Fans of the massive farm sim RPG Stardew Valley know that the beloved indie game has plenty of activities, quests, and events to keep the player working on their farm and the surrounding community for hours across multiple playthroughs. But, the wide range of activities and freedom players have means that there are plenty of things to do and see in the game that are easy to miss.
For example, long-time players may not know that Mayor Lewis’ Shorts can be put on the Grange display during the Stardew Valley Fair or that players can upgrade their weapons, tools and rings at the Forge at the end of the Volcano Dungeon. Even after playing for a long time, there are many things to learn about Stardew Valley.
Glowing Community Center Icon
At the start of a new playthrough, the Community Center in Pelican Town is run-down. The player can choose to restore the building by giving specific items to the forest spirits that currently live there, which are called Junimos. Players can visit the Community Center or click on the Community Center icon in the inventory to see what items are needed. It is easy to forget which items and how many are needed, however, and it can be tedious and time-consuming to constantly check.
Luckily, there is an in-game tool to help with that. The Stardew Valley creator, Eric Barone, recently tweeted that the Community Center icon in the inventory “will pulsate” if the player puts their cursor over an item that is needed for that part of the game, which many long-time players had no idea about.
The Ducks Can Swim
One of the many activities the player can do on their farm is raise ducks. Since not all players raise ducks and the players that do raise them may not put them near a body of water, some players can go through the entire game without knowing that the ducks can swim.
Even though ducks do not produce as much as chickens, the happiness of seeing a cute pixelated duck swim across the water makes the animal worth it. Plus, they produce duck feathers, which one of the possible bachelors, Elliott, loves.
Raising A Dinosaur
It is no secret that players can raise various farm animals, but many may not know that they can also raise their own tiny dinosaurs. This is done by finding a dinosaur egg and putting it in an Incubator in a Big Coop. While dinosaur eggs can be found by digging up artifact spots or fishing, the easiest way to find one is to visit Prehistoric Floors in the Skull Cavern.
After completing the Vault bundles in the Community Center, the Junimos repair the bus stop and the player can finally go to The Calico Desert. If the player has reached the bottom of the mines and obtained the Skull Key, they can unlock the Skull Cavern in the desert. Below floor six, there is a small chance that one of the randomly generated floors will be a Prehistoric Floor. On this type of floor, players can either kill the Pepper Rex monsters or forage on the ground for a chance to obtain a dinosaur egg with the player's own baby dino inside.
The Meteorite Event
Sometimes, when the player goes to bed in-game, events can happen overnight. This includes the Meteorite Event. When this rare event happens, the player will hear a strange noise and a message appears on the screen that says “An explosion was heard in the night …” After that, the player can find the meteorite somewhere on the farm.
The meteorite will never despawn and must be mined by a Gold Pickaxe or better, which is similar to how the fallen log that blocks the path to the Secret Woods must be mined by a Steel Axe or better. While the meteorite drops several items after being mined, the meteor does destroy the part of the farm that it crashed on. Hopefully, it didn't land on anything important!
The Witch Event
Another rare event that can occur overnight is the Witch Event. During this event, a Witch is shown flying over the farm at night. If the player has a coop, the Witch may leave a Void Egg, which can be incubated into a Void Chicken. The Void Chicken is a black chicken with red eyes that can lay more Void Eggs. Also, if the player has achieved 100% Perfection, then the Witch may leave a Golden Egg, which can be incubated into a Golden Chicken. If the player has a slime hutch, then the Witch may turn all the slimes inside into black slimes.
While the player can visit the Witch’s Hut later in the game, she is never in the hut. But, the player can use the shrines in her hut to erase the memories of their ex-spouses, turn their children into doves, or make monsters spawn on the farm at night.
Krobus As A Roommate
After getting married, the bachelor or bachelorette will move in with the player at the farmhouse. If the player does not want to get married but wants a roommate, however, the player can have the NPC Krobus as a platonic roommate. Krobus is a friendly monster who lives in the sewers and sells items to the players. Once enough items have been donated to the Museum, Gunther will give the player a Rusty Key, which unlocks the sewers and allows the player to meet and possibly befriend Krobus.
If the player is not married and gives Krobus a void ghost pendant, then Krobus will move into the farmhouse a couple of days later. For some players, this might be one of the best mysteries in Stardew Valley. While Krobus does not do chores or have children with the player, the monster does give gifts and hugs.
Legendary Fish
Fishing is one of the main activities in the game, and most players will probably need to fish at least a little, at some point. But, there are five fish in the game known as Legendary Fish that most players have never seen or caught. These fish only show up in specific locations, are extremely hard to catch, and sometimes require high-level fishing skills to even encounter. And the player can only catch one of each of these Legendary Fish in a single save file.
If players are trying to achieve 100% Perfection, then they must catch all of the Legendary Fish. Even for those who love fishing, this may be a task that requires legendary patience.
The Movie Theatre
If the player restores the community center, a secret bundle will appear sometime afterward in the now-abandoned JojaMart building. Once this bundle is completed, the Junimos will build a Movie Theatre where the abandoned building was. During each season, the theatre shows one of eight movies, and the player must buy a ticket to enter the building. The player can also give a villager a movie ticket so that the villager will see the movie with them.
Along with seeing movies, the player can also play the crane game in the theatre to get some prizes, as long as someone is not already playing it.
The Casino
In the Oasis store in The Calico Desert, there is a door that is blocked by a bouncer. To get past the bouncer, the player must complete “The Mysterious Qi” quest, which gives them the Club Card. Inside the casino, players can talk to the owner of the casino, Qi, and obtain “Qi Coins.” These coins are used to buy the items in the casino.
Players can either exchange gold coins for Qi Coins or win Qi Coins by gambling. The gambling is either done by using the slot machines or playing CalicoJack, which is a variant of BlackJack. While the items in the casino may be enticing, players should be careful not to spend all their savings.
The Summit
After the completion of the Community Center and after fixing the boat inside Willy’s Fish Shop, the player will gain access to Ginger Island. Once reaching the island, the player discovers new NPCs and learns that they must gather Golden Walnuts in order to restore parts of the island. Golden Walnuts can be obtained by foraging, fishing, exploring, mining and farming on the island. The player can also complete various quests and explore the Volcano Dungeon, which leads to more Golden Walnuts.
Once enough Golden Walnuts are found, the player can access Qi’s Walnut Room. This is where the player can discover the requirements for achieving 100% Perfection. If the player manages to reach this, then the boulder that was blocking a pathway near the railroad is removed. This leads to The Summit, which is where the player gets to see a special cutscene with their partner.