Stardew Valley has given more than a million players the chance to trade guns and explosives for crops and livestock, and a glance at its Steam reviews show players with dozen (and often hundreds) of hours invested. But farm life isn't all idyllic, and after those dozens or hundreds of hours, most players hit the same roadblock: a lack of endgame.
Like its sword & sorcery RPG counterparts, much of the joy of Stardew Valley is in the journey, not the destination. And just as over-leveling your characters to mow through enemies can take the fun out of RPG combat, there reaches a point—a relatively easy one to reach, at that—in Stardew Valley where money is no longer an objective, and many players have found reaching that point makes the game no longer enjoyable.
Even the Community Center bundles, one of the game's only clear "objectives," can be completed in the first game year with a little planning. Once that task is done and the money is flowing regularly, you might start to feel like there's nothing more to do in Stardew Valley. Developer Eric "ConcernedApe" Barone says he has ideas for future content that will keep players interested well into years three, four, five, and beyond, but Barone is a one-man operation, which means that content is probably a long ways off.
While we wait for Stardew Valley's planned updates, including more endgame content and online co-op, we've come up with a few ideas for "arbitrary goals" to set for yourself to keep the game interesting for seasons to come.
If you want to read more about optimizing your farm life, check out our broader Stardew Valley guide, our list of the best Stardew Valley mods, and our tips for Stardew Valley multiplayer.
Beautify your farm
Many Stardew Valley farmers don't do much planning when they first start reclaiming their farm from the wilds. Well, I didn't, anyway. But that's okay, because beautifying your farm into something with a little organization can be extremely rewarding (not to mention time-consuming—perfect for endgame!) Check out our gallery of farms for some inspiration. And don't forget that mods can be used to further overhaul your farm's visual appeal.
Rebuild your farm with a single purpose
If simply getting things organized isn't enough, another thing you can do is rebuild your farm with a single purpose. You could pretend you're a rancher and focus only on raising livestock. Or burn everything down and turn your farm into a winery. We've got a handy guide for that one.
Get as deep in the Skull Cave as you can without any items
The Skull Cave found in Calico Desert is home to Stardew Valley's most fearsome enemies, but its depths promise the riches of iridium ore and super-rare gemstones.
It can also be used as a sort of battle arena challenge. Instead of stocking up on food to restore your health and energy, see how deep you can get without bringing any restorative items. You can use a mod to slow down or turn off the passage of time, then set limited-item challenges for yourself, seeing how deep you can reach with minimal resources.
Farm life is what you make of it
If all else fails, pick a really, really, ridiculously large arbitrary number and try to earn that much gold. Imagine you're trying to pay off some sort of exorbitant, Tom Nookian life-debt and the only way free is to hand over hundreds of millions of Bells—I mean gold. What game are we playing again?
In all seriousness, Stardew Valley is what you make of it. Set for yourself whatever challenges you like. As has been seen by Pokemon players undertaking the "Nuzlocke Challenge," adhering to self-imposed rules can be extremely rewarding, so set whatever challenges you like and keep the farm dream alive.
