tips for starting stardew valley for the first time / what i wish i would’ve known when i first started, A THREAD

map layout DOES matter, for your first time i would choose the standard layout, you have so much more room on it.

if you want to choose one of the others just know that:
-wilderness has monsters at night
-4 corners is mostly for multiplayer

on your first day, spend all your money on seeds. plant as much as you can as that’s your only source of income in the beginning

for your first 5 days, try to meet everyone in town and gather some resources on your farm.

don’t worry about clearing it all out in the first season!!! just clear enough to make some chests and have a small stockpile of wood and stone for crafting

the tall grass that you can walk through, try your hardest not to clear it. leave it there until you build a silo, then it’ll turn into wheat and you won’t have to buy any

on day 5 the mines will open! every 5 floors is a checkpoint that you can return to at any time. certain levels have different resources, so you’ll want to progress through it as the game goes on, but don’t rush!! take your time this is a slow burn game, nothing’s urgent

when the clock hits 12 am, GO HOME. at 2 am you will pass out and lose money and items.

try to befriend everyone! they’ll give you gifts and you’ll get really cute cutscenes with them when you hit a certain friendship level

when you start fishing, don’t use the rod you’re initially given. buy the training rod for 25G and use that one to get your skill up, fishing is incredibly difficult at first but once your skill gets higher it gets a little easier

fishing cont.
know that you won’t catch many diverse types of fish until you start buying the more expensive rods. THATS OKAY. there’s no rush and all those fish are still worth money, all while you’re getting your skill up and practicing fishing

try to keep at least 1 of everything you get. it can help with befriending people as they will sometimes pay you to bring them certain items. also almost every single item in the game has a use at some point, just consider how badly you need the money before selling certain stuff

if you ever encounter the opportunity to get a Stardrop, get it.

don’t procrastinate upgrading your pickaxe and axe, it’ll make life so much easier

once you’ve unlocked the community center, there’s a little white tree icon next to your inventory page. you can hover over an item and if it’s needed for the community center the icon will start shaking

don’t go crazy making the first sprinklers you unlock, they’re not very good. make a few to help you out but ultimately save your resources for the second sprinklers you unlock, they are FAR superior

the first backpack upgrade should be a primary goal, but the second backpack upgrade should only be when you have the money to spare, i promise you’ll manage without it for a while

there will be little squiggly “worms” sticking out of the ground sometimes, hoe that ground. you’ll get something from them.

try your hardest to get at least 1 type of animal before winter. you can’t grow crops in the winter (without the greenhouse, unlikely in year 1), so animals will be the only way you can make money. if you’re low on funds, get the coop first.

let me also add that there is no wrong way to play, these are just things i personally wish i had known the first time i played!

check the tv in the morning for luck! luck impacts things like how quickly you’ll get a ladder in the mine and what kinds of things you’ll get in geodes

also to add since this isn’t very common knowledge, but you can complete the crab pot bundle without a crab pot

and on fridays and sundays, nearby the wizards tower, there will be a merchant, she sells an assortment of stuff but if you have a steady enough income, go for the rare seeds

she also sells stuff needed for the community center if you want to speed it up

when you want to get married, you have to wait for a rainy day and head to the beach, you can buy the object you need for 5000G. note that it doesn’t rain in the winter so you have to get a rainy day in fall or wait until spring

during winter, rearrange your farm. it’s the perfect time to fix anything with your layout since you aren’t growing any crops anyways. i also use this time to plan out where i’m going to put the crops in the spring