Stardew Valley is a game best enjoyed in relaxation and doing everything at your own pace. However, when you’ve enjoyed a game so many times, you may need a challenge every now and again to keep it interesting. Because of that, a friend and I took on the arbitrary and silly challenge of trying to complete all the community center bundles of Stardew Valley within the first year. We…were not successful in that endeavor, but we were very close with four of the six rooms completed. We simply didn’t have the best luck and didn’t make the best decisions.
Despite not completing the task at hand, we understood what ultimately led to our failure, as well as the things that aided in (what could’ve been) our success. For those interested in trying to complete all the community center bundles within one in-game year, hopefully these tips I have to share with you will help you in doing so. Let’s get into it.
Tip 1. Opt for the fruit cave over the mushroom cave.
The silly mistake my friend and I made is that we went with the mushroom cave instead of the fruit bats cave. What we didn’t consider was that the mines contained the mushrooms that were required to complete some of the bundles. However, that only left us one option for the fruit: growing and harvesting from their respective trees.
While it’s definitely possible to get the needed fruit from their trees, buying the saplings would not only set you back a bit in terms of money (which is needed for buying other things, including one of the room’s bundles), but you’d also have to wait for a specific season to get one fruit each day from them. The fruit bats cave gives you potential access to nearly all the needed fruit at any given time at no cost, so it’s definitely the better option.
Tip 2. Prioritize upgrading the barn and coop.
Two items: truffles and rabbit’s foot. These items are required for the bundles that they’re in, and they’re insane to get in terms of what you need to do and how expensive it ultimately is. In terms of truffles, you need a pig (which costs 16,000g), which you can only get when you have the Deluxe Barn, which will take the following amount of money and resources to make: 43,000g; 1,350 wood; and 650 stone. Also, the pig can only find a truffle outside of the barn. If you don’t get one before the winter season starts, your only saving grace will be the Traveling Cart, which we’ll get into later.
When trying to get a rabbit’s foot, you need a rabbit (which costs 8,000g) in a Deluxe Coop, which will use up the following resources to make: 34,000g; 1,200 wood; and 450 stone. You also need to wait for the rabbit to mature and have high enough friendship and happiness. After that, it’s a matter of being lucky enough for a rabbit’s foot to spawn instead of wool one day. However, you can also get this from the Traveling Cart. And since this is the second time mentioning it, let’s just talk about it.
Tip 3. Always check the Traveling Cart.
The Traveling Cart carries a lot of items, many of which are needed to complete the bundles. You’ll always find the cart in the top left area of Cindersap Forest. However, it’s only there on Fridays and Sundays, and it closes at 8:00pm. You’ll also find the cart open at the Night Market during Winter every night. This is where the luck factor comes into play, especially if you need an item from it that you can’t get through normal means anymore, like a pufferfish after Summer (may or may not be speaking from experience). Make sure that you know what bundle items won’t show up in the cart though, or else you’ll be wasting time or prioritizing the wrong materials.
Tip 4. Waste no time going through the mines.
The mines hold a lot of items you need for the bundles within its many floors. The lowest you’ll need to make it is the 81st floor, for the fire quartz in the Geologist Bundle. I suggest upgrading your pickaxe to steel so you’ll have an easier time going through the rocks. I also suggest fighting all the monsters you come across to increase your combat level, so that you’ll have an easier time getting through them later on as well.
Tip 5. Be mindful of the order of bundles you complete.
A few items may require completing an entire room’s bundles before being able to obtain them. For example, unless you find it in the Traveling Cart, you won’t be able to get a Sandfish for the bundle in the fish tank unless you complete the entire vault room’s bundles. There are also rewards in specific bundles that’ll make acquiring other required items much faster, like the keg in the Artisan Bundle making you able to obtain wine sooner.
These are what I believe will be the most important things to keep in mind for completing the community center in a year. There are other things to be mindful of as well, such as remembering to fish (especially on rainy days) and getting the axe upgraded. What do you think of these tips? Do you have anything else that may be helpful? I’d love