Stardew Valley

Last year I think Colton and I played through over 30 video games. That essentially means Colton played a video game while I sat in the same room to experience the story without the frustration of dying over and over. This year, though, we’ve basically only played one game: Stardew Valley.

We bought this game a few years ago at my brother’s recommendation and played a little, but I wasn’t as into video games back then, and didn’t truly understand the perfection of this game. But there was an update in February that allowed you to co-op play and that hit right before snowpocalypse. So Colton and I, with a week off of school and work, no wi-fi, bundled up in blankets, became obsessed with this game.

Stardew Valley was developed by ConcernedApe in 2016. Yes, just one man put together this spectacular experience. The premise is you inherit your grandfather’s farm, leave your dull city life behind and start a new life in the valley. You tend crops and animals, befriend the townspeople, and explore forests, lakes, mines, and even a mysterious island. It’s basically Minecraft meets Animal Crossing. Simple beauty, hidden lore, and just a relaxing tone to take you out of your actual dull city life. 

I recently just finished one-hundred-percent-ing the game, according to the all-powerful Qi character anyway, and thought I’d share with you my basic plan for completing the game in 6 in-game years, just for fun and because I’m a type-A gamer weirdo like that. Hopefully this helps you Stardew Valley fans to complete your game, and the rest of you to understand just how great it is.

Year 1

Basics. It’s all about understanding how the game works, unlocking certain areas, upgrading your tools, and getting your farm settled in a basic layout. You’ll probably reach the bottom of the mines and get most of the community center bundles done. During the winter I like to redesign my farm a bit so it doesn’t look like such a hot mess. It also helps to have animals or wine barrels to keep making you money when you can’t grow crops.

Year 2

Finish the community center bundles, unlocking all the community upgrades. Start on the Skull Caverns, the boat, and the Joja mart bundles as well. You also probably have enough money to upgrade your house and farm buildings. Get started on making friends and even get married and have babies. It’ll help when Grandpa comes back to judge you.

Year 3

You get judged by your Grandpa’s ghost on day one, so that’s super fun. Hopefully you’ll get 4 candles, like I did, no big deal. Finish up the boat and Joja mart bundles, unlocking their hidden secrets. Reach the bottom of Skull Caverns and complete the Qi Quests, unlocking the casino. 

Year 4

Island time! You’ll be searching for golden walnuts, going through the volcano mines, digging up fossils, and making community upgrades there as well (with the help of the magical parrots). Some of the golden walnut quests are lengthy and will require you to travel back and forth from the town to the island, so be prepared to spend some money and time on that.

Year 5

By now you should have a pretty well-upgraded farm, plenty of money, and a good handle on the main quests of the game. This is when I started going for the 100% completion. It especially helps when you unlock the secret Qi room on the island to keep track of where you are. You might have even started some of this stuff, but by the end of the year you should have all 4 obelisks, 10 hearts with everyone, and every single item shipped, fished, cooked, or crafted.

Year 6

I think it’s entirely possible to complete the game faster than this, but I didn’t want to push myself to the point where the game was stressing me out. Plus it took a good chunk of year 6 to get 10 million for the golden clock. I just filled the island farm with ancient fruit and starfruit and made as much of it into wine as I could. If you want to go further than the Qi 100%, also make sure you buy each season’s crops to ship at least 15 of each, then try as hard as you can to beat Journey to the Prairie King (good luck- I have no advice for you there). Then you can redesign your farm, turn your children into doves and marry someone else, or put the game away for a while until you’re ready to start a new file- maybe an evil playthrough to get the Joja mart trophy. That’s the beauty of this game. It’s so simple and yet there’s so much to uncover. It was so fun to play through this and I can’t wait to see what ConcernedApe comes up with next.

What are your favorite video games?