It’s almost Stardew Valley’s 10th birthday, which emans that for a decade players have combed over every inch of Pelican Town and the surrounding area, unearthing secrets, deciphering Dwarvish manuscripts, and putting Strange Buns in hidden boxes. But the game’s creator, Eric Barone (ConcernedApe), says there’s still one secret that fans have never found, though he hopes one day they do.
We spoke to ConcernedApe for a big interview in honor of the game’s 10th anniversary, and among the many topics we discussed was the question of in-game secrets. ConcernedApe has said in the past that there was still an outstanding secret, so we wanted to check in and see if that was still true. And, yup, it is, though maybe his cheeky teasing will help someone find it now. Here’s exactly what he said:
There’s still a secret that no one has ever found. I don’t think they ever will. Maybe I’ll reveal it someday, but the problem with the secret is that it’s, it’s basically a secret message that’s in the game and it reveals something that actually isn’t even true anymore. It was revealing a thing about- Do I want to reveal it or not? Well, that’s all I’ll say. I’ll say it was a secret message that was basically announcing something that I actually shifted gears and that thing wasn’t even true anymore, but it’s still in the game. I just don’t know if anyone will ever discover it because it’s so obscure.
I followed up by marveling at this knowledge, as the game has been combed over and datamined all to heck over the years. However, ConcernedApe replied that “there’s certain ways to hide messages that can’t really be datamined. If you hide something in the code, it’s going to all be found because people decompile the code and look at everything. If you say hide it in the art or something, if it’s a secret message that’s hidden in the artwork somehow, then people can’t really discover that as easily. They have to see it.”
Could that be a clue as to what this is? Possibly! Get to work, secret hunters. ConcernedApe concluded by saying he doesn’t think anyone will find it, but hopes that someone does.
Stardew Valley turns 10 years old this February, and we’re celebrating with a bumper crop of stories. We interviewed ConcernedApe and chatted about topics such as the addition of two new marriage candidates with 1.7, why there isn’t a Stardew Valley TV show, and how Haunted Chocolatier is doing. We also chatted with the Stardew Valley community about what the game has meant to them over the years.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
