Stardew Valley Year 1 Community Center Guide
There are so many possibilities for gameplay in Concerned Ape’s farming simulation Stardew Valley. The beloved indie game allows players to develop their own farmland, romance NPCs, and generally transform Pelican Town for the better. One of the ways they can do so is to complete the Community Center, a rundown building Joja Corporation threatens to takeover–but that you have the option to save with the help of some forest spirits called the Junimos. It may seem daunting, but if you set your mind to it, it is possible to complete the Community Center in year 1 of Stardew Valley. Here’s how:
How do I fix the Community Center?
The dilapidated Community Center has multiple rooms, each with its own bundles to be completed. To complete a bundle, you must put the items required in their boxes. Once a single bundle is complete, the Junimos will give you a reward. Once every bundle in a room is completed, they will fix up the room in the Community Center and give you an even larger reward the next day, such as fixing the minecarts or bus. And once every bundle in the entire Community Center has been filled, the building will be as good as new!
Guarantee Year 1 Completable Settings
When you are starting a new save file, there’s a way to ensure that the Community Center is completable by the end of your first winter. Just go into the settings before finishing character creation.
Under “Community Center Bundles,” you can select “Normal” or “Remixed,” depending on whether you want to complete the original bundles or a more random generation of remixed bundles. Whichever you choose, make sure to select “Guarantee Year 1 Completable.” This ensures that the Traveling Cart sells a red cabbage seed at some point during the first year.
Strategies
Once you’ve ensured the possibility of completing the Stardew Community Center in a year, it’s time to focus on strategies for making that possibility a reality:
Prioritize seasonal items:
The most important thing to keep in mind when deciding what bundles to prioritize is that the availability of some crops, fish, and forageable items depends on the season.
You’ll need to prioritize seasonal items. So, parsnips, green beans, cauliflower, and potatoes all need to be gathered by the end of spring for the “Spring Crops Bundle.” Certain fish can only be caught in certain seasons as well. You can check the Stardew Valley Wiki for what season/time/weather is optimal for catching each fish.
Additionally, a truffle (for the chef’s bundle) needs to be collected by a pig before winter, as pigs can’t dig for truffles in the snow.
And if you don’t have a fruit bat cave on your farm, you’ll need to plant an apple tree (for Marnie’s friendship bundle) and a pomegranate tree in time for them to grow by and be harvestable in the fall.
Know where to find each bundle item:
It’s important to have some familiarity with the game and where to find each bundle item if you’re going to try and complete the Community Center year 1 of Stardew Valley. The game’s wiki page for bundles can help by laying out each needed item and where and when it can be found (click here for the original bundles guide and here for the remixed bundles guide).
Sometimes, where to find something can depend on the decisions you make in game. So, if you choose a mushroom cave from Demetrius’ cave options, you’ll need to plant fruit trees to fulfill certain bundles. If you choose the fruit bat cave, you might want to find mushrooms in the deep levels of the mines for other bundles.
Utilize the Traveling Cart:
It’s possible to get every item from the original community center bundles without utilizing the traveling cart (except, usually, red cabbage).
However, if you know you’ll struggle to gather certain items in time–like, say catching a pufferfish–save some money instead and regularly check the traveling cart Fridays and Sundays until 8 pm in the Cindersap Forest, where the item might randomly appear.
There we have it! Our tips for completing the Stardew Valley Community Center in year 1 of the game. Of course, it’s not necessary to finish the Community Center in under a year to have fun playing Stardew Valley. However, setting challenges for yourself can give ConcernedApe’s charming 2016 game a fresh twist. Plus, you unlock certain aspects of the game (like Ginger Island) only after completing all the Community Center bundles. So why not unlock those benefits sooner rather than later?
Did you glean anything from our Stardew Vally year 1 Community Center guide? Have you ever completed the Community Center in year 1 of Stardew Valley? Let us know in the comments below.