So, you’ve officially beaten the game, but do you want more action in the marvelous world of Stardew Valley? We’ll tell you many milestones and enjoyable things so you can try them on your save file! Can you finish all of them?
Congratulations on completing all the Community Center bundles in Stardew Valley! Have you had a productive experience while finding all the donations? Or did you buy your way out with the help of Morris and JojaMart?
Either way, you’ve still done a great job multitasking and doing all the efforts to restore the old building. If you haven’t yet, might as well check this guide first before proceeding because we’ll have major spoilers in this article.
We’re talking about the end game of Stardew Valley. Once you’re done with the Community Center, you’ve beaten the game. However, there are more challenges and secrets to discover.
Time to pick up the traces of what’s been left behind: legendary fishes, mysterious island quests, or venturing the Skull Cavern. These are some of the things to mark as your next goal because you can’t just do the same task every day!
Stardew Valley is rich in content that will keep many players for hours. Eighteen of these are the best things to do after reaching the end game.
1. Repurpose the Farm and Town
Living with your spouse and seeing the same view over and over again busts the excitement. With the same decorations lying around, the farmhouse looks lifeless and dull. How can you make things pleasing to the eyes while mastering the art of selling Iridium quality wines?
Here’s a fact: Stardew Valley does not focus on pure gameplay and mechanics. ConcernedApe knows some players embrace the aesthetics side of the game, and nothing’s wrong with that.
For 200,000g, you can have the Furniture Catalogue that lets you place anything! From floors and decors to paintings and many more, you’ll never run out of supplies to satisfy and turn imaginations into reality.
But what if you don’t have the money to buy the luxurious item? There’s nothing to worry about because Robin can sell you basic furniture that can still make your house look better. You may also start small by buying Pierre’s affordable and attractive wallpapers and floorings.
2. Complete All the Achievements
Overall, there are 29 achievements you can finish in Stardew Valley that lets you unlock hats. Some are fairly easy to do while others are extremely hard which includes shipping 15 of each crop to catching all the legendary fishes and many more.
Getting all the stars is completely optional but nonetheless rewarding if you give your best shot.
3. Speedrun the Mines and Skull Cavern
It’s less of a problem for speedrunning if you have bombs and loads of food on your inventory. The reason to do it in the first place? It’s the adrenaline-rushing experience and to know how well-coordinated you are whether you’re on the Mines or Skull Cavern.
Keep in mind you’ll need the Iridium Pickaxe and a Galaxy Weapon for efficiency. And don’t forget to check your luck, bring lucky consumables, or equip a ring for better odds and loot! If you can, stack up 999 pieces of stones, but don’t craft them yet as it will take more space in your backpack.
The real problem you’ll encounter is the swarm of Serpents that deals a lot of damage. For that matter, consider bringing Health Elixirs or swing your weapon fast enough. If they kill you, your progress and some of your loot will be lost.
4. Stack Up 999 of Each Item
Hoarding items in Stardew Valley is helpful at most times – if not grindy. Basically, you’ll gather crops of a specific quality and never sell them until you filled the chest. It’s a personal challenge I tried way back in 2019, but it’s not worth doing in your first year.
5. Help the Villagers
One way of showing kind gestures to the villagers is by helping them. Yes, it makes sense to deliver something to a random NPC that they need. The experience is like donating to someone who needs help, although we’re in Stardew Valley.
With the latest updates, you can help people by checking out Pierre’s message board, or near the mayor’s. There are plenty of little and big tasks that pay you gold and sometimes unlock a ‘secret’. It’s a win-win, isn’t it?
6. Be the Casino Superstar
Prestigious and outlandish – this is what I can say about Mr. Qi’s Casino on the inside and outside. While the interior has out-of-this-world designs, there are strange people with even stranger prizes you can collect. It’s no ordinary place for a beginner, so if you need help proving your worth to Mr. Qi, you can find it all here.
Once you’re inside, you can get Qi Coins by playing CalicoJack and Slot Machines or exchanging your gold. Although I’m warning you it’ll be extremely addictive, but it’s easy to master anyways. You just need tons of gold and luck boosts to win every single jackpot.
7. Go Beyond 100th Inside the Skull Cavern
We’re back again inside the Serpent-filled Skull Cavern where you have to fend yourself while mining the riches. With plenty of strange floors and wonders, there’s no limit on what you can see or loot.
Most of you probably reached the 100th floor because of Qi’s quest. By doing so, you’ll get gold and a permanent health perk that’ll make you stronger. If you ever encounter chests on specific floors, Qi’s the one who put them all, and there’s more to expect below!
But isn’t traversing down the endless pit of monsters a death wish? Not exactly. As long as you have bombs, health-restoring items, warp totems, a stack of stones, and coffee, you’re safe.
8. Finish Every Qi’s Special Orders
Besides running a luxurious casino in the middle of the desert, Qi has a secret room Northwest of Ginger Island. You can enter this area after getting 100 Golden Walnuts to complete difficult challenges and exchange gems for valuables.
A word of advice, all the Special Orders are hardcore and will be more difficult without tool and weapon upgrades. Come back later and go to the Forge and enhance your equipment first. If you have a spare Prismatic Shard, you can use it to get a random perk. I strongly advise bringing gems too for crucial buffs.
9. Befriend Everyone
In Stardew Valley, everyone has distinct preferences on every item you give. It will take you a while to figure out which works best, but the goal is to develop friendships around town. So, what’s in it for you?
Aside from the entertaining cutscenes and backstories, the villagers teach stuff. Friendships give you items and food recipes, expand storylines, and more.
But one of the most unique behaviors of the townspeople, when you’re warm with each other, are gifts. Yes, they send presents to your mail from spare resources to explosives, although it’s very random.
10. Finish Collections
Going to the player’s menu, you’ll find a bunch of tabs and icons in the “Collections”. You’ve probably wandered through this section but don’t have the time to finish it. Now’s the right chance.
11. Experiment with the Forge
Sitting right at the 10th level of the Volcano is an enormous Forge. Here’s where you can augment your weapons and tools with different gemstones or combine different rings. To use it, you’ll need Cinder Shards that you can get from mining nodes or killing volcano monsters.
After reaching the 10th floor, the player can conveniently re-enter the Forge anytime on the right side of the entrance. Take note that stairs don’t work here as you’ll have to find a way to open the gates and proceed to the next level.
There are different buffs and perks your weapon can get. Here’s every gem you can use on the Forge, and its corresponding effects:
| Gemstones | Effects |
| Amethyst | +Knockback |
| Aquamarine | +Critical Hit Chance |
| Emerald | +Weapon Speed |
| Jade | +Critical Hit Damage |
| Ruby | +Damage |
| Topaz | +Defense |
On the other hand, these are the perks you can get for your tool and weapons when Prismatic Shard is used:
| Tools/Weapon | Perk |
| Any Weapon | Artful, Bug Killer, Crusader, Haymaker, Vampiric |
| Fishing Rod | Auto-Hook, Efficient, Master, Preserving |
| Axe | Efficient, Powerful, Shaving, Swift |
| Pickaxe | Efficient, Powerful, Swift |
| Watering Can | Bottomless, Efficient, Reaching |
| Hoe | Archaeologist, Efficient, Generous, Reaching, Swift |
12. Live Another Life on Ginger Island
Twenty Golden Walnuts is all it takes to live near the coast of Ginger Island. You can tend crops, hang out with the Pirates, dig skeletal artifacts, or finish Qi’s new set of quests!
Moreover, new loots and riches await if you’re eager to spend time on this beautiful island in the middle of vast waters. There are also tons of backstories to uncover (if you haven’t yet), and crazy puzzles to grind. But of course, this idea doesn’t come up with the cons.
For once, not returning to Stardew Valley (which I doubt you’ll do), may bring your game economy down. Assuming most of your plantations are at your home, there’s limited land on Ginger Island if you want to start over. Plus, there’s no Skype on Stardew Valley so you can’t really contact your spouse.
Nonetheless, the island is an amazing place to spend day-offs without doing anything. It’s a next-level break for someone who wants to escape the tiring reality.
13. Unleash the Movie Theater!
A movie theater is a place where couples, friends, and all types of people go. It’s no different to Stardew Valley aside from getting Friendship Points. You can unlock this building by either completing the Missing Bundle or converting the Joja Warehouse with Morris’ help.
Overall, there are a total of eight movies where four of its cycles yearly. Depending on your guest, you can get up to 200 Friendship Points if they love the movie. Complement it with one of the 24 appetizing snacks and you’ll have 250 points.
If that’s not enough, paying 500g to play the Crane Game can get you anywhere from plush toys to attractive house decors.
14. Beat the Arcade Games at Stardrop Saloon
Going right after entering Gus’ Saloon leads you to a room with two arcade machines. These are separate games namely Journey of the Prairie King and Junimo Kart and trust me, it’s not easy.
The first game is an action-packed Wild West theme shooter game where you defend yourself from enemies, get upgrades, and defeat bosses.
On the other hand, Junimo Kart is a casual game where you control a Junimo riding a cart to reach the finish line. This arcade game is unlockable after finding the Skull Key at the Mines.
While both games are too simplistic, it’s the opposite for their difficulty. I find it especially difficult because of the controls, and some community members feel the same! But in the end, you’ll get an achievement for finishing these two minigames.
15. Buy Every Luxurious Items and Building
Obelisks, Gold Clock, rare paintings, and the Statue of Endless Fortune are some of the costly items in Stardew Valley. Most of them can help you, while some are for decorative purposes. As a collector, doing this challenge is as rewarding as completing all the achievements and collections in the game.
16. Be the Richest
This may bring less fun to other players but beating your previous profit score with a larger one can be impressive. For the most part, it’s grindy, and you have to resort to quality ancient fruit wines, fresh produce, or valuable minerals to get big bucks.
Luckily, you can optimize and make everything passive to generate gold. The most exciting part of farming is using Junimo Huts and Sprinklers that dispense water and fertilizers. You only need to plant seeds, clean up the area, and load empty casks.
It’s an efficient way to cut your time for other meaningful tasks you want to do.
17. Collect the Remaining Stardrops
Stardrop is a special consumable which permanently increases your max energy by 34. Seven of them can be found inside the valley which doubles the player’s base energy from 270 to 508. Collecting all Stardrops will unlock the Mystery of the Stardrops achievement from Steam.
If you’re ready to find them, here are the places to go:
- Stardew Valley Fair – sold for 2,000 star tokens.
- The Mines – reward for reaching Level 100.
- The Sewers – can be bought for 20,000g from Krobus.
- Player’s Spouse – after reaching 12.5 hearts.
- Museum – Gunther’s reward for donating 95 items.
- Secret Woods – Old Master Cannoli’s prize for giving him a Sweet Gem Berry.
- Fishing – Willy gives the player a Stardrop after catching all the fishes.
18. Start a New Game
Are you willing to start from scratch with another save file? Remember, there are no extra items and gold. It’s the same 500g and hand-me-down tools at the most basic level. If yes, don’t worry, the game itself isn’t tiring.
You’re a previous Junimo or JojaMart supporter. With a new game, you can switch sides and see what would happen – is Stardew Valley better with the opposite of your first choice?
What about fooling around a bit? And don’t forget to bring a Rabbit’s Foot if you’re planning to court all bachelors and bachelorettes around town. Just refuse from breaking the heart of every villager because that’d be cruel.
Regardless, starting a new game opens the opportunity to uncover more. It’s an alternate reality of keeping Morris winning and Pierre losing. The idea of what-ifs is possible, and you’ll partake in new ventures that most players will not even bother doing.
