The difference between a well organised farm and one simply thrown together is remarkable in Stardew Valley. At its base level, the game is centred around getting things done in a single day, and whilst there is a great deal of world out there to explore, a great deal of these things take place on your farm. There is no real need to rush of course, but with seasons changing and events coming and going, it’s worth occasionally having one eye on the clock. Having a good farm layout then, can make a world of difference, so we’ve put together some of our favourite bits of advice, all designed to make your rural life potter along that little bit smoother.
Chests, Chests And More Chests
- Use Chests liberally, but position them strategically.
No doubt you’re well aware of the value of a Chest, after all they’re the go to way of storing items in Stardew Valley, but we’re frequently surprised by something that players often forget: They can be placed almost anywhere. Oftentimes it’s worth simply dumping parts of your inventory between tasks, so why place them all indoors. In fact, why not place a chest or two outside each building, to be filled with items that relate to that particular place? These can then be returned to, for some down time organisation sessions or even just plundered for items to sell in super quick time. Our overall point is that you should place them in areas where you tend to be active, making them a natural stopping off point rather than a time consuming cul-de-sac.
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It’s A Sign
- Signpost a busy farm, using items to quickly indicate the info.
This might seem like a rather trite recommendation, after all it’s your farm and surely you know exactly where everything is, right? We’ve been there, we’ve completely foregone any signage and managed to get away with days and days of play without issue. Unfortunately real life, which is often much more annoying than that of Stardew, does sometimes crop up and get in your way, taking up valuable farming time with it’s mundanity and constant requirements. It’s at this point, when you’re loading your last save and looking at a farm now completely alien to you, that you’ll learn to appreciate signs. Better still, popping an item on top of the sign means you don’t even have to interact with it to understand its meaning! They even look pretty good too, and should you decide to put a sign on a fish pond, it’ll show you how many fish are in the pond at any one time!
Shedding Space
- Make use of Sheds to compartmentalise whilst decluttering the farm.
It’s worth noting at this point that we’re building up a bit of a picture with our tips here today. You could, for example, have a sign that points towards a particular section of your farm, whereupon chests that hold certain items can be found… Outside of the shed in which they are designed to be used! This is a fantastic way to compartmentalise your farm, ensuring that you always know where the things you need can be found. Sheds themselves are a great place to keep pieces of machinery or artisan equipment, which in turn stops them from cluttering up the place. Interestingly enough, our usage of sheds in Stardew Valley can be negatively correlated against the cleanliness of our office space in real life.
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Preserving Time
- Kegs and Preserve Jars can be used to visualise their status.
Realistically, what we’re actually advocating here is that a Keg or Preserve Jar can be used as a substitute for our second tip, which was to use signs around your farm. It’s also probably our favourite tip in the entirety of Stardew Valley, because it’s simply but very, very effective. In short, put a Keg or Preserve Jar outside of the building in which you keep them. Fill this outside Keg or Jar at the same time as filling those inside, and you have a quick and easy indicator for when all of those inside are ready to be harvested. This way, you need not even approach the building unless the Keg or Jar outside is ready.
Paths To Victory
- Paths increase movement speed, and can even hem off unwanted growth.
You could argue, and for reference we’d often agree with you, that paths aren’t truly necessary in Stardew Valley. Dismissing them out of hand however, would be to miss out on a few benefits that are actually tangible. Firstly, your movement speed is increased somewhat when you’re moving on them, and whilst it’s only a very small increase, it’s better than nothing. Secondly, should you decide to build paths around trees then this can stop them growing in that direction, which is very useful when you’d like to keep access to a Tapper.
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Fencing On Point
- Fences are very useful, but the regular type isn’t always the best option.
Somewhat like our pathing tip, you could argue that using a Fence isn’t truly necessary, but those of you that consider this an acceptable argument are exactly the kind of people that we’d avoid helping to move house, or indeed organise a party of sorts. We’re joking of course, but the main point here is that your farm is very likely to have animals of some sort, and unless you want them wandering around then you’re going to have to hem them in somewhat. This is especially relevant when you have pigs, because they’ll often find truffles, and without a pen of sorts they’ll end up scattered all over the place.
It’s worth noting that a regular fence will decay over time, requiring replacement. This can be avoided by building a false fence of sorts, using things like flower barrels, lightning rods or even tea plants. Unfortunately you will need a regular fence in order to place a gate, but this is a small price to pay when you only need to replace one piece each time.
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Categories: Stardew Valley