Stardew Valley/Story

This page outlines the story line in the game. The game is open ended, and more centered on exploration, advancing you skills, and day-to-day tasks than plot, so the story is rather minimal. Much of the content focuses on getting to know your neighbors and learning their history and hopes for the future. In some cases you can help them achieve their goals.

The main quest

You have inherited your grandfather's old farm in Stardew Valley, and being dissatisfied with urban life, you decide to move there and try to get it up and running again. You'll spend a lot of time in the first season or two just clearing the land of trees and debris, and over the course of the game you will add farm buildings to make the farm run more smoothly and be more profitable.

Soon after arriving, you'll discover that the Community Center in town has fallen into disrepair and is now closed. Mayor Lewis wants to restore it, but there is no money in the city budget for the project. In fact, Lewis is seriously considering selling the building to Joja Corporation, a large shopping conglomerate who wants to convert it into warehouse. Joja Corporation has a store in town, Joja Mart, which is run by Morris, the local Joja representative. JojaMart's competition in town is Pierre's general store, and you soon learn that Pierre is struggling because of JojaMart's shady business practices.

Meanwhile, you learn that Junimos, magical forest creatures, have moved into the Community Center. They are willing to help restore it if you can bring them the items they request. There are are sets of items called bundles, and each time you bring them the items to fill up a bundle, the Junimos give you a mini-reward. Most rooms in the Community Center have a set of bundles to complete, and when you have completed all the bundles in a room the Junimos will give you a larger reward; this is usually the repair of some run-down building or piece of machinery, and will improve you're overall quality of life in the game. If you manage to complete all the rooms, then the Junimos will restore the Community Center itself. If this happens, JojaMart will close, Pierre expands his business hours, and many of your neighbors regularly visit the Community Center.

Alternatively, you can side with Morris and not bother with the Junimos. You can buy a JojaMart Membership, then purchase the repairs which would otherwise be done by the Junimos. When you complete the repairs this way, Joja Corporation takes over the Community Center and turns it into a warehouse as they planned.

Day-to-day

The fate of the Community Center doesn't really affect you're day-to-day activities. These include:

• Tending to crops and animals - Crops must be watered every day it doesn't rain, otherwise they stop growing. Once you obtain animals, they too need attention in order to thrive. Animals can eat grass around the farm when the weather is nice, but you have to feed them Hay in winter.
• Harvesting and selling farm products - Once your crops have matured, you can harvest them and place them in the Shipping Bin to be sold. They are collected overnight and you receive the proceeds the next morning. You can also collect animal products such as eggs and milk to sell. Eventually you will be able to process these items on your own to create more valuable products such as wine and cheese.
• Foraging and logging - You can find many items just growing wild around the valley. These can be collected and sold, or you can eat them yourself as food. You can also chop down trees around the valley; this gives you wood, a valuable resource. Trees you chop down outside the farm will eventually grow back. Trees on your farm grow from seed dropped by other trees.
• Socializing - One of the goals in the game is to become friendly with your neighbors. So when you have time, say hello to them. Giving them gifts will help (especially on their birthday), but only if you know what gifts they will appreciate.
• Exploring - There are many places in Stardew Valley to explore. Many of these can't be reached until you have upgraded equipment or some other condition has been met. A place you explore early in the game is an abandoned mine. There you can mine for minerals and fight hostile creatures.
• Quests - There are many side-quests you can complete in the game. Some are requests from you neighbors, and completing them will make them more friendly to you.