Despite its wholesome storytelling, adorable visuals, and peaceful atmosphere, Stardew Valley can prove unintentionally panic-inducing, which was proven unfortunately true by one player who accidentally left the farming sim running unattended and came back to “madness” after one year of in-game time had abruptly passed. It is far from the first time that a Stardew Valley fan has been left bewildered by the consequences of the game’s day-night cycle and seasonal shifts. Luckily, fellow community members have quickly jumped to the player’s aid to help steer them in the right direction and start making amends with the homestead and its animal inhabitants.
Similar to other iconic life-sim games, Stardew Valley features a full in-game time system that allows individuals days to transition from sunrise to evening to night. The days are combined into seasons, with each of these seasons in Stardew Valley offering different farming, foraging, and fishing opportunities, making calendar-tracking a crucial gameplay element for players wanting to make the most of their time spent with the game. While the day-night cycle and seasonal changes are among the most highly praised aspects of Stardew Valley, they do bear certain consequences. Players who fail to return home before 2am each night will lose gold and random items from their inventory, and those who become either intentionally or accidentally careless with Stardew Valley‘s time system, as is the case with this particular fan, end up facing much more overwhelming results for their actions.
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What Happens if You Accidentally Skip a Year in Stardew Valley?
Reddit user FleaDad shared a look at the “madness” that they returned to when they launched Stardew Valley and realized that almost an entire in-game year had passed, leaving their farm in disarray, their animals furious, and a Herculean to-do list awaiting. FleaDad immediately attempted to check on the various animals around the farm but quickly found that every single critter “hated” them, due to a lack of petting and general care that tanked the animals’ heart points. Various logs, stones, and weeds littered the barnyard and cabin entrance areas, and random trees managed to grow and block off easy access from the buildings to the pond. On a brighter note, their three cellars of Starfruit Wine are now fully ready for selling, offering a helpful 2.5 million gold to compensate them for whatever amount they lost after the initial instance of passing out in Stardew Valley.
FleaDad’s biggest concern remains rectifying the injustice inflicted upon their farm animals, and the Stardew Valley community remains split on the best solution. Some suggested simply selling off the disgruntled cows, pigs, and chickens and buying new animals, but others insisted that FleaDad would be better off simply putting in the time and effort to restore the critters’ heart points. One of the main questions raised by fellow fans was how the game managed to progress for so long without any dialogue boxes or other prompts needing to be clicked through. Veteran players reminded FleaDad and others that the game will only pause time progression each night if there is something placed in a Stardew Valley shipping bin. If there are no items left in a shipping bin, the game will advance without any pop-ups or pauses, leaving time to progress until the player returns.
While it is certainly a hard lesson to learn, FleaDad’s unintended one-year skip has been a crucial reminder to Stardew Valley players that placing a single item in the shipping bin every morning is a great way to avoid this type of accident from occurring and checking on farm animals daily is the best way to ensure their heart points remain high. Of course, the game itself is incredibly forgiving, particularly in the sense that there are no major penalties for failing to harvest crops, forgetting to tend to livestock, or missing seasonal events in Stardew Valley. FleaDad may need to dedicate a lot of in-game and real-world time to restoring their farm to its former glory, but the lighthearted nature of Stardew Valley should make it a rather peaceful and rewarding journey ahead.
- Released
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February 26, 2016
- ESRB
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E for Everyone (Fantasy Violence, Mild Blood, Mild Language, Simulated Gambling, Use of Alcohol and Tobacco)
- Developer(s)
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ConcernedApe
- Publisher(s)
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ConcernedApe
