In case we needed more evidence that the world cannot get enough Stardew Valley, creator Eric Barone shared a piece of early community center concept art on Twitter, and fans immediately began clamoring for more photos.
"Was going through some things and found my old notebook w/ the original community center concept," Barone tweeted nonchalantly while sharing the image—which, for the record, is pretty great.
was going through some things and found my old notebook w/ the original community center concept pic.twitter.com/cXPI77kxptApril 21, 2023
Followers almost immediately asked for more, and Barone delivered:
"I always spill everything I'm holding," Barone tweeted, explaining the stains (probably green tea) on the mine concepts.
Others began picking out their favorite bits and pieces from the images Barone shared:
Some followers want more than just a few tweets, and are calling for a full-on art book to be published.
if you published this notebook and sold it i’d buy it this is adorableApril 21, 2023
It doesn't seem like the sort of thing that would be out of the question. Stardew Valley is an unparalleled indie game phenomenon, selling more than 20 million copies across just about every rummy meet platform imaginable and inspiring spinoffs including a hit board game, soundtracks, food, a very impressive boxed edition, and at least one real-life marriage. In light of that, an art book seems almost mundane and entirely doable.
Unfortunately, if it does happen, it won't be anytime soon: When asked about the possibility of releasing an art book, a rep said that "for the foreseeable future [Barone] would prefer to focus his efforts on Stardew Valley and Haunted Chocolatier."
That's a shame, but I suspect that as long as Barone keeps sharing the occasional blast from the past on Twitter, most of his fans will be pretty happy. And there's more Stardew Valley coming, too: Barone announced last week that a surprise 1.6 update is now in the works while he takes a short break from developing his next game, Haunted Chocolatier,