These 11 tips SAVED me as a NEW Player in Stardew Valley | Stardew Valley Beginners Guide

Watching a cozy podcast like this is also great. I've had a few runs with SDV, but watching you made me start all over. And you taught me about the bookseller. I always thought he was just another seller. DUH... it has Book in the title! Thanks for being so fun to watch.

I love your streams but something is wrong bc ypur game lags and is jerky so its hard to watch. Do you notice its smooth when playing without streaming or recording? You might need more RAM for your pc. I think too many things are running as your playing.

❤ the video 😊.
You are doing great with all the tips here.
Keep it up Rye, and you'll be having fun and relaxing play through 😊.

When you're fishing, you can use the cheap fish as a snack, (yes, raw) as well as the algae and seaweed. It keeps that tiny inventory from filling up so fast, and you can save your real snacks for the mines. Watching your playthrough got me interested in playing a new playthrough, myself. Thanks! :)

These are all really important and valuable tips for starting out. (Except for Haley, that's a personal choice.) Also, while checking the calendar (either your own or the one in the village), don't forget to check the next-day weather (as well as daily luck) on the TV. That helps you plan your activities, find a good day to upgrade a tool, etc. The other tips from the TV are also very helpful, and tell you a lot of things about the game that come as a surprise to most people who didn't learn them from the TV.

In my most ahead save Haley is still low hearts

not parsnips. potatoes or kale.

Great video!!

Saw a lot of spoilery things in this video, have you gotten that far without us knowing?? haha . great video as always

watch the tv every day. the weather is good to know for upgrading tools and planning mines or fishing runs. luck is helpful in the caves while trying to find ladders. wednesdays and sundays give recipes (some are reruns but it's good to check anyway in case you missed a day or two). and living off the land gives a lot of hints about things you can do, from farming to foraging to fishing. you can also read the library books you dig up in artifact spots (the blue books from worms) in the library for more advanced tips.

Play at your own pace is spot on. I have over 2000 hours in the game, and what keeps me coming back is the opportunity to approach the game in ways that are only limited by my imagination

Chests and furnaces at the mines was game changing

Love these tips. It's been so fun watching you play Stardew Valley your first time, because I am as well. I just started fall, but you're ahead of me with the community center, as I didn't figure that all out until the very end of the season. And like you, I didn't develop much friendship with the NPC's, either. Oops.

Don’t bring all of your tools with you when fishing or mining.

In the early game, I always focus on planting, foraging for easy money, clearing the farm of all resources (except grass), and talking to villagers every day. All the foraging and tree chopping gets that skill up quickly for some awesome bonuses sooner rather than later, which leads to more $$ (trying not to spoil what the bonuses are!). Increasing your friendship quickly with villagers is fun to learn about their personalities and back stories and also the possibility that they'll send you gifts 🙂

If you run low on energy while fishing, you can just eat the cheaper fish, algae, or seaweed

id work on one area/thing at a time.. no way can you complete everything in year 1, and why would you want to. .. i didnt even enter the mines till i had both backpack upgrades. never needed a chest outside my farm.. people need to plan ahead and think about what theyre doin that day..keep a hundred of everything lol. youve got chests all over the map, remember 🤣

The best tip I got when startibg Stardew was: spend all of your money on potatos, plant them, fish the rest of the day, sell the fish, buy more potatos, wrinse and repeat 🤣 Thats what I did 😀 But most importantly, go at your own pace. Happy Gaming, guys. ❤

These are so valuable - love the format of this & narration!! Subbed!!

Need a "to do" list so that way can remember what your goals are, and what you want to remember for later? There is a Nexus mod called To-Dew, and is literally a "to do" list, and contains no spoilers!!! I see you struggling so often at how easily you are distracted or forget what you are doing, this mod is one that you (especially you Rye) need! LOL.❤

Tip(s) on trash/trashcans, "One man's trash is another man's treasure" is ESPECIALLY true in this game! (No spoilers, but DO CHECK your crafting menu for a machine, which will make trash a good resource!!!)

Make sure that villagers are [redacted] away from the trashcans before looking in them... and if caught by a villager, DO talk to them to negate their judgement!

For new players (no spoilers!):

1) Read the books in the Library! SOOOO MANY helpful tips and hints that you won't find elsewhere in-game (but is in the Stardew Valley Wiki, although that is FULL of unmarked spoilers).
2) Carefully read the description of EVERYTHING in your menus!!! (Those also contain hints, sometimes subtle ones, that you need to use reasoning/common sense to figure it all out.) (Do this when you level up too, at least when certain things become unlocked when you progress!) Also, check your menu(s) before and after interacting with your farm animals/pets/villagers/museum/Community Center/shipping items, you'll learn something useful (especially if you want to be a completionist).
3) Read your mail carefully! There are hints (especially when combined with what the TV says) that can help you succeed.
4) Check your journal often (especially if it is pulsing)!!! (the "!" button near the top right of the screen) Some of these entries have an expiration on them (but if it does expire, don't worry, it'll come back later, and there is no penalty). Others require an item that you can only get at specific times of the year.
5) Pay attention to conversations you have with villagers, they will sometimes mention things that will be helpful/useful in gaining friendship with other villagers.
6) Keep a notebook on hand to remember things for later, because this game goes DEEP, and is a very full world. (This is especially true if you want to do vanilla Stardew [so no To-Dew Mod, or UI Info Suite II Mod], and don't want to use the Wiki or buy the guidebook.)
7) Keep a chest near the east entrance to your farm for Community Center donations and/or gifts for villagers! (Also keep a chest and at least 1 furnace near the entrance to the mines). (Later in the game, I also have [redacted] there too. It's a specific type of item that you get after doing something special for someone, and comes in clutch for me soooo often!!!)
8) Read EVERYTHING that is in Robin's menus (hint, hint), there are things in there you'll want to buy sooner than later, and they really help you out! Be sure you have completely scrolled though each menu!
9) If an event happens overnight, do go looking around the next day(s) (or in other words, don't be afraid to explore everything!). You can't break the game (mods, notwithstanding). If you find something is locked or a mystery at the moment, remember to try it later in the game.
10) Try fishing in every possible location, at all times, in all weather, in all seasons! Without spoiling anything, you might want to make notes on your observations (or use the Wiki to confirm your observations, and if you might not mind a spoiler or two on specific fish you search for within the Wiki).
11) Try to play at least until the beginning of year 3 in game, but I won't spoil the why.
12) Do keep at least 1 of everything (although 2 is better, until you know for sure it isn't needed), and not only because the Community Center might ask for it, but because other quests/villagers might ask for it too.
13) Upgrade your axe, pick axe, backpack, and watering can ASAP. Try to have upgraded your axe at least twice by the end of Spring, if you can, but I won't spoil the why. Try to upgrade your backpack at least once, your pick axe at least twice, and whatever you can manage with your watering can. By the way, the fishing rod you are given at first isn't a good one, but because I don't want to spoil anything, I won't make more comments on any other fishing rod. The same goes for your sword, it's a bad weapon, but (if you can manage it) don't buy weapons until very late game (if the RNG is against you, then maybe, just maybe, buy the best one you can).
14) Try to get to bed by midnight (or no later than before 12:30am), if you want to be fully refreshed the next morning (but do notice what happens if you stay out later, but did have a message earlier in the day that says, "you have new ideas to sleep on"). If you are out past 2:00am, there are 2 things that get affected. Whatever you do, don't die in the mines!!! It can be really unlucky!!! (Passing out does not mean dying.)
15) Watch your energy levels (you'll get a warning message), and eat something when it's low. Exhaustion really sucks, and can affect the next day.
16) Read the description of the seeds, and notice what the current date is, and do the math.

Fun bits that new players might like (the mildest of possible spoiler warnings):


Fun things you can do with specific animals (not on your farm).

There is a god within the game, and some villagers will mention the deity by name (go to Pierre's on Sundays to learn a bit more).

The tea is hot within Stardew, and there is a lot of it!! LoL (And fan theories to boot too.) (LoL, unintended pun there too!!! -but you'll need a lot of deduction [and get lucky in conversations among NPC's for clues] on this "punny" one, or look to fan theories.-)

IRL "tea," NPC Sebastian is supposedly based off of the game's creator, Concerned Ape (CA) (aka Eric Barone), and for many years CA literally did everything in the game, working alone, but he does have a team now.

Want a fun ending of finishing the Community Center (CC)? Don't be "civil" about it. (If you want a very subtle hint, it might pop up in one specific villager's conversation with you after having [redacted] hearts with the NPC).

There are fun things you can do with hats, any more hints, and I'll have to redact myself, but try finding out what you can do (besides you wearing them), and play with what else could fit within your hat spot.

There are Easter eggs that are delightful (and I'm not talking about the Egg Festival)! Explore the entire forest below the farm on Spring 17, the rest, you'll have to find yourself.

Want a very chill play-through? Turn to the "dark side" and do the Joja route. I have over 1,000+ hours in the game over various platforms. My most recent play-through is my first ever with Joja, and I am surprised at how stress free it actually is, and later [redacted] is able to be bought later, that is so hard to get in a CC run!!!

There are different interactions with mom/dad and some villagers, depending on if your character is male or female. Test it out with those that are single to see the differences.

You could troll a specific NPC, and is rather fun doing so, but you might want to do it on your second play through (if you knew the "tea," on this NPC, it's kind of warranted, really).

I am fairly new to Stardew Valley, and I have to say that this community of players are so chill 😊

Cozy <3

I'm later on in my first playthrough and now I look at the passing out in the field as taking an Uber ride home... I always have enough food to restore my energy and have millions in the bank. I really pushed the ale for profit for a while there. My wife is really good at the game with several playthroughs under her belt and is always offering advice... Sometimes I listen, sometimes I just tell her I'm playing it my way.

One of my biggest tips was to save your fish until you hit fishing level 5 and try to do that quickly. Easy to do in the first week.

NEVER take your upgraded/expensive fishing rod down in the mine. Especially early game when you're using a crappy sword in case you get killed.

I received no tips, and did a lot of things the "wrong way," but in the end I learned to adapt the "wrong way" into a way that actually worked really well. I have noticed now seeing lets plays that the way I set up my farms is just different from most people -- I plant in rows, like my great grand parents did on their irl farm, and instead of cutting everything down asap and planting tree farms I practice a kind of forestry, letting trees grow thick and then thinning them to get wood periodically.

Thank you everyone for these helpful tips in getting me started in Stardew Valley! Without you all, I would still be struggling to decide which farm to choose. While there are MANY tips that could be mentioned, these are the ones that really helped me, and hopefully they can help someone else someday!