Stardew Valley just dropped a massive update, version 1.6.9, for consoles and mobile devices this week.
The creator, ConcernedApe, shared the update details in the patch notes, but there’s a cool secret: mobile players can now enjoy multiplayer by using the Konami Code! He wrote a blog post explaining why this feature wasn’t in the patch notes and how the code unlocks it. You can read more about it here.
In his post, Barone said, “With the release of Stardew Valley 1.6 on mobile, there is now a hidden multiplayer feature which you can access.” This feature is tucked away because it’s still in the testing phase, meaning bugs might pop up. Plus, playing with others on a phone can get tricky sometimes.
Multiplayer on mobile is quite similar to other platforms, except for the missing “farm discovery” option. Players need to use IP addresses to connect, either hosting or joining. You can even join a PC-hosted farm using a phone, which is pretty neat.
“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 explained. If you use mobile data, though, things might not work as well.
But imagine if the person hosting is on an old phone, using mobile data, and traveling on a train. Calls might interrupt the game, making it super frustrating. Yet, despite these hiccups, Barone encourages everyone to give it a shot if they’re interested.
Fans sometimes just need to try things out for themselves and see what happens.
If you’re curious about the Konami Code, Barone’s blog shows exactly how to do it. On the title screen, there are four groups of leaves acting as arrows. Press them in this order: up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, and then tap the question mark icon on the screen’s bottom right.
Once you’ve done this, a co-op button will appear, letting you choose to join or host a game. To join, type in the host’s IP address. If you’re hosting, make sure to set up cabins for your friends and give them your IP address so they can join your farm.
Some problems might pop up when playing co-op on mobile, but Barone has shared solutions and even a mini-guide on finding IP addresses for Android and iOS users. For troubleshooting tips, check out Barone’s blog post.
As for what’s next, Barone is eager to dive back into his new project, Haunted Chocolatier, once this update settles across all devices.
