InfoldFew indie games have ever taken off quite like Stardew Valley. Nearly ten years since its release, it’s still one of the best and most popular farming sims around. In that time, collaborations between games have gotten more common, but Stardew Valley has rarely taken part. Now, as it’s only done a few times in its history, the farming sim is joining forces with another game, and the title that’s getting the honor is a surprising one.In some ways, it makes sense that Stardew Valley is teaming up with Infinity Nikki. Live-service games are usually the most likely to go after collaborations, since they need a steady stream of new experiences to keep players hooked. But most of those games lean more toward action than the laidback Stardew Valley, and mixing the chill game with something like Fortnite wouldn’t make a lot of sense. But Infinity Nikki, with its focus on customization and coziness, could be the perfect ongoing game to share space with Stardew Valley.The collaboration was announced with a trailer that leaves pretty much everything to the imagination. It starts with Stardew Valley’s Jumino spirits working on a farm, before taking a break to stare at a mysterious glowing orb, as we all do on lunch break. One of the Juminos is then sucked through a portal to Miraland, the setting of Infinity Nikki.Neither game’s developer has said what form the collaboration will take, but we do have a pretty good hint in its release date. The Stardew Valley collaboration begins on September 1, with the launch of Infinity Nikki’s Version 1.9 Music Season update. Among other things, the update adds the ability to build and customize your own home, complete with a garden to grow plants outside. A longer, five-minute version of the collaboration teaser ends with a substantial look at the house-building and gardening systems, which definitely call to mind Stardew Valley. It doesn’t show any specific items or other content that’s making its way to Infinity Nikki from the farming sim, but it seems likely that some plantable crops or housing decorations could be part of the collaboration, and there’s the potential for some pretty cute farmer outfits for Nikki, too.Neither developer is sharing how their two games with cross over yet. | InfoldAs for why Stardew Valley developer Eric Barone is lending some part of his game to Infinity Nikki, the answer is simple.“To be clear, I never receive any money from these collabs,” Barone said on social media. “I’ve only done them because I was a fan of the other games, or because I genuinely thought the players would like it.”In the past, Stardew Valley and Terraria have collaborated to bring items from each game into the other, and a Balatro crossover introduced a Stardew-themed deck. It’s a bit harder to imagine how the Infinity Nikki collaboration could play out, though, given that the games have vastly different art styles and play very differently despite sharing some cozy elements.Infinity Nikki could end up having more to gain from the collaboration when it launches. Stardew Valley has had no trouble getting players interested over the years, but the online dress-up game is just coming out of a particularly rough time. A recent update made the game unplayable or at least extremely unpleasant for a lot of players, and the response from Infold left a lot of former fans furious. Sentiments have shifted a bit after a more recent update that fixed some lingering problems and was generally more well-received, but plenty of former players still aren’t happy with the developer. A collaboration with Stardew Valley coming alongside the anticipated addition of player housing could be just what Infinity Nikki needs to get back in its players’ good graces.Infinity Nikki is available now on PlayStation, Android, iOS, and PC.