Stardew Valley turned ten this year – which means, of course, that it’s the perfect time to start a new playthrough! But how to keep your newest adventure in Pelican Town feeling fresh and exciting? Luckily, there are plenty of options to make each time you experience Stardew Valley feel like the very first one. Here are ten of my favorite ways to “spice up” a Stardew Valley playthrough, many of which I will be incorporating into my own tenth anniversary celebration!
1) Make A Rule (Or Several) For Yourself
The next time you boot up Stardew Valley, set a rule or condition for yourself – and COMMIT to following it the entire playthrough. ConcernedApe has built a few “challenge conditions” into the game itself; you can remix Community Center bundles, set it so crops sell for much less money, and more. But you can also choose your own rules to follow as well! Here are some of my personal favorites:
- Only allowing myself to buy seeds at Pierre’s once per season, on a set day
- Focusing entirely on a certain color of crops, such as only green crops allowed in Year 1, only red in Year 2, etc
- Working on only one Community Center Bundle at a time, and not starting the next one until it is complete
- Picking a specific discipline (mining, foraging, wine-making, etc.) and ONLY allowing myself to earn money from that discipline for an entire season
- Requiring myself to pick up and complete (or try to) EVERY request that appears on the bulletin board in town
2) Marry Somebody New
It’s the tenth anniversary, so it’s time to branch out. Give your favorite Pelican Town bachelor or bachelorette a rest, and instead try out that eleventh or twelfth choice that you otherwise wouldn’t give a second look. If the grouchy Shane is your favorite, try wooing the bubly Emily; if you (like me) are devoted to the artistic Elliott, embrace your sports fan side with Alex. Alternately, get EVERY bachelor and bachelorette to date you at once before committing to marriage. Just don’t forget to carry a Lucky Rabbit’s Foot around so that they don’t find out about your twelve-timing!
3) It’s 2026, It’s Finally Time To “Hail Joja”
If you’re anything like me, you support Pelican Town and its plucky residents one hundred percent and you love nothing more than helping the Junimos restore the Valley and kicking smug Morris and JojaCorp out on their butts. But everyone needs to side with JojaCorp at least once, if only for completion’s sake, and there’s no better time than the game’s landmark anniversary year. My advice: lean into it. Do all your shopping at JojaMart, decorate your house in blue and white, and drink at least one can of Joja Cola per day. You could even go as far as I did – my JojaCorp playthrough featured a blue-skinned farmer named Joey Jojo who lived on #HAILJOJA Farm.
4) Become A Mini-Game Master
Stardew Valley’s two arcade games, “Journey of the Prairie King” and “Junimo Kart,” are fun if tricky throwbacks to classics of the genre. They are extremely in-depth, with multiple levels and challenges to complete. If you’ve never spent much time at the Stardrop Saloon enjoying these games, make sure to dedicate some time during your tenth anniversary run-through. Just don’t ask me for help – I’ve never actually gotten past the second or third level of Prairie King, and not for lack of trying.
After unlocking the Calico Desert area, you can also head to the Casino and play CalicoJack or try out the slot machine. Finally, there’s a claw machine mini-game available at the Movie Theater once it has been restored. Make it a goal to try out every mini-game and perhaps even master them!
5) Complete Your Hat Collection
6) Achieve Perfection – With A Twist
Perfection is the ultimate goal in Stardew Valley, the proof that you have conquered everything the game has to offer (well, fortunately not Journey of the Prairie King, or else I’d never have gotten there.)
If you’ve never shot for Perfection before, why not make it your goal to celebrate the game’s tenth anniversary? If you have, however, here are some ways to challenge yourself further:
- Set yourself a time limit by which you must have purchased and built the Gold Clock (which costs 10 million gold). For example, I spent all my existing gold on Day 1 of Year 4 and challenged myself to earn the 10 million in a single year!
- Require yourself to craft two of each item, or even three, instead of merely the one required for Perfection
- Once you unlock Ginger Island, completely pause progress towards all other goals until you have found all 130 Golden Walnuts hidden there
7) Play A Character
This time, instead of building a generic “farmer” character or one inspired by yourself, create and roleplay as one of your favorite fictional characters, or even celebrities! Play as a green-skinned “Shrek” farmer and turn your farm into a swampland filled with onions, or create Geralt of Rivia and prioritize monster hunting goals and winemaking. I’ve done several ‘roleplay’ runs, and my personal favorite has been as Edelgard from Fire Emblem Three Houses – she named all her animals after her classmates!
8) Do Everything You Can With Lucky Purple Shorts
A secret trick in Stardew Valley allows you to obtain multiple copies of Mayor Lewis’s Lucky Purple Shorts. Each time you place a Staircase inside the mayor’s bedroom, you can access a secret room that contains one additional pair of these shorts. In your celebratory playthrough, try obtaining enough copies to do everything possible with the shorts. This includes:
- Giving them to Lewis normally to complete his Quest
- Using them as a bobber by putting them in the “tackle” slot of your fishing rod
- Trim them by combining them with a gold bar in Emily’s sewing machine
- Wear them yourself
- Put them in a fish tank
- Put them on display somewhere in your house / on your farm
- Use them as your ‘ingredient’ for the Luau soup
- Include them in your Grange Display at the Stardew Valley Fair
9) Do Something Involving The Number “10” To Celebrate
Since it’s the tenth anniversary of Stardew Valley, why not make the number 10 relevant to your next playthrough in some way? Challenge yourself to add 10 of each animal to your farm, plant your crops in the shape of the number 10, or date 10 different bachelors/bachelorettes before choosing one to settle down with. The options are endless!
10) Mods, Mods, Mods
Finally, the tenth anniversary of Stardew Valley is the perfect time to experiment with mods! This game’s thriving modding community has created HUNDREDS of mods ranging from new furniture and crops to entirely new characters to meet (and romance!) and areas to explore. Pick and choose your favorites, explore one in-depth or go for a modded-to-the-gills playthrough with a dozen or more installed – it’s all up to you!
Which of these suggestions will you be trying out in your next Stardew Valley playthrough? Comment below and let us know!
