Stardew Valley Modders Talk Ten Years Of Modding This Iconic Farming Sim

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In 2026, the popular farming game Stardew Valley, created by Eric “ConcernedApe” Barone, will celebrate its tenth anniversary. The game has stayed incredibly popular over the last decade thanks to its engaging story, memorable characters, and fun gameplay. Major updates, like the addition of multiplayer and new late-game content, have also kept players hooked. Plus, a thriving modding community has created hundreds—if not thousands—of ways to customize the game, adding everything from new crops and items to characters and romantic interests.

TopMob interviewed HimeTarts and Wildflour, two popular creators of modifications (mods) for the game Stardew Valley, about their decade-long involvement in the game’s community. Together, known as “HxW,” they’ve become well-known for their high-quality furniture mods, which are particularly admired for their beautiful designs.

Check out HimeTarts and Wildflour’sincredible Stardew Valley mods at GGMods

These two mod creators, who have made many modifications to the game individually and as a team, shared memories of how modding has evolved, the strong support within the modding community, and the challenges faced after the 1.6 update in 2024. They’re both very excited about the upcoming 1.7 update in 2026, which promises new characters to romance, a new farm layout, and other additions to the popular game.

How Stardew ValleyModding Has Changed Over Ten Years

Hime and Wildflour both started creating modifications for the game Stardew Valley. They learned by first exploring mods made by other players, figuring out how they worked, and then using that knowledge to build their own. Wildflour initially felt hesitant when installing her first Stardew mod and asked her partner, who had previously modded games like Fallout and Skyrim, for help. She remembers being worried about potentially damaging the game. However, she quickly became enthusiastic about modding and progressed from simply using existing mods to learning the entire process herself, becoming highly skilled over several years.

Like Wildflour, HimeTarts taught herself how to create game modifications. She started with Stardew Valley because she wanted to personalize the game and meet more characters. She remembers a time when there weren’t many options: “There weren’t many interesting people in the game back then,” she said, smiling. “We only had a few like Shiko, Sorren, and Denver.” This led her to create the popular mod “Always Raining in the Valley,” which added three new characters and remained the most downloaded Stardew Valley NPC mod for five years. Now, players looking for romance options have a wide variety of choices, including characters created by Hime and Wildflour, as well as the ability to introduce characters from games like Final Fantasy and Baldur’s Gate 3 to the town of Pelican Town.

When modding for Stardew Valley first started, it was quite challenging. The game’s creator, ConcernedApe, didn’t initially build the game to be easily modified, and it took several years before he began collaborating with the modding community to create helpful tools. A modder named Pathoschild, in particular, has built a comprehensive set of tools that make adding new content or changing existing game features much simpler. They talked about how much easier modding has become over time.

Now there are tools and programs that handle the coding for modding, making it much simpler and available to everyone. Previously, these tools would unlock functions that the game’s creator originally built directly into the game’s code, functions that weren’t normally accessible.

What Is Stardew Valley Modding Like Today?

The Stardew Valley modding community is thriving, thanks to tools like PathosChild’s content patcher, and is now bigger and more diverse than ever before. As Hime put it, “Stardew Valley is more than just a game—it’s become a platform where people can create and do anything they imagine.”

The modding community has created all sorts of content for Stardew Valley, from funny additions to truly frightening ones. You can find mods that build on the game’s fantasy aspects, and even some that aren’t safe for work. It’s amusing to think that the creators of ghost-themed mods might be the same fans eagerly anticipating the developer’s next game, Haunted Chocolatier.

People enjoy playing games in different ways, and with Stardew Valley, players are really making it their own. Modding has expanded the game so much, adding endless possibilities and making it incredibly special. It’s amazing how much the game can grow through player creativity!

Remembering The 1.6 “Modpocalypse” And Looking Forward To 1.7

A large update, version 1.7, is coming to Stardew Valley in 2026, adding new features like marriage options for Clint and Sandy, a new farm type, and expanded content for children. The creators of popular mods, Hime and Wildflour, are optimistic about the update, as the game’s developer, Eric Barone, is collaborating with the modding community – including Pathoschild – to ensure a smooth transition. Significant code improvements have been made to better support mods, and Pathoschild’s framework will even allow mods to adapt to future changes. This is a contrast to the release of update 1.6 in 2024, which presented different challenges.

The release of version 1.6 of Stardew Valley was a huge undertaking for the game’s modding community, jokingly referred to as “The Modpocalypse.” Many mods required substantial revisions to work with the new version, but thanks to a collaborative effort – spearheaded by Pathoschild – every mod was updated in time for the launch. Players enjoyed a smooth transition thanks to the dedication of HimeTarts, Wildflour, and the entire community. Now, the developers can look back with fondness on the period leading up to the update, when ConcernedApe repeatedly adjusted the release date and expanded the scope of version 1.6 with additional content.

There was a lot of uncertainty about the timeline. Initially, it seemed like things would stay the same for a long time, but then the expectations shifted – first to six months, then three weeks. There was even debate about whether there would be a testing phase at all. It was a confusing situation, to say the least.

Wow, it was a serious journey getting all my favorite mods working with the 1.6 update for Stardew Valley! It took almost two years, starting back in early 2022, to make sure everything played nice with the new stuff like the updated weather and the dynamic NPC chats. Honestly, as a player, I didn’t realize how much work the modders were putting in behind the scenes. They completely updated the code and frameworks so that when 1.6 finally dropped, all my mods still worked just like before! It’s awesome to see the Stardew modding community come out of this even stronger, smarter, and more connected than ever.

As a big fan, I’m really relieved to hear that the modding community feels confident about the next update! Apparently, they’ve built in backwards compatibility, so our mods shouldn’t break this time around. Hime and Wildflour don’t know when ConcernedApe will drop the 1.7 update – they’re just as eager as we are! – but they’ve got a solid system in place to prevent another “Modpocalypse” like we had before. That’s a huge weight off my mind!

What Does The Future Of Stardew Valley Modding Look Like?

With Stardew Valley celebrating ten years, the future of player-created mods looks promising. The modding community is growing, and developers Hime and Wildflour are making mods easier to use than ever through the GGMods platform. They also created Sunberry Village, a large-scale mod that adds a new village with diverse characters to befriend—including Wildflour as the village alchemist. Sunberry Village will receive ongoing updates and improvements. Hime and Wildflour recently discussed their work with GGMods.

It’s been incredible building this from scratch! As someone who’s a huge fan of Stardew Valley and its modding scene, I’m really excited to connect with other modding communities and understand what they need. Honestly, it feels really special – like we’re building this with modders, for modders, and that’s a pretty amazing feeling.

I’m so excited for the anniversary year and all the mods that are coming! Hime and Wildflour, two of my favorite modders, aren’t sure exactly what they’ll be working on, but they’re just as hyped as I am to see what everyone creates. They’re definitely planning to keep making beautiful furniture and decorations, which I love, but they’re especially eager to see what other modders come up with. I’m really hoping for some new romance options for the NPCs – maybe even some for the Wizard, though he already has a few mods! It would be amazing if Clint got some attention too. And honestly, with the wait for Haunted Chocolatier, maybe we’ll even see some spooky additions to the Valley. Seriously, the Stardew Valley modding community is so talented and passionate, I wouldn’t be surprised by anything!

You can find mods for Stardew Valley created by Hime and Wildflour on GGmods, or by visiting their website here.

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2026-03-26 19:36