An Update on My Time in Stardew Valley

This will be out of order with my other Stardew Valley posts, but I wanted to write down my thoughts before I forget them. These are some of the things I’ve come across while playing, and a few other thoughts. There are also some questions that I don’t have answers for.

It is more of a personal entry about playing the game. I’ve found that I always enter a pattern when I play this game. No matter what I want to do or plan to do, I find that I fall back on the same things.

I might figure out why, or it could be a feeling of familiarity. The first time I played this game, I did a few things, and now I repeat them. If I’m lucky, I’ll fix the mistakes I made and end up making new ones.

Community Center

Rebuilding the community center is a long project. It can be a lot of fun, and early on, it probably took players a long time to figure things out. Some items can only be found at specific times and in certain circumstances.

Thankfully, this has all been documented on various blogs and sites. There are a lot of guides on how to get everything. I’ve only needed to use a few of them, especially when it came to fishing.

Getting all the fish has been the most annoying part of this game. It takes a while to collect all the fish, and some need to be caught under specific circumstances. For example, some have to be caught during the fall, between 12 pm and 4 pm, and on a rainy day.

There are also a few crops and animal products that are only available further in the game. You might’ve missed some of the forage items as well. Finishing all of these tasks can take quite some time.

This all makes me wonder why no one else has done all of this. There was an option that I normally ignored. You used to be able to convert the community center into a storage facility for Joja Mart. This is the soulless corporate entity that has set itself up in town.

I never understood why they’re here. Did this sleepy little village of 20 people warrant a store like that? It brought a few jobs to the town, but most of the people seem to just wander about.

It does seem like the town’s economy is relying on your farm. This is never really talked about, but no one else seems to employ Robin to build anything, and very few people are visiting the blacksmith. Like many small towns, everyone manages to find the money to get drunk at the local tavern.

Time Management and Pufferfish

Of all the fish I’ve had trouble catching, the pufferfish has been the most annoying. I don’t remember if it always is, but in this playthrough it has been. It is one of four special fish you need to catch.

Like the other parts of the community center, you need to collect six groups of things. Here is a list of the categories for fishing:

• River
• Ocean
• Lake
• Night
• Crab
• Special

The pufferfish, walleye, and sturgeon are the three fish that I always get hung up on. No matter what I do, I always end up stuck. It doesn’t help that I’m terrible at the fishing mini-game. I’m just not good at it.

There were several times when I would end up laughing at how bad I was. I can’t manage to get mad at it because it is my fault at the end of the day. The only thing I can do is laugh at myself and how bad I am at it.

Why do I always fall for Leah?

Leah is one of my favorite characters. She is one of the people you can try to romance in the game, and she is the one I normally go after. I’ve wondered why I keep doing this a few times.

I have gone after a few people. Some of them I did as a joke while I was live streaming the game. When I first played the game, I went for Leah, and I keep doing so as I’ve replayed the game.

I think it is because she has a better story than the other people in the town. It is very similar to the story set up for the player, aside from the abusive relationship. That was another thing that I found interesting about her.

Leah is an artist, or wants to be an artist. She moved away from the city to chase her dreams. Her ex-boyfriend didn’t support her dreams and wanted her to pursue something she didn’t want. Sure, she would’ve made more money, but that doesn’t mean she would be happy.

You’ll eventually be able to choose a path for her. Do you want her to sell art online or set up an art show in the town square? I’ve had her do both. It feels a little odd writing this out because she is trying to escape a controlling ex-boyfriend, and here I am controlling her life.

As you get to know a person in the game, there will be little cutscenes that advance your relationship. In the case of Leah, you meet her ex-boyfriend. He is a douche. You can punch him, or let Leah punch him. I normally try to talk the guy down, which results in Leah punching the guy.

In this playthrough, I married Leah. She’s a fun character. I also like the little spaces she sets up to continue working on her art. This is one of the things I like about Stardew Valley. Each of the characters in the game has a personality, and the few you can marry add their own touch to the player’s house.

Lewis and Marnie

This is one of the stranger stories in the game. Lewis and Marnie are a couple. The two are trying to hide their relationship for some reason.

I’ve joked a few times about Lewis being a corrupt and incompetent mayor who shows little interest in improving the town. He seems only to want to hold on to his incredibly limited political power. The guy is the mayor of a town that doesn’t hold elections, and the economy solely depends on one farm.

There is a cutscene where he tells Marnie to keep their relationship secret so he can hold onto his job. There are 20 people in this town, and I doubt any of them care. Also, I don’t think it is a secret.

If I could create a conspiracy theory out of nothing, I would say that Linus discovered the truth, and Lewis had him ostracized from the community. Like everything else, he did a terrible job of it, as Linus is still part of the town; he just lives in a tent.

It is one of the many things in this game that makes me chuckle every time I play the game. Why would anyone in town care if these two are dating? It’s not like Lewis is going to be challenged in the next election if this “scandal” gets out.

Wrap up

There is a pattern that I’ve fallen into with this game. Each time I try to do something new, I play the same way. No matter what map I choose to start on, I keep repeating the same steps.

With this playthrough, I’ve found some of the things I missed out on. The game has received several updates since I started playing it back in 2017 or 2018. I first picked it up on the Nintendo Switch, and didn’t know much about it.

I was at home with a broken ankle and needed something I could play with while lying down. From there, I started streaming the game on Twitch while trying to be a live streamer. I learned that I hated playing video games like that, and just played the game alone.

I’ve stumbled across more games like Stardew Valley. I’ve played a few of them already, like Fields of Mysteria, and while I like them, they haven’t been able to tear me away from Stardew Valley. I’ll be writing about them at some point.