Stardew Valley update adds new mine layouts and a bunch of quality-of-life upgrades, and bans "two inappropriate names" from the name generator

Best co-op games - Stardew valley
(Image credit: Concerned Ape)

Stardew Valley 1.6 landed nearly a month ago, but the follow-up patches are continuing to deliver piles of new content and upgrades. 1.6.4 is now here, and developer Eric 'ConcernedApe' Barone's promise of "some new mining-related stuff" might have undersold what we're getting here.

The patch includes "20 new 'alternate' mine layouts, which can start appearing after reaching the bottom of the mines," and "20 new volcano mines layouts, which can appear after you’ve unlocked the shortcut between the caldera and the volcano entrance." Both of those additions should go a long way toward making endgame mining less repetitive.

You can read the full patch notes over at the official site, and the highlights include some notable mysteries. There are now "fish frenzies," which are presumably some new wrinkle to the fishing minigame. There's also now a "a special cutscene after you’ve helped your new neighbors grow their family to the max."

In my mind, though, the biggest mystery is in regards to this note: "Added two inappropriate names to the list to exclude from the name generator." What were these two inappropriate names? What foul words were Stardew Valley's random name generator inflicting upon the world? How many players out there are raising a cow with one of these banned names at this very moment?

While 1.6.4 is now available for PC, there's no word on when any version of 1.6 is going to be available for consoles and mobile. ConcernedApe reassured players that it's in the works earlier this month, but there's still "no specific release date."

My obsession with the Stardew Valley 1.6 update changelog is making me nostalgic for physical game manuals.

Dustin Bailey
Staff Writer

Dustin Bailey joined the GamesRadar team as a Staff Writer in May 2022, and is currently based in Missouri. He's been covering games (with occasional dalliances in the worlds of anime and pro wrestling) since 2015, first as a freelancer, then as a news writer at PCGamesN for nearly five years. His love for games was sparked somewhere between Metal Gear Solid 2 and Knights of the Old Republic, and these days you can usually find him splitting his entertainment time between retro gaming, the latest big action-adventure title, or a long haul in American Truck Simulator.