Stardew Valley Developer Reveals An Unsolved Secret Hidden For 10 Years

3 hours ago 1

Stardew Valley Has Kept a Secret for 10 Years and Nobody Has Found it Yet 1

Published Feb 3, 2026, 10:20 PM EST

Covering the video games industry since 2017, with experience in news, articles, lists, and reviews (and I blame The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask for that).

If you are a fan of RPGs and want a third-person version: Tayná Garcia is a Brazilian journalist (but you can call her Tay) who ended up working with video games after finishing Zelda: Majora's Mask when she was a kid. With more than eight years of experience in the segment, she has been an assistant editor at Jovem Nerd in the past and is currently a contributor at DualShockers and a writer for gaming magazines for Editora Europa. Oh, and she may like Hideo Kojima a bit too much.

It has been nearly 10 years since Stardew Valley was first released, which should have been plenty of time for players to explore and discover every tiny secret hidden within the game, right?

Well, actually, no – and that isn't just me saying that! The claim comes directly from the game's creator, Eric Barone, better known to the gaming community as ConcernedApe.

Stardew Valley Has Kept a Secret for 10 Years and Nobody Has Found it Yet

In a recent interview with IGN, celebrating the 10th anniversary of Stardew Valley, Barone revealed that there is still a hidden secret tucked away inside the game that absolutely no one has found to this day, even after a decade of millions of players digging through their farms.

According to the developer, the mystery is actually a “secret message” that has since become outdated, since it references something that isn't even true anymore.

Stardew Valley: 10 Ways To Make A Second Playthrough Different

For anyone looking for another reason to play Stardew Valley again, look no further. This list has everything you need.

This revelation has naturally piqued the curiosity of fans everywhere (including mine), and, despite the obscurity of the secret, Barone left the door open to revealing it himself someday if it remains undiscovered for much longer.

“There's still a secret that no one has ever found. I don't think they ever will,” he explained. “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.”

However, he even provided a few more clues, seemingly in hopes of tipping someone off: “I'll say it was a secret message that was basically announcing something that I actually shifted gears on, 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.”

The mystery is actually a “secret message” that has since become outdated.

Beyond the hidden messages, Barone also shared some interesting insights regarding the possibility of a Stardew Valley sequel in the same interview, like the reveal that a sequel almost happened! The solo developer revealed he actually started working on Stardew Valley 2 at one point, but he eventually shelved the project to focus on a new IP, which became Haunted Chocolatier, the upcoming sim about running a haunted chocolate shop.

“There was a time when I was starting to work on a Stardew Valley 2, but I don't know. For various reasons, I moved over to Haunted Chocolatier instead. You could say Haunted Chocolatier is like Stardew Valley 2, but it's a bit different of a game, so we'll see.”

Stardew Valley was originally released in 2016 and is currently available on almost every major platform, including PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch.