Hello everyone! It’s time for another SunnySide Update, and this one is BIG!

We’re introducing a whole new way to play SunnySide, and we’re excited about the new possibilities and features it brings to the game.

Introducing: Sandbox Mode!

Sandbox Mode is a new way to enjoy SunnySide! It skips all of the introductory quest lines and cutscenes and puts you right into your first farm, ready for action. YOU get to decide what is unlocked, and when.

What is Sandbox Mode?

When starting a new game, you will now be presented with two play options: Story Mode or Sandbox Mode. Story Mode will take you to the RPG/Cozy select screen as normal, but Sandbox Mode will skip this entirely. Instead, you’ll be asked to customize a variety of game mechanics to suit your play style.

Here’s a full list of all your new options. You can select or deselect them at any time during gameplay:

Buildmode

All Blueprints Unlocked
Checking this box means: All building blueprints will be made available right from the start of the game, or Unlock them immediately when checked.

Free Building
Checking this box means: Building blueprints no longer require any materials to complete. This option is especially powerful when combined with “Auto Deposit Requirements” option in buildmode and will allow you to one-click place-n-build any blueprint.

Build Anywhere
Checking this box means: Build blueprints anywhere in the world. As you can imagine this can cause problems with NPCs, cutscenes and the world of the game as a whole, so please use it responsibly and do not lock any of the poor residents of SunnySide inside tiny houses.

Skip Collision Check (when building)
Checking this box means: You no longer need to cut the grass around an area to build. (This also eliminates the check for the character, so be careful not to lock yourself inside anything)

Unlimited Drone Range
Checking this box means: You can fly your drone anywhere in the world without limitations. Like the build anywhere option, as you can imagine, this option will give your drone access to areas that otherwise would not be accessible through a normal playthrough. So please keep that in mind when flying around SunnySide and Higashi! But if you’re curious about how we put together the world of SunnySide, go ahead and explore and investigate, just be careful of reaching the world’s edge :)

Gameplay & Progression

Starter Money
Checking this box means: Customise how much money you start the game with. You can choose between Default (150 cupules), No money (for extra challenge) or Millionaire (5 million cupules) which would mean you never need to worry about money again.

Unlock All Cooking Recipes
Checking this box means: Like the build blueprints, you will start the game with all cooking recipes already discovered, or Unlock them immediately when checked.

Acquire All Songs
Checking this box means: This will populate the KoiBeats app with all the songs in-game. Enjoy the tunes!

Max All Skills
Checking this box means: All of the skills in the game will be set to the maximum level (level 30) from the start, or immediately when checked.

Free Skill Tree Requirements
Checking this box means: As you know, each skill on the skill tree requires you to donate a specific item to unlock it. This option will bypass that, allowing you to unlock any skill so long as you meet the required level.

Unlimited Energy
Checking this box means: Never run out of energy again while keeping busy around the farm!

NPC Gender Preferences
Checking this box means: As you might already know, SunnySide’s romantic options all come with their own pre-determined gender preferences regarding you, the player. If you’re ever worried about not being able to romance your favourite character with your specific gender selection, this option is for you. All NPCs will be compatible with you once you turn this option off.
Please Note: Some stories might seem odd, dialogue has not been adjusted.

Unlock All Farms
Checking this box means: Certain farm locations in SunnySide are locked behind cave story progression. If you’d like a quicker start to your farming empire or would like to stick to the overworld, turning this option on will unlock all of these farms for purchase. Please keep in mind that using the elevators in these hidden locations WILL cause problems for the natural quest progression in the caves.

Own All Farms
Checking this box means: Don’t want to spend the cash on each farm? Just turn this option on and you will own all 4 purchasable farms from the beginning. Make sure you unlock them, too!

Farming and Animals

Pests Do Not Steal
Checking this box means: We’ve had a chat with the foxes and raccoons of SunnySide and they’ve promised to stop stealing your crops or traumatising your chickens if we give them a treat. We’ll handle the regular treat giving, don’t you worry. ;)

No Crop Death Seasons
Checking this box means: Your crops almost always stay alive unless they reach the end of their life cycle. Plant anything in any season!

No Plant Size Restrictions
Checking this box means: You can plant trees and large crops in smaller plots and planters. Please use responsibly, and note that there may be some graphical weirdness.

Happy Animals
Checking this box means: Your farm animals will always be happy and content, regardless of their living conditions.

Caves

Friendly Enemies
Checking this box means: Enemies in the caves will no longer chase you. They won’t even spot you to cause you trouble. You can however still attack them if you wish. Sneak attack!

Disable Mini-Bosses
Checking this box means: The Caves of SunnySide come with a pretty simple quest loop, each cave level has 4 power nodes to be activated, and each power node is guarded by a miniboss. This option will disable those mini-bosses, so you can access the power nodes peacefully.

Disable All Cave Barriers
Checking this box means: We know that some of you really didn’t like the colour-coded gates inside of the caves of SunnySide. This option will allow you to forever get rid of them and explore the caves at your own pace. Keep in mind that triggering the final boss battles of each level without properly going through the questline of each level will very likely cause problems.

Some of these options are also adjustable once the game has started through the new "Sandbox App". So if you’d like to adjust things later you can always do that while the game is running.

What is still available in Sandbox Mode?

The entire tutorial questline of the game, (including most overworld quests that unlock different systems and aspects of the game) may be gone, but in exchange, you'll start the game right away on your farm with all quest related progressions unlocked. (Yes, this includes vehicles and horses)

All NPC stories are still accessible in Sandbox mode through normal hangouts. The Cave questline is also entirely open and accessible and you can start it simply by visiting the Caves.

It's also worth noting that Steam achievements are disabled on a Sandbox Mode game.

But this update is more than just Sandbox Mode!

We’re really excited to finally introduce two new (and HIGHLY requested) Phone Apps:

New “Skills” App

We’ve added a whole new app in the game that allows you to check your skill progressions without having to visit the Kashiwa Shrine. With this new app, you can check your XP and level for each Skill category. You will also be able to see all the available skills in each category, if they can be unlocked, and what item is needed to unlock them. Keep in mind that you still need to visit the shrine to unlock skills.

New “Profile” tab on the Squirrel IM App

We’ve heard you and we’ve added a new tab to the Squirrel IM app so that you can now change your name, birthday, profile picture, username and bio at any time using the app. You will also be able to reference what section of the Gender Slider you selected when creating your character.

We’ve also fixed a few pesky bugs:

Sparky should now steal moves from enemies successfully. Keep in mind that certain skills are "un-stealable" by Sparky but we have fixed the bug that constantly displayed the message "No acquirable skills found".

We’ve also removed the invisible wall that was blocking you from exiting the secret area unlocked from the Lush Level of the caves. Feel free to forage to your heart’s content now!

Lastly, we’ve also added a new secret to the map that is only accessible through Sandbox Mode! Have fun on the hunt and feel free to join our discord server if you need help finding and solving this new mystery!

For an extra boost, here’s is a clue about where to find this new secret that will unlock a special item in the game:

The version number for this update is 1.20.0, and is listed at the bottom-right of the screen in the main menu or while pausing the game. If your game is on that version, you’ve got the update! If Steam hasn't prompted you for an update, it is usually dispatched slowly to each region. If you'd like to force Steam to update the game, fully restart Steam (close it from your system tray or task manager).

Please note that due to some internal changes with our publisher, we haven't been able to localise this update yet. We will be working on pushing an update with all of the Sandbox text localised.

Thank you so much for reading the patch notes! If you’re enjoying SunnySide, please let us know by leaving the game a review, it helps us immensely! Your feedback is our best source of information on what we should focus on next <3

Thank you again for loving the game, for reporting issues to us, and for your continued patience! We’re committed to making SunnySide the best it can be!

See you in the next update!

-The RainyGames Team