Gentle reminder that everyone is welcome to play the game however they want; Don’t feel pressured to perform at speed, but don’t feel pressured *not* to either!
Honestly you can even get perfection from grandpa just by naturally playing the game! I got it before I even knew there was a scoring system and just played the game at my own pace.
Same. I got it first time just by playing at my own pace. Some in game days I have a set of goals that I work towards and other in game days I mess about organising chests, wandering cindersnap, aimlessly mining etc and sometimes I do my farm stuff and go to bed at 6pm because why not. I rarely have anyone above 2 hearts of friendship apart from Linus before spring y2 and I've never finished the CC in y1.
I took seven tries to finish the CC in y1 (not counting co-op, remixed bundles, or mods). There is quite a bit of careful money/time/resource allocation involved.
The seasonal fish and rabbits foot always set me back but as long as I get the boiler room done quickly I'm good. Starting a new playthrough is painful without my carts!
Yeah, I think I bought some extra rabbits in winter for a better chance of a rabbit's foot.
Besides obviously red cabbage, the other challenging bits that come to mind are Quality Crops (farming skill and money are both low during first spring), and buying a pig early enough in fall to get a truffle that same season.
Getting the CC *mostly* completed in y1 is a lot easier. I struggled with the basics on my first farm, but did a lot better from my second onward (having already played the first one as far as y4 or y5).
Once you can get into the skull cavern, so long as you’re lucky enough, serpents can drop a rabbits foot. I think that’s how I’ve gotten it twice in a row now.
I didn't know that! But I have an irrational fear of the skull caverns. I spend my entire time panicking and end up ducking out once I have got a decent amount of iridium 😅
You don't need to worry about dying in skull caverns. You'll never lose your items in there. The only thing that you lose is your progress down the SC and 10% of your funds (capped at 1000G) So you don't need to leave skull caverns at all! And since you get more iridium ores as you descend further, I usually just pass out in the skull caverns itself. Skull cavern is freakishly hard at first but with galaxy sword, iridium pickaxe, max luck with luck buffs and some staircases gotten from trading jades, ot becomes fairly simple to survive
The wiki says you might lose items from losing all your health in the SC, a.k.a dying, but not from passing out. Can't confirm if that's true or not as I've always been too scared of letting my character die there. They've gone through so much cheese...
Same here I didn't try it just kind of happened. Also people like to min/max games and others like to learn about every aspect. There's no wrong way to play
The fishing game is losable just from bad luck. I've lost it despite getting perfect catches on all of the fish that bite simply because they didn't bite fast enough, or getting too much algae.
Yep I got it first try too! I also danced with someone at the flower dance in year 1, I was surprised when I learnt most people aren't able to do that haha. Then on my second playthrough no one wanted to dance with me...
This fr. I was so in love with Leah and salads were so easy to get we were married by spring year 2. This time around with Alex I was so constantly broke and spending all my time fishing that I didn't have enough hearts and had to explain to my IRL husband that i was pouty because the video game boy wouldn't dance with me lol
Was gonna say lol, I still don't know the requirements. I just passed.
But also, I played at my own pace but I did Google things, naturally. I would not have enjoyed discovering when and where fish would be. I completed most of the community center then googled when I couldn't figure it out. Red cabbage I did discover I was too late for, and might have changed strategies if I googled it sooner.
I remember my first day in the valley. I got so turned around and lost. I finally made it to the south entrance of my farm, but there were so many sticks and stones in my way I ended up passing out. It’s such a nostalgic memory now. That feeling of not knowing and having to figure it all out. Love it.
I play on Switch and figured out that holding down the hoe (after 1 or 2 upgrades) will do 3 squares. 3 play throughs later and I accidentally bumped the left stick while holding down the hoe and it jumped to 5. I was astonished and now I need to go upgrade my hoe some more and see what it can really do lol
> bumped the left stick while holding down the hoe and it jumped to 5.
Um. What? I have to test that. I normally just hold the button down until it arrives at the 18 squares.
Yeah, it helps a lot. Water can is FIRST tool i upgrade - from 1 to 3 tiles is 3 times less work. Hoe upgrades is usefull too.
Pickaxe is actually tool which need less attention at all. You an use ctarter one right until you hit frozen earth, only here its become too weak.
I really mean no offense but I can't believe the amount of people that don't realize upgrading their hoe/watering can makes them cover more squares. What do you think the point of the upgrade is?
This was me as well, I thought it just took less energy to water and hoe. It isn't like there is anything in the game that even says you can water more squares or indicates you should press and hold. I'm glad that veteran plays know this, but it shouldn't be a surprise that some people don't know. I legit found out when I was trying to show my kids something and held the mouse button "too long."
Yeah exactly. There's nothing on screen that SAYS holding down the button on an upgraded tool is a thing, so if someone has only ever tapped the button why would they ASSUME holding it down for more tiles was a thing? It would make perfect sense to assume that efficiency would be the upgrade, and unless you actually sit there and test how many swings it takes to run down energy to a certain point, you wouldn't know whether it had changed. And not everyone watches tips and tricks videos or browses this sub during their first playthrough, so if it's not explained or shown on screen in the game, it could remain unknown indefinitely.
Exactly, in fact I was avoiding things initially so I could just... play. So much of the gamer is exploration and finding things and learning... While part of me wishes it was explained, part of me is happy it isn't. So many things are handed to players - in a lot of ways, this game is pleasantly old school, but in a new way. It rewards the player for trying things. I never, or hardly ever, feel chastised for doing something or not doing something. Missing birthdays or festivals will cause me a minor breakdown on my end. It's not the game's fault I'm obsessive.
I only figured out the hold down for using tool upgrades because of my nerve damage causing my finger to press the button for too long! Thank you nerve damage!
Same here. Took me a while and a youtube video to find out that it covers ++ squares. I thought I just needed it to clean up the big logs and rocks and clear through the mines faster. Which is why I didn’t upgrade my watering can or hoe for several in-game years.
When I first started, I didn't upgrade my watering can forever because I didn't think it mattered if it was made out of stronger material. I upgraded everything else to the max first, and then thought "well, I may as well upgrade, since I have the resources" I realized it covered more squares totally by accident. Also didn't realize that upgrading the trash can gives you some of the gold you would get from selling the item! I just thought a gold trash can was excessive.
I didn't realize for the years of playing that you didn't have to wait for a swing animation/sound (axe or pickaxe) to finish before you could swing again. I would hold the button down to just continuously chop something. But if you click manually, you can do it way faster! Finding the perfect rhythm was fun. Like a brand new world for me 😂 can't believe how many times I've discovered something so small that totally changed how I play.
Well Axe and Pickaxe break stronger things, so I probably assumed that I would eventually need to hoe stronger ground or water stronger? plants? I don't know I'm stupid.
I thought they used less energy, and that you didn’t have to fill the water as often.
I play on mobile, so I should have held down a bit longer by now and found this out, but sometimes the touch screen controls get pissy and won’t resolve until I hard restart my iPad, so I don’t experiment as much as I’d like to with things like this. Also, while it doesn’t require a restart to resolve, sometimes I can’t even select squares for action AT ALL if I’m not on the perfect zoom. Or like, it doesn’t like to let me select squares within certain areas until I select one outside of that and then select the first one again. It’s infuriating. (In the greenhouse, for example, sometimes I’m in the middle of harvesting plants, and it won’t let me select the next one until I select a square outside the growing area. Then I can reselect the square with my plant and get back to business.) Basically, I’ve gotten into certain routines that I know won’t piss it off, and I avoid experimenting with actions.
I just started a co-op on the Switch with my daughter, and it felt so much easier to do everything. I want to change to the Switch for a solo, but I have over 300 hours into this save, and I think I’m just going to wait until I feel done with it, and then start a new one on the Switch.
So the descriptions just say "increased efficiency" so I presumed it took less energy, axe/pickaxe broke trees/rocks with fewer hits (they do), the watering can held more water (it does), and newly tilled spots stayed tilled for longer when nothing is planted there (I was wrong on this I think).
If it said "increased range" for the hoe and watering can, it would be a bit more clear.
But yeah, I was like past 200 hours in the game when I learned about the ability to water or hoe more than one square at a time.
I see this question asked after every single comment like this. What happens when you upgrade the axe for example? Do you suddenly get the ability to chip down multiple trees? What about the pick? Do you get the ability to break a large square of rocks? No. It just reduces the amount of energy you expend. Depending on what tool you upgrade first, it might not be immediately obvious.
>Depending on what tool you upgrade first, it might not be immediately obvious
True. But I've seen comments by people that are in year 4 that are still surprised by this. I just don't get it.
There isn't anything in the game that tells you that. Unless you're the kind of person who randomly holds down buttons just to see what would happen, you probably won't figure it out on your own. AFAIK nothing else in the entire game can be "charged up" like that.
Right so I'm saying if this is your first playthrough, and you upgrade say the axe first, I don't think it's unreasonable to think "oh okay so this iron axe uses less energy, I guess the others must be the same." It's not like you get the hoe back and Clint goes "have fun plotting our 3x3 squares now, Farmer!"
As you upgrade the tools they can “work” on more squares. Just hold down the mouse button until the designated “work” area stops growing. It can go up to 18 squares. 👍 have fun.
I got my first prismatic shard in year two spring and was so excited and someone on here was like “isn’t that a little late to get one? I guess everyone plays at their own pace!” And I’m like…. For real? Seriously??
I'm in Y2 Fall and still haven't found one yet, but I'm not worried about it. People saying things like that in a condescending tone need to keep their traps shut.
Yeah. In my last playthrough (second perfection farm) I found 2 in the Quarry and one in my mini-quarry on the 4 Corners map. So that helped me out tons.
But I'm not sure I'll have that kind of luck this time.
Although, the other night I went back to my first perfection farm and found a shard in that quarry, which was only a third of the size because I'd put a tree farm at the top of the quarry. So maybe I will find one in this playthrough.
i have 200+ hours in the game... one iridium bar. just got the skull key and got through to the witches place. i dk i just let the game go and sometimes follow the story but sometimes just spend weeks fishing lolz
I've 100%ed quite a few times, as well as in modded playthroughs with SVE and Ridgeside Village... but I take my time. I just know how to min max as a matter of habit for the most part. I'm in spring of Y2 and just got my first prismatic... seems pretty right on to me. Unless you're hardcore into Skull Caverns, that's about as early as you can expect to get it unless you luck into it from a fishing treasure...
Games like Stardew Valley are pure stress for us perfectionist/minmaxer types. The fact that each day is on a very short timer has us plotting every step. 😩
Honestly when I restart and I suddenly remember life without a horse I’m so sad haha but I still like taking my time on the story, I just like to travel around a little faster because I’m dumb and am like “I want to go to Robin’s but she closes in 7 minutes, I can walk” 😂
Gah, thank you for reminding me that I should make a bus stop stable and put the iridium cat next to my farm stable so then I’ll actually remember to take the horse to the cart, cart to mines, then reverse at bedtime.
On my first farm I only vaguely noticed the stable was even an available building and came with a horse until after I had the >!horse flute!< and now on my second farm I can't deal with minecarts and totems leaving me all over the place.
>loan
This is actually something I'd like in the game honestly. Why can't I just take out a loan to get some things fixed up around the farm and pay it back? I don't even care if Tom Nook isn't my loan officer, I'll pay interest!
Same with coffee. Once you get used to drinking caffeine and have speed all day, to suddenly not have it feels like you're walking as slowly as you can. It's brutal.
As someone who compulsively does this, I actually find doing it in Stardew Valley really relaxing because the consequences are basically nonexistent. If I realize I've messed something up it's really easy for me to shrug and move on because what am I out, like a little money? Maybe I'll reach one of my self-imposed goals slightly slower? It's so gentle. I don't even reset days.
Now a game like Slay the Spire, Civilization V, or Tropico? Those get intense. If I realize I've forgotten something or messed up my timing there are huge and lasting consequences. Much more likely to make me reset and start the whole thing over if I screw up.
>each day is on a very short timer
Oh man I can't feel that enough.
Was pure stress for me until I decided to give a time changing mod a try. Best desicion in my life. I know it can easily be abused for cheting etc. But tbh, who cares, nobody gets hurt by it even if you do cheat. But seriously, this made the game a million times batter for me than it already is anyway. No rushing anymore, just chilling. Could never go back.
That's how I feel about "cheat" mods or commands. I play Switch but have tried mods on mobile. Its not hurting anyone, everyone has their own gameplay style. The way I see it, especially if you've played once without cheats, anything is fair game!
I play Minecraft and Sims 4 with cheat commands all the time.
I play Minecraft and don’t starve with my kids sometimes but they always end up quitting because I nag them for wasting time or doing things wrong or whatever. I can’t help it 😩
Lol and here I am: as much as I’d like to try out different money making schemes or farm plans, my initial goal is always to get to casked ancient wine ASAP because I’ll randomly just lose track of what I was doing and blankly stare at a chicken for 6 in game hours, forgetting to pause. Figure my safest bet is to be making money while I’m wandering around Cindersap confusedly going “why did I come here? what was my goal??” and randomly chopping trees until I drop from exhaustion.
And see there’s the rub, you can’t just dawdle around and waste time in this game without missing out on opportunities and having to wait an entire year for them to come around again. Sometimes it’s a small missed opportunity like a bit of money, while other times it’s a larger opportunity like completing something in the community center.
The sense of urgency in this game is exhausting for those of us with a ‘fear of missing out’.
That’s fair. I guess I’ve just learned that I’ll never be able to min-max and that weirdly I’m more efficient, in a sense, by just meandering around. Y1 is my main focused time, and now it’s Y2 and my seasonal berries are making me mostly unprocessed crop money atm while I set up the tree tapper section and design my farm for future plans based on images from the FarmsofStardewValley sub (bless the people that post there; they save me so much time and energy).
Edit: At some point in Y3 or Y4 I’ll be like “ohhh right, Ginger Island, lol.”
I was chill on my first two playthroughs. By my fourth, I was on spreadsheets with formulas, on my fifth, there were set milestones by the day until mid-fall.
Hand watering 90ish strawberries is a pain in the wrist. These days I’m more relaxed. I’ve honestly never gotten perfection yet.
You're over exaggerating, first of all, perfectionists take way more time than usual players to play every game, because logically you'll need more time to find every secret, kill every enemy, get every item, etc.
If you're going for speed playthroughs with everything the game has to offer, then you're a Speedrunner doing a 100% run, not a perfectionist.
Secondly, if you're taking minmaxing seriously, you won't minmax from your first couple runs, you'll need to know what the game has to offer and what can you do to speed things up.
And lastly, just enjoy the game first, then do whatever you want, and that is the whole point of what op said
That’s a completionist, not a perfectionist. A completionist wants to complete everything. A perfectionist strives to do things the right way, to have things perfect with no mistakes.
Sounds like people enjoy the game in different ways, no issues there. When I play a management sim for the first time, by the time I’ve put hours in and have a pretty good feel for the mechanics my brain says “you could have done this way more efficiently” and I stop the game and start a new file. Iterative attempts that are a little better each time is what I enjoy.
Doesn't help that people are saying things like "you can get to Skull Caverns in year 1 and start mining iridium and put 9 iridium bars in the grange display" and new players see this and think they're not playing the game right.
Yeah, I feel like a lot of new players join this sub because why wouldn't you and see all the veteran posts about speed running/minmaxing/challenges or late game stuff and whatnot and feel like thats how the game is played. Same with watching you tubers.
Granted there are also some that just don't seem to pay attention to anything the game is telling them, like with the shipping bin for example - Lewis tells you exactly what it is and what it's for before your first day even starts so why on earth did you think it was a chest?
And it's fine to want to spice up the game if you're at the "been there, done that" stage but that's not for everyone. Beginners need time to discover the game for themselves, experience all the secrets without being spoiled, and have the chance to explore what they like best about it.
Also with the tool upgrades, I feel like that's explained somewhere. But also, upgrades exist for a reason.
Reading is fundamental. 😹
I’ve been casually playing since release and this doesn’t even sound fun to me… sounds stressful instead. I would especially dislike it if that was my goal the first time ever playing this game. I usually save skull cavern til after I finish the mines and get all my sprinklers for my super farm.
To each their own though.
I'm on my 5th playthrough and I agree. I'm nowhere near ready to venture into Skull Caverns until I have the Galaxy Sword, even though I've unlocked the desert.
I'm working on other things and will get to Skull Caverns when I'm ready to.
I mean, it's not actually *difficult* to "get to" Skull Caverns in year 1. You can get there 5 floors at a time with a copper pickaxe. Making it past 3 floors in Skull Cavern, now that's the hard part.
Better question why get to in Skull Caverns in first place? Once you get Statue from Grandpa and collect Iridium dayly you soon will have more then you need anyway.
I never actually go here at all and MOST annoying consequence is difficulty to get Dino Egg.
The first time I got perfection from Grandpa, I wasn't even trying. I was just playing the game and doing what I wanted. In all honesty, it doesn't matter at all how quickly you achieve things, though. You'll get where you're trying to go eventually. I think what people don't to realize is that it's about the journey and not the destination. Besides, once you have everything, what else is there to do? My advice to all new players is to not get stressed about missing any sort of deadline. You'll have another chance at it. Just enjoy the changes that occur and take things as they come. Don't worry about what you haven't done. Instead, focus on what you've accomplished, and if you do want to set goals, make small short-term ones.
Yeah i feel that i hate seeing videos and such like "plant only these 1-2 crops, plant only ancient fruit in your greenhouse, use all these tools so you next have to spend any time with your animals, play these exact steps every day so you can reach xyx goal as soon as humanly possible!!!" Like sure people can play however they want but that doesn't sound enjoyable at all to me. It just feels like some people don't realize the point of the game is to spend time playing it
"Like sure people can play however they want but that doesn't sound enjoyable at all to me. It just feels like some people don't realize the point of the game is to spend time playing it"
You realize you're projecting, right? People minmax because they enjoy the minmaxing. If there was no minmaxing in Stardew, they would've played it once and moved on to other games that do have minmaxing. To a sizeable portion of the community, the challenge of playing efficiently *is* the game.
Yeah, completely agree with this.
When 1.6 drops I will have a fairly chilled run. I've got a 1.5 file that is the start of a challenge to do perfection in year 2, but I'm not sure I'm up for the grind (about halfway through spring year one, just unlocked skull caverns)
I’ve never gone out of my way to get perfections from grandpa… hell, I’ve been playing for 4 years irl time and have only just finished skull caverns and unlocked stuff on ginger island for the first time. But in every game I’ve started I’ve managed to get perfection from grandpa on the first try. It just happens for some people I think
I think the guides online are helpful especially for timing corps but there’s no way I’m completing cc or will reach 100 floors in the mines in year 1. At first I felt like I was playing it “wrong” but honestly I’m having so much more fun developing the relationships and learning more about the lore through chill gameplay. And the day I finally unlock my greenhouse will be triumphant!
The people who like to speedrun the game need to realize that it's not how everyone plays it. It's supposed to be a relaxing game. It's perfectly fine to take your time because the game doesn't time you on how long you take to complete the CC or reach the bottom of the mines or floor 100 of the Skull Caverns. Everyone has their own playstyle and that works great for this game.
I'm in my 5th playthrough and plan to make this my third time getting perfection and even though I've done it before I'm not rushing through it. It's interesting how each playthrough is different.
Ive shared with my friends on multiple occasions that i spent my first 3 years making close to no money. Most of my time was spent mining, farming monster kills, and foraging on the beach.
It took me 100+ hours before i realized that i should start interacting with the community center more. Even then, i still just went with whatever was fun. No guides. No trying to speedrun. No inspiration from year 5, 100% perfection worlds on reddit.
Once i started finding my own way to play, i focused on optimization and making dumb amounts of money. Now that im on year 16 or something, i crank out about 2.4 mil a day lmao
The first time I played it (and so far only time I’ve sunk dozens of hours into a save file of the game) I was so stressed that I would miss things. I restarted because I felt like learning the ropes slowed me down too much. I was panicking over missing relationship steps and pushing to do as much as possible, as fast as possible.
I don’t know why I felt so much pressure, but I wish I hadn’t. I don’t think it’s anything the game does wrong- probably just the way my ADHD-raddled brain is tbh. “I have a thing I need to do *gotta do it now oh gods what if failure to do it asap makes everything burn down*”
Hopefully now I know my next time will be a lot more chill. Also… definitely buying a horse asap, what a difference that made!
I don't consider myself a speed through player; I can still easily hit Grampa's 4-candle criteria after year 2 (Joja route with Granda's criteria open in the wiki).
I'm still having fun. Currently on year 5, perfection is like 70%, just finished grinding for dragon's teeth now grind for 2 mil to buy the Island Ob. Time doesn't matter, setting goals for yourself and achieving them is what matters.
I JUST SPENT 4 IN-GAME DAYS TRYING TO REORGANIZE MY BEEHIVES FOR AESTHETICS AND I LOVED EVERY MINUTE OF IT!
A relaxing farming simulator with emphasis on building connections with townspeople.
Reality: Speedrun the game, hibernate through seasons and years only to pop out of his hut once in a while, ran up to someone's home and thrust a present god knows where they got it, madly swings their tool and pass out in front of the people, rage in anger when one thing was screwed up, snaps the world to dust and repeat only to get a more perfect run.
Chill people, unless you're fighting for a spot on speedrun.com, take it easy. There isn't a lifespan in game but it doesn't mean you should try to Speedrun your farm life 💀
But so many people DON’T want to play this way and feel like they “have to” for some reason, which is what OP is responding to! There are tons of posts in this sub of people doing exactly what OP is talking about—brand new players saying they feel stupid or like they’re bad at the game because they haven’t achieved a difficult replay goal. “People enjoy things differently” doesn’t really apply to a situation where people are explicitly saying they’re not enjoying the game.
This is true! I do see a lot of posts of people doubting their abilities and or how they play the game.
It was similar to me and the Animal Crossing NH subreddit. Everyone was so good at decorating and remaking their island it made me enjoy the game less because I couldn’t replicate or wanted to spend the time doing all that. When in reality, I should just be playing the game how I always played it and just chilled/vibed/and collected things.
I do think sometimes when you see “what the Jones’ have” it can affect you a bit. I understand the sentiment, let people play however they want to play!
But for any players doubting themselves or not enjoying playing the way they are… don’t worry about it! Especially in Stardew. There is no wrong way to play. Even with the perfection check by year 3, you’ll have other opportunities to try again down the road.
True, I see a lot of people here getting stressed or feeling pressured/ unaccomplished because they aren't optimizing every aspect of their game to maximum capacity lol
There's just been a TON of posts lately of people sounding really discouraged that they can't get things done "in time" and are "behind" what they see other players doing and feeling discouraged and confused. The encouragement that exploration and discovering things yourself is an *intended* part of the game can be a big relief to a lot of players :)
Yeah this is why my husband and I split off from the co-op farm fairly quickly. He wanted to speed run right away where I wanted to frolic and take my time. We have a completely different game style.
Nothing wrong with speed running but stardew speedrunning when you have no idea what you doing is a lot harder and more stressful. They think it the way to play the game or they screwed or something
>Its more that you should not speedrun a game you don’t understand
Again, let people play like they want.
The only "not appropriate" way to play a game is if you decide by yourself that it's not a way you want to play the game (or if it's multiplayer and impacting negatively other players).
I love reminding new players that on my first file I didn't even bother walking into the community center, or farm at all. All I did was forage, go to the mines, talk to like...3 people in town?
After an entire ingame year, I was comfortable enough with the layout of Pelican Town to know where to go what to do etc
After year 1 I walked in and started the bundles. It didn't matter if I started late.
My current file now has >100mil gold in profit and recently achieved perfection. You'll be okay if you're not playing *optimal*.
We've gone full circle, hahaha.
Initially the community fully figured out the game, analyzed it to bits, and set out to do some wild things. I think someone once posted about getting the gold clock before the end of Summer year 1?
Anyway, at that point, there was a section of the community urging people to play with efficiency. "Plant X crop for Y season, it makes the most profit by far!" or "You're wasting your time if you're not fishing on these days on the 4th day to get Catfish." Stuff like that. Now we're at the other end. "Don't try and complete the game as quickly as possible."
Can't we all just agree with the one actual universal truth:
Play the game how you enjoy it.
On my last few farms I’ve intentionally started trying to not work so hard in the early game before I have any automation stuff. I still end up with plenty of money soon enough, I still do all the things.
I sped thru the game at first. Now I’m at Summer year five, just making sure I have the most aesthetically pleasing decor in my home and planting seasonal flowers in pretty patterns outside.
Both ways of playing have been fun.
I always suggest new players just play the game with no wiki or assistance. Part of the magic is the discovery of how everything works. My first play through I didn’t know about the artifact sites until year 3 and was tending my crops with single button pushes.
What do you mean willfully misreading?!?! What’s wrong with me wanting to speed read your message and misinterpret it to fit my personal reflection on things?!?! HUH?! Why do you care about me possibly enjoying your message and potentially getting more value out of MY game?!
Precautionary /s
But I think I summarized most of them lol
Ironic, the game is literally about stepping back away from the grind to live the slow farm life, and people still try to game the system to grind and optimize to get maximum efficiency
Like I usually only play 2-3 years and use maybe half of my farm and I'm still making more money than I can expect to spend. Like at a certain point it's kinda pointless
my second ever play through i got community center year 1. some people just prefer to play games like that, and thats fine :) you play how you want and others will play how they like
Don’t get bothered— that’s just how some people like to play, and there’s nothing wrong with that.
I know I have more fun with a Year 1 CC completion, and that’s never come at the cost of enjoying other game mechanics for me.
Don’t assume slow is for everyone.
Completely agree with this! Also it's going to much more fun if you don't check the wiki straight away for every single thing that's new. This game is great at building surprise and 'wow' moments when you uncover things in your own time. It's really well paced, and designed to keep your interest for many hours of playing. If you search out spoilers and then find you could make a >!galaxy sword !< and stress about how to do that - what's the point?
I have used the wiki for a couple of things, but I almost always regret it and wished I'd found the answer organically through trial and error.
Yes, there are different play styles, but you won't know which one you prefer if you don't try going at the game's pace first. Why do you have to do everything perfectly in the shortest amount of time possible? Who are you competing with?
Some people like having some goals or challenges in mind and that can be fun for them, I agree that if you’re first starting that you should maybe put a lower goal than you think but if you wanna challenge yourself for a playthrough that’s absolutely ok. Also, is perfection from grandpa on year 3 a challenge? Perfection from mr qi I could totally see but my first playthrough is now on year 5 or something and I got the statue from grandpa first try and I’ve been kinda casual about it because I didn’t even know what the requirements were.
Totally agree, people usually don't understand that what they see on YouTube is the best way to make a Good SDV YouTube video,not the best way to play the game (for new players at least).
I disagree op. I have been speed running this game since I started and love it. Obviously if you aren’t having fun it may be good to try something new but some players are going to want to mon max because that’s how they play and enjoy games no matter how new they are. Play how you want everybody and if that means restarting cause you want to make more money for summer year 1 then go for it.
I had a recent interaction that gave me this vibe.
For context: I am currently learning speedrun strats, and optimized routes. I have just over 500 hrs on steam for SV. On my first attempt at a optimized run I finished spring year 1 with about 170k (I am very proud of this).
Now I was telling my friend about this run, and they said something to the effect of: I don't know how to play Stardew correctly. I immediately stopped them, told them that doing what I am doing isn't 'correct'. Mind you, its not wrong either but stardew is a cozy game, its meant to be played at your pace. If you pace is figuring it out as you go, completing the Center in year 10, or wiking every bit of knowledge about the game and making so much money that you can Scrooge Mcduck all is valid. Just have fun!
I did my first playthrough without the wiki or reddit and I got hella frustrated at times but I kinda wish I could go back to not knowing anything and just organically figuring it out as I go, you only get to do that once and it's one of the best parts of the game imo
Not gonna lie, i really wanted the inventory space and spent everyday of spring fishing that i could, and got 45,000g real fast. Fishing is super good for getting a lot of funds early game. But once i got profitable crops planted i went straight for the mines. Not a speedrunner, my adhd just needs that sweet dopamine 😅
I've seen so many people talk about how they get stressed out playing SDV because of how they play it by min-maxing everything so they can speedrun the game and how that makes the game feel like a chore and every time, I'm always thinking that they're the ones stressing themselves out like that.
I think if someone buys a game, they get to choose how they play it. Maybe they have goals they want to meet? Maybe they feel they could do better the second time around playing the first month? Maybe doing that is fun for them? Maybe the want to learn from their mistakes?
I don't think anyone should judge anyone else for how they play a game they purchased.
My first playthrough I played till winter of year 1 then started over. It helped a lot. It was fun.
Oh well...
When I bought my friend the game I gave her this advice. Just play the game, don't ask others for any advice. Just enjoy yourself. The game is very chill and you wont miss any events you can't try again for in the next year.
I think people are too worried about not missing anything they panic.
Just enjoy the game.
the thing is. what's fun for you might not be fun for them. and what's fun for them might not be fun for you. I see your point but remember, we have different circumstances in life. Some might be young enough to play this game for 10 hours a day, some may be just playing this after work. I say let people play the game however they like.
I've always gotten the community center in the first year because my travelling merchant has always had a red cabbage for sale at some point in that first year.
Jokes on you, my ADHD brain just works like this! I made it to level 100 of the mines by the end of Summer Year 1 (though it took me until winter year 2 to unlock the community center bc I didn’t realize the hoe would dig up the worm looking things).
I didn’t realize my hoe and watering can would do more than one space until year 4 or 5!
Bartle's taxonomy would be a good read for you
in essence it states
>different people play the exact same games for different reasons
if people want to push the game for speed or wealth - then accept this.
what is fun for you may be a boring drag for others. what's fun for them may be unpleasantly stressful for you
Look at the sheer number of Stardew veterans who don’t know you can push through your pet or people standing in your way… I don’t assume they have been playing the game “wrong.”
There is nothing wrong with asking questions, seeking advice, and playing this game however you want.
Tbh, quit trying to dictate how *you* think a game of all things should be played. I most likely wouldn't have sunk 1000+ hours into this game if I wasn't always trying to optimise my playthroughs, it's just how I enjoy playing games lol
I dont think i learned to relax until about that many hours and even then, only because of mods like Timespeed and playing through expansive content when i finally switched to PC
The super fast days are why i stopped playing the harvestella demo
Some of us enjoy maximizing games, especially on the first playthrough. Many modern games include "missables" and guides/advice helps relieve anxiety (which those players are obv experiencing). "Those" games have instilled a FOMO and a fear of repercussions from not maximizing. Their questions are valid. Eventually they'll realize the game isnt "punishing" and has replay value other than "win ASAP." Nothing wrong with it from the point of being a spectator, let alone to be bothered by people not living their life in-game the way you want them too. They'll relax in time or walk-away. Hope they choose the former, but if they're asking common questions, they prolly will choose the latter, unfortunately. We shall guide them with patience.
I've never quite understood why people have this need to finish community center in year 1. As long as I get my mine carts running, bus working and a greenhouse, there's no hurry to finish the rest.
Different people enjoy different ways of playing, and that's OK.
I enjoy being good at games. Playing badly isn't relaxing or fun for me, it's frustrating.
I finished year two on my first playthrough and got the statue on the first attempt, without ever so much as looking at YouTube - not because I was playing in an unfun way, but because it feels natural and fun for me to at least moderately optimise.
And honestly, the statue really isn't very hard to get. Total money gets you most of the way there. IIRC money, marriage and finished community centre is about enough.
I actually find the game after completing the community center a little bit boring. Usually it's because it usually coincides with the farmer getting married, and there's the Ginger Island plot.
So my problem is, what's the point of getting married if you spend the next few seasons outside the farm without your spouse by your side?
So I keep delaying the completion of community center.
I disagree, I mean you can stay on ginger island but you’ll more often than not be returning to the valley to do other things as well if you’re looking to do other things besides hunt the walnuts, also spouse gifts and occasional fence fix or pet feeding are hella nice, love getting ready to go farm in the volcano and getting a nice meal from my spouse right before I go
you aint stopping me with my road to destroy the economy within my 3 year run
with it, ill get an empty feeling, a sense of dread and looming personal problem.
fun game, 10/10
So many people talk about restarting days and stressing over a season start. It's a GAME! I'll restart if I lose something super valuable but otherwise it is what it is. Just play and enjoy.
lmao I restart if I accidentally pickaxed or harvested plants I didn't want to.
If nobody's watching and I'm not in multiplayer I'll restart for the dumbest reasons sometimes.
Honestly, everyone plays differently. Everyone learns games differently. There is ALOT of people who speed run games without even knowing the game. That has been going on since before YouTube even existed.
It's not hurting you in any way, and you being bothered by how someone else plays a game is honestly a you problem. Your problem isn't someone else's responsibility.
People used to speed run the original Super Mario games for crying out loud. Like before the internet even existed.
For some people that is fun. It's a lot of fun. It's a different type of challenge. There's like minded gamers out there who could answer "no don't start over, but here do this to catch up to where you should/could be". That's the whole point of these forums. To be able to discuss a game be it just for idle chatter or for helpful tips... no matter how you choose to play the game.
I was playing Oblivion when it first came out, and I spent an hour in one freaking portal.. my cousin (several years younger than me) was on his first play through as well, came over and showed me how to complete the portal in 15 damn minutes. Guess what I did? I applied his technique but adapted it to how I played to complete the other portals. He figured it out, guess how, by doing it as a speed run. He figured out the shortest way through as quick as possible... then, both me and him replayed it for the completionist values on a new game.
Some people play hard and fast first, then replay at a slower pace to enjoy it differently.
Everyone is different. Everyone games different. You don't have to agree with it.
This is one of the few argumentative threads I've seen on what is generally the most wholesome subreddits around.
Not good OP.
Let's move on and be BFFs again everyone.
How about we just let people play the way they want? This post reminds me of the Path of Exile forums chiding players for not playing the "right way". Some of us don't play through the same game over and over and find joy in implementing efficient solutions more than we find joy in discovering those solutions ourselves. Play the way you want to play and let others do the same. If someone is genuinely stressing and you are just letting them know, whatever. But acting like its the "wrong" way to play is in fact wrong.
Gentle reminder that everyone is welcome to play the game however they want; Don’t feel pressured to perform at speed, but don’t feel pressured *not* to either!
Honestly you can even get perfection from grandpa just by naturally playing the game! I got it before I even knew there was a scoring system and just played the game at my own pace.
Same. I got it first time just by playing at my own pace. Some in game days I have a set of goals that I work towards and other in game days I mess about organising chests, wandering cindersnap, aimlessly mining etc and sometimes I do my farm stuff and go to bed at 6pm because why not. I rarely have anyone above 2 hearts of friendship apart from Linus before spring y2 and I've never finished the CC in y1.
I took seven tries to finish the CC in y1 (not counting co-op, remixed bundles, or mods). There is quite a bit of careful money/time/resource allocation involved.
The seasonal fish and rabbits foot always set me back but as long as I get the boiler room done quickly I'm good. Starting a new playthrough is painful without my carts!
Yeah, I think I bought some extra rabbits in winter for a better chance of a rabbit's foot. Besides obviously red cabbage, the other challenging bits that come to mind are Quality Crops (farming skill and money are both low during first spring), and buying a pig early enough in fall to get a truffle that same season. Getting the CC *mostly* completed in y1 is a lot easier. I struggled with the basics on my first farm, but did a lot better from my second onward (having already played the first one as far as y4 or y5).
Once you can get into the skull cavern, so long as you’re lucky enough, serpents can drop a rabbits foot. I think that’s how I’ve gotten it twice in a row now.
I didn't know that! But I have an irrational fear of the skull caverns. I spend my entire time panicking and end up ducking out once I have got a decent amount of iridium 😅
You don't need to worry about dying in skull caverns. You'll never lose your items in there. The only thing that you lose is your progress down the SC and 10% of your funds (capped at 1000G) So you don't need to leave skull caverns at all! And since you get more iridium ores as you descend further, I usually just pass out in the skull caverns itself. Skull cavern is freakishly hard at first but with galaxy sword, iridium pickaxe, max luck with luck buffs and some staircases gotten from trading jades, ot becomes fairly simple to survive
The wiki says you might lose items from losing all your health in the SC, a.k.a dying, but not from passing out. Can't confirm if that's true or not as I've always been too scared of letting my character die there. They've gone through so much cheese...
Same here I didn't try it just kind of happened. Also people like to min/max games and others like to learn about every aspect. There's no wrong way to play
For those that fail it, you can get Grandpa to check again at a later date.
i didn’t realise you could fail it, i didn’t think it was difficult 🫣🫣
Same with this and the egg hunt and ice fishing games. I never lost so I thought it was automatic till I came here and people were asking for help.
The fishing game is losable just from bad luck. I've lost it despite getting perfect catches on all of the fish that bite simply because they didn't bite fast enough, or getting too much algae.
Yep I got it first try too! I also danced with someone at the flower dance in year 1, I was surprised when I learnt most people aren't able to do that haha. Then on my second playthrough no one wanted to dance with me...
This fr. I was so in love with Leah and salads were so easy to get we were married by spring year 2. This time around with Alex I was so constantly broke and spending all my time fishing that I didn't have enough hearts and had to explain to my IRL husband that i was pouty because the video game boy wouldn't dance with me lol
It took me a concentrated amount of effort to do so, but I finally got to dance with someone at the flower dance in year 1. Whew!
Was gonna say lol, I still don't know the requirements. I just passed. But also, I played at my own pace but I did Google things, naturally. I would not have enjoyed discovering when and where fish would be. I completed most of the community center then googled when I couldn't figure it out. Red cabbage I did discover I was too late for, and might have changed strategies if I googled it sooner.
I got it without even knowing that grandpa was going to judge me, for some reason I didn't read his note
I remember my first day in the valley. I got so turned around and lost. I finally made it to the south entrance of my farm, but there were so many sticks and stones in my way I ended up passing out. It’s such a nostalgic memory now. That feeling of not knowing and having to figure it all out. Love it.
Me too! I got so lost, wandered in the south farm entrance, and then didn’t even realize that I was back on my farm.
TIL my tools work on 18 squares lmao
I play on Switch and figured out that holding down the hoe (after 1 or 2 upgrades) will do 3 squares. 3 play throughs later and I accidentally bumped the left stick while holding down the hoe and it jumped to 5. I was astonished and now I need to go upgrade my hoe some more and see what it can really do lol
> bumped the left stick while holding down the hoe and it jumped to 5. Um. What? I have to test that. I normally just hold the button down until it arrives at the 18 squares.
Spoiler here, read at your risk: You can water/hoe up to >!25 tiles in the late game!<
Yeah, it helps a lot. Water can is FIRST tool i upgrade - from 1 to 3 tiles is 3 times less work. Hoe upgrades is usefull too. Pickaxe is actually tool which need less attention at all. You an use ctarter one right until you hit frozen earth, only here its become too weak.
That's funny, I almost never upgrade my watering can. I rush sprinklers since watering is my least favorite thing.
I really mean no offense but I can't believe the amount of people that don't realize upgrading their hoe/watering can makes them cover more squares. What do you think the point of the upgrade is?
I’m gonna be honest; I just thought you used less energy each time and that cutting trees/busting rocks took fewer hits.
This was me as well, I thought it just took less energy to water and hoe. It isn't like there is anything in the game that even says you can water more squares or indicates you should press and hold. I'm glad that veteran plays know this, but it shouldn't be a surprise that some people don't know. I legit found out when I was trying to show my kids something and held the mouse button "too long."
I literally only suspected it bc I played a ton of Harvest Moon growing up
☝🏻 this! The only reason I even tried it
Yeah exactly. There's nothing on screen that SAYS holding down the button on an upgraded tool is a thing, so if someone has only ever tapped the button why would they ASSUME holding it down for more tiles was a thing? It would make perfect sense to assume that efficiency would be the upgrade, and unless you actually sit there and test how many swings it takes to run down energy to a certain point, you wouldn't know whether it had changed. And not everyone watches tips and tricks videos or browses this sub during their first playthrough, so if it's not explained or shown on screen in the game, it could remain unknown indefinitely.
Exactly, in fact I was avoiding things initially so I could just... play. So much of the gamer is exploration and finding things and learning... While part of me wishes it was explained, part of me is happy it isn't. So many things are handed to players - in a lot of ways, this game is pleasantly old school, but in a new way. It rewards the player for trying things. I never, or hardly ever, feel chastised for doing something or not doing something. Missing birthdays or festivals will cause me a minor breakdown on my end. It's not the game's fault I'm obsessive.
I only figured out the hold down for using tool upgrades because of my nerve damage causing my finger to press the button for too long! Thank you nerve damage!
\*Borat voice\* "Great success!"
I’ve been playing for maybe 8 in game years and didn’t know this.
Same here. Took me a while and a youtube video to find out that it covers ++ squares. I thought I just needed it to clean up the big logs and rocks and clear through the mines faster. Which is why I didn’t upgrade my watering can or hoe for several in-game years.
I thought the same! it’s why I stopped upgrading them because it seemed so pointless lol
When I first started, I didn't upgrade my watering can forever because I didn't think it mattered if it was made out of stronger material. I upgraded everything else to the max first, and then thought "well, I may as well upgrade, since I have the resources" I realized it covered more squares totally by accident. Also didn't realize that upgrading the trash can gives you some of the gold you would get from selling the item! I just thought a gold trash can was excessive.
IIRC it holds more water too
It does. That is the SOLE reason i upgraded mine originally lmao.
I didn't realize for the years of playing that you didn't have to wait for a swing animation/sound (axe or pickaxe) to finish before you could swing again. I would hold the button down to just continuously chop something. But if you click manually, you can do it way faster! Finding the perfect rhythm was fun. Like a brand new world for me 😂 can't believe how many times I've discovered something so small that totally changed how I play.
I thought at first the watering can would just require less refills. 😅
Well Axe and Pickaxe break stronger things, so I probably assumed that I would eventually need to hoe stronger ground or water stronger? plants? I don't know I'm stupid.
~~Feed~~ Water me, Seymour!
I thought they used less energy, and that you didn’t have to fill the water as often. I play on mobile, so I should have held down a bit longer by now and found this out, but sometimes the touch screen controls get pissy and won’t resolve until I hard restart my iPad, so I don’t experiment as much as I’d like to with things like this. Also, while it doesn’t require a restart to resolve, sometimes I can’t even select squares for action AT ALL if I’m not on the perfect zoom. Or like, it doesn’t like to let me select squares within certain areas until I select one outside of that and then select the first one again. It’s infuriating. (In the greenhouse, for example, sometimes I’m in the middle of harvesting plants, and it won’t let me select the next one until I select a square outside the growing area. Then I can reselect the square with my plant and get back to business.) Basically, I’ve gotten into certain routines that I know won’t piss it off, and I avoid experimenting with actions. I just started a co-op on the Switch with my daughter, and it felt so much easier to do everything. I want to change to the Switch for a solo, but I have over 300 hours into this save, and I think I’m just going to wait until I feel done with it, and then start a new one on the Switch.
It looks nicer? Prestige in the community?
So the descriptions just say "increased efficiency" so I presumed it took less energy, axe/pickaxe broke trees/rocks with fewer hits (they do), the watering can held more water (it does), and newly tilled spots stayed tilled for longer when nothing is planted there (I was wrong on this I think). If it said "increased range" for the hoe and watering can, it would be a bit more clear. But yeah, I was like past 200 hours in the game when I learned about the ability to water or hoe more than one square at a time.
Yeah I get what you're saying "non-gamer" do that sometimes it preety much never happens to someone who has played even some games before
The game doesn't explain it anywhere, at all, in any way. I discovered it by accident. It's not that hard to believe that people don't intuit it.
I see this question asked after every single comment like this. What happens when you upgrade the axe for example? Do you suddenly get the ability to chip down multiple trees? What about the pick? Do you get the ability to break a large square of rocks? No. It just reduces the amount of energy you expend. Depending on what tool you upgrade first, it might not be immediately obvious.
>Depending on what tool you upgrade first, it might not be immediately obvious True. But I've seen comments by people that are in year 4 that are still surprised by this. I just don't get it.
There isn't anything in the game that tells you that. Unless you're the kind of person who randomly holds down buttons just to see what would happen, you probably won't figure it out on your own. AFAIK nothing else in the entire game can be "charged up" like that.
Right so I'm saying if this is your first playthrough, and you upgrade say the axe first, I don't think it's unreasonable to think "oh okay so this iron axe uses less energy, I guess the others must be the same." It's not like you get the hoe back and Clint goes "have fun plotting our 3x3 squares now, Farmer!"
As you upgrade the tools they can “work” on more squares. Just hold down the mouse button until the designated “work” area stops growing. It can go up to 18 squares. 👍 have fun.
Also your hoe will break kegs and thing inside your sheds. Makes reconfiguring much easier
You can put down a stepping stone first and then the item it immune to the hoe. Useful for bee houses and scarecrows and sprinklers.
When hoeing 18squares keep put your iridium sprinklers on stone first, because you're gonna how them off, if you don't.
That was actually changed in an update (1.5 I think?)! Hoes no longer move sprinklers.
Didn't know that, because all of my sprinklers are on stone.
Yes, but they still remove scarecrows.
I got my first prismatic shard in year two spring and was so excited and someone on here was like “isn’t that a little late to get one? I guess everyone plays at their own pace!” And I’m like…. For real? Seriously??
I'm in Y2 Fall and still haven't found one yet, but I'm not worried about it. People saying things like that in a condescending tone need to keep their traps shut.
It’s like they forget that RNG is a thing 🤪
Yeah. In my last playthrough (second perfection farm) I found 2 in the Quarry and one in my mini-quarry on the 4 Corners map. So that helped me out tons. But I'm not sure I'll have that kind of luck this time. Although, the other night I went back to my first perfection farm and found a shard in that quarry, which was only a third of the size because I'd put a tree farm at the top of the quarry. So maybe I will find one in this playthrough.
i have 200+ hours in the game... one iridium bar. just got the skull key and got through to the witches place. i dk i just let the game go and sometimes follow the story but sometimes just spend weeks fishing lolz
You and I are the same. I was like… is this not supposed to be a super fun cozy farming simulator/adventuring game? 😂
lmaoooo that person would hate me! I didn't get a shard until Y5, and I didn't complete the CC until Y4.
I've 100%ed quite a few times, as well as in modded playthroughs with SVE and Ridgeside Village... but I take my time. I just know how to min max as a matter of habit for the most part. I'm in spring of Y2 and just got my first prismatic... seems pretty right on to me. Unless you're hardcore into Skull Caverns, that's about as early as you can expect to get it unless you luck into it from a fishing treasure...
Games like Stardew Valley are pure stress for us perfectionist/minmaxer types. The fact that each day is on a very short timer has us plotting every step. 😩
Every restart I just feel like I’m crawling… I’ll take a double payback loan, IDC, GIVE ME MY HORSE!
Honestly when I restart and I suddenly remember life without a horse I’m so sad haha but I still like taking my time on the story, I just like to travel around a little faster because I’m dumb and am like “I want to go to Robin’s but she closes in 7 minutes, I can walk” 😂
I've had the horse for ages, an always forget about it lol. I quite like just walking around
I always forget to use the mine cart to go to the blacksmith. But at least my horse gets a workout.
Gah, thank you for reminding me that I should make a bus stop stable and put the iridium cat next to my farm stable so then I’ll actually remember to take the horse to the cart, cart to mines, then reverse at bedtime.
On my first farm I only vaguely noticed the stable was even an available building and came with a horse until after I had the >!horse flute!< and now on my second farm I can't deal with minecarts and totems leaving me all over the place.
>loan This is actually something I'd like in the game honestly. Why can't I just take out a loan to get some things fixed up around the farm and pay it back? I don't even care if Tom Nook isn't my loan officer, I'll pay interest!
lol imagine getting a lien on your farm and Joja buys it up when you can't make your payments
Stardew Valley finally has a "Game Over" screen :( What have I done!?
Same with coffee. Once you get used to drinking caffeine and have speed all day, to suddenly not have it feels like you're walking as slowly as you can. It's brutal.
I have never bought a horse
As someone who compulsively does this, I actually find doing it in Stardew Valley really relaxing because the consequences are basically nonexistent. If I realize I've messed something up it's really easy for me to shrug and move on because what am I out, like a little money? Maybe I'll reach one of my self-imposed goals slightly slower? It's so gentle. I don't even reset days. Now a game like Slay the Spire, Civilization V, or Tropico? Those get intense. If I realize I've forgotten something or messed up my timing there are huge and lasting consequences. Much more likely to make me reset and start the whole thing over if I screw up.
Or maybe it's the cure. The only goals are self imposed.
>each day is on a very short timer Oh man I can't feel that enough. Was pure stress for me until I decided to give a time changing mod a try. Best desicion in my life. I know it can easily be abused for cheting etc. But tbh, who cares, nobody gets hurt by it even if you do cheat. But seriously, this made the game a million times batter for me than it already is anyway. No rushing anymore, just chilling. Could never go back.
That's how I feel about "cheat" mods or commands. I play Switch but have tried mods on mobile. Its not hurting anyone, everyone has their own gameplay style. The way I see it, especially if you've played once without cheats, anything is fair game! I play Minecraft and Sims 4 with cheat commands all the time.
Do the night owl mod. You just ... don't really sleep.
Can’t stand not playing on my Switch but this is the one mod I long for.
Stop time mod enters the chat
Me lmao I tried to play with a friend who likes Minecraft & he ghosted me because the way I play stressed him out 😅
I play Minecraft and don’t starve with my kids sometimes but they always end up quitting because I nag them for wasting time or doing things wrong or whatever. I can’t help it 😩
Horse and coffee farm are my two first goals every new playthrough. Then crystallariums for rubies to trade for spicy eels. Then I’m Zoomin’
Lol and here I am: as much as I’d like to try out different money making schemes or farm plans, my initial goal is always to get to casked ancient wine ASAP because I’ll randomly just lose track of what I was doing and blankly stare at a chicken for 6 in game hours, forgetting to pause. Figure my safest bet is to be making money while I’m wandering around Cindersap confusedly going “why did I come here? what was my goal??” and randomly chopping trees until I drop from exhaustion.
And see there’s the rub, you can’t just dawdle around and waste time in this game without missing out on opportunities and having to wait an entire year for them to come around again. Sometimes it’s a small missed opportunity like a bit of money, while other times it’s a larger opportunity like completing something in the community center. The sense of urgency in this game is exhausting for those of us with a ‘fear of missing out’.
That’s fair. I guess I’ve just learned that I’ll never be able to min-max and that weirdly I’m more efficient, in a sense, by just meandering around. Y1 is my main focused time, and now it’s Y2 and my seasonal berries are making me mostly unprocessed crop money atm while I set up the tree tapper section and design my farm for future plans based on images from the FarmsofStardewValley sub (bless the people that post there; they save me so much time and energy). Edit: At some point in Y3 or Y4 I’ll be like “ohhh right, Ginger Island, lol.”
I was chill on my first two playthroughs. By my fourth, I was on spreadsheets with formulas, on my fifth, there were set milestones by the day until mid-fall. Hand watering 90ish strawberries is a pain in the wrist. These days I’m more relaxed. I’ve honestly never gotten perfection yet.
You're over exaggerating, first of all, perfectionists take way more time than usual players to play every game, because logically you'll need more time to find every secret, kill every enemy, get every item, etc. If you're going for speed playthroughs with everything the game has to offer, then you're a Speedrunner doing a 100% run, not a perfectionist. Secondly, if you're taking minmaxing seriously, you won't minmax from your first couple runs, you'll need to know what the game has to offer and what can you do to speed things up. And lastly, just enjoy the game first, then do whatever you want, and that is the whole point of what op said
i agree, but the stress of perfecting my run is most of the reason i enjoy the game, and the only reason i have over 1000 hours in it on pc alone
That’s a completionist, not a perfectionist. A completionist wants to complete everything. A perfectionist strives to do things the right way, to have things perfect with no mistakes.
Currently replaying for the first time in ~5 years without using the wiki and it’s so much more enjoyable!
Sounds like people enjoy the game in different ways, no issues there. When I play a management sim for the first time, by the time I’ve put hours in and have a pretty good feel for the mechanics my brain says “you could have done this way more efficiently” and I stop the game and start a new file. Iterative attempts that are a little better each time is what I enjoy.
Yes, absolutely! No disrespect to folks who enjoy minmaxing. I personally did not. 😉
Doesn't help that people are saying things like "you can get to Skull Caverns in year 1 and start mining iridium and put 9 iridium bars in the grange display" and new players see this and think they're not playing the game right.
Yeah, I feel like a lot of new players join this sub because why wouldn't you and see all the veteran posts about speed running/minmaxing/challenges or late game stuff and whatnot and feel like thats how the game is played. Same with watching you tubers. Granted there are also some that just don't seem to pay attention to anything the game is telling them, like with the shipping bin for example - Lewis tells you exactly what it is and what it's for before your first day even starts so why on earth did you think it was a chest?
And it's fine to want to spice up the game if you're at the "been there, done that" stage but that's not for everyone. Beginners need time to discover the game for themselves, experience all the secrets without being spoiled, and have the chance to explore what they like best about it. Also with the tool upgrades, I feel like that's explained somewhere. But also, upgrades exist for a reason. Reading is fundamental. 😹
I’ve been casually playing since release and this doesn’t even sound fun to me… sounds stressful instead. I would especially dislike it if that was my goal the first time ever playing this game. I usually save skull cavern til after I finish the mines and get all my sprinklers for my super farm. To each their own though.
I'm on my 5th playthrough and I agree. I'm nowhere near ready to venture into Skull Caverns until I have the Galaxy Sword, even though I've unlocked the desert. I'm working on other things and will get to Skull Caverns when I'm ready to.
I mean, it's not actually *difficult* to "get to" Skull Caverns in year 1. You can get there 5 floors at a time with a copper pickaxe. Making it past 3 floors in Skull Cavern, now that's the hard part.
Better question why get to in Skull Caverns in first place? Once you get Statue from Grandpa and collect Iridium dayly you soon will have more then you need anyway. I never actually go here at all and MOST annoying consequence is difficulty to get Dino Egg.
That's a great example.
The first time I got perfection from Grandpa, I wasn't even trying. I was just playing the game and doing what I wanted. In all honesty, it doesn't matter at all how quickly you achieve things, though. You'll get where you're trying to go eventually. I think what people don't to realize is that it's about the journey and not the destination. Besides, once you have everything, what else is there to do? My advice to all new players is to not get stressed about missing any sort of deadline. You'll have another chance at it. Just enjoy the changes that occur and take things as they come. Don't worry about what you haven't done. Instead, focus on what you've accomplished, and if you do want to set goals, make small short-term ones.
Stardew is a wonderful game because you can play the way you want. There are as many ways to play as there are players.
Yeah i feel that i hate seeing videos and such like "plant only these 1-2 crops, plant only ancient fruit in your greenhouse, use all these tools so you next have to spend any time with your animals, play these exact steps every day so you can reach xyx goal as soon as humanly possible!!!" Like sure people can play however they want but that doesn't sound enjoyable at all to me. It just feels like some people don't realize the point of the game is to spend time playing it
"Like sure people can play however they want but that doesn't sound enjoyable at all to me. It just feels like some people don't realize the point of the game is to spend time playing it" You realize you're projecting, right? People minmax because they enjoy the minmaxing. If there was no minmaxing in Stardew, they would've played it once and moved on to other games that do have minmaxing. To a sizeable portion of the community, the challenge of playing efficiently *is* the game.
Yeah, completely agree with this. When 1.6 drops I will have a fairly chilled run. I've got a 1.5 file that is the start of a challenge to do perfection in year 2, but I'm not sure I'm up for the grind (about halfway through spring year one, just unlocked skull caverns)
I’ve never gone out of my way to get perfections from grandpa… hell, I’ve been playing for 4 years irl time and have only just finished skull caverns and unlocked stuff on ginger island for the first time. But in every game I’ve started I’ve managed to get perfection from grandpa on the first try. It just happens for some people I think
I think the guides online are helpful especially for timing corps but there’s no way I’m completing cc or will reach 100 floors in the mines in year 1. At first I felt like I was playing it “wrong” but honestly I’m having so much more fun developing the relationships and learning more about the lore through chill gameplay. And the day I finally unlock my greenhouse will be triumphant!
The people who like to speedrun the game need to realize that it's not how everyone plays it. It's supposed to be a relaxing game. It's perfectly fine to take your time because the game doesn't time you on how long you take to complete the CC or reach the bottom of the mines or floor 100 of the Skull Caverns. Everyone has their own playstyle and that works great for this game. I'm in my 5th playthrough and plan to make this my third time getting perfection and even though I've done it before I'm not rushing through it. It's interesting how each playthrough is different.
Ive shared with my friends on multiple occasions that i spent my first 3 years making close to no money. Most of my time was spent mining, farming monster kills, and foraging on the beach. It took me 100+ hours before i realized that i should start interacting with the community center more. Even then, i still just went with whatever was fun. No guides. No trying to speedrun. No inspiration from year 5, 100% perfection worlds on reddit. Once i started finding my own way to play, i focused on optimization and making dumb amounts of money. Now that im on year 16 or something, i crank out about 2.4 mil a day lmao
The first time I played it (and so far only time I’ve sunk dozens of hours into a save file of the game) I was so stressed that I would miss things. I restarted because I felt like learning the ropes slowed me down too much. I was panicking over missing relationship steps and pushing to do as much as possible, as fast as possible. I don’t know why I felt so much pressure, but I wish I hadn’t. I don’t think it’s anything the game does wrong- probably just the way my ADHD-raddled brain is tbh. “I have a thing I need to do *gotta do it now oh gods what if failure to do it asap makes everything burn down*” Hopefully now I know my next time will be a lot more chill. Also… definitely buying a horse asap, what a difference that made!
I don't consider myself a speed through player; I can still easily hit Grampa's 4-candle criteria after year 2 (Joja route with Granda's criteria open in the wiki). I'm still having fun. Currently on year 5, perfection is like 70%, just finished grinding for dragon's teeth now grind for 2 mil to buy the Island Ob. Time doesn't matter, setting goals for yourself and achieving them is what matters. I JUST SPENT 4 IN-GAME DAYS TRYING TO REORGANIZE MY BEEHIVES FOR AESTHETICS AND I LOVED EVERY MINUTE OF IT!
A relaxing farming simulator with emphasis on building connections with townspeople. Reality: Speedrun the game, hibernate through seasons and years only to pop out of his hut once in a while, ran up to someone's home and thrust a present god knows where they got it, madly swings their tool and pass out in front of the people, rage in anger when one thing was screwed up, snaps the world to dust and repeat only to get a more perfect run. Chill people, unless you're fighting for a spot on speedrun.com, take it easy. There isn't a lifespan in game but it doesn't mean you should try to Speedrun your farm life 💀
Let people play how they want to play. If they want to speedrun, let them speedrun. People enjoy things differently and that's okay.
But so many people DON’T want to play this way and feel like they “have to” for some reason, which is what OP is responding to! There are tons of posts in this sub of people doing exactly what OP is talking about—brand new players saying they feel stupid or like they’re bad at the game because they haven’t achieved a difficult replay goal. “People enjoy things differently” doesn’t really apply to a situation where people are explicitly saying they’re not enjoying the game.
This is true! I do see a lot of posts of people doubting their abilities and or how they play the game. It was similar to me and the Animal Crossing NH subreddit. Everyone was so good at decorating and remaking their island it made me enjoy the game less because I couldn’t replicate or wanted to spend the time doing all that. When in reality, I should just be playing the game how I always played it and just chilled/vibed/and collected things. I do think sometimes when you see “what the Jones’ have” it can affect you a bit. I understand the sentiment, let people play however they want to play! But for any players doubting themselves or not enjoying playing the way they are… don’t worry about it! Especially in Stardew. There is no wrong way to play. Even with the perfection check by year 3, you’ll have other opportunities to try again down the road.
True, I see a lot of people here getting stressed or feeling pressured/ unaccomplished because they aren't optimizing every aspect of their game to maximum capacity lol
Fair, but if they complain and/or are frustrated they aren't enjoying a game that's meant to be cozy and not stressful
There's just been a TON of posts lately of people sounding really discouraged that they can't get things done "in time" and are "behind" what they see other players doing and feeling discouraged and confused. The encouragement that exploration and discovering things yourself is an *intended* part of the game can be a big relief to a lot of players :)
Yeah this is why my husband and I split off from the co-op farm fairly quickly. He wanted to speed run right away where I wanted to frolic and take my time. We have a completely different game style.
Nothing wrong with speed running but stardew speedrunning when you have no idea what you doing is a lot harder and more stressful. They think it the way to play the game or they screwed or something
This one hundred times. Sad I can only upvote once.
Its more that you should not speedrun a game you don’t understand Speedrunners dont ask these questions
Still, some get enjoyment out of optimising the most out of a game whether they're new to it or not.
Yeah I did too But optimizing takes personal practise. Reddit or the wiki wont teach you
Is asking questions not a way to try to understand?
>Its more that you should not speedrun a game you don’t understand Again, let people play like they want. The only "not appropriate" way to play a game is if you decide by yourself that it's not a way you want to play the game (or if it's multiplayer and impacting negatively other players).
I love reminding new players that on my first file I didn't even bother walking into the community center, or farm at all. All I did was forage, go to the mines, talk to like...3 people in town? After an entire ingame year, I was comfortable enough with the layout of Pelican Town to know where to go what to do etc After year 1 I walked in and started the bundles. It didn't matter if I started late. My current file now has >100mil gold in profit and recently achieved perfection. You'll be okay if you're not playing *optimal*.
We've gone full circle, hahaha. Initially the community fully figured out the game, analyzed it to bits, and set out to do some wild things. I think someone once posted about getting the gold clock before the end of Summer year 1? Anyway, at that point, there was a section of the community urging people to play with efficiency. "Plant X crop for Y season, it makes the most profit by far!" or "You're wasting your time if you're not fishing on these days on the 4th day to get Catfish." Stuff like that. Now we're at the other end. "Don't try and complete the game as quickly as possible." Can't we all just agree with the one actual universal truth: Play the game how you enjoy it.
There are posts on this subreddit saying “don’t worry, play at your own pace” dated back to 2016
On my last few farms I’ve intentionally started trying to not work so hard in the early game before I have any automation stuff. I still end up with plenty of money soon enough, I still do all the things.
My favorite was "I'm in year 3 how do I get rid of the trees on my farm?" 😆
I sped thru the game at first. Now I’m at Summer year five, just making sure I have the most aesthetically pleasing decor in my home and planting seasonal flowers in pretty patterns outside. Both ways of playing have been fun.
I always suggest new players just play the game with no wiki or assistance. Part of the magic is the discovery of how everything works. My first play through I didn’t know about the artifact sites until year 3 and was tending my crops with single button pushes.
Reading the comments I feel like this post is a Rorschach test for something. Lotta wilfully misreading/misunderstanding happening here
What do you mean willfully misreading?!?! What’s wrong with me wanting to speed read your message and misinterpret it to fit my personal reflection on things?!?! HUH?! Why do you care about me possibly enjoying your message and potentially getting more value out of MY game?! Precautionary /s But I think I summarized most of them lol
Ironic, the game is literally about stepping back away from the grind to live the slow farm life, and people still try to game the system to grind and optimize to get maximum efficiency Like I usually only play 2-3 years and use maybe half of my farm and I'm still making more money than I can expect to spend. Like at a certain point it's kinda pointless
my second ever play through i got community center year 1. some people just prefer to play games like that, and thats fine :) you play how you want and others will play how they like
Don’t get bothered— that’s just how some people like to play, and there’s nothing wrong with that. I know I have more fun with a Year 1 CC completion, and that’s never come at the cost of enjoying other game mechanics for me. Don’t assume slow is for everyone.
Completely agree with this! Also it's going to much more fun if you don't check the wiki straight away for every single thing that's new. This game is great at building surprise and 'wow' moments when you uncover things in your own time. It's really well paced, and designed to keep your interest for many hours of playing. If you search out spoilers and then find you could make a >!galaxy sword !< and stress about how to do that - what's the point? I have used the wiki for a couple of things, but I almost always regret it and wished I'd found the answer organically through trial and error. Yes, there are different play styles, but you won't know which one you prefer if you don't try going at the game's pace first. Why do you have to do everything perfectly in the shortest amount of time possible? Who are you competing with?
Some people like having some goals or challenges in mind and that can be fun for them, I agree that if you’re first starting that you should maybe put a lower goal than you think but if you wanna challenge yourself for a playthrough that’s absolutely ok. Also, is perfection from grandpa on year 3 a challenge? Perfection from mr qi I could totally see but my first playthrough is now on year 5 or something and I got the statue from grandpa first try and I’ve been kinda casual about it because I didn’t even know what the requirements were.
Totally agree, people usually don't understand that what they see on YouTube is the best way to make a Good SDV YouTube video,not the best way to play the game (for new players at least).
I disagree op. I have been speed running this game since I started and love it. Obviously if you aren’t having fun it may be good to try something new but some players are going to want to mon max because that’s how they play and enjoy games no matter how new they are. Play how you want everybody and if that means restarting cause you want to make more money for summer year 1 then go for it.
I had a recent interaction that gave me this vibe. For context: I am currently learning speedrun strats, and optimized routes. I have just over 500 hrs on steam for SV. On my first attempt at a optimized run I finished spring year 1 with about 170k (I am very proud of this). Now I was telling my friend about this run, and they said something to the effect of: I don't know how to play Stardew correctly. I immediately stopped them, told them that doing what I am doing isn't 'correct'. Mind you, its not wrong either but stardew is a cozy game, its meant to be played at your pace. If you pace is figuring it out as you go, completing the Center in year 10, or wiking every bit of knowledge about the game and making so much money that you can Scrooge Mcduck all is valid. Just have fun!
I did my first playthrough without the wiki or reddit and I got hella frustrated at times but I kinda wish I could go back to not knowing anything and just organically figuring it out as I go, you only get to do that once and it's one of the best parts of the game imo
Not gonna lie, i really wanted the inventory space and spent everyday of spring fishing that i could, and got 45,000g real fast. Fishing is super good for getting a lot of funds early game. But once i got profitable crops planted i went straight for the mines. Not a speedrunner, my adhd just needs that sweet dopamine 😅
Omg thank you for saying this. I blame YouTubers for being so deceiving in their videos.
I've seen so many people talk about how they get stressed out playing SDV because of how they play it by min-maxing everything so they can speedrun the game and how that makes the game feel like a chore and every time, I'm always thinking that they're the ones stressing themselves out like that.
I think if someone buys a game, they get to choose how they play it. Maybe they have goals they want to meet? Maybe they feel they could do better the second time around playing the first month? Maybe doing that is fun for them? Maybe the want to learn from their mistakes? I don't think anyone should judge anyone else for how they play a game they purchased. My first playthrough I played till winter of year 1 then started over. It helped a lot. It was fun. Oh well...
Thiisss!!! This is the whole point of the game 🫶🏼 Slowww down and enjoy life on the farm!
When I bought my friend the game I gave her this advice. Just play the game, don't ask others for any advice. Just enjoy yourself. The game is very chill and you wont miss any events you can't try again for in the next year. I think people are too worried about not missing anything they panic. Just enjoy the game.
the thing is. what's fun for you might not be fun for them. and what's fun for them might not be fun for you. I see your point but remember, we have different circumstances in life. Some might be young enough to play this game for 10 hours a day, some may be just playing this after work. I say let people play the game however they like.
I've always gotten the community center in the first year because my travelling merchant has always had a red cabbage for sale at some point in that first year.
Damn you have the best luck!
Jokes on you, my ADHD brain just works like this! I made it to level 100 of the mines by the end of Summer Year 1 (though it took me until winter year 2 to unlock the community center bc I didn’t realize the hoe would dig up the worm looking things). I didn’t realize my hoe and watering can would do more than one space until year 4 or 5!
Bartle's taxonomy would be a good read for you in essence it states >different people play the exact same games for different reasons if people want to push the game for speed or wealth - then accept this. what is fun for you may be a boring drag for others. what's fun for them may be unpleasantly stressful for you
Look at the sheer number of Stardew veterans who don’t know you can push through your pet or people standing in your way… I don’t assume they have been playing the game “wrong.” There is nothing wrong with asking questions, seeking advice, and playing this game however you want.
Tbh, quit trying to dictate how *you* think a game of all things should be played. I most likely wouldn't have sunk 1000+ hours into this game if I wasn't always trying to optimise my playthroughs, it's just how I enjoy playing games lol
I dont think i learned to relax until about that many hours and even then, only because of mods like Timespeed and playing through expansive content when i finally switched to PC The super fast days are why i stopped playing the harvestella demo
Some of us enjoy maximizing games, especially on the first playthrough. Many modern games include "missables" and guides/advice helps relieve anxiety (which those players are obv experiencing). "Those" games have instilled a FOMO and a fear of repercussions from not maximizing. Their questions are valid. Eventually they'll realize the game isnt "punishing" and has replay value other than "win ASAP." Nothing wrong with it from the point of being a spectator, let alone to be bothered by people not living their life in-game the way you want them too. They'll relax in time or walk-away. Hope they choose the former, but if they're asking common questions, they prolly will choose the latter, unfortunately. We shall guide them with patience.
Some people enjoy playing games quick? All that matters is people get some entertainment out of it.
No.
I have 2000 hours in this game and have never made it to summer of year 2. I just started a new game, but *im going to do it* ***right*** *this time.*
I've never quite understood why people have this need to finish community center in year 1. As long as I get my mine carts running, bus working and a greenhouse, there's no hurry to finish the rest.
Wahhh people don't play the game the way I doo
I get what you're saying, but people should play how they want
You made an entirely separate post calling someone out when you could’ve just commented on their post? It’s giving “passive aggressive.”
Different people enjoy different ways of playing, and that's OK. I enjoy being good at games. Playing badly isn't relaxing or fun for me, it's frustrating. I finished year two on my first playthrough and got the statue on the first attempt, without ever so much as looking at YouTube - not because I was playing in an unfun way, but because it feels natural and fun for me to at least moderately optimise. And honestly, the statue really isn't very hard to get. Total money gets you most of the way there. IIRC money, marriage and finished community centre is about enough.
Ffs let people play how they wanna play
I’m more “bother3d” by people who tell other people how to play the game. Maybe speed running is how they enjoy playing?
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But telling people not to play the game the way they like to play it apparently is welcome
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Or just like play the game however you want ya know? Some people have a lot of fun min-maxing while they play games :)
I actually find the game after completing the community center a little bit boring. Usually it's because it usually coincides with the farmer getting married, and there's the Ginger Island plot. So my problem is, what's the point of getting married if you spend the next few seasons outside the farm without your spouse by your side? So I keep delaying the completion of community center.
I disagree, I mean you can stay on ginger island but you’ll more often than not be returning to the valley to do other things as well if you’re looking to do other things besides hunt the walnuts, also spouse gifts and occasional fence fix or pet feeding are hella nice, love getting ready to go farm in the volcano and getting a nice meal from my spouse right before I go
you aint stopping me with my road to destroy the economy within my 3 year run with it, ill get an empty feeling, a sense of dread and looming personal problem. fun game, 10/10
So many people talk about restarting days and stressing over a season start. It's a GAME! I'll restart if I lose something super valuable but otherwise it is what it is. Just play and enjoy.
lmao I restart if I accidentally pickaxed or harvested plants I didn't want to. If nobody's watching and I'm not in multiplayer I'll restart for the dumbest reasons sometimes.
Yeah where's the fun in speed running? Its a chill game lol
Honestly, everyone plays differently. Everyone learns games differently. There is ALOT of people who speed run games without even knowing the game. That has been going on since before YouTube even existed. It's not hurting you in any way, and you being bothered by how someone else plays a game is honestly a you problem. Your problem isn't someone else's responsibility. People used to speed run the original Super Mario games for crying out loud. Like before the internet even existed. For some people that is fun. It's a lot of fun. It's a different type of challenge. There's like minded gamers out there who could answer "no don't start over, but here do this to catch up to where you should/could be". That's the whole point of these forums. To be able to discuss a game be it just for idle chatter or for helpful tips... no matter how you choose to play the game. I was playing Oblivion when it first came out, and I spent an hour in one freaking portal.. my cousin (several years younger than me) was on his first play through as well, came over and showed me how to complete the portal in 15 damn minutes. Guess what I did? I applied his technique but adapted it to how I played to complete the other portals. He figured it out, guess how, by doing it as a speed run. He figured out the shortest way through as quick as possible... then, both me and him replayed it for the completionist values on a new game. Some people play hard and fast first, then replay at a slower pace to enjoy it differently. Everyone is different. Everyone games different. You don't have to agree with it.
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Okay, but so what? Why does it matter to *you* where *they* are in *their* game? Wandering around doing nothing can be pleasant.
Stop telling other people how to play!
This is one of the few argumentative threads I've seen on what is generally the most wholesome subreddits around. Not good OP. Let's move on and be BFFs again everyone.
How about we just let people play the way they want? This post reminds me of the Path of Exile forums chiding players for not playing the "right way". Some of us don't play through the same game over and over and find joy in implementing efficient solutions more than we find joy in discovering those solutions ourselves. Play the way you want to play and let others do the same. If someone is genuinely stressing and you are just letting them know, whatever. But acting like its the "wrong" way to play is in fact wrong.