The most reliable way to play a cracked version with friends is through a Virtual Private Network (VPN) or a LAN simulator. This makes the game believe all players are sitting in the same room on the same Wi-Fi network. Using LAN Simulators (Hamachi or Radmin VPN)

Black Screens or Infinite Loading: This usually happens when a firewall is blocking the connection. Ensure that Stardew Valley and your VPN software are added to your Windows Firewall exceptions.

Lag and Desync: Since you are using a virtual tunnel, latency can be higher than official servers. The player with the fastest internet and strongest PC should always be the host.

For multiplayer to work, every player must be on the exact same version of the game. If the host is on version 1.6.3 and a friend is on 1.5.6, the connection will fail immediately. Always check the bottom-left corner of the title screen to verify your build number before trying to connect. The "Steam Fix" Method