Stardew Valley is a charming and addicting game that focuses on inheriting a farm, going to work, building relationships with villagers, and having a lot of fun.
And new players of Stardew Valley have to start somewhere.
I’m here today to give you 50+ Stardew Valley tips and tricks for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Mobile devices, or whatever platform you play this Bucket List game on.
These Stardew Valley tips and tricks will cover everything the game has to offer. Let’s get started!
If you are interested in checking out the most popular Nintendo Switch games everyone’s playing, you can find them by clicking here.
What is Stardew Valley?
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As previously described, Stardew Valley is a social farming simulation game where the goal is anything you want it to be.
You can:
- grow your inherited farm across the seasons to be a produce production plant,
- fight monsters and delve deeper into the caves,
- explore relationships with villagers,
- explore the areas surrounding town,
- build up the community center by donating items,
- create a bit of romance for yourself.
Did I mention you can also fish, craft, expand your house, and so much more?
Stardew Valley is truly a timeless classic with a lot of depth and is available or almost every modern console under the sun.
So, it’s a good thing to have a tips and tricks guide handy to help you on your farming journey.
*Stardew Valley is available for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Steam PC, and Mobile phones at the time of publication*
Stardew Valley Is One of the Top Rated Nintendo Switch Games Of All Time!
Stardew Valley is one of the top rated Nintendo Switch games of all time, which is not small feat given that there are thousands of games available for Nintendo’s hybrid handheld, home console.
In fact, Stardew Valley is one of Nintendo Switch’s top 100 rated games of all time and for good reason. It is a fantastic game.
Read this giant guide I cooked up detailing the Top 100 Rated Nintendo Switch Games of All Time (Stardew Valley included of course) to check out even more high-caliber games you might have missed.
50+ Stardew Valley Tips and Tricks for Beginners
Before we begin, I highly suggest you start up Stardew Valley and get acclimated to your farm layout, the town and the townsfolk, and the surrounding areas before delving into this guide.
This will help you better understand the references or points I’ll make throughout.
1) Focus on the Community Center
Start donating items to the Community Center as soon as you can. New areas and items become unlocked as you complete Community Center bundles.
2) Make sure you have a silo before you cut grass
Cut grass will automatically stockpile your silo with hay if you have one built and hay is good for feeding animals.
Make sure you build at least one silo before cutting grass.
3) Get a horse as soon as you can
Days are short in Stardew Valley, so fast-travel is a must.
Buy a Stable as soon as you can and you will obtain your very own horse that allows quick transport across the farm and around the valley.
4) Pet your dog daily and give it water
Your dog’s affection is dependent on you taking care of it and feeding it.
Luckily, all your dog needs is some water and a quick hug.
Make sure to place water in it’s bowl outside by using your watering can and pet it daily.
5) Buy a calendar for you home
It gets tough remembering everyone’s birthday and special days in Stardew Valley.
That’s why I suggest buying a calendar to place on a wall inside your home for easy access to the special dates throughout the year.
6) Water your crops daily unless it is raining or snowing
Crops need to be watered daily to grow.
Make sure you fill up your watering can at a water source and/or construct sprinklers and place them around your crops to keep your plants hydrated.
If it is raining or snowing, however, you do not need to water your crops as the weather will do it for you.
7) Check the weather forecast every day
Weather will dictate what you do day to day in Stardew Valley.
As mentioned in the previous tip, you don’t have water your crops if it’s raining.
Make sure to check the weather forecast on your television as the first thing you do every morning.
8) Check the Fortune Forecast every day
Your luck will determine many things in your daily life, including how many items you come across on the beach or the mines.
You won’t want to go to the mines on a bad luck day, so make sure you check your fortune on the television every morning.
9) See if the television has any special programs daily
Special programs on the TV will teach you food recipes.
Don’t miss out and check your television daily.
10) Visit the beach for “beach debris”
A quick way to earn money early on is buy collecting coral, shells, and other items on the beach.
Walk along the beach every few days to collect what is there. And check the beach on any days you have good fortune to net big rewards.
11) Fish in a variety of locations: ocean, river, the mine, ponds, and lakes
Fish in every body of water to find the widest variety of fish.
Some fish are worth more than others and each fish can only be caught at certain times and seasons.
Through practice, you can learn what fish is worth more and when each fish is available.
12) Visit the spa to regenerate energy
Once you unlock the spa in the mountains, you will want to visit the soothing baths whenever your energy gets low.
Taking a bath will refill your energy at the cost of a bit of time.
But, the results are worth it if you want to have a long, productive day.
13) Pick up quests at the quest board by Pierre’s shop in town
Completing quest is another good way to earn money, items, and the affection of townsfolk.
Accept quests at the quest board located next to Pierre’s shop in town. Then, fulfill each quest to complete it and earn rewards.
14) Find Linus’ basket to the west of the bus stop
Finding Linus’ basket and returning it to him will increase his affection to you.
When Linus likes you enough, he will give you a recipe that allows you to turn one fish into an awesome restorative item.
15) Pick up all forage items you see
Pick up every forage item you see to either keep to craft certain items or sell for a quick buck early on.
16) Cut down trees not on your farm (they will regrow)
Need wood? Cut down trees outside your farm land to acquire a ton of wood.
Even better? The trees will grow back for you to cut them down again for even more wood.
17) Use your hoe to dig up worms to get goodies
Striking worms in the ground will give you an artifact or lost books. They are both rare items you don’t want to miss.
Artifacts can be donated to the Museum or sold for profit while lost books will tell you special info.
18) Visit the mines and dig deeper
Visiting the mines will pay off huge the deeper you go.
Dig deeper to find ore, items, new enemies, and a special prize at the very bottom.
19) Save all items from the mines
Almost every item from the mine can be used for something. So don’t sell them, save them!
Coal, copper, iron, and gold ores can all be used to either craft new items or upgrade tools.
And all of these items can be found while mining the mines.
20) Create chests to hold and organize your inventory
Craft chests to store your abundance of items.
Create multiple chests and store categories of items in each chest to help you organize and find items faster.
A chest for fish, one for items found in the mines, and so forth will help you find just the item you are looking for when you need it.
21) Give your pets and animals unique names
Be creative and come up with awesome names for your farm animals, dog, and horse.
Making everything in the valley unique to you is part of the fun.
22) Befriend people in town
Getting to know people in town will increase their affection for you.
In return, you will learn more about them and may even receive recipes and gifts.
23) Talk to the wizard to the south west of your farm
Talking to the odd wizard who lives in the wilderness next to your farm will come in handy.
It may even help you understand the odd creatures at the Community Center.
24) Name your farm something you will be comfortable with for dozens if not hundreds of hours
You cannot rename your farm after you have done so at the beginning of the game.
Therefore, pick something you are going to be okay with for hundreds of hours.
25) The previous naming tip applies for your character, too
Select a name for your character that you will enjoy for hundreds of hours.
As of Stardew Valley update 1.5, you can rename your character through a process later on in the game.
26) Upgrade the watering can first
You will be relying on revenue from crops in the early game, so upgrading the watering can will make crop watering faster and more efficient.
27) Upgrade your axe or pickaxe second
Upgrade the axe to make cutting down trees easier if you want to acquire more wood.
And upgrading the pickax will allow you to mine more ore in the mines faster.
28) At the start of the game, buy as many seeds as you can (invest)
Use your available funds in the early game to buy as many seeds as possible.
Plant and harvest the seeds to make reliable money during the first season.
29) Buy the expanded inventory slots at Pierre’s shop
Upgrade your inventory space by going to Pierre’s shop and buying the inventory upgrade.
This will allow you to hold more items with you at any given time, allowing you to make less trips back to your farm.
30) Focus on a few key villagers to build friendship
Increase your townsfolk’s affection by focusing on a few characters at a time.
This is much easier to manage and do than trying to give gifts to everyone while remembering everyone’s favorite items.
31) Plan out your day and set goals
Plan out the goals you want to accomplish in a day in order to achieve the most.
Days are timed in the Valley which makes pre-planning the best way to lead productive days.
32) Have some foresight about what you want to accomplish the next day
Plan the next day based on what you accomplished during the current day to maximize your future time and your level of efficiency.
33) Go to sleep by midnight
Go to sleep by midnight, 11:50p, at the absolute latest.
Your energy the next day will be depleted if you go to bed any later than that.
34) Clear your field one day at a time
Spend time clearing your field of shrubs, debris, rocks, and stumps but don’t try to do it all in one day.
You won’t have enough energy to completely clear your land so make it a side project that you tend to every few days.
35) When you buy a chicken, make a mayonnaise machine
Make a mayonnaise machine every time you buy a chicken for profit potential.
A mayonnaise machine allows you to turn chicken eggs into jars of mayonnaise that sell for more profit than an egg typically does.
36) Don’t throw away your trash, recycle it
Broken CDs, broken glasses, soggy newspaper, driftwood, and trash can all be recycled into worthwhile items. Don’t throw them away or sell them!
Instead, craft a Recycling Machine to turn your trash into objects of value.
37) Make a mushroom cave on your farm
You will be asked to create a fruit bat cave or mushroom cave on your farm. This choice cannot be undone so choose wisely.
With that said, I suggest you choose the mushroom cave for more reliable profits and to have an assortment of mushrooms that are usually harder to find than fruits.
The bat cave provides access to fruits out of season so its ultimately up to your preference.
38) Create tappers for your trees
Create tappers for your trees as soon as possible in order to siphon syrup, resin, and tar.
These tapper byproducts can be sold for profit and tappers continue to work all year long (including in the Winter where profit potential is narrowed due to weather conditions).
39) Create bee houses to help produce passive income
Bee houses are great ways to make passive income.
Craft hives, place them on your farm, and collect the honey that appears every few days.
40) Craft furnaces to create ore bars
Turn the ore and coal you find in the mines into bars by crafting furnaces.
Furnaces will melt your ore into solid bars that can be used to upgrade your tools into stronger versions.
41) Craft charcoal kilns
Craft charcoal kilns in order to turn wood into coal.
Coal can be used, alongside ore, to help craft bars by using a furnace (see previous tip).
42) Plant crops closest to your shipping box and or water source
Plant crops closets to your shipping box (and a water source) to save time.
Planting crops near a shipping box will mitigate the time between picking the fruits and veggies and tossing them into the box to sale.
And planting near a water source will mitigate the time it takes to refill your watering can when you are watering your crops.
43) Put a scarecrow near your crops to prevent crows from eating the crops
Crows will eat your crops over night if you don’t erect a scarecrow near them.
Craft a scarecrow near your crops the moment you begin farming.
44) Place torches around your farm to keep it lit at night
Night time will get really dark and it will be hard to navigate your farm.
Place torches around your farm to allow you to see everything clearly.
45) Invest in a sprinkler system
A sprinkler system will take care of watering your crops for you.
This will make your days more efficient as you will no longer have to water your fruits and veggies.
And not needing to water will also mean you will have more stamina to allocate for your day.
Craft sprinklers and place them around your crops as early as possible.
46) Craft a lightning rod
Lighting rods can be placed around your farm to collect lighting during lighting storms.
The lightning rods will automatically turn bolts of electricity into batteries that can be used to craft other items.
47) Make sure you prepare for seasonal specific events
Some events require you to bring items to them.
Prep for events by reading the calendar near Pierre’s shop to see what holiday or event is coming up.
48) Buy animals only when you are ready to take care and feed them
Animals need attention and need to be maintained by feeding them.
Buy animals and livestock only when you have consistent funds to buy or acquire the appropriate food for the animals you have purchased.
49) Get the Sashimi recipe from Linus
Give gifts to the resident camper Linus to increase his affection and gain the Sashimi recipe.
This recipe is very efficient in terms of stamina and health regeneration.
Sashimi allows you to turn any single fish (even low-quality ones) into a moderate regeneration cooked item.
Go ahead and make tons of these easy energy dishes that will last you for seasons to come.
50) Fish to increase your fishing skill
Fish is good for selling and for making the awesome Sashimi recipe mentioned in the previous tip.
Make sure to fish more and increase your fishing skill which will make fishing a bit easier (the blue “catch bar” while fishing will grow in size as your fishing skill increases in rank).
51) Forage to increase your foraging skill
Collect items on the ground and chop trees to increase your foraging skill.
A high ranked Forage skill will increase the quality of items you find, raise your axe’s proficiency, allow you to make helpful items (such as the lightning rod mentioned earlier as well as restorative food such as the Field Snack), and more.
52) Mine to increase your mining skill
Many items and luxuries can be found in the mines that can be sold, used to upgrade tools, or used to craft a host of helpful items.
Most players will find themselves heading to the mines throughout the calendar year so it is very wise to mine as often as you can to increase your Mining skill.
How can you do this? Break rocks with a pickaxe to increase Mining.
53) Keep at least one of every item
You never know when you will need an item you found lying on the ground, on the beach, under the sea, or in the mines.
People around town have favorite items and perhaps the next thing you try crafting will require a certain ingredient.
Always keep at least one of each item you find tucked safely in a crafted storage item (such as a Chest) for the future.
54) Donate the artifacts you find to the museum
Complete your museum to obtain rewards by donating artifacts you find in the grounds, mines, or other places.
But where can you find artifacts?
Dig up worms in the ground or hit rocks in the mines with your pickaxe to sometimes find artifacts along your travels.
55) Check Garbage Cans for loot when no one is looking
Dig in garbage cans around town to find useable items (along with trash).
But, only scavenge through garbage bins when no one is looking.
If someone sees you in the act, their affection for you will decrease.
56) Buy a better fishing rod (because of bait)
Bait can be attached to more expensive and better fishing rods to help catch fish faster.
Invest in a new fishing rod when revenue from farming and cave mining allows.
57) Always carry healing items
Carry stamina regeneration and health regeneration items with you on a daily basis.
This will help prevent accidental stamina exhaustion in case you ever need it or need to regain health because a day in the mines became more dangerous than anticipated.
58) Always carry the tools you will need for the day
Save time and effort by keeping in your inventory the tools you use most days.
If you always have the right tool for the job on you, you will never be unprepared for a certain task around the valley.
59) Remember to keep moving or stay in menus because time flies
Time does not stop passing by unless you are in menus.
Keep moving in order to make the most out of your days or else midnight will come faster than you know it.
60) Put your items in the shipping box to sell them overnight
Place the items you want to sell into the shipping box on your farm to sell overnight if you do not have enough time to run to town to sell your goods.
Items placed in the shipping box will be sold over night.
A shipping results screen will appear at the end of each day with details of each item sold along with profit made. And you will receive the income the next morning.
61) If you need money in a pinch, you can sell your inventory items to certain shops (so you don’t have to wait overnight)
Sell items at the various stores in the Valley (Pierre’s store in town or the fishing hut at the docks for example) to obtain immediate money if you are in need of it.
This helps if you prefer not to wait overnight to receive your money or if you want to buy something the same day but you need funds now.
62) Process geodes that you find at the Blacksmith
Process geodes you find in the mines at the Blacksmith in town to receive material, ore, items that can be donated to the museum, and more.
This is a great way to gain material needed for crafting and selling for profit.
63) Visit the saloon at night for social time
Visiting the town’s saloon after hours is a great way to find a certain person you are looking for.
Most villagers frequent the social night club which makes it a perfect place to find someone you need to find for a quest or to give a gift to.
64) Pet and feed your animals daily
Finally, make sure to take care of your loving animals. Not just your dog.
Forgetting to feed a chicken or pig will mean losing out of animal produce as well as make your pets unhappy.
Show them a little tender love and care by feeding them their appropriate food and by petting them (if allowed).
Read More Great Articles
Now you know over 50 Stardew Valley tips and tricks the will work for the Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, and any other version of the hit farming simulator.
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(Screenshots taken by me. Images sourced from product pages, websites, or social media and are credited appropriately. Logos, images, etc. belong to their respective owners. All information current at time of publication.)
SOURCE: Eric Barone
