Gameplay

Stardew Valley is a farming simulation game primarily inspired by the Harvest Moon video game series. At the start of the game, players create a character, who becomes the recipient of a plot of land and a small house once owned by their grandfather in a small town called Pelican Town. Players may select from several different farm types, each with a unique theme and different benefits and drawbacks. The farmland is initially overrun with boulders, trees, stumps, and weeds, and players must work to clear them to restart the farm, tending to crops and livestock to generate revenue and further expand the farm's buildings and facilities.

Players interact with non-player characters (NPCs) that inhabit the town, including engaging in relationships with them; this can culminate in marriage, which results in the NPC helping the player's character to tend the farm. After marriage, players may have the chance to have or adopt a child with their spouse. Players can also engage in fishing, cooking, crafting, and exploring procedurally-generated caves with materials and ores to mine or creatures to combat. Players can take on various quests to earn additional money or complete specific collections of materials (called "bundles") to restore the town's Community Center or pay certain amounts of money to complete JojaMart bundles. Completing bundles rewards players with various items, including seeds and tools. Completing multiple bundles grants players access to new areas and game mechanics, such as a desert. All of these activities must be metered against the character's current health and exhaustion level, and the game's internal clock. The player can consume food that grants certain buffs that are useful in certain activities and situations. Food is also a source of replenishing health and energy, which allows the player to complete more tasks in a given day. The game uses a simplified calendar, each year having four 28-day months that represent each season, and this determines which crops can be grown and which activities can be beneficial. Later in the game, players can restore a greenhouse and an island that can grow any crop regardless of the season.