Sundew Farm: Part Journal, Part Guide

I've been horsing around with different strategies as I learn more and more about how the game works, and I've found an approach that I like a lot. It's easier to show than to tell, so this thread is going to be a day-by-day journal of my first month or so of play.

For people wanting the executive summary: I'm doing minimal farming at the beginning, just enough to satisfy quests and to use up seeds that I get for free. Most of my starting income will come from foraging and fishing. Yes, fishing. The forbidden skill.

I'm not going to say this is optimal, but it comes pretty close. I've tried doing the hardcore investment approach, where you keep dumping all of your money back into seeds and expanding your farm as quickly as possible. You do get a nice payoff by week three or so, when you sell about 120 potatoes all at once. The problem I had with this is that farming was all I could do. I never had any liquid cash because I was constantly investing in growth, my tools weren't upgraded, and I never had time or stamina left over for getting other resources. It became kind of a death spiral, because I had more and more resources tied up in my fields, which made the cost of ignoring them to do other things higher and higher. It was also kind of a one-dimensional game experience.

This is a more balanced approach where I do a nice mix of things, with all of them feeding into each other in some way. The main idea is to put off farming until I get copper tools. The opportunity cost of farming with basic tools is quite high. Fishing is so much better in terms of cash flow, and the money means you can get tools earlier. A copper watering can cuts the time and energy cost of farming by a factor of three, at which point farming makes a lot more sense.

I'm going to stress test this approach by setting some high goals. I want to have the backpack before my first trip to the mines, I want to start getting copper tools by the second week, I want to get a 90+ tile harvest by week 3, and I want to have two hearts with everyone (except maybe Rasmodius) by the end of the month. I also want to have some ranching started, but I haven't really decided on a good benchmark for that yet.

This is not going to be a very relaxing game. Success is going to hinge on planning and knowledge of the game's little quirks. Hopefully this will also act as a guide for people looking for a more structured walkthrough for the opening game.

 

Day One

This is going to be a complicated day. I need to get my initial farm plots started, and to build some basic infrastructure, and I need to budget my stamina so that I don't get stuck midway through. I'd also like to talk to as many villagers as possible. You get a $100 reward for completing the Introductions quest, which helps a lot at the beginning, and I'd like to make some headway on that.

My plan for my farm looks like this:



I like having crops in 3x3 blocks with aisles running along one axis. With the basic watering can, you can stand in the middle square and water all 9 crops. With the copper can, you can race up and down the aisle and water each row in turn.

Let me explain the legend. The rocks represent stumps and logs that I can't chop with the basic axe. I have to plan around them. The crop icons represent my "main" crop, parsnips in the beginning, and potatoes when I can afford them. The tulips are where I grow a small sampling of all of the other crops (parsnips, potatoes, kale, beans, and cauliflower, but not tulips or jazz). The point of this plot is to satisfy quests and community bundles. The bushes represent "overflow" plots. Any extra seeds I get from foraging or quests go here. They are intended to be temporary. I won't refill them when the plants get harvested, and I'm not willing to expand my overflow beyond the 18 plots shown. The stamina cost is just too high when working with basic tools.

Goals for the day:
-Chop enough wood for a chest
-Buy enough seeds to fill out my non-overflow plots
-Meet everyone in town, if possible
-Check the river delta isle for spring onions. I will be needing lots of these

Goals for the week
-Get enough wood for the tidal pool bridge before Saturday. This is really important
-Give two gifts to Leah, Harvey, and Linus (they like Spring Onions) which are by far the most efficient gift right now)
-Give two gifts to Elliot and talk to him every day, if possible (Elliot is only outside a few hours a day. Getting to two hearts with him makes him MUCH easier to reach, and prevents lots of annoying impossible quests)
-Get the backpack ASAP
-Get enough copper so that I have a realistic chance for getting tool upgrades by next week
-Get enough money to make all of this possible

I pick out the three most annoyingly placed trees and chop them. That gives me just enough lumber for a chest. It also uses up a third of my stamina, so I have to be careful about budgeting my remaining energy. I take a minimalist approach to setting up my plots:



Basically, I'm clearing what I have to to make room, and nothing else. The hollow holes in the middle are just a trick I use to easily measure out my fields. I'm going to fill them in when I plant my crops.

My energy is already in the yellow, and I haven't done any watering yet!

I don't head to town yet because I can't afford all of the seeds that I need yet. I take the northern road, hoping to find some forage. I spot a radish and a leek. Nice!

I emerge at the mountain lake. I say hi to Linus, and then I stop by the carpenter's house to say hi to Maru, Robin, and Demetreius. Sebastian is still in his room, and I don't bother waiting for him. He's another person I'll have to deliberately focus if I want to get those two hearts before the end of the month, but there's nothing to be done right now.

I head south into town. The time is now 12:00.

I go to the store. I notice Sam on his way to work, so I go chat him up. He can be a pain to find, so I'm glad I caught him like this. I enter the store and find Abbie, Pierre, and Caroline. Sweet, I got the whole family! I sell my foraged goods and am just barely able to afford:
Parsnipsx3
Kalex2
Potatoesx2
Cauliflowerx2
Beansx3

That's enough to fill out my plots. Right as I leave the counter, Marnie comes into the store. Cool, check her off the list. I go outside and see Leah coming this way. Great, she's a reclusive one. At this rate, I might be able to meet the whole town.

I go next door and check the clinc, Harvey isn't in, but I notice him milling around the park right next to it. I go say "hi."

I'm right by the main road to my farm, and my inventory is full, so I head back home to drop off my stuff (and also to loot the bus stop road of some more forageables). I don't plant or water anything yet. There's still tons of stuff I need to do!

I go back to town. I find Evelyn outside, and then I stop by her house to say hi to George. Alex is in his room lifting weights, so I'll just have to find him later. I don't notice Penny anywhere, so I check her trailer and yep, there is she is, washing dishes. I introduce myself because I have the thing for bookish redheads. I check my quest log. I'm at 14/28. Not bad.

I head southwest. I want to check the forest for any wandering villagers, and to raid the river delta island for any possible spring onions. I leave town at 30. I immediately find Jas on her way home. Perfect! She's another difficult villager. I happen to have a daffodil, and she's one the people that likes those things, so I give her one. Because the new guy coming into town and giving flowers to little girls on the first day isn't weird or creepy at all.

On the way to the island, I find Haley taking pictures. She also gets a daffodil. Not. Creepy. At. All.

The island raid is a huge success:


I end up finding 21 spring onions in total. That is a huge leg up. I guess I should explain why I'm so into these things. Unlike most forageables, which reset every week, the spring onions reset every day. If you don't get them, they're just gone. They are also the most efficient source of stamina in the beginning of the game. The opportunity cost of eating one is $8, and they restore 12.5 Stamina. That's really good value. I'll be needing lots of them, because there is not enough stamina in the week to meet all of my goals without using food. There other advantage is that three of the villagers actually like the damn things, and at $8 a pop, that's some pretty cheap hearts. I am going to be hitting this island as often as possible.

I double back into town, hoping to find some more villagers. I catch Vincent on this way home. He also gets a creepily inappropriate daffodil. I pop into the house and find Jodi working in the kitchen. Check her off the list.

I head east and find Elliot standing on the bridge to the beach. Nice! He's the hardest one to find. I go talk to him. I'm not going to be able to give him gifts until I start harvesting, but hey, just talking to him is worth 20 points. That adds up. I run into Leach on her way back from the store. I've already talked to her, but now she also gets s spring onion. She wonders if it means something that the two of us both live alone outside of town. It does. It means she's going to be getting lots of spring onions.

The sun is starting to set. I pop into the saloon. The saloon is great because Emily, Gus, Shane, Clint, and Pam are always there at night. You can score about two hearts a month just by becoming a regular at the Stardrop.

I'm at 26/28 on Introductions. I'm missing Willy and Sebastian. Willy isn't even town right now. Seb is probably out about now, but I don't want to trek all the way back up the mountain. I still haven't done my crops. I head home.

I plant and water all 27 seeds. I use the remaining scraps of stamina to clear paths to the various exits. I also whack as many bushes with my sickle as I can, hoping to find some wild seeds. I get two, which I immediately plant in the one of the overflow plots. I get to bed at exactly midnight, with no time to spare. You take a pretty substantial hit to your stamina if you go to bed later than midnight, and you really want to avoid it until you can afford to burn lots of food. I'm glad I didn't try to hit up Sebastian today. There's no way I would have been able to get to bed in time if I did that.

That night I gain a level in Forage. That's nice, I guess. I unlock the Field Snacks recipe, which is obsolete right out of the box. It costs $30 in parts to make one (acorn+maple seed+pinecone), and Spring Onions have a better cost/benefit ratio. I don't get it. I kind of think that the $20 price tag on acorns is a bug. The other two seeds cost $5 each, and Field Snacks would actually make sense if acorns also cost $5. Well, whatever.

 

Day 2

Goals for the day:
-Make some progress towards the 300 wood goal
-Finish the Introductions quest and collect the reward
-Crash the aerobics club. The aerobics club meets every Tuesday at Pierre's. It's a great way to chat up a lot of people all at once.
-Use any remainging stamina on fishing

6:00
I chop three trees and water my crops. That's about half my stamina right there. I want to get some fishing done so that I'll have some cash flow, so I'd better stop going yard work.
8:00
It's way too early to go to town, so I take the southern route through the forest, snagging 11 spring onions on the way. Nice
10: 30
As I arrive in town, I already see people converging at Pierre's. I head up in that direction, chatting any random villagers as I go
11:00
I'm at Pierre's The club is meeting right now. Between the club, Pierre himself, and Abigail (who is there by coincidence), I'm able to chat up a quarter of the town.
12:00
I head south, hoping to catch Elliot at the beach. He usually emerges from his hole at noon, and he doesn't stay out for long when he does. I catch him at the old campfire. I also trigger Willy's cutscene, which gives me a free fishing pole and a chance to introduce myself to Willy. I starting heading north. My favorite fishing spot is at the mountain lake.
1:00
On way to the mountain, I find a fishing hotspot. Fishing is slow, and until you have bait, it can be hard to use up all of your stamina before time runs out, so I take this opportunity. I catch 4 trash and a sunfish :/ Oh well, at least I didn't waste much time.
4:00
I reach the mountain lake. I prefer this place because it contains largemouth bass, which sell for 100 a pop. I'm also hoping to catch Sebastian here. He likes to come out to the lake for his nighttime smoke breaks.
10:20
I've run out of energy. I could use spring onions to get going, but it's not worth it at this point. There's very little time left, and I want to hit up the saloon. I ended up catching $476 worth of fish and algae. That's more net daily profit than what I'd be expecting to get from a farm double the size of what I'm currently maintaining. So far this experiment is working.
I meet Sebastian in the evening. I've met 28 villagers, i just have to give someone a gift to close the quest. I visit Linus' tent and hand him aspring onion. Bma, that's another $100.
11: 30
I reach the saloon kind of late. I'm able to chat up the nighttime crowd, but it's going ot be a struggle to get home in time

12:20
I go to sleep a bit late. That's going to be a 10% penalty to my stamina in the morning, but that's okay. That's why I've been colecting spring onions.
I gain a level in Fishing.

Tomorrow is going to be a rainy day. I intend to use it to catch as many catfish and eels as possible.

 

Day 3
It's a rainy day. That means I don't have to water my crops. It also means that the rain-exclusive fish come out. Today is going to be all about catching those fish.

Goals for the day:
-Catch at least two catfish (one for the bundle, one as a hedge against future quests)
-Catch at least two eels (same reasons)
-Get at least $1000 in sold fish
-Hit the saloon in the evening. Something like a third of the village goes there on rainy days

6:00
I empty my inventory of everything except my fishing rod and some spring onions. Inventory hassles are a big deal when fishing, especially when you don't have a backpack. I do not want to waste time running back and forth from my home on a rain day. I head directly to town, not bothering with the customary island raid.
7:00
There's a noticeboard request. Willy wants Seaweed. That's perfect! I was planning on unloading fish on him today anyway.
7: 30
I set up on the southern edge of town, near the beach bridge. This lets me fish from the river while still being reasonably close to Willy for emergency unloading. And I really want to fish from the river today. Catfish come out when it rains.
I get a hit and the fish almost immediately breaks the line. That was a catfish, and I screwed it up They're pretty hard to catch at level one, but they're not impossible. I refocus and keep fishing. Things go very well. I catch:
-6 Bass (3 silvers)
-5 Catfish (2 silvers)
-2 Algae
-2 Trash

Those catfish are worth $200 each.

10: 30
My inventory is full, so I stop by Willy's and unload some of my fish. I also quickly throw a few casts into the ocean, hoping ot get a seaweed. I get one on my first try. Nice. I give it to Willy, fulfilling the quest, and scoring 150 points with a villager that's otherwise hard to score point with.

11:40
I return to the river and try to get more catfish. The bites are coming a lot slower now. I catch a few shad, one more catfish, and let another catfish escape.

6:00
I start to notice people moving towards the Stardrop. Time to make an appearance. I go to the saloon. There are nine people there. That's 180 points in aggragate for a single stop. Once I am able to start stockpiling gifts, trips like this will be even better.

7:00
I go to the beach. Eels only spawn on rainy nights at the beach. That's a pretty exclusive set of conditions, so I always prioritize catching eels on rainy days if I don't have any already.

11:00
I'm out of time and energy. I need to go home. I didn't catch any eels, but I can't complain, because this happened:



O__O

This is probably a little too good. After all, this is supposed to be something of a guide, and there's no way someone could plan on being this lucky. I'm going to keep it all the same, but I don't feel comfortable using this thing to lolerstomp the first few levels of the mines.

12:00

I get to bed right on time. I gained 2 levels in fishing, and cleared $1873 in cash. That's not including the value of the fish that I decided to hold onto. I probably caught closer to $2500 in fish today. That is something like triple what my farm could have been making at this point. I'm going to be able to buy a backpack before the mines even open!

 

Day 4

A short day. I'm way behind on wood, so I spend most of my stamina chopping trees. I visit town to get some geodes busted open and to chat up the townsfolk, and I get a little bit of fishing done, but it's otherwise not too eventful. I run out of energy way before midnight, so I spend the last few hours whacking bushes with my sickle, trying to clean things up a bit.

Oh, yeah almost forgot. I buy the backpack from Pierre. I made so much money yesterday that I can do this and also have enough many in the bank to cover the costs of my next batch of crops. I am really liking this mixed approach.

 

Day 5

This is going to be a complicated day. There are so many things happening at once that it's hard for me to even begin to explain it.

First off, the mines open. I definitely want to get started on that. Ideally, I'd like to clear the first five floors. Doing that causes the Initiation quest to start, which allows you to join the Adventurer's Guild and start upgrading your combat gear. A trip to the mines will also generate some copper, which I'm going to need lots of if I'm going to begin upgrading my tools in a timely manner.

Today is also when my parsnips mature. So on top of going to the mines, I need to gather my harvest, sell it, and buy a replacement crop of potatoes.

Today is also Friday, which actually very significant. The gift counter resets on Sunday, which means that today and tomorrow are the only two days left to get in any gifts this week. I've already got the spring onion crew (Leah, Linus, and Harvery) covered, and I don't particularly care about maxing out the other villagers right now, but Elliot has received zero gifts so far and I really want to focus him down so he stops being such a pain in the ass. The reason I haven't given him anything is because I haven't had anything to give him. These parsnips that I'm getting today are the first things I've owned that he even likes. So I need to set some parsnips aside and I need to prioritize meeting him both today and tomorrow.

Even worse, tomorrow is the last day that any remaining forageables remain on the map. The biggest problem with that is that I still don't have the tidal pool bridge built, and if it's not up by tomorrow, I'm going to lose an entire week's worth of tidal loot. That's usually about $500. It takes 300 lumber to build the bridge, and I only have 111. That means I need to chop 12 trees today, which amounts to about 360 stamina. You only get 270 stamina per day, and I'm probably going to spend 200+ points clearing the mines. This is where all of that spring onion hoarding is going to pay off.

6:00
I get the cut scene where Marnie gives you a pet. Doggerdog is now part of Team SunTide. I immediately take the northern road and race for the mines. I don't even water my crops. The mines take an unpredictable amount of time, so I need to clear them first so that I can make plans.

7: 30
I hit the mines. Just this once, I bring Neptune's Glaive with me. I just wanted to see if it is as hilariously OP as a starting weapon as I thought it might be. The answer turns out to be "Yes." The first three floors go super fast. I find the exits almost immediately. The fourth floor takes forever, though. I hit floor five at 11:40. I ring up the elevator and get out of there. If I want to catch Elliot today, I'm going to have to run.

I am very glad that I already have the backpack. I would have had to have left a ton of mining loot behind if I didn't have it. I have never gotten it this early before, and I'm loving it.

12: 30
I stop by the store to cash in my parsnips and buy up some potatoes. Holy cow, Elliot is here! That's extremely lucky. I guess he shops on Thursdays. I hand him a parsnip. I sell all but four of the remaining parsnips and buy 18 potatoes. The reason I'm keeping those parsnips is because I need one to give to Elliot tomorrow, another one to give to Lewis on Sunday (Sunday is his birthday) and then I want two more in reserve to give to Elliot next week. Gotta plan ahead!

3:00

I return to the farm, plant my new crops, and hastily water them. I'm basically out of stamina due to my adventures in the mines, so I eat an incredible number of spring onions. I didn't count, but it must have been close to 30. I'm able to get to 300 wood by 8:00.

8:00

There's nothing left to do today, so I stop by the saloon and get some stalker friendship points in with the patrons. Friday nights are great for smoozing at the Saloon. Almost half the town shows up. I decide to take the long way home, through the forest, so that I can raid the island again. I find 10 spring onions, which is good, because I'm almost out.

I go to bed with almost no money in the bank. It was all reinvested in upgrading my farm from parsnips to potatoes. It's okay, because tomorrow I expect to make crazy money. I also gained a level in Farming, Foraging, and Mining.

 

Day 6

Clint shows up in the morning to give me the furnace blueprint. I also get a letter from Marlon that grants me the Initation quest (kill ten slimes).

Goals for today:
-Scour the entire map for forage
-Build the bridge and loot the tidal pool
-Give another parsnip to Elliot
-Finish the Initiation quest
-Clear another 5 floors of the mine while I'm at it
-Get 25 copper so that I have enough metal for the first tool upgrade

I head south into the forest. I make a point to check out the southwestern corner, because I've haven't been there yet. I find five assorted vegetables hiding there.

I hit town and immediately go to the beach. I catch Elliot right as he is leaving his cabin. He gets parsniped. I build the bridge and cross into the tidal pool to find... two corals :/ That's cosmically unlucky. The pool is usually at max spawn by Saturday. Oh well, at the the bridge is done, and two coral is still $160.

I head back north into town, chatting whom I can and carefully sweeping for forage. I continue north, sweeping the mountain lake area and then jumping into the mines. I clear floor ten at 10:40, but I've only killed 8/10 slimes and found 23/25 copper, so I go one floor deeper, allowing me to finish both of those goals. I also find a pair of leather boots as the floor ten prize. I'm now officially an adventurer, so I stop by the guild and trade in my rusty sword for a wooden one (I cannot believe that is actually an upgrade).

I get home just in time. That was a full day. I get $400 in foragables. That's $400 that I would not have gotten at all because of the looming reset, so I'm happy about how things worked out. Shame about the lame tidal pool loot though.

Things will be a little calmer now that I don't have the bridge construction project looming over me anymore. I want to start smelting copper and raising cash tomorrow so that I can get started on getting some tool upgrades.

 

Valiant effort to journal each day. Good luck, Can pick up a few tips from reading. It's all down to how you manage your time ofc.

 

Day 7

The potatoes and kale from the miscellaneous plot have matured. I pop them into a chest. These are for quests and bundles, not for selling. I'll have to go to the store later and replace the seeds. The potatoes are goin got get swapped with parsnips, since potatoes are my main crop now, but the kale is going to just get straight replaced.

I'm really low on storage, so I start chopping wood (again). I also need a scarecrow, so I just ahead and chop six trees, giving me 102 wood, which is enough for both projects. This should be the last time I need to do any serious wood gathering until I get the copper axe upgrade.

On the way to town, I finally get the cut scene with the community center. I have some theories about what triggers it and what steps you can take to make to trigger earlier, but I'll get into that some other time. I go ahead and explore the decrepit building and inspect the golden tablet. I should be hearing from Mr. Wizard tomorrow.

I dump off some artifacts at the library and end up getting the second reward, which is a packet of 9 cauliflower seeds. That is going to almost completely fill my overflow plots (the other nine are mostly taken up with wild seeds). I kind of don't want to be spending the extra time and energy on that many extra plots, but I also really don't want these seeds to just be sitting idle in a chest somewhere.

It's Lewis' birthday, so I give him that extra parsnip I've been hoarding. He jumps to the top of my friends list.

I go up to the mountain lake and fish for a while. I mostly get literal trash, bu the very last fish I catch came with a treasure chest, and in that chest I found a diamond. Wow! That's $750, right there. I decide to hold onto it for a bit and only sell it if it makes an immediate difference.

I head on down to the saloon to chat up the locals and then hurry home t plant these new cauliflower seeds. I get to bed at exactly 12:00.

I didn't get a lot of money today. The fish I caught were only worth $97, but I do have that diamond sitting in my inventory as my trump card now. I have enough copper for an upgrade, but the $2000 money requirement is so distant right now, even with the diamond. Tomorrow I'll concentrate on fishing as much as I can.

 

Thanks Morgath. There are lots of succinct guides out there, but I thought there might be a niche for a long-form walk through. I also know lots of little odds and ends about the game that I haven't seen anyone else incorporate into their strategies, so hopefully some people will find that useful.

Day 8
Oof! My farm is getting to be a little too big for basic tools. It's taking up a third of my stamina now. It's also pretty tedious clicking on all of those little squares. I gotta get that copper watering can!

Goals for today:
-Visit the Wizard and unlock the community bundle quests.
-Go ahead and fill out the Spring Forage and Crab Pot bundles, since I have the parts for them already
-Fish as hard as possible, preferably at the mountain lake, since those have largemouth bass, which are worth $100 each,

9: 30
The crops are watered and I head south into the forest. I find a hotspot near the river delta island so I stop and fish for a while. I catch 8 fish and 5 algae.

11:00
The hotspot has expired. I check the island and score another 11 onions, bringing my total back up to 28. That is not as many as it sounds, probably only enough for one or two days of hard activity.

12:10
I catch Elliot at the beach. I'm still stuck at one heart. I really want to get that second heart so that I can stop worrying about it. While talking to Elliot, I notice a blue urchin in the tidal pool region. It turns out to be a gold star. That's $240, right there!

1:10
I chat my way north through town, whacking Leah with a spring onion as I go. There's a noticeboard ad from Willy. I wants me to present him with a largemouth bass. He doesn't even want the fish, he just wants to see proof that I caught it. Sweet, I was planning on catching some largemouths today, anyway!

I start to head towards the Community Center to drop off all of the bundle junk I'm carrying when I realize that I forgot to talk to the Wizard. I got totally distracted by that fishing spot. Ugh! I can't go fishing in the lake with all of this crap in my inventory. I have to burn two hours going home and dropping everything off.

5:00
I reach the mountain lake later than I had wanted to, but there's a hotspot so I still come out fine. The bites are coming fast enough that I run out of energy at 8:00. I have to use up onions to keep going. The hotspot runs out at 9:00. I'm low on both onions and inventory, so I leave and head for the saloon.

9: 30
I hit the saloon, scoring a few more points with the regulars. I still don't even have one heart with them yet, but 20 points a day will add up by the end of the month. I find a fried mushroom in the trashcan on the way out. That an extra $200, just like that!

11: 30
I go to bed. Fishing hits level 4, and Foraging hits level 3. I make $825, not counting the value of the extra largemouth bass that I'm holding onto for Willy tomorrow.

 

Day 9

I've got $1325 and 5 bars of smelted copper. If I can push that up to $2000, I can start upgrading my tools.

Goals
-Have $2000 in the bank by tomorrow morning
-Talk to the Wizard, for real this time
-Complete the Spring Forage and Crab Pot bundles
-Turn in Willy's quest
-It's Tuesday, so I gotta crash the aerobics club again

8:00
I finish watering my crops and head south

9:00
I talk to the Wizard and get the forest magic. I can start on the bundles now. While I'm in his corner of the map, I find 5 foragables laying around. Wow, the forest was already almost at the spawn cap, and it's just Tueday. Glad I cleared that out. I also sweep past the island and pick 7 spring onions.

11:00
I reach Pierre's right as the aerobics clubs is convening. I rack up another 140 points in total.

11:20
I check the clinic next door to say hi to Maru and Harvey, and oh hey, Willy is here getting his thumb operated on! That's lucky for me. I turn in his quest. I'm very happy to score a quick 150 points with such a remotely placed villager. I still need to go to the beach to catch Elliot, though

12: 30
I say hey to Elliot

1:20 I stop by the library and donate some artifacts. I get a packet of melon seeds, which will be useful this summer.

2:00 On my way to the community center, I realize that I forgot the check the bulletin board. There's a quest from the Wizard, requesting for someone to kill 6 slimes. I'm uncomfortable with his attitude towards other living beings, but I'm not uncomfortable with the $240 he's offering. I was going to fish today, but I guess I'll go mining instead.

2:20
I turn in the Spring Forage and Crab Pot bundles, netting me 30 Wild Seeds and 3 Crab Pots. I do not have enough overflow plots for those seeds. Not even close. I'm just going to store these away and filter them in as the current overflow crops expire.

4:00
I reach the mines and take the elevator to 10. It's kind of late in the day to start an adventure here, but this was an unexpected trip.

11:00
I reach floor 15 pretty late. I found 40 more copper, which is good, but I only got 5 out of 6 slimes, which is not. I drop down one more floor and find a slime immediately. I start jogging for home.

12:20
I get to bed a bit late. No biggie, this was a complicated day.

I end the day with $1625, well short of my goal. The problem is that I had to substitute fishing for mining, and mining is all about resources instead of money. Still, I have a $240 quest ready to turn in tomorrow, so I can probably still reach my goal in time tomorrow.

 

I almost choked on my breakfast at that last line. Leah is awesome.

Also, I'm really enjoying this "play log" so far.

 

I like this play log you're doing! I do wish I'd known half of this when I started playing. I'm excited to read more.

 

Day 10
I do some more tilling to flesh out the overflow plots and plant some of those wild seeds I got from the community center. I now have a HUGE backlog of extra seeds, but I refuse to go over 18 overflow tiles. I'm working 5 3x3 plots right now, and I don't want to go higher until I have better tools. The opportunity cost versus fishing is just too high. If it weren't for villager quests, the need for gifts, and the fact that you get so many seeds for free near the start, I probably wouldn't touch farming at all until copper. As it is, there are enough mechanics that plug into farming that I think it has a legitimate place in early play, even you're you're playing a more min-max-ish style.

Goals for the day:
-Raise enough money to hit $2000 and get that copper watering can started on. Clint closes at 3:00, so that's a harsh deadline. I take care to actually bring my watering can with me today, along with 5 copper bars.
-It's Vincent's Birthday, so bring a daffodil along for the little goblin
-I have these crab pots, so I should also distribute them around places I visit. I'm not impressed with trapping, but hey, I got these for free.

Upgrading your tools takes it out of the game for two days, counting the day that you hand it over. The ideal time to turn in your watering can is a day when you know it's going to rain tomorrow. Well, it's not going to rain tomorrow, and I don't really want to wait. The lost productivity from delaying the upgrade outweighs the one day of idleness, I think. This is also kind of a hidden advantage to having a small farm, in that cost of upgrading your tools is effectively lower.

8:50
I'm done tending my crops. It took a little longer because I needed to expand the overflow section. I decide to swing south. I want to set up camp near Willy's so tha tI can immediately sell any fish I get. I'm going to check for hotspots along the way and grab the first one I can, otherwise I'll just fish right outside Willy' home.

9:00
I find a hotspot in the forest pond. The pond is kind of a lame fishing zone. It's mostly smallmouth bass, but I'll take what I can get. The spot is located in the shallows of the water, and not in the deeper waters at the end of the pier. That's also disappointing, because you get a substantial luck bonus for fishing in deeper water. Then again, I'm not sure I could even reach those dark waters with the basic rod, so maybe it's fine.

11:20
The hotspot vanishes right as I make a cast. I go ahead and wait for the bite, since I've invested the energy now. I'm glad I did:


ANOTHER diamond and ANOTHER Neptune's Glaive! WOW
I plan on selling both, but I won't be able to get the cash from these things until after Clint closes.

12:00
I dart over to the wizard and turn in the slime genocide quest. That's an extra 240 right there. If I dump these fish off at Willy's, I should have just enough to make my plan work.

1:20
I spot Elliot on the beach as I'm marching off to Willy's. I've given him four gifts already, but he's still at 1 heart. He must be very close. I drop my fish off at Willy's. I consider fishing some more, but think better of it. I don't want to miss Clint's working hours.

2:20
I pop in the door and unceremoniously dump my watering can into Clint's hands. Great, I'll have the first upgrade before my third planting. I'm going to make the third harvest a really big one.

3:00
I run into Penny's class as I'm walking past the library. Oh God, it's Vincent's birthday, I almost forgot! I hand over the daffodil and score an easy 360 points, plus the usual 20 for just talking to him afterwards. Vincent is now in the two hearts club. I happen to have an extra daffodil, so I give one to Jas also, since she's here. She's a hard one to befriend because of her wonky location and habits.

3:20
I swing by the notice board and see That Emily wants a Topaz, I... just gave one to Gunther. But that's okay. The reason I donated that topaz is because I had another one already in storage, just in case something like this happened. Emily works late nights at the saloon, so it should be easy for me to finish things in town, go home, and still be able to catch her today. I don't have to do it today, mind you, but the sooner you clear quests, the sooner new ones can spawn.

Which reminds me, it's kind of odd that there's a quest today. The Wizard's quest was still active this morning. I'm guessing it's because I turned it in before I visited the town. I've never seen something like that happen before. That might be a little trick to keep in mind when trying to optimize your quests.

5: 30
I swing by the northern settlement and say hi to the people there. I'm starting to wonder about Robin, for lots of reasons.

First off, she's always talking about how oh-so-lonely she is, and how it's *totally okay* to stop by, even if I don't have any official business with her. She always says this in earshot of Demetrius, who is apparently chopped liver and doesn't count against her "being lonely." Is... is this some kind of swinger thing? Her husband plainly knows about it and doesn't seem to care. Is he into this?

And then there's her son, who lives in an underground prison cell. Parents don't usually entomb their children like this. So, okay, at first I think that they just bought the only house that was on the market and were forced to make a compromise, but no, that's not it. Robin won't shut up about how she designed and built this house herself. She planned this. She's proud of it. Meanwhile, Maru gets a normal room, and even has a private observatory as a separate add on to the house.

Basically, there's no way that Robin isn't into humiliating men. It's just her thing. I better be careful around her. I'm also going to include a strict "no dungeon" clause in any construction contracts I give her.

Oh yeah, I also stop by the adventurer's guild and sell off the extra Neptune's Glaive that I got.

I've got extra time, so I fish for a bit. I say hello to Seb as he comes out for his smoke break. He doesn't make any comments about how he's trying to escape or anything, so I guess he's cool with the whole
Cask of Amontillado thing he's got going on. After a few puffs, he meekly returns to his cell, and Robin presumably reseals him.

"For the love of God Robin!"
"Yes, Sebastian, for the love of God!"

11:00
I hit the saloon, do the usual shmoozing, and drop a topaz on Emily. That's $240 right there, and a solid 150 points with Ms. Bluehair.

12:00
I go to bed with $1774. Seeing as how I started with $1625, and that I spent $2000 today, that's incredible. It's mostly because I found that insane treasure chest, and I completed two high value quests.

 

Ok, now I am never going to look at Robin in the same way.

 

Day 11
Today is when my first batch of potatoes mature. I can harvest them, but I can't replant today, because I won't have my watering can back until tomorrow. I sit down and do a little math.

I want to expand my farm in anticipation of this new upgrade. Like, by a factor of three. I want to go from having 2 3x3 plots of potatoes to having 10. There's no reason to expand the single miscellaneous plot, since it's job is to provide variety, not profit, and I don't want to expand the overflow plots. I also want to add two entirely new plots dedicated entirely to tulips, for use as gifts. That's 15 3x3 plots, or triple what I'm doing now.

So the seeds for this are going to cost $4860. I have $1774 right now. The potatoes I have on the ground right now should cover about $1600 of that cost, which means that I still need to get another $1486 before tomorrow.

Goals
-Do some pre-tilling in anticipation of tomorrow's expansion. I'm adding over 100 new tiles and I need to amortize the time/energy cost of this project.
- Fish like my life depends on it

I go ahead and pop that second diamond into the shipping chest. Forgot about the museum. There will be other diamonds and at better times. That's half of my goal right there.

I check my mail, and oh hey, Dungeon Mom Robin has lost her axe and is paying $250 for its return. I was planning on starting north today to take advantageof the better fishing at the mountain lake, but I guess I'm going southinstead to get that axe.

9:10
I find the axe on the island. I also snag 16 spring onions. I really needed that refill.

10:50
Passing through town, I see a notice board quest. I'm glad I cleared Emily's quest last night, because otherwise this wouldn't have been here. It's the Wizard. He wants me to kill slimes. Again. Jeez dude. Were slimes responsible for your broken marriage or something? Well, regardless, I guess I'm going to the mines today. I talk to Robin and give her the axe... cautiously. She invites me to go to the tool shed so that she can "show me her tool collection." Ha ha, yeah nice try lady. I noticed on the way in that that shed only locks from the outside.

1:00
I hit the mines. The first two floors take forever, but the other three go fast. My floor 20 reward is a steel smallsword. I still only have 2/4 slime murders, so I take the elevator back to floor 5 and pick up some easy kills. I stop by the guild and sell my old wooden sword.

6:20
I start fishing. I'm out of energy, so I'm dipping into my onion supply pretty hard.

9: 30
I'm starting to get uncomfortable with how many onions I'm burning, so I closeup shop for the night. To head down to the saloon for some more hearts. On my way out, I get the crazy idea of trying to catch the Wizard before he goes to bed and turing in his quest.

11: 30
I miss the deadline by a good half hour. This was a silly idea.

12:40
I go to bed late, and on a day where there's going to be a lot of labor tomorrow. Oh well.

Farming hits level 2, and Fishing hits 5. I take Fishing (+25% fish value) as my perk. I'm not very convinced that the Trapper perk is viable.

Here's the profit breakdown for the day:
$1720 potatoes
$600 fish
$800 minerals (750 of that is from the diamond that I already had)
$250 from Robin's quest
$100 selling my old sword

I close out at $4962 in the bank, which is enough.

 

Day 12

Let's do some math. Yesterday, I made $1720 gross off of 18 tiles worth of potatoes. I also made $600 off of about 15 castings with my fishing rod. The potatoes took 6 days to mature and cost 216 stamina in total to water. They also cost $900 to get started. The fishing took a single day and cost 120 stamina and had no capital investment. So fishing made about as much profit in a day as the potatoes do in a week.

That's a little unfair, because farming can scale. If I went whole hog, I could have planted many more potatoes. The limiting factor becomes stamina. Farming is yielding me $3.8 per stamina, while fishing is giving me $5. And this wasn't even a particularly good day for fishing. On top of all of that, fishing has better cash flow and doesn't gobble up all of your capital. I could have had a bigger farm by now, but then I wouldn't have this nice backpack, and the watering can upgrade would still just be a distant dream. As it is, the watering can is coming in tomorrow, and that's going to change the math a lot. Farming is going to become better overall, but that was made possible by an early focus on fishing.

Today is a rain day. That means more catfish and hopefully some eels. It's also Friday. Normally, the only thing about Friday that is special is the huge party in the saloon. But it's raining, so that isn't going to happen. But more significantly, the Egg Festival is tomorrow. I would normally do my hardcore foraging session on Saturday, since that's the alst day before the reset, but that's not really an option here. I have to do it today. But, eh, it's a rain day. I'm not sure it's worth it to trade potential catfish for soem extra forage. I'm going to make a point to hit the tidal pool, but that's it.

Goals
- Finish the tilling and clearing needed for the planned farm expansion
-MOAR CATFISH
-Get some goddamn eels already
-Pick up my can from Clint. CAN'T FORGET THIS ONE. Clint's shop will be closed tomorrow.
-Hit the tidal pools
-Hit Pierre's and buy up some seeds
-Plant those seeds
-Turn in my quest to the Wizard

9: 30
I leave later than I would like. I had to till the fields for the expansion. That's two and a half hours that I would rather have used on fishing, but it had to be done.

10: 30
I stop by the tower and turn in my quest to Captain Slime Murder. Another time intensive detour, but it's gotta be done. I skip spring onion island on the way to town. I've got bigger fish to fry. Literally.

1: 30
I loot the tidal pool. Lots of stuff here, totally worth it.

2:00
I get my watering can from Clint. I also process some geodes. I get some artifacts, so I give those to Gunther. I unlock the starfruit reward. I guess that'll be nice to have in summer.

2:50
I hit up Pierre and buy 90 potato seeds and 18 tulip seeds

3:00
I start fishing. FINALLY. GEEZ

6:40
No catfish :_( I head to the beach and try to snag some eels.

11:40
No eels :_( My inventory is full and my energy is low, so I go home. I hastily plant my newly acquired seeds. It's raining, so I don't have to worry about watering them

1: 30
late night, but it doesn't matter. Tomorrow is the festival, so it's okay if I start with a stamina penalty.

I made $1149, half from fishing, half from the tidal pool. I was expecting a lot more from fishing, but this was kind of a busy day and my luck was pretty poor. I need to get the upgraded fishing pole soon.

 

Day 13

The festival is today, so I don't plan on doing much. I'm going to test drive this new watering can, and maybe check some of the nearby regions for some last minute forage. I'm not going to do any hardcore optimizing today. It's a holiday, I should roleplay it at least a little bit.

8:50
The watering is done. Here's my new layout, BTW:



The idea is that I can run down the aisles and water two branches at once. The branches converge at the pond for easy and natural refill breaks. The stumps and logs are horribly in the way, which is why the various branches aren't square with each other, and why the southern tulip section is so inefficiently laid out. The overflow plots should really be on the outer fringes instead of the center, but the outer fringes didn't exist when I created those plots. This will work until summer comes and hard-resets everything.

Watering the new megafarm is taking about three hours. The old farm took about two. That's a 50% increase in time costs for a tripling of the yield. I'll take it.

The change to stamina costs are more complicated. The copper pot uses 4 stamina when in charge mode, versus the standard 2 points you normally use. Of course, it waters three tiles at once, so you come out ahead, but I'm not actually cutting stamina costs down to a third, it cutting it by a third. So I'm paying 67% as much stamina per tile as I used to. I've tripled the size of my farm, so the stamina footprint of my crops has gone up from 90 points per day to 180.

It's a little more complicated once you start factoring farming skill into this, because your levels subtract a flat 0.1 stamina from the use of your tools, which helps the lower tier tools out more than the higher ones, but right now my level is too low for that to matter much.

The long and short of it is that the farm is a bigger commitment now. I doubt that my spring onions will be able to keep up with demand at this point, but they won't have to. Salmon berry season is just a few days away, and they are an even more efficient source of energy than spring onions. It's like I planned for this or something.

I've got extra time, so I check the river island. I find 23 spring onions! Wow, right when I needed a refill, too.

I also quickly check the northern road and the bus stop road, and find a shocking amount of forage there, about $500 worth. I guess I've been using the forest road almost exclusively this week, so that makes sense.

At 12:50 I go ahead and go to the festival.

I find this event to be queasily disturbing. I always figured that you and your possible love interests were in their mid-twenties or so. I mean, your character is old enough to have had a white collar job for several years, and no one blinks an eye when you're given full ownership of the farm.

But then the Egg Festival happens...

You and most of the other love interests compete against two elementary school kids in an Easter egg hunt WHAT. THE. HELL.

You know, when Abigail talked about her classwork, I just assumed she was taking courses at a nearby community college or something. I had no idea she was still in goddamned middle school. The game should automatically register you with the FBI whenever you get more than 8 hearts with Abbie, Alex, Sam, or Sebastian.

Meanwhile, Leah and Penny, my two favorites (because they have jobs and act like goddamned adults) watch as I am forced to compete in a children's game. They will never view me as a man again. I bet Robin is behind this.

Also, I win the contest. I mean, I may as well just go all in and complete the humiliation. I glance nervously at Leah, but she won't even look me in the eye. Robin, on the other hand, is staring at me with a triumphant smile. Yeah, yeah, you win this round, lady. Well played.

The festival is over. I have a new hat, but it cannot ever replace what was taken from me today.

I spend the rest of the night smelting copper. I quench the metal with my own tears.

 

Day 14

I've got copper for days. I like to raise some money so I can use that copper to upgrade my other tools. But first, I want to buy a better pole. I think that I might actually get the other tools sooner buy buying the pole first.

9: 30
It took a while for me to water my crops today. Some of the miscellaneous crops came in today. I have enough to finish the Spring Harvest bundle, so I'll do that today. I head south, since I need to stop by Willy's anyway. Might as well hit the island while I'm at it.

10:50
I got ten more onions.

12: 30
I catch Elliot standing on the bridge near the beach. I cannot wait until I can stop worrying about meeting him regularly.

12:50
I buy the Fiberglass fishing pole. I immediately attach some bait to it. Let's try it out.

2:20
I find a hotspot along the river. It's a good one. Between the hotspot and the new pole, fish bite almost instantly. I spend more time casting than I do waiting. It lasts for three and a half hours. I catch about 30 fish. I also get two frozen geodes and an artifact from the various chests that I pulled up. I had to eat about 15 onions to keep the streak going.

7:40
With no stamina, and no desire to spend any more consumables today, I hit the saloon.

8:00
I notice a quest on the board. Jodi wants a green bean. I have several stored away. It's too late to deliver it now, but I can do that tomorrow. This is exactly why I made the miscellaneous crop plot.

9:00
I turn in the Spring Harvest Bundle at the old Community Center. I get some Speed Gro, which I decide to save until summer.

11:20
I get home. I only have 18 onions left, but today is the last day that I will ever need them. The salmon berries are coming tomorrow.

Fishing hits level 6, and I clear $2031 in profits, almost entirely from fish. I'm wondering if I shouldn't have gotten the new pole sooner, but I don't really see a good way for me to have done that.

 

Day 15

It's raining. I can't wait to test out this new rod on some catfish. The fortune teller says that today will be very good luck. Oh my, this is going to be a good day. It is also the first day of the berries

Salmon berries spawn for only four days a year. It starts on Monday (today) and ends on Thursday. On Friday, any remaining berries vanish. Any empty bushes have a chance of spawning berries. You'd think that you'd want to clear the bushes every day, but there's a catch. On Thursday, all the bushes yield double. The way I do it is that I pic up berries casually on Monday, with determination on Tuesday, and then let leave them alone on Wednesday so that I get a good double harvest on Thursday. Finding the truly optimal solution would require save save scumming and testing. I'm not up to that right now, but this plan is a good compromise.

The reason I like salmon berries so much is because they are crazily efficient. Check this out:

Spring Onion
Sells for $8
Restores 12.5 energy

Salmon Berry
Sells for $5
Restores 25 energy

Twice the benefit at 62.5% of the cost! That's 5 energy per gold coin.

Berries are also liked by five different townspeople, so they make efficient gifts as well. Here, have a list of "easy" villagers:

Spring Onion Crew
Leah
Harvey
Linus

Team Salmon Berry
Jodi
Shane
Pam
Demetrius
Robin

So that's eight villagers that I can easily take care, just by giving away near valueless stuff that I find on the ground.

8:00
I head directly east. I pick up a few salmon berries on the way.I start fishing along the river, just south of Jodi's house. I have two reasons for this. First off, I need to drop off my green bean for her, so it's a good place to wait for her to wake up. Second, there's a patch of deep water in the river, right in the area, and I can ow reach it with my new pole. I get a gold starred catfish right away. It will be the first of many.

9:00
I deliver the green bean to Jodi. I also give her a salmonberry. I stop and fish some more.

11:00
I take a trip to Clint's and place an order for a copper axe. I go back to the deepw ater in front of Jodi's house

6:10
It's late enough that the eels will start coming out in the ocean. Catfish are worth more, but I might need eels for quests, and I still don't have any. I decide to burn an hour and go to the saloon, since I know it's going to be packed. I have gifts for almost everyone there. Leah and Harvey get onion'ed, Shane and Pam get berries, I give a potato that happened to be in my inventory to Willy, and a random daffodil goes to Gus. I look at my social tab and uh, I'm going to need to have a plan if I want to get everyone two-hearted by the end of the season.

8:10
Hit the beach, get an eel right away!

11:20
It's time to pack it in. I ate all of the berries, and dipped heavily into my onions. And it's late. And my inventory is full. The good fortune plus the deep water modifier meant that all of my fish were at least silver, and most of them were gold. This was what it looked like on my last catch:



The gold is nice and all, but the point of this screen shot is ALL THOSE FISH HOLY MOLEY

I make $5505 in fish today.