Former Stardew Valley dev decides against adding a "stink gun" to his new life sim, but offers a compromise by allowing you to torment cityfolk with pungent fruit

Gorgeous pixel art life sim Sunkissed City – the latest project from one former Stardew Valley developer – is looking very promising, but I'm not going to lie, I kind of wish that the dev really had added a "durian that you can make into a weapon" like his girlfriend suggested.

Arthur "Mr. Podunkian" Lee worked on Stardew Valley for its 1.4, 1.5, and 1.6 updates before eventually moving on and announcing his own game. Sunkissed City is set in a "seaside metropolis," and will feature life sim elements fans of the genre know and love, including relationships, fishing, farming, and more. Perhaps most importantly, it'll also let you be a menace to the cityfolk and torment them with a pungent fruit.

"After working on some tropical fruits suggested by my Discord, my girlfriend, who often has, hmm... 'creative' ideas, said I should add a 'durian that you can make into a weapon,'" Lee explains in a new Twitter post. "While I haven't added a 'stink gun' (???), as she suggested, I thought durian would be fun to add."

Lee shares a video of the player character running into a cafe while holding the fruit, only to be met with characters complaining about the smell. Responding to one fan who suggests that it'd be funny if animals also reacted to the fruit and moved away from players holding them, the dev adds: "I love this idea hahah. I made it so that animals will approach the player once their friendship level is high enough, but having them walk away if they're holding items that are a little stinky might be a fun little detail to add too!"

Sunkissed City doesn't have an exact release date just yet, but it's set to arrive on Steam at some point later this year.

Former Stardew Valley dev's new farming sim boasts animals that "produce multiple types of items," like sheep milk usable for pecorino cheese – and the carbonara lover within me is thrilled.