way to pick it up on the cheap and get some really good bonus games on the side. (Samorost 3, my personal favorite, usually sells for $20, so that's a solid steal too.)

The bundle also includes the Niche, MagiCat, and Samorost 3 soundtracks. Funds raised will go to support Sweet Farm, "the first non-profit sanctuary in the world to address the impacts of factory farming across animals, plants, and the planet." It's available until February 4.

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Last week's Stardew Valley update was a massive one: it was called the 'Everything Update' because it changed pretty much everything about the game. With overhauls as big as that, bugs are inevitable, so there's now a new patch designed to squash some of them.

Stardew Valley 1.4.0.1 fixes heaps of things, and the patch notes are rife with spoilers for those yet to dive into the revamped game. For this reason I won't discuss them here, and anyway, there are some new features added too: there's a new Gamepad Mode selectable in the options menu, and some non-spouse NPCs have custom movie ticket acceptance dialogue. Also, one particular NPC now loves snails. Nice.

The patch is now available the download. If you happen to play on console or mobile, the update isn't out yet but you'll hear more about its roll out soon. If you've yet to read about all the massive changes 1.4 introduced last week, Lauren has you sorted.

The day Stardew Valley fans have been eagerly awaiting is upon us. The hefty 1.4 Stardew Valley update has landed on Steam and GoG, bringing with it scores of new features, hundreds of cosmetics, optimizations and bug fixes, quality of life improvements, and more.

The Stardew Valley developer blog highlights some of the biggest additions, including new 14-heart events for every spouse in the game. Above you can see the new fish ponds, which allow players to raise and harvest fish, and there's a new farm map called Four Corners—ideal for multiplayer games because it provides a separate quadrant for each co-op farmer to inhabit.

Some of the quality of life improvements include being able to stack large items such as kegs, and a social tab that keeps track of villagers’ likes and dislikes. And there's a new end-game mystery involving an abandoned building, which sounds spooky.

Other highlights of the patch:

• Over 60 new items, some fun, some practical, and some powerful
• Added 24 new hairstyles, 181 new shirts, 35 new hats, 14 new pants , and 2 new boots
• Junimo Kart has been almost completely re-done
• Sheds can be upgraded to double their interior size
• Added 2 new monsters and 2 new alternative levels to the mines
• A new type of upgrade at the Blacksmith’s
• An emote menu for your farmer (default key is Y)
• Your collections tab now keeps track of all the letters you’ve received
• 14 new music tracks!
• Hundreds of bug fixes

You can view the full changelog here. Happy farming.

Stardew Valley is one of the most beloved PC games in recent memory, but its creator Eric Barone, aka ConcernedApe, reckons it still has "some holes or weak points". A new content update set to release later this month is designed to address some of these points, in the process adding a bunch of new features.

In his update post, Barone writes that he doesn't want to spoil all of the new additions, but provided some examples. For instance, Wild Bait is no longer "essentially worthwhile": it will now have the chance of attracting double the amount of fish. Elsewhere, every spouse now has "a unique 14-heart event" after marriage, meaning there's all the more incentive not to let your love flounder. In Barone's words, "nearly every aspect of the game has been expanded or improved upon in some way".

We already know a few things about the 1.4 update: there will be a new map called Four Corners, and there will be fish ponds, too. All the things we expect to see in 1.4 are collated by Lauren over here.

It seems like it'll be a substantial update, encompassing bug fixes and quality-of-life improvements. The new content is mostly end-game stuff, so we won't know much about the additions until it releases on November 26. There is one very cool addition, though: you will soon be able to take a screenshot of your entire farm at once, or a specified section of it.

Check out the full blogpost here. 

Most modded Stardew Valley farms are all about increasing acreage and maximizing efficiency, but modder Exblaster has gone a totally different route with this island getaway farm map. If you need something new while we wait for more information on the next Stardew Valley update, this laid-back ocean-side property may help you relax. Rather than a countryside locale perfect for planting corn, this beach farm is covered in cliffs on the north and dotted with palm trees. 

There are only a few places on the Hidden Spirit Cove map that look well-suited to rows of crops. But that's okay, because this island looks primed for relaxation. So you're better off planting some crops in your greenhouse rather than spending hours tilling the sand on the beach. 

But a cozy island isn't all that grandpa left you in this mod. "Attached to his will, you found a snippet saying his grave will bring you closer to his domain in the spirit world." Apparently interacting with your grandpa's shrine will teleport you to a hidden cove in another realm. Sunny and spooky.

This is Exblaster's second custom farm map on Nexus. You can also try out the Quiet Basin Farm which has a similar style-over-space approach. After over 200 hours playing Stardew Valley, I don't know that I need perfectly proportioned farm plots as much as a fresh new perspective on the valley. The quiet basin map even has an underground tunnel system for traversing the huge farm, as all of the streams and bridges breaking up the area can make getting around a chore. 

Exblaster is apparently on a roll, as they've posted a poll to vote on what the theme of their next custom farm map should be. Give it a vote and keep an eye out for more funky farms in the future. 

Stardew Valley creator Eric Barone isn't done tinkering with his farming sim, and he took to Twitter over the weekend to share what he's been up to, namely update 1.4. "It's a big one," Barone promised, and will include a new farm map, Four Corners, and separate bank accounts in multiplayer. No more going seed shopping only to realise your mate's blown it all on garden ornaments. We said we'd discuss purchases as a group!

Barone showed off a screenshot of Four Corners, which apparently only reveals a fraction of what's heading to Stardew Valley, first on PC and then eventually on consoles.

The new farm will split farmers up a little bit more than normal, but it's still cooperative. "There's one shared cave, shared community centre, mines etc," Barone said. So you won't be going it alone entirely, but you will be more independent than you would be on the older farms. 

Existing multiplayer farms will still have shared accounts, but you can hit up the mayor and make the switch. That will automatically share all the cash evenly. New multiplayer farms can select the option at the beginning. Barone confirmed that the new map, while "perfect" for the new separate account option, will also be available in singleplayer. 

Last week, Barone advertised a new administrator position, as he's looking to expand the Stardew Valley team. The job listing was criticised for having enough responsibilities to fill two jobs, if not more. Barone responded by saying that the position isn't to take over every responsible that was listed, just to help him manage them. That wasn't especially clear, and it still isn't. The high number of applicants means that Barone's not accepting more, but the listing is still up and continues to look pretty hefty for just one person.

There's no release date for 1.4 yet, but the tease suggests that it's not too far off. 

Update: Barone has responded in a series of tweets, saying that the job posting isn't accurately conveying the level of work he is expecting out of the position.

Original Story: Stardew Valley creator Eric Barone is expanding his Seattle studio with a new team, and more Stardew Valley, in whatever form that takes, is exciting. There's nothing unusual about the growth—the game has sold more than 3.5M copies across all platforms—but I bring it up because the first job posting is so comically overstuffed with responsibilities that it's hard to believe anyone would be able to do it for more than a week.

It's really a sight to behold. Whoever were to take the position, simply called 'Administrator,' would be responsible for:

• Updating social media feeds
• Updating the Stardew Valley website
• Collecting feedback from players
• Answering troubleshooting emails
• Maintaining payroll and employee benefits
• Hiring and on-boarding new employees
• Managing travel logistics
• Executing projects with contractors
• Corresponding with "external business partners to track and maintain various projects"
• Organizing and stocking the office
• Mailing packages
• Working with an accounting firm to maintain finance records 

And that's the abridged version. The job title, put more accurately, is 'social media and community and business development and office and human resources manager producer accountant.' 

The qualifications Barone is looking for are likewise broad. He wants someone who understands difficult subjects like employee benefits and employment law, who can publicly represent Stardew Valley, has web development skills, can grapple with office equipment, and who has an iron grip on the nucleus of all job postings, Microsoft Office Suite.

At such a small developer—it's just Barone right now, as far as I know—this may all sound like more than it really is. But as the "core team" grows, the idea that someone could be a marketing and project manager, HR manager, accountant, and more without exploding is just a little questionable. These are all different fields.

It makes some sense why Barone would seek such a multifaceted generalist: he created Stardew Valley largely by himself, with some help from publisher Chucklefish, which he recently split with. (It is probably not coincidental that some of the listed responsibilities, such as promotion and working with third-parties, are things a publisher might provide.)

But Twitter users were quick to point out that making a game by yourself isn't the same as running every part of a multi-employee business. Human resources is especially not something typically mixed with other roles, given the sensitive nature of the information being handled.

I've asked Barone if, given the feedback, he's thinking of modifying the job description before making a hire. If not, then I hope those who apply ask for seven figure salaries. If you make it through a year, you'll have earned it.

It was inevitable, wasn't it? Stardew Valley, which added multiplayer last year, now has a battle royale mod called Battle Royalley. If enough people start using it, you should be able to join 100-player fights to the death, complete with loot chests housing swords, bombs, slingshots and healing items. Last farmer standing wins.

Players will be spread around the map at the start of each round and the play zone will gradually shrink until, eventually, the battle is confined to a small corner of the map. You can chop trees and craft fences to use as cover, hide behind bushes for surprise attacks, and jump on a horse to gallop away from a sticky spot.

If you host a server, you can choose where the storm closes in on, as well as pick chest placement and player spawn locations. Instructions for how to do that, along with an installation file for the mod, can be found on its Nexus page.

If you host, you can also choose exactly how many players you want to join a match. The mod's author Ilyaki suggests 100—I'm not sure how well it will run (Stardew Valley defaults to four-player multiplayer, although you can increase that with mods), and presumably it'll be rare to get that many people playing the mod at once. But this is the kind of thing that could take off, at which point you'll probably be able to find full games. 

Here's a short clip of what to expect.

If you have battle royale fatigue but you still want to mod Stardew Valley, check out Tom's list of the best mods here. And if you want to focus on multiplayer, Lauren's guide to the best tips and mods lives here. 

Stardew Valley creator Eric "ConcernedApe" Barone announced earlier this month that he was parting ways with publisher Chucklefish and going it alone as a self-published indie. But it turns out that he's not really "going it alone" in the strictest sense at all. In fact, he's putting a team together to help him continue to work on Stardew Valley.

That's actually bit of a double-twist, as Barone has also said previously that he wants to devote all his time to the new game he teased last year. But he just can't quit Stardew Valley. 

"While there have been times in the past where I felt burnt out, and maybe even said that I wanted to move on, I always find myself coming back to Stardew Valley," Barone wrote in a new developer blog post. "For one, I keep getting new ideas for ways to improve and expand upon the game. This world is so full of potential, I could probably work on it for the rest of my life." 

"There’s also such a wonderful community surrounding the game… and I like making you guys happy. I’m extremely grateful to all of you for supporting my work and creating this wonderful Stardew Valley community. I wouldn’t be where I am today without you. And knowing that there’s still tons of people out there who love the game and would be extremely happy to get new content motivates me to keep working." 

His commitment to Stardew Valley is so great, in fact, that he's put his new, as-yet-unrevealed project on hold so he can work on a new free content update for Stardew Valley. But he still wants to be able to work on his new game, too—there are just not enough hours in the day to do it all. That's part of why he'd given thought to wrapping up Stardew Valley completely. Instead, following the release of the 1.4 update, he's going to try to get some help. 

"This is going to be a big change for me... I’ve always worked alone, and working with a team is a whole new ballgame," Barone wrote. "However, just as I did with Stardew Valley originally, I’m just gonna go for it, and have faith that I can rise to the occasion and make it work. My hope is that the new team will help take some of the workload off me, so I have enough breathing room to divide my time between my new game and Stardew Valley." 

Barone acknowledged that the console update schedule is lagging: The 1.3 update still isn't out on PS4 and Xbox One, and there are some technical issues on the Switch and Vita that need to be addressed. Getting those issues addressed are his "top priority," Barone said, even ahead of new content, although he pointed out that he does not work directly on the console editions of the game. 

"[Console updates] are done by Sickhead Games, so there’s nothing I can personally do to have an effect on that process, beyond setting it into motion," he explained. "I am also doing what I can to see the issues with Switch multiplayer get fixed, but that is also not something I can directly accomplish. So when I do work on new content, it’s only when I have no current avenue for addressing these higher priority issues."

Barone said that even with a team in place, he'll continue to have full control over the direction of Stardew Valley, and promised that there are some aspects of the game that he'll never turn over to others, such as music and writing. "But when it comes to programming, fixing bugs, administrative/business work, or even pixel art... I think I’d be okay with having some help," he said. 

Stardew Valley's creator Eric Barone, aka ConcernedApe, will begin self-publishing the game later this month following a partial split with publishing partner Chucklefish. 

It's an amicable divorce: Barone said on his developer blog that he needed Chucklefish when he released the game because he was an industry novice, but now he feels like he's ready to go it alone. "I think self-publishing is the end-goal of most indie developers, and I’m happy to be in a place where that’s possible," he said, adding that we can expect more announcements about the future of the game "soon".

In a statement, Chucklefish—who will continue to publish mobile and Switch verisons of the game—said it was "proud to be a part of the Stardew Valley story".

Released in early 2016, Stardew Valley remains one of the best games you can play on PC right now. It's endlessly relaxing, has an active mod scene, and its glorious food is inspiring real-life chefs. If you're after tips and tricks, they're this-a-way.