Farming simulators have been all the rage, and Stardew Valley is to thank for it. The game has achieved universal acclaim, creating a community with millions of fans. While developer Eric "ConcernedApe" Barone is busy developing Haunted Chocolatier, people are still playing Stardew Valley, with the open-ended gameplay and extensive collection of in-game mods allowing for player customization and multiple playthroughs. In fact, many players have "unwritten rules" during their time in Pelican Town, established through gameplay lessons learned the hard way.
While Stardew Valley's streamlined control scheme and the artfully pixilated world are ideal for even the most casual of gamers, it still emulates the challenging learning curve in Harvest Moon. For instance, the game's farming mechanics require patience and practice as players care for their crops and animals while preparing for the inevitable change in seasons. Another challenge lies in the social game, befriending villagers and rebuilding the Community Center - a task that can take years of in-game time, depending on play styles. The unwritten rules reflect the fantastic culture that has grown around Stardew Valley and its tenacious base of players who rise to the challenge.
Stardew Valley: Forage Everything, Everywhere, During Every Season
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Stardew Valley is a unique farming simulator in that it emphasizes foraging, allowing players to collect various goods and materials from the land around Pelican Town. While foraging can seem like a waste of time, it is a great way to make money at the beginning of Stardew Valley while waiting for those turnips to grow. Each in-game season has a foraging bundle in the Community Center, requiring players to gather at least one of every item offered during the year.
Luckily, there are great Stardew Valley beginner foraging guides that are perfect for players to begin leveling up their skills. Last but not least, the game has a special foraging skill tree that only levels when gathering materials and planting wild seeds. Advancing in the foraging skill unlocks professions that increase quality, provide hardwood, and track forageable materials on the map, not including the myriad of helpful objects unlocked. All in all, foraging is always a net positive skill to have in Stardew Valley.
Chests and Warp Totems Are The Player's Best Friends In Stardew Valley
Stardew Valley's Pelican Town is a distinctive area, providing farmers with a wide swath of land to explore. Even with backpack upgrades, it can be easy to max out the in-game inventory, creating an inevitable dilemma about what items to give up. Craftable chests can be placed almost anywhere in Stardew Valley, and items kept in them won't be lost or stolen. Many players will keep chests near the mine, beaches, forests, fishing ponds, or any areas where an abundance of materials are found.
There are other clever tools available to players that can help them traverse the in-game map faster. While they are consumable, warp totems can be used to transport farmers to and from specific areas on the map, including the beach, mountains, desert, Ginger Island, and the farm. Stardew Valley's warp totems are fairly easy to craft and can be handy to avoid passing out at night or completing time-sensitive quests. Stardew Valley has also added permanent warp items like the return scepter and element obelisks that are not consumed upon use.
Keep An Eye On The Community Center Bundles And Collect One Of Everything
One of the first aspects of Pelican Town that players learn about are plans to revitalize the old Community Center. In order to do so, farmers have to complete bundles, each requiring different goods. If players aren't aware of what the Stardew Valley Community Center requirements are, they might find themselves selling items instead of adding them to bundles, drastically increasing the amount of time it takes to complete the storyline.
Community Center bundles are curated to the extreme, requiring specific fish, farm products, and foraged materials, and if farmers aren't able to complete winter bundles come spring, they have to wait until next year. One tedious but ultimately helpful hack is to collect and store one of every item in the game, giving farmers a pantry full of items that can be put towards quests, bundles, romance, and more.
Bring A Feast Into The Stardew Valley Mines But Avoid Passing Out There
During the winter months in Stardew Valley, exploring the mines is sometimes the only way to spend time, but it can be a treacherous endeavor. Farmers should descend into the mines with weapons, but also an inventory full of food. Food products but especially prepared dishes provide players with a ton of extra health and stamina which can be crucial to getting to checkpoint levels and most importantly, avoiding passing out.
Passing out can be really detrimental, especially if players have valuable objects and goods in their inventory when it happens. Typically, if Stardew Valley farmers pass out from exhaustion they only lose gold. But if they pass out from taking too much damage in the mines, they can lose tools and weapons. It's a good idea to keep unneeded tools and weapons in crates instead.
Spend Money on Seeds and Animals But Prepare For Winter Early
When players begin Stardew Valley, they always start at the beginning of spring. Between winning the Egg Festival and unlocking summer-exclusive bundles, winter comes quicker than it seems. This is especially true when investing all earned money back into seeds and animals, allowing players to quickly expand their farm within a few months.
Although, winter comes with some hard lessons. Crops can't be planted in winter without a greenhouse, and animals depend on feed when they can't graze outdoors. Players can always buy feed from Stardew Valley's Marnie, but it can be expensive and even disastrous if they run out of money. It's a good idea to buy a silo early and cut the grass on the farm right before winter comes, as that grass turns into feed that is stored in the silo come winter.
Make Friends With All The Stardew Valley NPCs And Have Fun!
With all the tips, tricks, tools, and mods available for Stardew Valley players to try, it can be easy to focus more on beating the game versus exploring and having fun. While it's great to finish the romance arc with Abigail, players benefit by befriending all the available NPCs, as they all have incredible stories to share. Most of all, the game is customizable to each player, meaning that there is no real "right way" to play the game.
Stardew Valley is out now for PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One, mobile, and legacy devices.