Many Stardew Valley players opt to repair the Community Center instead of helping JojaMart flourish. But… haven’t you ever wanted to see what happens? This guide will explore the JojaMart route in Stardew Valley and help you complete the Joja bundles in under one year!
What Is JojaMart in Stardew Valley
JojaMart is a store owned by the Joja Corporation that’s located to the far east of Pelican Town. It’s owned by an unsavory fellow named Morris, who is one of the few NPCs in Stardew Valley that the player can’t interact with much.
Stardew Valley paints JojaMart badly… Pierre, a local store owner, complains that Joja’s discounts are costing him customers. Jodi says the food at JojaMart isn’t very healthy, but it’s cheaper and she feels forced to shop there. The farmer themselves used to work for the corporation before moving to Stardew Valley and were unhappy with their old life.
All that said… there is an achievement associated with siding with the corporation, and, hey, maybe you just want to see what’ll happen. This guide will teach you everything there is to know about the company, and how to complete the Joja warehouse route of the game in under one year.
Community Center versus JojaMart
If you choose to side with JojaMart, you’re going to have to say goodbye to Mayor Lewis’ dream of refurbishing the local Community Center. Becoming a member of the corp and embarking on the process of completing all of the developments means that the Center will be turned into a big Joja warehouse instead.
Aside from this aesthetic difference, there are a few other differences between these two routes:
1. Ease Of Completion
There are many differences between these two routes. Choosing the Community Center means you’ll have to fulfill six bundles requiring you to collect miscellaneous items. Each room in the Center has associated sets of bundles that focus on different things – for example, the Pantry bundles require various seasonal crops and animal products. On the other hand, the Boiler Room bundles focus on the mines and what you can gain from there.
Conversely, each “bundle” in the JojaMart route, or as they’re termed, each “development” is the same. You don’t need to collect random and rare items but provide money instead. The only difference between the other developments on the Joja Community Development Form is the cost of each item.
As such, completing the Community Center requires a lot more thinking and effort. You’ll need to make sure to collect things while they’re in Season, otherwise, you may stall the completion of the center by at least a year.
2. Rewards
Overall, you gain more rewards by doing the Community Center versus the Development Form. You’ll earn a small reward when you complete each bundle in a room, as well as a large reward when you complete an entire room. For example, you’ll gain three Crab Pots when you complete the “Crab Pot Bundle” in the Fish Tank bundles, as well as a large reward when completing all of the bundles in the Fish Tank.
With JojaMart, there are no mini rewards or bundles at all. Instead, you’ll gain the bigger rewards when completing the developments – no more, no less. However, upon completing all of the developments, you will get a small Soda Machine you can place in your house. You’ll also be able to purchase the Auto-Petter from JojaMart from then onwards.
One last thing you’ll miss out on is Stardew’s most prestigious award – the Stardew Hero Trophy furniture item. This is given to the player after they’ve completely restored the Community Center.
3. Friendship
You may have noticed that JojaMart offers five developments, but there are six bundles in the Community Center. There is one development missing; which corresponds to the Bulletin Board set of bundles in the Center.
The reward for completing all the bundles in the Bulletin Board is friendship with all villagers in Stardew Valley. As a corresponding development for this doesn’t exist, you cannot gain friendship by solely going the JojaMart route.
A sneaky way around this is to complete the Bulletin Board bundles before becoming a member of JojaMart.
Joja Route: Start
Before you can complete all of the developments, you’ll need to buy a Joja Membership card. These are available after you see Mayor Lewis’ cut-scene in front of the Community Center. To trigger it, you must wait until the first sunny day from Spring 5 onwards. Exit the bus stop area into Pelican Town after 08:00 AM and you’ll enter the cut-scene. As soon as it’s over, you can go to JojaMart and purchase the membership.
One night needs to pass before any changes actually happen and before you can check out the Joja community development projects. When you wake up, the Community Center will be gone. This is irreversible! You cannot do the Community Center route after you’ve purchased a membership.
Membership Perks
Aside from gaining access to the development form, you’ll be able to purchase Joja’s goods at the same price as Pierre’s goods. Ordinarily, the store’s prices are actually slightly more expensive. The only exception is Sunflower Seeds, which cost only 100g for a Joja member but cost 200g at Pierre’s General Store.
List of Developments
| Development | Cost | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Bus | 40.000g | Repairs the bus that runs to Calico Desert. |
| Bridge | 25.000g | Repairs the broken bridge in the mountains. |
| Panning | 20.000g | Removes the glittering boulder near the mine entrance. |
| Minecarts | 15.000g | Repairs the minecart system that runs between the bus stop, the mountains, and Pelican Town. |
| Greenhouse | 35.000g | Repairs the old ruins on the farm, turning it into a greenhouse. |
As previously mentioned, all you need to complete the developments is cold hard cash. The vault bundles in the Community Center function the same way! Once you’ve purchased a development, you’ll need to wait one day before you can purchase another one. Overnight, a Joja crew will implement whichever development you’ve funded, and you’ll have access to your reward.
Development Priority
1. Greenhouse
Your number one priority for the developments should be the Greenhouse. This will allow you to bypass the Seasonal requirement that all crops and fruit trees have, allowing you to cultivate crops all year round and even in Winter. The cost is steep but may yield excellent profits.
The fact that you can purchase this off the bat is a huge plus for the Joja route. This reward corresponds to the Pantry bundles in the Community Center, which are impossible to get before at least the end of the year after you’ve gotten every Seasonal Item and hustled for some animal products.
2. Bus
Purchasing this development allows you to access the Calico Desert – a whole new area in Stardew Valley. This is where you can find the Skull Cavern and, provided you’ve previously reached Floor 120 of the regular Stardew Valley mines, allow you to enter and spelunk the dungeon. This dungeon is more dangerous than the Pelican Town mine but will provide you with way more gems, Iridium, Prismatic Shards, Omni Geodes, and other highly-valuable items.
This is the most expensive project, so it may be good to delay it so you can spend money to earn money instead.
3. Minecarts
The minecarts connect different areas of Stardew Valley and allow you to quickly travel from your home to the blacksmiths and the mines. This will not lead you to make any extra profit but is a great quality-of-life purchase.
4. Panning / Bridge
Once you’ve acquired the minecarts, you’ll gain access to Stardew Valley’s Quarry. This means that the bridge that connects the area near the Adventurer’s Guild and the Quarry isn’t really necessary.
Panning unlocks a new mechanic in Stardew Valley and grants you a Copper pan. It can be somewhat lucrative and get you some lucky finds, but is ultimately not a big money-maker and is best purchased last or second to last.
Top 3 Ways To Earn Money Year One
1. Fishing
If you’re good at the fishing mini-game and enjoy it, fishing is an excellent way to earn money in the early game. Spend all your Energy every day fishing and you’ll be able to earn enough money to supplement other ways of earning money.
For maximum profit, don’t sell your fish. This sounds silly, but actually, you can earn way more money by being patient. Store all your fish in a chest and only sell them when you can upgrade your Fishing Pole.
Then, once you reach levels five and ten of Fishing, you’ll be able to sell your fish for more money. Sell everything when you pick up Fisher at level five, or if you can wait even longer, wait until level ten and pick up Angler.
2. High-Profit Crops
Crops are a good way to make money, but they require investment first. You need to purchase seeds, wait a few days, and only profit after harvesting and selling crops. This is in contrast to fishing, which only requires you to spend some money to buy a good Fishing Rod and is thereafter free.
To make sure you earn as much money as possible, focus on cultivating only the most profitable crops:
| Crop | Acquisition | Price of Seeds |
|---|---|---|
| Strawberry | Only available for purchase at the Egg Festival on Spring 13th. | 100g/1 |
| Blueberry | Available for purchase in Summer. | 80g/1 |
| Cranberries | Available for purchase in Fall. | 240g/1 |
| Cactus Fruit | Available for purchase in the Oasis in Calico Desert (requires the Bus development). | 150g/1 |
| Starfruit | Available for purchase in the Oasis in Calico Desert (requires the Bus development). | 200g/1 |
3. Artisan Goods
Artisan Goods are a fantastic way to earn cash. With access to Artisan Good machines like the Preserves Jar and Keg, you can increase the value of all the crops you cultivate. This requires you to craft the necessary machines – which costs resources – and expend some time and patience.
You can also raise animals and produce Artisan Goods from animal products like Milk and Eggs. This requires you to construct additional farm buildings such as the Barn and Coop. If your strategy is to earn as much money as possible, these expenses might not be worth it, and you may want to just focus on crops and fishing.
More Ways To earn Money
Check out this helpful money-making guide for more advice:
