Stardew Valley is a relaxing game in which you inherit a farm and pursue an idealistic life in the country. You can plant various crops and take care of barnyard animals. There is a wide range of loveable characters to meet and befriend along the way as well.
Despite the game being quite laidback, running a farm can be challenging. You only have a limited amount of time and energy each day. Alongside this, there are plenty of challenges and goals to strive for. Fortunately, there are plenty of hidden tips and tricks to help make the farming life all that more enjoyable.
Updated October 27, 2021, By Luke Ackroyd: Stardew Valley has been around for quite a few years now, having been released back in 2016. During that time, the game has been updated regularly, ensuring there has always been plenty for you to do. Even in 2021, fans are still discovering helpful tips and tricks to ensure they continue to make the most of their tranquil farm life. So, while developer Eric Barone is busy working on ConcerenedApe’s Haunted Chocolatier, Stardew Valley will keep you thoroughly entertained until then. Whether you are joining the world of Stardew Valley for the first time, or are a frequent farmer, here are some more hidden Stardew Valley tips that you might not have known.
14 The Mountain Lake Is The Best Spot For Fishing
There are multiple places to go fishing in Stardew Valley, such as the river or the ocean. Each location has its benefits and will have a preferred season for you to go fishing there. For example, the ocean has the most variety of fish during the summer. But, out of all the options, it is best to go to the mountain lake, no matter the season. Most of the fish here can be caught between 6 a.m and 7 p.m, giving you a pretty big timeframe to work with.
Although you won’t be able to get every single type of fish at the mountain lake, you will get a nice variety throughout the seasons, with a few consistent fish to catch all year round, such as Carp and the Largemouth Bass. The main benefit of the mountain lake is that you are far less likely to pick up random trash items. This means that you are wasting less energy during your fishing trip. You will also sometimes pick up Algie, which is helpful to eat instantly to give you a bit of an energy boost to keep going. Overall, the mountain lake is the most reliable location for fishing.
13 Study The Map And Make Use Of Shortcuts
This next Stardew tip is all about efficiency. You only have a set amount of time in each day to complete all of your chores and complete any objectives you might have. Because of this, you’ll want to save as much time as possible whenever you can. When you start a new day, have a plan of action and try and focus on just those tasks. It’s a good idea to study the map and get to grips with all the key locations. This will make sure that you aren’t heading in the wrong direction at any point and wasting those precious minutes. You can also complete tasks in specific orders to ensure you aren’t going back and forth all day.
Once you know your way around the world, you’ll want to make use of as many shortcuts and the fastest routes that you can. For example, if you plan to spend the day in the mine, you should head north from your farm. It is far faster than making your way all through town to reach the mine. Eventually, you’ll be able to unlock the Minecart after completing the Boiler Room Bundles. This will allow you to speed to locations with ease.
12 Place Tappers On The Trees Near The Bus Stop
Tappers are a great way to produce maple syrup, oak resin, pine tar, and sap. You need to reach Foraging level three, and then you can craft them with wood and copper bars. Since you can place these on any tree, it is a great idea to make use of the trees away from your farm. With the Tappers out of the way, you can do whatever you want with the trees on your actual farm. This ensures that your tapper production doesn’t take up too much space.
A great alternative location for your tappers is the bus stop just outside your farm. These trees are out of the way but still within easy reach for harvesting. The trees will always be there, giving you a reliable source to tap from.
11 Keep An Eye On The Community Center Icon
One of the most essential methods of progression in Stardew Valley is the rebuilding of the Community Center. To do so, you must complete all of the bundles to unlock new items and other valuable rewards. These bundles will have a list of needed things to achieve them for you to try and track down and find.
Since so many items are needed for all these bundles, it can be tricky to keep track of what items you need. An excellent way to make sure you don’t accidentally sell or discard a required item is available in the inventory screen. There is a Community Center icon to the right of your inventory that you can select to go to the bundles. Keep an eye on this icon when you are browsing through your inventory. When you are hovering over an item that is needed for a bundle, this icon will begin to glow. It is a subtle clue, so keep checking the icon to ensure you don’t miss out on completing any bundles.
10 The Star Quality Of Crops Does Not Influence Artisan Goods
Crops come in four levels of quality: regular, silver, gold, and iridium. The higher quality crops will sell for higher prices on their own and offer increased energy and health benefits. Despite this, the quality of these crops will not affect the quality of the artisan goods you produce.
Almost every artisan good will sell for a multiplied total of the base price of the item used to make it. So, for example, truffle oil sells for twice the sell price (1,065 gold) of a regular-quality truffle (625 gold), while an iridium-quality truffle sells for more (1,250 gold) than the oil it can be made into. This changes with the Artisan profession, though. With this in mind, when you put crops into the various artisan machines, such as the Cask or the Keg, you’re best off using up the regular-quality items first. The higher quality items are best being sold immediately since they do not guarantee a high-quality artisan product.
9 Mature Crops Can Still Grow Giant
Every so often, you can wake up to see a giant cauliflower, melon, or pumpkin. This happens only when there is a three-by-three grid of the same type of crop. Unfortunately, the chance of this happening is slim.
Luckily, you don’t have only a single chance for these big crops to spawn. Instead of rushing to harvest crops when they are fully matured, leave them (while still watering them each day). It’s still possible for them to convert into a giant crop — it doesn’t need to be the first day these crops mature. It is also interesting to know that giant crops do not die at the change of a season.
8 Holding Hay Makes Petting Animals Easier
One of the many wonderful tasks of Stardew Valley is making sure all of the animals are happy and taken care of. A crucial part of this upkeep is ensuring the animals have been petted at least once each day.
Unfortunately, it is very easy to open up the mood dialogue box constantly while petting the animals. This can be frustrating, especially when there are a lot of animals in a small area. Therefore, it is helpful to know that this dialog box will not appear when you hold up a hay piece. This allows you to run around petting your animals quickly without too much of a delay.
7 You Can Get Pam To The Bus Faster
Once the bus is restored, you must wait until Pam is ready to drive. She arrives at the bus stop around 10 a.m., meaning you can’t get to the desert via bus any earlier than that.
However, if you wait around Pam’s home before she leaves, you can stand in the way of her usual route. After a few seconds of being blocked, she will become frustrated and begin running to the bus stop. With Pam ready sooner, you will now have a little extra time to spend exploring the Skull Cavern.
6 Fences Can Create Self-Sustaining Grass Feeders
Animals require a constant supply of fresh grass each day. Although grass can spawn naturally, you will often need to start a new patch of grass with a Grass Starter pack. This is especially true when the animals eat every last piece of grass within their enclosure, leaving none to spread.
A great way to avoid this situation is to place down a Grass Starter pack and then place a fence post right on top of the same space. This will ensure that the animals cannot eat this particular tuft of grass while simultaneously spawning new tufts.
5 Junimos Can Be Made To Appear Each Day
Junimos are wonderful forest spirits that help you out in various ways, such as by helping to restore the Community Center. Eventually, you can purchase a Junimo hut from the Wizard. Then, when crops are ready to be harvested and are within range of the Jumino hut, a group of Junimos will venture out into the farm to gather the produce for you.
Once they have finished harvesting any nearby crops, they will head back inside and won’t come back out until there are more crops to harvest. But, there is a way to make sure they will grace the farm with their presence every day. You’ll just need to fence off at least one crop that is ready to harvest. The Junimos will be unable to reach it but will still come out to try. It might be a little cruel, but it does mean that you can enjoy seeing the Junimos every day, making the farm feel a little bit more magical.
4 You Can Repeatedly Till The Same Dirt In The Mines
While exploring the mines, you can do more than fight enemies and break rocks. If you bring a hoe with you on your adventure, you can till the soil in the mine, with a chance of finding artifacts, cave carrots, clay, and geodes.
If you use a pickaxe on the dirt, you can un-till it. Then, you can use the hoe once more on the same spot and have a chance of finding yet another item. Another way to reset the dirt is to leave and re-enter the mine. The same soil will be ready once more to be tilled and hopefully full of additional valuable loot.
3 Your Horse Can Sell Ice Cream
From Thursday to Tuesday, Alex will open up the ice cream stand during the summer and, unsurprisingly, sell ice cream. These delicious snacks are great gifts for the majority of the villagers. Unfortunately, Alex only runs this stall during the summer, between 1 and 5 p.m.
However, you can use a strange but helpful trick to get unlimited access to the ice cream stand. If you park your horse behind the stand, it will seem as if they are the owner. You can then use the ice cream stand, as usual, no matter the season.
2 You Can Fish Up Unlimited Void Mayonnaise
Void Mayonnaise is a mysterious artisan good that is a great item to sell but not the easiest to get ahold of. Luckily, there is a way to grab a hefty supply of it. After you complete the Dark Talisman quest, you can find the Witch’s hut. The hut is guarded by a goblin henchman, who will not budge until you give them a jar of Void Mayonnaise. If you fish in the swamp during this quest, there’s a 25 percent chance of catching some Void Mayonnaise. But, this only happens if you do not have any void mayonnaise already in your inventory.
A handy trick during this moment is to place a chest down nearby to store the Mayo. Then, with none in your inventory, you can continue to make use of that 25 percent chance of finding more. Unfortunately, once you give the goblin a jar of Void Mayonnaise, the 25 percent chance of finding Void Mayonnaise in the swamp goes away, so make use of this trick while it’s possible.
1 Paths Can Stop You From Accidentally Knocking Down Scarecrows
Scarecrows (and their equivalents, Rarecrows) are a staple in Stardew Valley. They come in various styles and are incredibly useful for protecting precious crops from crafty crows. Unfortunately, when you are tilling the ground around them, especially with upgraded hoes that can cultivate a wide area, it will remove the scarecrow from its spot.
A handy workaround for this minor issue is to place pathing blocks, such as a wooden floor, down on the ground first. Then, when a scarecrow is placed on top of one of these blocks, it will no longer be knocked down when you are tilling nearby. It is a simple fix to a tedious problem.
NEXT: Stardew Valley: Craft Recipes From 1.5 That You Need On Your Farm
