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If you enjoy co-operative board games but want something peaceful and relaxing without conflict or combat,Stardew Valley: The Board Gamemight be perfect for you. Your main focus here is farming, fishing, and other wholesome activities. You don’t need to be familiar withStardew Valleyto enjoy the game, but if you are, it adds an extra layer of fun.
The story begins with your grandfather leaving everything behind to reconnect with nature and people in a quiet town. Inspired by his path, you’re now doing the same. Your goal is to complete Grandpa’s goals and restore the rooms of the Community Center. This guide covers everything you need to set up and play the game.
How To Win The Game
Stardew Valley: The Board Game is a chill, cooperative board game for one to four players. The game includes a time mechanic, represented by the Season Deck.
Before time runs out—meaning before the Season Deck is depleted—you must complete specific objectives to win. These objectives consist offour Grandpa’s Goals and the restoration of six Community Center Rooms.
To win, all of the revealed Grandpa’s Goals must be completed by the end of the game. In addition, the six Community Center Rooms shown in the top right of the board must each be restored.
To restore a Community Center Room, you mustcomplete one of its associated Bundles.Each bundle requires unique donations. To complete a bundle, you mustdonate a number of specific items equal to the number of players.Completing one bundle in each of the six rooms is enough to restore the Community Center.
However, all Bundles start the game facedown. To reveal them, you’ll need to spend Hearts Tokens. These Hearts allow you toflip the Bundles faceup so they can be completed.
Because the game is cooperative, all goals and otherrequirements scale based on the number of players.This means more players will require more effort as a team to meet the goals and complete the bundles.
How To Set Up The Game
First, place the board in the center of the table. You’ll be rolling a lot of dice during the game, so keep the Stardew Dice and the Animal Dice nearby. Shuffle the following decks to start the game:
Place the black Tile Tray beside the board to organize all supply tiles. It will hold the various tile types used during the game. There are also two cloth bags—place them next to the Tile Tray. Fill thegray bag with Artifact and Mineral tiles, and theblue bag with Fish, Trash, and Treasure tiles.
From the Forageable Tiles, take one Parsnip tile(pink background)andplace it on the second slot under the Farmhouse illustrationon the board. Place it with the normal side facing up(not the quality side).
Forageable and Tree Tiles are color-coded by season. Use only Spring tiles(pink background)for setup. Shuffle them andrandomly place one facedown tile on each foraging spot(11 total).For Tree Tiles, also shuffle the Spring tiles andrandomly place them leaf-side upon all tree spots on the board. Set aside the remaining tiles for later use.
Foraging spots are marked with a mushroom icon, and tree spots are marked with a log icon on the board.
Draw five random tiles from the blue Fishing Bagand place them on the Fish Track at the bottom-left of the board.
Next, arrange the Mine Level Deck withLevel 12 on the bottom and Level One on the top.Place the deck faceup in the top-right of the board. Shuffle the Map Deck, draw one card, and place it faceup in the slot below the Mine Level Deck. Keep the rest of the Map cards nearby, facedown.
Now build the Season Deck and place itfacedown in the designated area at the bottom of the board.If this is your first game, use the 16 Standard Season Cards and create four separate facedown piles by season.
Shuffle each pile and place each facedown season pile on top of the corresponding Season End card to create a 20-card Season Deck. Then, stack them in this order (bottom to top):Winter, Fall, Summer, Spring.Place the deck in its designated spot.
If you’re experienced and want a more surprising Season Deck, you can instead draw four random cards from each season’s 20-card set and build the deck that way.
For each Community Center Room (top-right of the board),draw one random Bundle Card without looking at it, and place it facedown in its matching room.Set the rest of the bundle cards aside. Shuffle the Goal Deck and draw four cards. Place them faceup in the designated slots in the top-left of the board—these are your game objectives.
Separate the Animal Tiles into two stacks: Coop Animals and Barn Animals. Place them near the bottom-left of the board. Then, place the Coop Building Tile on top of the Coop stack and the Barn Building Tile on the Barn stack.Draw two additional random Building Tilesand place them below the two stacks. Return the rest to the box.
Each player chooses a Player Mat, which determines their Profession. You can choose randomly or pick freely. Then,take the pawn that matches your profession’s color.Each player chooses a Starting Tool Deck and places it on their mat with Level Zero on top.
One player takes the Pet Token, which shows a cat on one side and a dog on the other—it also marks the first player.As a team,you begin with three gold, which is shared and not individual.
Finally,place each player’s pawn on the Farmhouse spacein the top-left corner of the board.
Round Phases, Explained
At the beginning of each round, the first thing you need to do isdraw a card from the Season Deck and follow its instructions.After that comes the Planning Phase, where each player discusses what they plan to do and places their pawn on a chosen location.
After you complete the Planning Phase, you can begin the Action Phase, starting with the Starting Player,each player takes their turn.Once a player finishes their turn, theyreturn their pawn to the Farmhouseand choose one of the End of Turn Effects.
You can find these effects next to the Farmhouse illustration. Players may trigger as many of these effects as they are able to.
Once all players have taken their turns, the round ends and a new round begins. This cycle continues until a game-ending condition is met:
Instruction
Win
If the playerscomplete all their objectives before the final Season Card is drawn, they win the game.
Lose
If the final Season Card is drawn before all objectives are completed, the players lose, and Joja wins.
Season Phase
The First Playerdraws one Season Card and resolves it.Icons on the Season Card should beresolved from top to bottom.If the card drawn is a Festival Card, it will have only a single effect. Each regular Season Card includes a number of icons that represent different events. Resolve each corresponding effect as follows:
Rain
Water
Shift all planted crops one space to the right. If any crop tile moves off the board, it is harvested. The Starting Player collects the harvested crops.
Fish Move
Fish
Starting from the right,discard two Fish Tiles.Shift the remaining ones to the right and fill any empty slots.Draw new tiles from the blue bagequal to the number of empty slots. If any Legendary Fish would be discarded, return it to the bag instead.
Gift
Present
Each player chooses one villager they are friends with andactivates that villager’s Gift Ability.Then, players resolve the gift effect of any non-villager cards that show the gift icon.
The Pet Wanders
Cat
The First Playerpasses the Pet Token to the player on their left.
Green Crow
Crow
Discard one cropfrom your crop slots that liesbelow the green bar.The third slot counts as both green and red.
Red Crow
Discard one cropfrom your crop slots that liesbelow the red bar.The third slot counts as both green and red.
The First Playerdraws an Event Card and resolves its effects.
Joja
Joja icon
Draw one Joja Tileand place it on the appropriate spot on the board. These do not activate immediately but will make things more difficult.
Shipping Bin
Box
Players maytrade resources and sell items.You can find the gold value of a tile in its bottom-right corner.
Joja Tiles that appear on Season Cards will make the game more difficult for you and impose restrictions. To place them, select the topmost facedown Joja tile and place it in the corresponding area as indicated by the symbol on it as a reminder. To discard them, you must use the End of Turn effects, and discarding them requires either one Heart Token or five gold.
Season-End Cards
When a Season End card is drawn, you mustremove all Forageable and Tree tiles from the boardand place the appropriate tiles for the next season in their designated spots. After that,each player draws two Profession Upgradecards that match their profession and cankeep one of them.
If you already have two Profession Upgrade cards, you may discard one of the existing ones. After following all the instructions on the Season End card, draw the next card and continue the game by applying its instructions.
Planning Phase
During this phase, each player plans what they want to do. Players may alsotrade item cards and resources with one another.After planning, each playerplaces their pawn on a location of their choice, and the game proceeds to the Action Phase.
Action Phase
The player with the Pet Token takes the first action. Once they finish all their actions,play continues clockwise to the next player.During the Action Phase, you have two options:
After taking your second and final action, place your pawn back on the Farmhouse area and trigger one of the End Turn effects.
Once all players have completed their turns and returned to the Farmhouse, the round ends.
Movement & Foraging, Explained
On the map, you’ll noticethe lines connecting different locations.These lines represent paths, and you mustmove along them when changing locations.While moving, you maypick up one adjacent Forageable or Tree Tile that borders the path you’re taking—but only one, not both.
This counts as foraging, and it’s automatic; it does not use up one of your actions.
This means you can do an “Action + Move + Action” turn and also forage during your movement. Since many tiles are adjacent to multiple paths, you can reveal and claim them by traveling along any connected route.
Forageable and Tree Tiles arerevealed and then added to your inventory.Tree Tiles always become Wood when claimed. However, Forageables may reveal different icons on their back. If a gear or ore icon appears, it means you’ve found an Artifact or Mineral. Discard the revealed tile anddraw one from the gray bag instead, keep the resource type that was specified.
Action Details, Explained
When you take an action, you mayperform the available actions at your pawn’s current location.Of course, taking an action is optional—you don’t have to perform one if you choose not to. That’s why it’s important to place your pawn wisely during the Planning Phase based on the actions you intend to take.
Farm
-
Spend one action toshift all planted crop tiles one space to the right.If any crop tile moves beyond the last slot, it is consideredharvested and goes into your inventory.
Spend one action toroll three Animal Dice.If the result includes a symbol matching one of your animal tiles,all animals with that symbol activate, and their effects are triggered. The resource each animal produces is shown in the bottom-right corner of its tile.
If a symbol appears more than once on the dice, each of your animals with that symbol is triggered as many times as the symbol appears.
If your animal tiles are on their happy side, the resources they provide will be on their Quality side. You can flip animal tiles to their happy side using End of Turn effects.
Ranch
Marnie
Spend one action to buy animals, as long as you have enough gold. The animals you can buydepend on the buildings you own.If you don’t own the required building, you cannot purchase animals associated with it. You can see the required building listed below the animal’s name.
Pierre
Spend one action to buy seeds or sell resources. You can do this as many times as you wish in one action. The seeds you buy arebased on the current season, and as soon as you acquire them,they are placed in one of the slots beneath your ranch.The water icon in the bottom-left corner of the seed cardindicates which slot you should place it in.
The slot must be empty; if it is occupied, you cannot purchase that seed.
Additionally, at Pierre’s store, you cansell items from your inventory to gain gold.The gold value of each item is shown in the bottom-right corner of the item card. Normally, to sell items, you need a Shipping Bin icon to appear on a Season Card. If this does not appear, you must visit this store to sell items.
Town
Gus
Spend one action to make a friend andreveal the top card from the Villager Deck.If you wish, you cangive a resource from your inventoryto the revealed card to become friends with that Villager. If you don’t want to become friends, you must discard the card.
Additionally, making a friend with a Villager will earn you heart tokens; the number of heart tokens you earn depends on the Villager Card:
Each villager’s card displays their birthday season. If the current season matches their birthday season, you will earn one additional heart token.
Some items have a red X icon; these items cannot be given as gifts.
After becoming friends with a Villager, if a gift icon appears on the Season Card,each player selects one of their friends and triggers that Villager’s Gift ability.
If the Villager you befriended has a blue seashell icon to the right of their name, they are eligible for marriage.If you have the Mermaid’s Pendant epic item, attach it to one of your befriended Villagers, and you will be considered married to that Villager. Take the Spouse Pawn and place it next to your player mat.
During the Planning Phase,you can place your Spouse Pawn anywhere, just like any other player pawn. After completing all your actions, you maytake an action with your Spouse Pawn at their location.The Spouse can access your entire inventory and all your abilities, effectively acting as an extension of you. However, the Spouse cannot trigger End of Turn effects.
Spend an action at the Community Center to reveal as many Bundles as you may and donate to them as much as possible.
Restoring the Community Center is one of the objectives of the game, and you need to complete a Bundle for each room, for a total of six rooms. To complete a Bundle, you mustdonate the required items to it.
To reveal a Bundle, you need todiscard heart tokens equal to the number of players.Once you’ve done this, you canreveal the leftmost facedown Bundle card.Alternatively, you may spend heart tokens equal to the number of players toreplace a face-up Bundle card with another face-up Bundle cardthat matches the room.
This is because some Bundles are quite difficult or impossible to complete at the moment. If you replace a Bundle that already has donated items, those items are discarded. Remember that when replacing a Bundle card, you must place a matching one from the same room.
To complete a Bundle, you need todonate the resources shown on the card, equal to the number of players.You don’t need to donate everything at once. Once you’ve donated enough resources to meet the Bundle’s requirement, you may discard the Bundle card, indicating that the room of the Community Center has been restored.
When you complete a Bundle, it provides a reward. One of the players may choose to receive it. The first five Bundles give regular items, while the last Bundle gives an epic item reward.
Forge
Flint
Visit Clint and spend an action to open as many Geodes as you wish.For each Geode you have, roll a Stardew Dice.Check the chart on the board andlook at the symbols below the row of the Geodesyou own to determine what you have earned.
If you don’t gain any Ore, discard your Geodes and collect the resource indicated. If you gain an Ore, you need to flip your Geode tile. After you open one Geode and if you still have remaining Geodes in your inventory, you can continue rolling dice to open them.
Gunther
Visit Gunther anddonate any Artifacts or Minerals you have. Spend an action to donate as many of these as you like. Each donated resource tile willearn you one heart token.You must place the donated resources in the Museum, which has eight slots.
The letter in the lower-left corner of the resource tileindicates where it should be placed in the Museum’s corresponding slot.If the letter is replaced with a question mark icon, you can place the tile in any slot you choose. Completing a column in the Museum will reward you with an Epic Item.
Mountain
Robin
Spend an action to visit Robin and purchase a building tile. However, these building tilesrequire wood, stone, and gold.Discard the necessary resources for the building tile you want to purchase and take the building. Buildings arenot owned by any one playerand are shared among all players. After purchasing the building, you must activate its effect.
While in the Mine,spend an action to roll two Stardew Dice.Then, look at the Map Card and check the intersection of the icons rolled on the dice to see what you gain. You shouldlook at the grid where the row and column intersect.
However, you may choose which symbol from each column and row to select, giving you multiple options. The following rewards can be earned:
Gain Stone equal to the shown icon.
Mine Entrance
You need to draw one Mine Event card, then resolve its effect.
Gain one Bug Meat tile.
Staircase
Reveal the next level of the Mine and place a new Map Card.
Monster
Activate the Monster Ability on the current Mine Level Card.
You can descend to lower levels by using the Staircase icon, but you can also do this during End of Turn Effects by spending Stone. When you descend, reveal the next Mine Level card and replace the Map Card. If you are on Level 12, changing just the Mine Map card will be sufficient to proceed.
Forest/Beach/Mountain
To fish, you must visit the River, Lake, or Ocean and spend an action. Look at the Fish Track, where you will see symbols indicating where the fish are located:
Green Circle
Lake
After catching a fish, you mustmove the fish on the Fish Track to the rightand fill the empty spaces with existing fish. Then, fill the leftmost empty slots by drawing tiles from the Fishing Bag.
To catch fish,roll three Stardew Dice.The symbols from the dice can be spent to catch one or more fish from the area you are in. Remember, you canspend each symbol for one fish.
If one of the fish on the Fish Track has a golden name, it is a legendary fish. What makes these fish special is that, due to the effect of season cards, if they are discarded from the track,they do not get discarded but instead return to the Fishing Bag.
Remember, except for Legendary Fish, all other Fishing Tiles that are discarded from the track do not return to the Fishing Bag.
Some fish don’t have symbols on the Stardew Dice; these are Crab Pot Fish. The difference with these fish is thatthey are caught using Bug Meats.For each Bug Meat you discard, you can catch a Crab Pot Fish that matches the fishing location you are in.
If you don’t catch any fish, you cantake a Trash Tile from one of the slots on the Fish Track instead.These have no value, but removing them from the track opens up space for fish.
If you catch a fish in the slot to the left of the Treasure Chest Tile,discard the Treasure Chest Tile and gain an Item Card.
End Of Turn Effects
Once a player has finished their actions, theyreturn their pawn to the Farmhouseand can perform one of the following End of Turn effects as many times as they want:
Description
Build Staircase
Discard stone equal to the number of players, and you will descend in the Mine. To descend, reveal the next Mine Level card and replace the Map Card.
Pet Animals
Discard heart tokens equal to the number of hearts on one of your animal tiles, and flip that animal tile to its Happy side.
Remove Joja
Pay five gold or one heart to remove a Joja tile from the board.
Upgrade Starting Tool
Pay the resources indicated on your Starting Tool to upgrade it to the next level.
Inventory & Trade, Explained
You shouldplace your starting tool’s lowest level at the top, meaning level zero. Then, arrange them in descending order, with thehighest level at the bottom.The mat also has slots where you can place the items you acquire throughout the game. Normally, you can carry two upgrades, two items, and six resources on your mat.
If you acquire more, you must discard the existing ones. There is no limit to the number of epic items, friends, or event cards you may carry. Keep in mind thattiles cannot be stacked on your player mat.Discarded tiles are returned to the Tile Tray. However, fish, forageable, artifact, and mineral tiles are not placed in the Tile Tray and are discarded.
Common items can be traded with other players during the Planning Phase, but each player can only hold two of them.
Profession upgrades cannot be traded, and each player can hold up to two of them. If you acquire a double-sided card, you must decide which side to use before placing it. Cards with gift abilities are triggered when a gift icon appears on the Season Card.
Game Variants
You can try different game modes by altering some of the game rules:
Instructions
Seedling
This is the tutorial and easy mode of the game. Your goal is simply to complete four of Grandpa’s Goals.
Honest Farmer
This is the standard game mode. Your goal is to complete four of Grandpa’s Goals and also complete one Bundle for each room, totaling six Bundles.
Artisan
If you’re looking for a more challenging game, in addition to the Honest Farmer rules, the game must be completed without any Joja Tiles on the board.
Shorter Game
For a shorter game, place two cards per season instead of four. To complete the game, you only need to finish two of Grandpa’s Goals instead of four.
Select three Community Center Rooms randomly and place Bundles in them. Completing these three is enough to win.
Solo Play
If you’re playing solo, at the end of the season, choose three cards from any four different Profession decks and select one. Discard the others.
