This article contains spoilers for the end of the game Stardew Valley.
A sinister new cut scene introduced in Stardew Valley’s major update 1.6 reprimands those who glitch their way into the endgame areas of the map.
As the saying goes, perfection is in the eye of the beholder. But in the case of Stardew Valley, all that really matters is her one viewer. That’s Eric Barone, the game’s developer who set very strict standards for what constitutes a perfect game. Progress towards a “perfect” playthrough can be tracked via the perfection meter located in the Walnut Room on Ginger Island.
To fill it, you’ll need to spend countless hours slaying monsters, finding collectibles, growing crops, and generally being a good problem-solving member of the community. If you invest the time and effort to achieve perfection, you will gain access to a portion of the map known as The Summit. There, you’ll be shown a heartwarming cutscene with your chosen loved one, followed by a parade of every animal and character in the game. As the name suggests, reaching the Summit is considered the pinnacle of your Stardew Valley playthrough, and the reward is worthy of dozens of hours worth of digital sweat.
Or you can be a monster and use out-of-bounds glitch exploits to take the easy path to the top, skipping all the effort and going to the endgame section of the map. Thankfully, Barone is no stranger to this particular dirty trick, but rather than fix his 1.6 exploit, the developers chose to introduce cutscenes into the game. This will punish players who have accessed The Summit without achieving perfection.
Reddit user preferences snail 51 I captured a cutscene immediately after release. IGN captured it as well. If you don’t mind suffering Mr. Chi’s wrath, you can watch the walkthrough below (it also includes the cutscenes themselves if you don’t want to go through the whole thing).
After following the steps, you will come face-to-face with Mr. Chi, a mysterious figure who runs a casino in the Calico Desert.
“Well, well, well, look who ‘reached the top,'” Mr. Chi scoffs against the flickering sky. “You thought you were really smart, didn’t you?” The NPC then further scolds the player for cheating the system, before calling them “scumbags” and charging forward as the screen fades to black.
The player then comes to the hospital, only to be informed that Harvey was found “unconscious” and “beaten” and was forced to undergo “emergency surgery”, and Harvey gives the player 500 grams for the treatment. I charged. We do not engage in charity work, thank you very much.
Cutscenes are clearly not part of the extensive list of changes following 1.6’s release, so we don’t know what other surprises may be in store for other players looking to play this system. In any case, those who want to reach The Summit in an honest way should check out IGN’s comprehensive Stardew Valley Wiki, a page detailing everything you need to know about the 1.6 update. It would be a good idea to check.
Anthony is a freelance contributor covering science and video game news for IGN. He has over 8 years of experience covering groundbreaking developments in multiple scientific fields and has absolutely no time for your pranks. Follow him on Twitter @BeardConGamer
