ConcernedApe says he's in "extreme crunch mode" for Stardew Valley's 1.6 update, and shows off a new storage solution

Eric ‘ConcernedApe’ Barone continues to tease Stardew Valley’s next major 1.6 update, this time revealing an expanded storage option for the pixel farmers, hoarders, and foragers still playing the smash hit indie. 

Barone posted a screenshot on social media to unveil the new “Big Chest” item, which “can store almost twice as much as a regular chest,” according to the item description. In the replies, Barone jokes that players will now only need one million chests to store their farmed goods, rather than the usual two million. The newest item should at least make our farms more spacious, though, especially in the late-game.

Barone also reveals that the 1.6 update is making steady progress, though the creator is sadly in “extreme crunch mode” to get the update out the door. “A ton of progress on 1.6 last month,” he writes in a Twitter post, “it’s (self-imposed) extreme crunch mode, nose to the grindstone (raw nose) mode.” He then calls the Big Chest one of the “many additions in 1.6,” before teasing that he’s “keeping mostly everything secret.” Exciting.

Despite 1.6’s shadowy rollout, we have gotten small peeks behind the curtain. In similar posts scattered across social media, Barone has teased new additions like expanded modding support, a new festival, pets in hats, and… wild horseradish juice? (No, thank you, Eric.) 

As for the creator’s other top-down management romp, the ghostly but still wholesome Haunted Chocolatier, Barone says he’s taking a break from working on it while he develops Stardew Valley’s 1.6 update. So, we should hear more about the widely-anticipated game sometime after Stardew’s next update drops.

While we wait to be haunted by ghosts and chocolates, here are 10 games like Stardew Valley that you should play right now. Those hoping for a Stardew Valley movie are out of luck, though, unless Studio Ghibli comes knocking.