Cheats, Tips and Strategy

Stardew Valley is an open-ended farming RPG which was originally released on the PC in 2016 and has since been released on mulitple platforms that now includes mobile. The game begins with your with your grandfather leaving you his farm, which has since fallen into ruin. The objective is to plant crops then water and eventually harvest them, turning a profit, then re-investing that profit in expanding your farm in a variety of different ways which includes crafting, multiple sub-skills, and livestock.

Cheats, Tips and Strategy

Clear the Farm

The first thing you need to do before you sow your seeds to grow crops or start building stuctures is to clear the land which will have amongst other things logs, weeds, and stones clogging up the fields. To do this you will need an axe to get rid of the logs and trees, a scythe to deal with the small plants and grass, and a pickaxe to break the stones. The larger logs and stones will require you to upgrade your tools.

The Shipping Bin

The items you clear from your fields such as logs, stones, and seeds can either be made use of at the crafting menu or alternately cashed in immediately by throwing them into the shipping bin next to your house where you will get paid for these items the following morning.

Fresh Crops

Once you have cleared the fields you need to till them with the hoe before you plant the seeds. You can either use the mixed seeds you find or those that you can purchase at Pierre's General Store. After the seeds have been planted you must water them every single day with the watering can. Eventually the crops will grow and you will have fresh crops to fill the shipping bin which will make you cash.

Backpack Upgrades

Cash is not easy to earn so you need to make sure when you have it you invest it wisely. Buying seeds is a good option as is backpack upgrades. Backpack upgrades can be bought at Pierre's General Store, each adds an additional 12 item slots. The first upgrade costs 2,000g and the second upgrade costs 10,000g.

Invest in Crops

Make sure you plant the 15 turnip seeds you begin with straight away. After that you need to go to Pierre's General Store in town and carefully invest your cash in more seeds. To begin with invest in two or three cauliflower seeds, some turnip seeds and some potatoes. The finshed crop of the cauliflower and turnip seeds is worth a lot more than what you will initially invest and with the potatoes there is the possibility they will yield another potato when you harvest them. Potatoes only take six days to grow so if you pair them with the four day growers that are the turnips you will soon have enough cash to invest in a decent sized cauliflower crop.

Seasonal Crops

To be successful you will need to learn which crops will earn you the most money for every season. Listed below are the seasons, the best seeds to invest in, and where to get them.

Spring:

• Parsnips - 35g or more (Buy seeds at Pierre's General Store)

• Green Beans - 40g or more (Buy seeds at Pierre's General Store)

• Potatoes - 80g or more (Buy seeds at Pierre's General Store)

• Kale - 110g or more (Buy seeds at Pierre's General Store)

• Cauliflowers - 190g (Buy seeds at Pierre's General Store)

• Strawberries - 500g (Obtain seeds during Egg Festival on Spring 13)

Summer:

• Hops - 25g or more (Buy seeds at Pierre's General Store)

• Wheat - 25g or more (Buy seeds at Pierre's General Store)

• Hot Peppers - 40g or more (Buy seeds at Pierre's General Store)

• Blueberries - 50g or more (Buy seeds at Pierre's General Store)

• Corn - 50g or more (Buy seeds at Pierre's General Store)

• Tomatoes - 60g or more (Buy seeds at Pierre's General Store)

• Radishes - 90g or more (Buy seeds at Pierre's General Store)

• Melons - 250g or more (Buy seeds at Pierre's General Store)

Autumn:

• Eggplant - 60g or more (Buy seeds at Pierre's General Store)

• Cranberries - 75g or more (Buy seeds at Pierre's General Store)

• Grapes - 80g or more (Buy seeds at Pierre's General Store)

• Bok Choy - 80g or more (Buy seeds at Pierre's General Store)

• Amaranth - 150g or more (Buy seeds at Pierre's General Store)

• Artichokes - 160g or more (Buy seeds at Pierre's General Store)

• Yam - 160g or more (Buy seeds at Pierre's General Store)

• Pumpkins - 320g or more (Buy seeds at Pierre's General Store)

• Rare Seeds - 3000g or more (Buy seeds from the Gypsy Wagon)

Greenhouse

You may want to consider saving up for the Greenhouse, which will let you grow crops regardless of what season you are in, including during the winter.

Giant Crop

Try to plant cauliflowr, pumpkins, and melons in 3x3 squares as doing so will give you a slim chance of growing a giant crop which will take up all 9 squares of soil. It will not be until harvest day that you will find out if you have been successful.

Farm Animals

Until you have accumulated a decent amount of gold from growing crops it is advised that you ignore the temptation to invest in livestock. The reason for this is that when winter rolls around the game will not generate enough grass to feed them and you will be forced to buy hay at 50g a time from Marnie to get you through the season which will drain your funds.

Stockpile Wood

After planting and watering your crops you should focus on stockpiling wood as this is the resource that is needed to unlock new buildings and items on your farm. Don't sell the wood you stockpile unless you are abslutely desperate for cash. Wood is particularly useful for crafting storage chests.

Repair the Bridge

The first thing you need to do once you have stockpiled 300 wood is go to the left side of the beach and repair the bridge that is there. When this bridge has been repaired it will grant you acces to the Tidal Pools where you will be able to find valuable items like sea urchins, shells, and coral that will appear there daily. These items can either be taken back and put into your shipping box or sold directly to Willy, the fisherman who has a shop on the pier.

More content to come.