Stardew Valley is a relaxing farming and dating simulator that has rocketed to the best selling game on Steam. Despite its simple pixelated style, it manages to be a vibrant, fantastic world to explore, fight, grow, and love in.
The issue is the fact that the entirety of the game can take place within two years. If settings are set up in such a way during creation, the entire plot can be completed in the first year. Once the calendar flips over to Spring 1 of Year 3, the player can go to Grandpa's shrine and receive an evaluation. After that, everything stops. There are no more new seeds. Everyone's lines start cycling to things that have already been read. At this point, it becomes easy to set the game down, or even restart. Thankfully, there is still more than enough to do.
10 Get To Ginger Island
Ginger Island is really meant to be a late game experience, though it can be accessed sooner. On this extra map, there is an entirely different system in play that makes for Golden Walnuts to be handed off in exchange for opening new areas, shops, and interactions with the villagers of Pelican Town.
There is also the Island Farm which is just an additional space to grow things. It acts just like the greenhouse where things can be planted year-round. Sleeping here can be unlocked with Golden Walnuts. As if that wasn't enough, there are new trees and a brand new animal that can be brought back to the base farm.
9 Complete Mr. Qi's Quests
Mr. Qi just keeps coming throughout the game. He leaves notes, hints, and quests to follow all throughout the place. Twice throughout the game, there are Mr. Qi invited questlines, one of which results in 100% completing the game and granting some new items for the farm.
The first round will encourage the player to explore the world, following tips and quests to unlock the casino in the desert. The second round of quests will have Mr. Qi challenge the player to complete the game entirely. He also shows up to encourage the player to make it to level 100 of the Skull Cavern, which is never easy. At least he always makes his shenanigans worth it.
8 Max Out Everyone's Hearts
Make everyone in town friends of the farmer. Give everyone presents twice a week, talk to them as much as possible, party with them on Fridays in the saloon. While at it, stand on the other side of the counter from Gunther and scream at him to move his books so he can be included. Go into the Adventurer's Guild and demand to make friends with Marlon and Gus. Marlon even appears at festivals, the fact he refuses to be friends is unacceptable.
Then turn around and be upset that all of the marriage candidates will stop at eight hearts if they are given a bouquet and dated which can make for some awkward scenes if the only point was to make everyone friends. Carry around a rabbit's foot to combat this and make everyone have full hearts.
7 Build Individual Artisan Sheds
Build a shed and then go to Robin to upgrade it. Once she is finished taking a million years, decorate the thing and fill it entirely with one artisan maker. Have one for kegs, preserve jars, looms, everything. Each one can be filled with 137 makers when set to an optimal layout, so put a sign out front and keep the ingredients flowing into them for a constant cash generation.
While other buildings are cheaper, such as a coop or a cabin, the sheds can keep up the overall aesthetic of the farm while also giving a ton of customizable space. Besides, with all the money coming in, might as well use it frivolously.
6 Ransack The Skull Cavern
At the very bottom of the mines, there is a key. This key allows for the Junimo Kart arcade game in the Saloon to be played while also granting access to the desert's Skull Cavern.
This set of mines is insanely difficult, but lower levels grant massive rewards. Mr. Qi makes an appearance on level 100 and will even make a quip based on how the player made it down. Get far enough down and roll in the gems and iridium ore that litter the place.
5 Complete The Museum Collection
It's part of the completionist questline Mr. Qi gives out, but so is just about everything possible. That doesn't make it any less satisfying to crack open geodes like crazy, dig up worms, or fight monsters until Harvey starts worrying about the farmer's mental health.
What isn't part of Mr. Qi's evil plans is to make it aesthetically pleasing. Clicking on the papers on Gunther's desk allows the museum to be reorganized. Make it go by rainbow order, collect artifacts in one area, rare gems in another, and mundane gems in a different space.
4 Become The Berry Overlord
Very little is more satisfying than having a massive field of a crop that produces multiples (like berries) and to run through the fields on harvest day. All of the berries go flying like someone just hit the jackpot on a penny machine, bringing to mind the farmer bolting through the fields and throwing them all about in a picking frenzy.
Then, all of the berries can be taken to a massive collection of kegs, casks, and preserves jars to be made into even more valuable goods. Just sell anything gold or iridium starred outright and imagine Lewis's face after the fifth time that hundreds of berries are sitting in the shipping bin waiting for him.
3 Find All Of The Stardrops
Stardrops are fantastic little collectibles that give the player even more energy every time one is found. Most of them will be found while completing other tasks, but there are a few hidden about.
There is a secret Easter Egg regarding the Stardrops as well. During character creation if certain things are put in the favorites section, it will trigger unique dialogue. Otherwise, be sure to put something there that is edible otherwise the dialogue will eventually mention how that ferret tastes, which is just weird.
2 Create A Massive Orchard
Fruit trees take the length of an entire season to grow, then will only produce fruit in the proper season. On farms such as the Beach Farm where farming space is limited, fruit trees can grant a steady sort of income that can be ignored except for harvesting.
Couple all this with Ginger Island and it can make for a massively satisfying forest of fruit trees. Then put tappers on strings of natural trees and roll in the Maple Syrup, Pine Tar, and Oak Resin to use for other tasks.
1 Make The Prettiest Farm
Robin and Pierre (or Joja Mart if that route is chosen) sell catalogs that make it so decorative items can be picked up at any point without needing to spend any more on them. That means the style can be changed a thousand times and it still costs nothing.
However, there are still limited items that are only found during festivals or other means, so go out and collect those too. Visit the Night Market every day it is there for a new painting, stalk the Traveling Cart, fish in the Secret Woods, and become friends with everyone to find everything possible to make the prettiest farm inside and out.
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