Highlights

  • The New Year's festival being added in Stardew Valley 1.6 update makes for a more exciting year-end experience.
  • The update has the potential for new features including a New Year's countdown, kisses/rejections, and town traditions.
  • The festival should feature a feast, fortune-telling, and a year-end accomplishments summary for players to partake in.

Coming in the 1.6 update for the hit farming sim Stardew Valley is a New Year's festival. This addition to the game would not only be something cute for players to enjoy, but it would be a much better marker for the year's end in the game. As it stands right now, the year quietly turns over and the only excitement at first is from the player who's made it yet another year. As fine as that may be for some Stardew Valley players, it isn't the most exciting way to end a year.

On New Year's, ConcernedApe posted a photo teasing this New Year's festival. Presumably, it will be the major festival planned for the update. Last year, the developer for the game teased that three new festivals would come, one large and two mini. As packed as the Stardew Valley Winter season may be, it wouldn't make too much sense for New Year's to be a minor festival. There's a lot that could come of this addition to the game.

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Stardew Valley Adds a New Year's Festival to the Game in 1.6

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What New Year's Could Bring to Stardew Valley Players

Though it may just be one little festival, it holds some big implications for Stardew Valley players. The way that New Years is celebrated in real life will surely carry over to the game here. There may be a potential to share a new year's kiss with a Stardew Valley marriage candidate if the hearts are high enough. On the flip side, this would also be a chance to include rejection dialogue if the hearts are too low. There could be a lot of fun in this new holiday.

There could also be a big New Year's countdown celebration in Stardew Valley as they count the moments of the year down to the second. A countdown is a well-known tradition for the year's turn-over, and it could be exciting to get to experience mini New Years each time players hit a new year in-game. Being able to share a moment with the whole town will make the player feel closer to the characters and make the moment feel warm.

Minor New Years Celebration Traditions in Stardew Valley's Pelican Town

Stardew Valley being the tiny town that it is, there's a good chance that players will finally get to hear about some fun New Year's traditions that the townsfolk have. Drawing from real-life experiences may help the developer make the holiday feel homier. Many real people have a big New Year's Eve feast and make sure to eat foods that promise prosperity, wealth, good health and the likes as they celebrate the upcoming new year. For Stardew Valley holidays, it would be nice to see a feast like this.

Another interesting detail that could be added to the New Year holiday is fortune-telling. At Stardew Valley's Fall Festival event, there's a fortune-teller who comes to tell the farmers about their potential future. To see the return of that character to give a reading for the New Year would be perfect. It would give players something to think about as they begin their new year.

One final detail that could be added to this holiday is someone summarizing all the accomplishments made that year. These sorts of wrapped up lists are always a hit as people are curious about what they've been doing. Some examples of things that Stardew Valley farmers could see on that list are:

  • The number of crops were sold that year.
  • The number of animal goods made and sold.
  • The number of things bought
  • How much money was spent.