[Steam] Stardew Valley -50% off [ENDED]

Granted, but the latest one was $10, and albeit a long time ago, we may still expect it to get bundled again.

Perhaps when you played, it wasn't the right mood? I love grindy games but starting them at the wrong mood is gonna make them not fun, right. I think it takes the first year to get everything up and running. It's a bit faster in multiplayer. And I suppose what most people do in the downtime is mining, which you didn't mention, so that's interesting? Because you have limited energy in the start, so mining is a profitable way to spend your energy and it's pretty fast too.
You can get more hints about gifts in the befriending cutscenes, I think (you get points for completing tasks for them or just by talking). Or just try to give them whatever you think they'll enjoy.

Just take it slow and create goals to unlock the next thing that will help you grow your farm! I also really love Terraria and I feel they both give a similar sense of discovery and progress :)

The wiki for this game is amazing! Specifically which crops are best to invest in, gifts to give the villagers, and when certain fish, forage and crops are available! There are things called Secret Notes unlocked in the beginning of Winter which give you hints to some of these things as well (such as which gifts villagers like)

To begin with, fishing is nice but people usually don't rely on it for too long when they can start growing more crops. Foraging around the map is good, going to the mines, and collecting wood (not for money though, you will need a lot to build/craft things)

The Forest Farm is recommended, it's the prettiest too imo! You have to work on the Community Center over time to unlock some special stuff :) The mines are a very important part of the game, along with the crops you grow.

• The game is VERY slow for the first 7 days till you unlock stuff. You can either sleep in bed to end the day early (skipping those slow days) or do fishing.

• Stardew in general is slow-paced but rewards your patience (its so nice to see the fruits of your labour). If you're not someone who likes delayed gratification, then I'm unsure if you'll enjoy the game as much as others who do.

• For gifts, most people either use the wiki or a villager gifts mod. Personally I use the wiki, but I started to learn all the neutral/universally liked gifts and one of two fave things each character liked over time.

• Community mods may help. I know there's Stardew Expanded if you want more people to talk to / deeper conversations, but I haven't done that yet.

• Give yourself things to do. The game is relatively open-ended with a basic "story", so having goals like "I want to upgrade my tools" or "I want to decorate my farm" etc helps.

Forgot to add that you can also Play with your Friends!
Sometimes having that extra person just makes it more interesting.

There are some crops that give you insane amount of money. I don't want to spoil too much though. But even when you buy any crop in big numbers it'll give you a nice income. Some crops are profitable because you get a lot of money from them, some are profitable because you can harvest them every 6 days. So it's the way to start earning at the beginning of the game.

Fishing, honey and animals are also a great way of income once you'll get them. There are different types of honey depending on a type of flower growing near a bee hive.

I liked to check TV every morning to plan my daily routine. For example I was going to caves when fortune teller told the day os lucky and spent time on farm when it was unlucky. There is also a guide on how to play the game in the game. You can learn a lot from TV programme and in library (once you'll find old books).

There are some universally liked gifts for example flowers. You can get some free flowers by foraging. Then you'll find notes on villagers with their favorite things. Some villagers talk about other villagers (and what they like). You can learn about some villagers favourite things by searching their houses.

And this is just a tip of the iceberg of what this game has to offer. I have like 200 hours and I haven't seen everything yet.

i didn't farm more than 10 crops at the beginning
i went for the other stuff like fishing, mining, combat, exploring, questing
farming is more rewarding mid game

literal 7 days? Cos I played the game for 5 hours before I threw in the towel. If I have to play 25-35 hours before the game really kicks in, it's unlikely I'm going back to retrying it. I played over 250hrs in My Time at Portia, but there was never any crazy-ass slow grind to the game.