Fall is objectively the best time to be a cozy gamer. With special in-game events, earth-toned hues, and the first hints of chill in the air, there’s no better excuse to grab a blanket and settle into the rhythms of farming, fishing, or foraging. Even real life seems to conspire in our favor: the calendar lines up with long weekends, school breaks, and that well-earned PTO that practically begs us to boot up a cozy game. The season doesn’t just set the mood, it hands us the perfect alibi.
Naturally, I’ve been dipping back into Stardew Valley (because fall without Spirit’s Eve feels almost illegal as a gamer). But while Pelican Town still has its charms, another cozy world has been calling my name this season, and it’s a lot bigger than a single farm. Enter Palia, a Stardew Valley-like MMO that takes everything I love about cozy gaming and stretches it across an entire shared world. Think farming, fishing, crafting, and building communities, but with friends by your side. And Singularity 6’s got something up its sleeve for Spooky Season, giving Palia the edge to emerge among the season’s best.
So, picture this: on October 7, I have one hand on my new Xbox controller and the other wrapped around a pumpkin spice latte. The soundtrack is cozy, the fall-themed retail splurges have been made, and instead of just tending to crops in solitude, I’m diving deep into Palia’s Fall Fantasy: Spiritfest Spectacle. Because I want more than a once-a-year festival for my Halloween heart. Forget Spirit’s Eve—I’ve found my new spooky season ritual. And it’s nestled right inside Palia’s upcoming pumpkin-colored glow.
Palia’s Spiritfest Spectacle Makes My Spooky Season Heart Sing As A Cozy Gamer
Happy haunts. Candle-lit warmth. Jack’o lanterns. The upcoming Palia Fall update, scheduled for next week, is shaping up to be one of its coziest patches yet. Between new critters to raise, furniture you can finally sit (or nap) on, and a spooky moonlit landscape to redecorate your housing plot, there’s a little something for every cozy gamer to enjoy. Here’s what’s coming:
- New Ranching Animal: The Spiritfest Spectacle introduced a highly anticipated addition, although not in the way many fans had expected. The new ranching animal is a Goobi, a slime-like creature that eventually sprouts a flower on its head. So far, the only confirmed color variations are red and green Goobis. Although not a traditional animal like a sheep, a Goobi seems more than appropriate for a Halloween-themed update. The Goobi would be the first animal addition since Palia introduced Animal Husbandry.
- Ranching Multiplayer: Palia‘s social features help it stand out in a crowded cozy gaming market. So, it is only natural that ranching features will acknowledge the fact that it takes a village. This patch offers the opportunity to visit a friend’s ranch and help them care for their animals.
- Ranch Organization Features: Getting lost in pens was an all-too-familiar chagrin for many Palia players. Luckily, this patch will feature pen organization tools that will keep animals in check.
- Interactable Furniture: Beds and benches are no longer just for show. Players can actually use them as intended.
- Spooky Moon Store: Fans of last year’s Spooky Moon Store can rejoice at its return this year. This returning store will feature Spiritfest-themed bundles that include candies, cobwebs, and other Halloween-themed items.
- New Housing Landscape: Upgrades to housing were one of the promises in Palia‘s Path Roadmap earlier this year. The Hollow Grove Landscape arrives as a new way to customize your plot.
- Pumpkin-Themed Fishing: A new Jack O’ Lantern lure can now be used to attract Pumpkin Rockhopper frogs. It’s important to note that Pumpkin Rockhopper frogs have never been seen in Palia before, which may be a hint at other seasonally exclusive creatures to catch in the future.
Palia’s fall update last year was a big hit among its player base for the seasonal charm it brought to the game. It seems that this year is no exception. With such a robust list of additions to this patch, Palia’s growing playerbase is being given a crucial message: seasons matter. Because seasons matter, players may find easy motivation to log in every day to explore the wide range of content. Frankly, I can’t wait until next week to dive deep into Palia’s take on spooky season.
Spirit’s Eve, I Love You, But…
There’s nothing quite like Spirit’s Eve in Stardew Valley. It’s a night stitched with lantern light and cobweb charm, when the whole town gathers to trade sweet treats and tiptoe through the haunted maze near the Community Center. The pumpkin-headed scarecrows, the eerie glow, the way the music shifts into something touchingly nostalgic. It’s cozy, campy, and pulled out of the Halloween aesthetics of a time long gone. Every year, it feels like Stardew has bottled the exact nostalgia of small-town fall festivals and sprinkled it with just enough witchy magic. It’s like experiencing a pixelated Halloween with a ’90s filter—maybe that’s my Gen Z brain speaking, my sincerest apologies to you gamers who actually lived through the ‘90s and had to read that.
But as much as I adore Spirit’s Eve, I’ve found myself wandering beyond Pelican Town this spooky season. Not because the holiday has lost its spark, it hasn’t, but because another game has me wrapped up in a different kind of community celebration. Palia, a Stardew Valley-like MMO, has quickly become the place where I want to sip my pumpkin spice, decorate my farmland with skeleton motifs, and gossip with the villagers. It’s Stardew’s festive spirit, but stretched across a whole village of real players who are just as excited about fall vibes as I am.
So this year, Spirit’s Eve, I’m saving you a special corner of my heart. But I’m packing my trick-or-treat bucket and heading into Palia’s cozy neighborhoods. After all, sometimes the best way to celebrate spooky season is to share it with a few hundred of your closest new friends.
- Released
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August 10, 2023
- ESRB
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E10+ For Everyone 10+ Due To Alcohol Reference, Fantasy Violence, Mild Language, Mild Suggestive Themes, Use of Tobacco
- Developer(s)
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Singularity 6, Inc.
- Publisher(s)
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Singularity 6, Inc.
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