Can’t pick who to date in Stardew Valley? If single players try to woo every bachelor or bachelorette, they’ll suffer the consequences.
Alongside Stardew Valley ’s new multiplayer mode, now in public beta testing on PC, are heaps of added single-player content that players are slowly uncovering for themselves. And there’s already a newfound event that’s riling up some Stardew fans who feel like the game’s calling them out for flirting with as many Pelican Town singles as possible.
If you’ve wooed every possible single character in town, getting them all the way to 10 hearts and offering them a bouquet, they’ll now find out about it — and, apparently, tell each other what you’ve been doing. What that means for you is that you’ll face down an entire legion of guys or girls who are ready to chew you out for apparently leading them all on.
Redditors deduced that you’ll only run into this event if you’re not married and have romanced every possible dating option. After meeting those requirements and entering either the saloon (where the men gather) or Haley’s house (where the women are), the confrontation will begin. After that’s over, everyone will be much colder to you when they see you around town. You’ll be effectively shunned from Pelican Town’s most eligible bachelors and bachelorettes.
We’ve seen similar scenes in other games where you can date all the cuties — there are similarly awkward situations in the Persona series that happen when you date multiple people at once. But for some players of Stardew Valley, a game regarded for diverse representation and progressive relationships, an event shaming players for entering multiple relationships feels like a step backward.
“It’s pretty brutal,” wrote one Redditor . “Personally not a fan of these new scenes, I was a fan of the idea of poly relations, but now the game just forces anyone that was running with that theme into the position of a cheater.”
“I did all the other characters to their fullest extent simply to decide which one i wanted to pick, and to have fun,” another said . “I’m not going to make a new save file for every time i want to try out the characters 10 heart event. It may be realistic, but it isn’t fun to be told you are a terrible person for trying something out in a video game.”
But for those who take their Stardew Valley relationship role-plays less seriously, this event is both realistic and hilarious. There is humor to be found in nearly a dozen singles reprimanding you for leading them all on, after all. And if you’re already in a committed relationship in-game, you’re safe from the town marriage candidates’ fury… much like in real life.
