I came to Stardew Valley as a cynic. I d seen screenshots, I d seen praise, I d seen it topping the Steam chart. It s a sickeningly cheerful RPG about farming, I thought. Can it really be that good?

Yes, it really can. I ve now played for over 25 hours, and I m creeping towards the end of my first year in Pelican Town. After the initially overwhelming introduction to Stardew Valley s many activities, I gained an economic foothold via the fishing minigame. It s a pleasant time waster, and easy enough that I could haul in a decent catch in a day.

That s when the numbers started growing, and everything became compulsive. Fishing gave me money that I invested in seeds. Weeks later, the seeds became vegetables, and money started to pour in at a steadier rate. By summer, I d made enough to buy chickens. By autumn, cows.

At this point I was a full-time farmer, hand-watering rows of crops, brewing pale ales, and creating artisanal cheese and mayonnaise. I became the hipster s hipster, supplying the town with all the raw materials of gentrification without any of the downsides. Even homeless hermit Linus has his tent.

It s winter now, and I m tidying up the wilder edges of my farmland. I m investing in upgrades, new buildings, and finding more valuable resources in the mines. It s all with a goal of increasing production in year two. Come spring, it all begins again this time, with the benefit of tens of hours of experience. I m using an external tool to map the ideal layout. Stardew Valley has its tendrils in me, and it s not letting go.

A few remnants of my cynicism remain. Stardew Valley asks you for a few basic details on character creation. As a result, I m the proud owner of Atrocity Farm. When I find an energy-boosting stardrop fruit, I m told that my mind is filled with thoughts of petrol bombs. It s like having a friend who teases your latest hobby, but instead it s my past self mocking me through time. And for good reason. As much as I m obsessed with the game, I can t quite deal with how gosh darned nice it is.

Pelican Town feels sickly sweet. Its inhabitants are mostly unfailingly polite, even when they don t much care for you. Living in Stardew Valley is like being indoctrinated into a cult, only without the underlying tragedy. It s the version of the countryside people who ve never lived in the countryside dream of moving to. I did live in the countryside. It was boring and full of jerks and cow shit. Not necessarily a higher percentage of jerks than you d find anywhere else, but when there s less people around they tend to stand out. Rural life is full of gossip, and polite, silent judgement. Here, I can t even tell people about the mayor s fling with the ranch owner.

I ve come to admire and embrace the few dark edges that exist in the game. I ve almost entirely ignored the NPCs, because I can t bring myself to join their saccharine community. My favourite character is Haley, because her borderline disgust at my appearance and work feels honest. I ve embraced the life of an embittered loner in protest at the townspeople s anodyne pleasantries. I ve taken to rummaging through bins as characters walk by. It grosses them out, which I find funny. Plus, I once found a pufferfish that someone had thrown away. I sold it for 200 gold.

Stardew Valley has given more than a million players the chance to trade guns and explosives for crops and livestock, and a glance at its Steam reviews show players with dozen (and often hundreds) of hours invested. But farm life isn't all idyllic, and after those dozens or hundreds of hours, most players hit the same roadblock: a lack of endgame.

Like its sword & sorcery RPG counterparts, much of the joy of Stardew Valley is in the journey, not the destination. And just as over-leveling your characters to mow through enemies can take the fun out of RPG combat, there reaches a point a relatively easy one to reach, at that in Stardew Valley where money is no longer an objective, and many players have found reaching that point makes the game no longer enjoyable.

Even the Community Center bundles, one of the game's only clear "objectives," can be completed in the first game year with a little planning. Once that task is done and the money is flowing regularly, you might start to feel like there's nothing more to do in Stardew Valley. Developer Eric "ConcernedApe" Barone says he has ideas for future content that will keep players interested well into years three, four, five, and beyond, but Barone is a one-man operation, which means that content is probably a long ways off.

While we wait for Stardew Valley's planned updates, including more endgame content and online co-op, we've come up with a few ideas for "arbitrary goals" to set for yourself to keep the game interesting for seasons to come.

Many Stardew Valley farmers don't do much planning when they first start reclaiming their farm from the wilds. Well, I didn't, anyway. But that's okay, because beautifying your farm into something with a little organization can be extremely rewarding (not to mention time-consuming perfect for endgame!) Check out our gallery of farms for some inspiration. And don't forget that mods can be used to further overhaul your farm's visual appeal.

If simply getting things organized isn't enough, another thing you can do is rebuild your farm with a single purpose. You could pretend you're a rancher and focus only on raising livestock. Or burn everything down and turn your farm into a winery. We've got a handy guide for that one.

With such a focus on turning your farm into a well-organized, finely-tuned operation, it's easy to forget that your farmhouse can also be customized. Hit up Robin's shop to buy new wallpaper, floor patterns, and furniture.

You can also put non-furniture items like produce, gemstones, and pretty much anything else on tables and other flat surfaces, further expanding your decorating options.

The Skull Cave found in Calico Desert is home to Stardew Valley's most fearsome enemies, but its depths promise the riches of iridium ore and super-rare gemstones.

It can also be used as a sort of battle arena challenge. Instead of stocking up on food to restore your health and energy, see how deep you can get without bringing any restorative items. You can use a mod to slow down or turn off the passage of time, then set limited-item challenges for yourself, seeing how deep you can reach with minimal resources.

Pretend you only have a limited timeframe to rebuild your farm. Set challenges for yourself and see if you can complete the community center, reach a certain gold threshold, or successfully build out a pre-planned farm layout before your time is up.

Instead of min/maxing by only growing the most profitable crops each season, pretend you're working toward a community center bundle that requires 50, 100, or more of each crop to complete gold quality only if you're up for it.

Bonus points if you limit your use of sprinklers and do all the watering by hand.

Sure, collection pages for every item already exist in game. But let's be honest, have you really caught them all? I didn't think so. Now get to it.

The denizens of Stardew Valley can take quite a while to woo into your good graces. For an added challenge, restrict yourself to only giving one gift a week.

If all else fails, pick a really, really, ridiculously large arbitrary number and try to earn that much gold. Imagine you're trying to pay off some sort of exorbitant, Tom Nookian life-debt and the only way free is to hand over hundreds of millions of Bells I mean gold. What game are we playing again?

In all seriousness, Stardew Valley is what you make of it. Set for yourself whatever challenges you like. As has been seen by Pokemon players undertaking the "Nuzlocke Challenge," adhering to self-imposed rules can be extremely rewarding, so set whatever challenges you like and keep the farm dream alive.

Eric Barone has been understandably busy these past few months, but after a short break to play Final Fantasy IX (among other games), he s ready to talk about Stardew Valley s future. The biggest talking point is that cooperative multiplayer is definitely coming, and it might not take too long either: Barone has agreed to let publisher Chucklefish handle some of the more finicky programming duties.

There s obviously a huge amount of work involved to achieve all this, and I am just one person, Barone wrote in the update. I know in the past I ve been very adamant about doing everything myself, and I still am when it comes to game design and content. However, I ve decided to seek outside help for some of the more technical things listed above.

In addition to cooperative play, localisation for other, non-English speaking countries is on the cards. In the more immediate future is version 1.1, which will roll out a bunch of new gameplay additions and changes, such as:

More late-game contentNew farm buildingsNew cropsNew artisan goodsNew advanced farming/producing mechanicsShane and Emily will be marriage candidates. They will also have more events and dialogue as a result.More marriage content for all spousesMore events for the non-marriage NPC sImprovements/Additions to mining and combatAbility to move buildings and other convenience featuresMore bug fixesMore secretsMore small, fun touches to the world

Have you played Stardew Valley yet? At least a million other people have, and according to our reviewer it s definitely worth your time.

Eric Barone has been understandably busy these past few months, but after a short break to play Final Fantasy IX (among other games), he s ready to talk about Stardew Valley s future. The biggest talking point is that cooperative multiplayer is definitely coming, and it might not take too long either: Barone has agreed to let publisher Chucklefish handle some of the more finicky programming duties.

There s obviously a huge amount of work involved to achieve all this, and I am just one person, Barone wrote in the update. I know in the past I ve been very adamant about doing everything myself, and I still am when it comes to game design and content. However, I ve decided to seek outside help for some of the more technical things listed above.

In addition to cooperative play, localisation for other, non-English speaking countries is on the cards. In the more immediate future is version 1.1, which will roll out a bunch of new gameplay additions and changes, such as:

Have you played Stardew Valley yet? At least a million other people have, and according to our reviewer it s definitely worth your time.

Since Stardew Valley launched in February 2016, millions of players have given up the harsh daily grind of the city for the peaceful, idyllic farmer lifestyle. But there's a lot to do in Stardew Valley, and without a clear farm plan in mind, it can feel like some goals are a long way off, even when you're progressing steadily and avoiding passing out in the street at 2 am.

For farmers who've taken up hoe and axe for several seasons but still feel like they have a ways to go, here's a clear plan explaining how to transform your farm from a run down mess into fine-tuned operation.

 1. Start with a blank slate

One of the most daunting tasks for new Stardew Valley players is the absolute mess of a farm you start the game with. Left to the wild will of mother nature, your new farm is overgrown with trees, grass, rocks, and all manner of other detritus a far cry from some of the immaculate creations in our gallery of farms. Cleaning the whole thing up not only gives you a great sense of accomplishment, it gives you a nice blank canvas to start with. But cleaning up your farm is not just a good move for new players it's also a good idea for players who haphazardly placed their first few farm buildings and are now left with a disorganized, inefficient system to manage.

As with any large-scale overhaul, it's easier to start fresh and build anew than fix a broken system piece by piece. It might seem like moving backwards, but the best way to start planning out a well-organized farm is to detach from emotion and burn it all to the ground. Chop the trees, bust the rocks, sell off your animals (having to tend to daily feed, love, and milkings is just another distraction), and destroy all the buildings. The fresh slate of an empty farm is now our canvas.

2. Farming things other than crops

Stardew Valley is, quite obviously, a game about farming. But there's quite a few items you're going to need especially for our goal of total domination here a lot of which can't just be planted and grown. Wood and coal are two of the most valuable resources in building the machines than transmute your crops and other items into high-value artisan goods. And since the machines take time to process, having more to run at once is better. Wood okay, that one can be planted and grown, but I suggest doing so with a bit of purpose rather than letting nature run wild. I've found a grid trees with two spaces between them works best. It allows for high tree density while still leaving space for your horse to run in between.

Stumps don't regrow into trees (thanks Emma for pointing that out!) so feel free to chop'm to the ground and plant afresh. You can use any seeds you like for your tree farm, but be sure to dedicate a section of Oak Trees for Tappers. We're going to need a lot of Oak Resin later on, so start collecting it now.

Coal is the next thing you'll need for crafting machines and smelting metal bars (we'll need a lot of those too). But since it drops only sometimes from busting up rocks, it can be tough to farm efficiently. One method, of course, is to simply buy coal in bulk from the blacksmith. But you're going to need a lot, and money might be tight on your farm. Your best bet is to delve into the mines, as the Dust Sprites that appear on levels 41-79 have a 50 percent coal drop rate and they usually appear in swarms.

Take the elevator down to level 50 (if you're not there yet, we'll cover that shortly) and wreck through the next five or ten levels (collect iron ore along the way we need that too) then hop back in the elevator at level 60 or 65 and repeat the process. As an added bonus, the Adventurer's Guild reward for killing 500 Dust Sprites earns you the Burglar's Ring which doubles the drop rate of items from monsters, speeding up the process even further.

3. Digging deep into the mines

Not every farmer is a great swashbuckler, and for some the mines are a vast, untapped land. Fortunately, it's fairly easy to quickly forge a path into their depths. Before you do, though, spend a few days upgrading your pickaxe, as a golden one will help you blow through the early mine levels. Gold ore doesn't appear until level 80, though sounds like a catch-22, right? This is a time when you're going to want to spend a bit of cash now for a long-term payoff. Buy enough ore from the blacksmith for five of each metal bar and use them to upgrade to a golden pickaxe.

The increased rock-destruction power of your shiny new toy will make short work of the rocks in the early mine levels, making it far easier to surge down to the depths where those Dust Sprites and, yes, gold ore itself can be found. Another important thing is that the deeper you go, the better the weapons unlocked in the guild. This is critical for coal farming, as an overpowered weapon helps you shred through those level 50 enemies nice and quick.

4. Becoming a berry baron

We're going to need money to bankroll this farm overhaul, and berries are the place to be. Also, wouldn't it be nice to do some actual farming in this farming game?

At the beginning of summer, carve out a massive swath of land (be sure to keep any clay you dig up!) and plant as many blueberry seeds as you can afford. Be sure to hit them with fertilizer (use all the sap from your tree farm above) for a higher chance at silver and gold crops, and wait for the money to roll in. Blueberries take 13 days to mature, and keep producing three to four more berries every four days after that (don't be tempted by the quick-growing Tiller skill—you want to be an Artisan for our next step). Plant within the first few days of summer and you're looking at four harvests and a nice payday. (And since they keep growing all season, we don't have to worry about losing time to replanting.

Do the same with Cranberries in Fall, and soon you'll have enough money to fund our plans. For watering, buy (or mine) the ore necessary to craft Quality Sprinklers (toss Quartz you find in the mines into the furnace for the Refined Quartz you need). Since Blueberries don't have a chance to mutate into super-sized crops, there's no need to plan them in 3x3 grids. With the berry operation automated, you can spend all your time in the mines farming coal, copper, and iron ore. 

5. Getting into the alcohol game

By now your farm should be a relatively finely tuned operation, but to really bring in the riches, it's time to get into the wine business. Kegs take around seven days to turn a fruit into wine, but doing so triples the value of the input fruit (even more if you take the Artisan perk). This means we need a lot of kegs to deal with the long turnaround and keep up with our fruit production. Each Keg takes 30 Wood and one Clay, Copper Bar, Iron Bar, and Oak Resin. This is where all that material farming pays off.

You now have a number of options for fruit inputs, depending on your overall game progress and degree of Scrooge McDuckery. The first step is to simply keep with the Berry operation and start cranking out enough Blueberry wine to send Ben Wyatt home in a stupor. But Blueberries shine for their multi-crop harvests and return on investment—not due to a high selling price. Since Kegs take so long to process, using higher-value inputs results in greater overall profits, even if the initial seed is more expensive. If summer is coming soon and you've completed the Community Center bundle to repair the bus to the desert (use some of your berry money for that), Starfruits from the Oasis shop result in an incredible return on investment. The seeds are expensive (400g a pop) but the resulting wine sells for 2400g (3600g with the Artisan perk).

But Starfruits are only good in Summer, and even with the Greenhouse repaired, there's a more efficient option. Ancient Fruit Wine. As soon as you find the Ancient Seed artifact, plant the resulting seed (so long as it's before fall) and wait. It's a long growth period—28 days—but keeps producing fruit each week for all of Spring, Summer, and Fall. The trick here is every time a fruit is produced, toss it in the seed maker and replant. (Deluxe Speed-Gro is your friend here). Soon (okay maybe like months later) you'll have a field of Ancient Fruit crops. The end goal here is to fill your Greenhouse with the lucrative crop (so, y'know, get that done). Ancient Fruit Wine sells for slightly less than Starfruit, but the extended crop cycle means time saved on replanting, as your plants will last forever inside that wonderful glass house.

Each plant produces a fruit every seven days, matching up perfectly with the Keg's long production cycle. There's 120 plots in your greenhouse. Subtracting four for Iridium Sprinklers (layout your crops like this, that's 116 Ancient Fruit Plants. So 116 Kegs is your target goal. (Aren't you glad you farmed all those materials now?)

Once that operation is running smoothly, you can expand with more kegs supported by Fruit Trees. Redditor OrinMacGregor has a nice writeup breaking down how many Kegs per Fruit tree you need.

It's a lot of work, but the result is a self-sustaining money-printing operation. Just don't get so burnt out along the way that you feel the need to quit it all, move to the country, and run your Grandfather's old farm. Oh, wait...

If you're new to Stardew Valley, here's our list of essential Stardew Valley tips you should know. And if you've been playing since day one, check out our list of the best Stardew Valley mods.

It's possible to get married in Stardew Valley, but for a long time it's not been particularly satisfying. Have you noticed, for instance, that your spouse does not stand next to you during the Dance of the Moonlight Jellies? What cheek! Now he or she will, thanks to a long list of new fixes and additions coming to Stardew Valley.

Other spouse updates include unique dialogue during festivals, and their parents and relatives will actually acknowledge your existence now (whether for good or bad you decide). Oh, and spouses won't go walkabout on rainy days anymore, unless they have to go to work.

Other, more inanimate objects will undergo changes too: fruit trees yield higher quality fruit over time, and lightning strikes will now have a "unique effect" on them. Other aspects of lightning have changed as well: it's more likely to hit trees and crops, for example.

The full list of updates in 1.07 is over on the Stardew Valley community forum. It follows 1.06, which also contained a whole lot of adjustments to the way marriage works. It's fun to get married in Stardew Valley.