Stardew Valley — Complete Year 1 Guide

Stardew Valley is one of the most beloved games ever made — developed by a single person over four years. Farm, mine, fish, and befriend an entire town. No death penalty. No game over. No timer pressure. You play at your pace.

The first things to do on your farm

• 1
  Plant your parsnip seeds immediatelyYou start with parsnip seeds. Plant them on Day 1 — they take 4 days to grow and are your first income. Clear just enough land to plant all of them, then spend the rest chopping wood and rocks. Don't over-clear or you'll run out of energy.
• 2
  Watch your Energy bar — it controls everythingEnergy governs every swing of your axe, hoe, and watering can. When it hits zero you slow down. When it goes negative (red) you pass out and lose gold. Spring Onions spawn free in Cindersap Forest from Day 1 and restore 13 Energy each.
• 3
  Be home by midnight or you pass out and lose goldThe day runs 6am to 2am. At midnight your character blinks as a warning. At 2am you pass out and get fined gold — worse in the mines where you can lose items too. Head home by 11:30pm.
• 4
  Craft a Chest on Day 1 — your first storageYou need 50 Wood to craft a Chest. Place it outside your house immediately. You'll run out of inventory space fast — a chest solves this. Build several over the first few days.

What to plant and when — crops die when the season changes

• 5
  At Farming Level 5 — always pick TillerTiller gives a 10% bonus to all crop sell prices — it compounds significantly across a year. At Level 10, pick Artisan (40% bonus to artisan goods like wine and jam) for long-term income.
• 6
  Upgrade your Watering Can before SummerA Gold Watering Can waters a 3×3 grid in one swing — what takes 25 energy manually takes 2 energy with Gold. Do this on a rainy day so you don't need to water while it's being upgraded.

Go early and go often

• 7
  Unlock the mines on Spring 5 — don't delayA letter on Spring 5 tells you a landslide has cleared. Head northeast to find the entrance. The mines are where all your ore comes from. Target Level 40 by end of Spring, 80 by Summer, 120 by Fall.
• 8
  Mine Level milestones unlock everythingLevel 40 = Copper (first tool upgrades). Level 80 = Gold (Gold tools — massive quality of life). Level 120 = bottom of mine, unlocks Skull Cavern. Every 5 levels has an elevator checkpoint — always push to the next one before stopping.
• 9
  Bring food into the mines — alwaysFood restores energy and health. Bring cooked food, cheese, or foraged items before heading in. Running out of energy in the mines costs you an entire session.

Your main Year 1 mission

The Community Center bundles are collections of items to donate in exchange for major town upgrades: the Greenhouse (grow crops in Winter), Minecarts (fast travel), the Bus to the Desert, and more.

• 10
  Save one of everything from each season — seriouslyBundles require items from every season. Before selling your entire harvest, check bundle requirements and keep at least one of anything asked for. You cannot get a Spring crop in Summer — you'd wait a full year.
• 11
  Complete the Boiler Room first — it unlocks MinecartsBoiler Room bundles need mine ores. Its reward — the Minecart system — gives fast travel between mines, town, quarry, and bus station. Makes the rest of the game significantly faster.
• 12
  Do NOT sign up with JojaMart — everMorris at JojaMart will offer a Joja Community Development Form. Do not buy it. It permanently closes the Community Center path. The Community Center route has better rewards and is the heart of the game's story.

Making friends matters more than you think

• 13
  Give gifts twice a week to build friendships fastYou can give each villager up to 2 gifts per week. High friendship unlocks cutscenes, recipes, and some Community Center items villagers send you as mail gifts.
• 14
  Talk to everyone every day — even for a secondJust talking to a villager gives a tiny friendship boost. Click every person you pass walking through town. It costs zero energy and keeps all your relationships climbing passively.

Things you'll wish you knew from Day 1

• 15
  Dig up worm tiles with your Hoe — alwaysAnywhere you see worms wiggling from the ground, use your Hoe to dig. These "artifact spots" yield buried items — museum artifacts, lost books, or valuable foraged items.
• 16
  The Traveling Cart appears every Friday and SundayShe sells rare seeds including the Red Cabbage seed needed for a Year 1 bundle. Visit without fail — missing it can delay Community Center completion by a full year.
• 17
  Fishing is hard at first — stick with itThe fishing minigame feels impossible to new players. By Fishing Level 4–5 it becomes manageable. It genuinely gets easier — we promise.
• 18
  Place Sprinklers as soon as possibleSprinklers automatically water adjacent tiles every morning at zero energy cost. Even a few Basic Sprinklers frees enormous energy for mining and fishing instead of watering.
• 19
  Watch TV every morning for luck and tipsThe Fortune Teller tells you if it's a lucky day (best for mining and Skull Cavern). Livin' off the Land gives farming tips. Lucky days are the best days to push deep into the mines.

Our take on Stardew Valley