20 Tips and Tricks for Stardew Valley

Stardew Valley has quickly soared to the top-seller spot of Steam. Due to the game's mildly effective tutorials and wide array of features, many players have found themselves bewildered by the game. If you're one of these people, or just want to learn a few things about the game, this tips guide is for you.

In the gallery below you will find several tips I have learned after completing a full calendar year of Stardew Valley. Feel free to ask any questions you may have in the comments section.

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20 Tips and Tricks for Stardew Valley

Prioritize the Community Center

Prioritize the Community Center. Several major developments are locked behind full completion of one of the Community Center's six sections. For example, the Boiler Room has arguably the easiest bundles to collect and will unlock the ability to instantly move between three spots on the map. Bridge repair and bus repair are two other incredibly useful features that you will want to complete with haste.
Don\'t forget to equip your boots and rings

$Don\'t forget to equip your boots and rings$
Simply having these items in your inventory won't do you any good. You need to drag one to the appropriate equipment slot in the main menu in order to benefit from them.
Invest in high return on investment crops

The most valuable crops to invest in are Cauliflower, Kale, Blueberry, Melon, Cranberry, Eggplant, and Pumpkin. You can read more about the most profitable crops for each season here.
Donate every artifact to the Museum

There are a variety of rare items in the game that you can either sell or donate to the Museum. Although it may be tempting to sell these items, there are some useful rewards (one in particular that is a necessity) that you are going to want to get, and there's no other way to obtain some of these items than to donate dozens of coveted items to the museum.
Repair the Beach bridge ASAP

For only 300 wood the second half of the beach will allow you to collect a variety of sea-oriented items every day including mussels and sea urchins. These items hold some monetary value and are great gifts for most of the villagers.
Upgrade your axe and pickaxe when you can

For a few thousand gold and just a few smelted bars, you can significantly increase the potential of your tools. The three tools in particular that you want to upgrade are the axe, pickaxe, and watering can. While upgrading the watering can will save you time, upgrading the axe and pickaxe will allow you to gather new resources (tree stumps, big rocks, etc) which is essential to success. They also make it easier to gather large volume of a resource since you have to take fewer hits with each upgrade.
Where to find every villager NPC

Every villager has a pre-determined path for each day of the week. It can be difficult finding and meeting all 28 individuals, so we have put together a guide of where you can find every villager which you can read here.
Rainy days are best for Mines progression

Clearing floors of the Mines requires a lot of time, which may not be feasible for you on any ordinary day where hours and lots of energy are spent watering crops. So, you may just want to save progression for rainy days when you can skip the responsibilities of crop growth.
You can collect hidden items from worms

You might notice in the soil of some locations around the map there are worms moving around. If you hit these spots with your Hoe, you'll receive a random item. Some of the items are junk, but there are artifacts and useful resources to be found, too.
You can break up stacks of items

Simply press the shift button and right click when selecting an item with two or more volume in a stack to begin separating it into smaller chunks. This is particularly useful when you want to sell all but one of something.
How to make money fast

Making money is one of the primary objectives of Stardew Valley. In most cases it comes down to understanding what has the highest return on investment, and investing as much of your capital and time as possible into these options. Some crops are better investments than others, and fishing as well as the Mines can be a great means of supplemental income. You can read more about how to make money quickly here.
Check Pierre\'s General Store board every day

$Check Pierre\'s General Store board every day$
New quests will be presented on the board every week or so. In addition, you'll be able to see when festivals are coming up and whose birthday it is. You definitely don't want to miss giving a gift to someone on their birthday, that's for certain.
Use the pickaxe to clear tilled soil and crafted items

If you're bothered by misplaced soil, simply hit it with your pickaxe to return it to normal ground. The pickaxe can also be used to clear other things, such as crafted items and crops that you want to kill.
Get sprinklers and fertilizer

Placing Quality Sprinklers will save you time each day, time that you can use to fish or perform other useful tasks. Fertilizer grants a higher chance of obtaining high quality crops when harvesting. Using both of these items liberally on your farm will net you the best results.
Start gifting early

Having a positive relationship with the Villagers of Stardew Valley is important to being able to complete some quests and getting the most out of holiday festivals. Also, marriage is a neat objective that you will likely want to use at some point, even if only to have a kid. Since you can only gift a villager two gifts per week, you'll want to start gifting early, and pay attention to what people like and dislike. You can find out what items every villager loves and hates in our guide here.
Invest heavily in crops at the beginning of each month

Most crops grow past their initial harvest, but wither at the end of the month. To get the highest return on investment possible, initiate growth of as many crops as possible on the first day of the month, and don't forget to use fertilizer for maximum gains.
Where to find the major quest items

Robin's Lost Axe is near Marnie's Ranch. Mayor's Shorts are in Marnie's bedroom, and require at least two friendship stars with her to access. The Skull Key is used in the Desert, which requires completion of a Community Center bundle to access. A Pale Ale requires both a Keg and Hops to craft. There are other quest items, but these are the ones that most often stump players.
How to get to the next level of the Mines

Each floor of the Mines requires you to defeat enemies and mine rocks until a ladder is randomly revealed. There are also certain levels that are overrun with enemies that require you to defeat every enemy on that level to find the ladder. You can alternatively use a crafted ladder to get to the next level. You can learn more about the Mines and how to complete all of its 120 levels in our guide here.
You may want to avoid animals

Chickens, cows, ducks, and the other farm animals require one hay per day each in order to survive. In its current state, the game doesn't spawn enough grass to cut in order to make it through the first year of Winter, so you'll end up spending tens of thousands of dollars on hay if you have several animals during the season. Due to this, most members of the community agree that sticking to crops, clearing the Mines, and fishing are more reliable methods of money making. Although, you will need to keep in mind that several of the collections in the Community Center require animal-based items.
Don\'t forget to craft items

$Don\'t forget to craft items$
Several of the game's most useful items are crafted. Take for example the keg, tapper, and bee house, three items which allow you to make good supplemental income at low investment, in addition to allowing you to collect several necessary items for the Community Center.
20 Tips and Tricks For Stardew Valley