Tutorial

People also made some guides for the game. So be sure to check out guide if you're still stuck.

This is a copy of the the Tutorial that appears in game:

Controls & UI

Watch your status bars carefully. If you do not feed yourself by equipping food and pressing Space Bar or Gamepad West, your health will start to deteriorate.

Conditions will appear underneath your top bar. Hover over the icon to see the effect and duration time.

To sleep, click the bed in your farmhouse. You can also access your starting chest items and open gates this way. Click or walk into doors to enter.

Quests

To access new quests, interact with the bulletin board at town hall, a villager with a ?, or check your mailbox.

After you’ve accepted a quest, you can track it through the quest page icon on the top-right, or by clicking J or Gamepad North.

When you've obtained the required items, navigate to the map tab to see where the quest giver is located. Head to the quest giver and select the "Turn in Quest" button. If the person is unavailable, there may be an option to turn in the quest by mail with the "Mail In" button.

Tools

When working outside on your farm, tools are used for specific tasks. If the outline turns yellow, that tool is correct; if it’s red, try swapping it out with another tool.

Tools have durability and will eventually break and disappear when the bottom bar empties. Tools can be mended by heading to the blacksmith and selecting the "repair" button.

Watering cans do not have durability; instead, they run out of water. You can refill a watering can at any lake, river, or stream by moving close to the edge and pressing {0}.

The hammer is used to remove existing furniture or placed items around your farm, inside and out. Just select the hammer and click on the item you wish to pick up.

Lanterns

The lantern is used as a light source when it’s dark outside or when you're in the caves. To use it, first make sure you have a lantern in your inventory. Then, head to the family tab (press F, C, or Left Bumper) and click the lantern button, or activate it on your hot bar.

Lanterns need to be refilled with lantern oil. When the bar is almost empty, click the small button on the bottom-right corner to refill.

Foraging

To collect wood, click on trees. Don’t forget to also shake bushes. Each individual tree and bush provide two drops per day, though some only during certain seasons.

Items on the ground that you can collect always have a thick black outline. Foraged items change every day, so make sure to check around often.

Food & Cooking

To eat, select the food you wish to eat and hit {0}.

Food goes bad over time. Hover over an item to check how long it has before it degrades. Food lasts longer if its quality level is higher (gold is best, then silver, then copper).

To access the cooking menu, click on the cooking pot inside your farmhouse. Making a meal takes time, so you can leave and come back when the meal is complete. To pick up your food, click on the meal.

Crafting

To craft, click on the crafting table within your farmhouse.

To unlock crafting recipes, you must find blueprints. They can be bought, unlocked through leveling, or given as rewards for fulfilling quests.

Some craftables can only be placed inside, while others are only for outside. If an item can’t be placed, try switching your location. To rotate, select the item and click {0} before placing. Some use raw materials to create valuable artisan items.

Buildings & Upgrades

Crafting buildings requires both a standalone fee and many raw materials. Head to the sawmill to buy barns or chicken coops, or to upgrade your current farmhouse.

When you've assembled all the required items, a separate screen will pop up for you to place the building down. Make sure you have space on your farm before placing. Once the building is placed, the carpenter(s) will head to your farm and work there for some number of days. When your house is upgraded, your furniture may be moved or put into a storage chest.

Animals

Once you own the building required for holding a particular animal, you can buy that animal from the animal farmer. Once purchased, they will appear at your farm and wander around. Make sure to build a fence if you wish your animals to stay in one area.

Every animal requires one straw per day. You can buy straw from the farmers, scythe the grass on your farm, or grow it from hay seeds.

Once the barn or chicken coop is built, go through the door to access the interior space. Click on the trough to collect eggs dropped from chickens and geese, or to place straw to feed your animals.

To milk your cows and goats, buy a milk pail from the animal farmer and select your animal. Cows and goats can only be milked once per day and must already be adults. To sheer your sheep, buy sheers from the animal farmer and click your sheep. They will drop one sheep fur every two days.

Animals will eventually die. Furthermore, when an animal becomes elderly, it will yield products less often and butcher for less. You can check their age progression by clicking the animal twice to pop up their info menu and looking at their age bar.

All animals can reproduce. You only need two adults of the same species, and enough space for their baby.

Fishing

The fisher who often sells a fishing rod. Equip it and press {0} near the water’s edge. Wait until a ! appears above your head and you hear a shutter noise. Then press {0} to activate the fishing mini-game. Follow the path with the black cursor to catch the bobber. Once you have caught the bobber, the mini-game will reveal your prize.

To find certain fish with better odds, you can buy or create lures and equip them within the family tab (press {0}). There is a lure button below your character where you can equip your desired lure. Lures also have durability, so check the item often to make sure you still have an active lure equipped. It will have a durability bar similar to tools.

Events

Main article: Events

There are a wide range of events within the game. Click on the calendar near the town hall or go to your family tab (press {0}) and click the calendar icon to spot when an event will happen. Each event is unique except for the Sunday market which takes place every week. Make sure to prepare by checking your mailbox for an event invitation with news on when the event is scheduled, and whether you need to sign up for it ahead of time.

Family

To obtain a spouse, befriend a villager as much as possible. Once that is done, find the lighthouse keepers and buy a marriage bouquet. Find your intended and gift them a marriage bouquet. If accepted, a questline will pop up. Once you have reached the part of the quest that is the date, make sure to buy a wedding ring from the blacksmith beforehand to propose with. There is a wide range of options, but the more expensive the ring, the more likely your intended will say yes.

Babies and children will never die or be taken away from you, no matter how much you starve or ignore them. They will obtain negative traits if unhappy, though, so make sure to keep them content and well-fed.

Once your baby grows up into a child, you have the option to send them to school, help you on the farm, or apprentice them out to a profession. Each choice comes with different skill buffs. If apprenticed, children can give you their earnings.

To apprentice them out, head to the chosen profession you wish them work under and find the head worker. Once in dialog, you will see a new button that says "apprentice." Select it and the next day your child will start working there.

If you wish to move a child or family member from their current occupation, select the down button within the family tab and click a different option. You must wait a day before your family member will change their work schedule.

Farm helpers require an empty farm helper chest in order to help you on your farm. Make sure one is outside on your farm and contains the tools they will require to do field work. If a tool's durability runs out, it will not be returned to the chest, and you must buy a new one for the worker to continue helping. Make sure to check the chest often as they will also use it to store items they have collected from the farm.

Diseases

We have six diseases in the game. If the sick condition appears below the top bar, head to the apothecary to get diagnosed by the doctor. Once diagnosed, you can find out how to potentially heal yourself from your affliction. Some diseases are very infectious to others, so make sure to stay away from other villagers and family members — otherwise, the disease may spread. Children cannot die from diseases, but they can still spread them to others.

Death

Death is inevitable in our game. Sometimes you can die from a disease, poison, or old age. Make sure you have another living relative within your family before your demise, otherwise it is an automatic game over. You can adopt orphaned children or stepchildren by purchasing adoption papers from the mayor and clicking the "adopt" button when talking to the child.

Taxes

Taxes will always be due every week. Make sure to pay the mayor on time before end of day Sunday, otherwise it is an automatic game over. You can track the mayor within the map (press {0}.) There is also an option to pay by mail in the quest screen. There will be a button that says "Turn in," and once clicked, the quest will be fulfilled.