Stardew Valley’s 1.6 update has given players a new way to get their hands on Mayor Lewis’ coveted Lucky Purple Shorts, while referencing a popular bug found in earlier versions of the game.
Three digital days into the first pixel Summer of Eric Barone’s beloved farming RPG, the player are presented with a very strange quest — to find the Mayor’s Lucky Purple Shorts, and discretely return them to him, with the rest of the village being non the wiser. Mayor Lewis doesn’t offer any details as to how the garment was misplaced, but given that the shorts can later be found in the bedroom at Marnie’s Ranch, well, we can probably infer from context.
In order to retrieve them the normal way, the player need to improve their relationship with Marnie until they are allowed access to her room. However, a few years ago fans discovered that it was also possible to get a pair of the fetching shorts by placing a crafted staircase into a character’s ‘pants’ clothing slot. Doing so would transform the item into a wearable set of Trimmed Lucky Purple Shorts.
Rather than erase the bug entirely for update 1.6, Barone instead opted to give players a novel way to get their hands on the Mayor’s shorts while referencing the earlier exploit. As detailed in a Twitch stream from creator Bla_De, who found a reference to a hitherto undiscovered basement in the game's code, the newly-discovered Easter egg once again involves the adroit placement of a crafted staircase that must be set down on a clear spot in the Mayor's bedroom.
Doing so allows the player to gain access a hidden maze, at the end of which lies a pair of the Mayor’s Lucky Purple Shorts. However, retrieving the versatile garment will cause an invincible flying shorts monster to spawn, which will relentlessly attack the player until they ascend the stairs after retracing their steps through the ad hoc maze.
The process can be repeated multiple times, allowing the player to accrue a stack of 99 Trimmed Lucky Purple shorts. Of course this isn't the only time that Barone has made reference to an old exploit to make new content for the 1.6 update. Fans making use of another well-known exploit that allowed them to glitch out of bounds to access a late game area of the game were left surprised to find that the developer had introduced a new cutscene that punished the player for cheating the game.
Be sure to check out IGN's Stardew Valley Wiki to catch up on the wave of new content introduced in the 1.6 update, and to stay up to date with the news on Barone's next highly anticipated title, The Haunted Chocolatier.
Anthony is a freelance contributor covering science and video gaming news for IGN. He has over eight years experience of covering breaking developments in multiple scientific fields and absolutely no time for your shenanigans. Follow him on Twitter @BeardConGamer
