My Top 7 Stardew Valley Tips for Beginners

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Life out in the valley can be tough, especially if you have no idea what you're doing. Stardew Valley doesn't offer much in terms of tutorials. It's very much the type of game where you figure things out as you play. If it's your first time playing, a few tips and tricks couldn't hurt to help you get settled in. Luckily, I'm a self-certified cozy game nerd, with a particular love for farming games.

I've poured more than 150 hours into this game and I still find myself making new discoveries. And there are quite a few things I wish I'd known before I started playing. Here are my top seven tips for new Stardew Valley players.

1. Watch the TV every morning

The boxy TV that comes with your starter home isn't there for just decoration. Checking the TV channels every morning can actually help you come up with a game plan for your day. The big three channels to pay attention to are the Weather Report, Fortune Teller and the Queen of Sauce. 

The Weather Report will tell you what the weather will be like the next day. The Fortune Teller channel tells you what your luck for the day is like. Luck is a stat in the game that affects your chances of finding geodes and gems in the mines. It can also affect things like enemy spawns and the chances of finding treasure while fishing or a treasure floor in the Skull Cavern (if you have it unlocked).

I mainly use the TV to help plan my trips to the mines. The best days to go mining are days when it's raining and the spirits are "very happy." You won't have to waste precious energy watering crops that day and you're more likely to find some extra goodies. 

The Queen of Sauce airs every Sunday and will teach you a cooking recipe that you can use in your house's kitchen. If you forget to tune in on Sunday, you can catch a rerun of the program on Wednesdays. However, it might not be for the recipe that aired the previous week. This might not seem all that useful at first considering your starter house doesn't have a kitchen, but collecting these recipes early can help you out later down the road. You'll have access to a kitchen space after the first house upgrade, which costs $10,000 gold.

2. Buy the training rod if you're struggling to catch fish

Money can be tight during your first few seasons. If I have any free hours left in my day, I like to spend that time fishing and collecting foragables to earn a little gold on the side. The problem is, fishing can be difficult when you're just starting out. The fishing rod that Willy gives you is crap and leaves little room for error when trying to reel in a fish. 

If you can't seem to wrestle a fish out of the water, I strongly recommend you buy the training rod from Willy's shop at the pier. Using a training rod sets your fishing skill equal to level five and makes the green bar behind the fish a bit bigger. It only costs a measly 25 gold and will make your life so much easier.

But you should know that there are certain fish that won't spawn if you're using the training rod. The fishing minigame is designed to get easier the more times you fish. I'd recommend catching some fish with the training rod for a bit to level up your fishing skill, then ditch the training rod and try using a different rod once you feel more comfortable reeling in your catches.   

3. Keep at least one of everything 

I know it's tempting to sell all your crops and foragables to make the most money possible, especially in your first year. But you should try to hold on to at least one of every item. (I personally keep two of everything.) The residents of Pelican Town are needy. You'll often get letters in the mail from the townspeople asking if you have any extra crops or if you can whip something up for them. 

You can also find requests from the townspeople on the notice board outside Pierre's shop. These requests can be for a variety of items: fish, foragables, crops, ores, gemstones and so on. Requests are entirely optional and you can just ignore them if you really want. But fulfilling requests is a quick and easy way to build friendships with the townspeople. Plus, you'll be compensated, sometimes even twice the item's original value. Certain items are also needed to complete bundles in the community center, so it's worth holding onto things, even if you aren't sure of its immediate use.

4. Keep a steady supply of trees growing

You will never have enough wood in this game. The vast majority of crafting recipes in the game require wood. This applies both earlier and later in the game. You can obtain wood by chopping down trees on your farm, in the forest and in the mountains. The problem is that these trees take forever to grow back, averaging around 24 days (unfertilized). You should also keep in mind that trees don't grow at all during winter. 

The best way to make sure you always have access to wood is to keep planting trees. You can do this by planting the pine cones, acorns and maple seeds that you can collect while chopping down trees. If you chop down a pine tree, there's a chance it will drop a pine cone, oak trees might drop acorns and maple trees can drop maple seeds. I know it's tempting to sell literally anything you find in your first few seasons, but trust me, these tree seeds are way more valuable in the ground than in the shipping bin.

I also recommend keeping some trees around on your farm. Any fully grown trees on your farm have a 15% chance of planting a tree seed in the ground up to three tiles away. Trees only behave this way on your farm, though. You'll have to plant your own trees in other areas.

Alternatively, you can use tree seeds to craft field snacks (unlocked at foraging level one) for an extra source of energy. All it takes is one of each type of tree seed that you'll likely be gathering while chopping down trees anyway. 

5. Look for salmonberries during spring

The biggest thing holding you back from progress in your first year is energy. At the start of the game, your character won't have the energy to do much of anything. And that's a problem if you're looking to water your crops, chop trees and take a trip to the mines in one day. 

I found the best way to keep my energy levels up all season long is by eating salmonberries. These pinkish-red berries can be found in bushes all over the map during spring 15 to 18. I like to spend at least three of those days walking around and collecting as many salmonberries as I possibly can. 

If you play your cards right, these berries are basically a free, year-long source of energy. I'll typically collect around 170 salmonberries, which is usually enough to keep my energy bar up for the rest of the year. Even just doing a lap around Cindersap Forest (which is just south of your farm) will net you a decent supply of salmonberries. If you can get your foraging skill up to level four, berry bushes have a chance of dropping even more berries.  

6. Visit the Traveling Cart on Fridays and Sundays 

The Traveling Cart is a special shop that you can find every Friday and Sunday at the top left of Cindersap Forest. This shop sells all sorts of niche items from fully grown crops, rare fish, food, furniture, foragables and more. 

Some players might not find much use for the Traveling Cart, but if you're working toward completing the community center, the Traveling Cart will really come in clutch, especially if your goal is to finish every bundle during year one. I mainly visit the Traveling Cart looking for rare fish and specific dishes that I know I probably won't get my hands on in my first few seasons.

Just know that you'll be paying top dollar for these items. If you're low on cash, it might be best to hold off on that shopping spree.

7. Reference the wiki

There is a lot of content in Stardew Valley and it can be difficult to keep up with it all. Thankfully, there's a free online resource that has all the answers: the Stardew Valley Wiki. The wiki will be your best friend, seriously. I always have it pulled up and ready on standby when I'm playing. 

Can't remember what gifts Haley loves? Check the wiki. Not sure in which season you can catch a pufferfish? The wiki will tell you. Can't remember how many copper bars you need to build a silo and don't want to walk all the way to Robin's shop to find out? The wiki has the answer. 

Stardew Valley players find themselves pulling up the wiki for all sorts of reasons. Here are a few things I mainly reference the wiki for:

• Loved and liked gifts
• Store hours
  
• Seasonal fish
  
• Seasonal crops
  
• Chances for certain item drops
  
• How much money certain items cost
  
• Resources required to craft certain buildings
  
• Daily NPC schedules