Fans of farming sims loveStardew Valleyfor the level of depth it offers beyond its routine mechanics. Players not only get to plant and harvest crops, but also discover new resources, upgrade their facilities, and even expand their knowledge in other skill sets. With the many thingsStardew Valleyplayers can do, their inventory space can often run out much quicker than they expect.
While a bit overwhelming at first, managing and upgrading one’s inventory space inStardew Valleyisn’t complex. With the right mindset and tips, fans can work their way around collecting and managing their favorite items without hurting their backpacks.
RELATED:Stardew Valley: Best Fish (And How To Catch Them)
What Is The Inventory?
TheInventory,or the player’s backpack, consists of the items they are currently carrying on their person that they haven’tstored in special storage locations around the map. Funnily enough, this section of the game doesn’t necessarily have “Inventory” as its name. It is accessible alongside the rest of the game menu. Players can look at their full inventory by accessing the menu and selecting the leftmost tab.
The Hotbar
Unlike other games where a hotbar on the HUD is dedicated for the player’s skills,Stardew Valleyinstead assigns players aHotbarto aid with their inventory management. The Hotbar consists of thefirst row of 12 items that the players have access to in their inventory.
Players can directly access items in the Hotbar by scrolling through the scroll wheel or by pressing the number key corresponding to that slot. The Hotbar is commonly recommended for tools, weapons, consumables, or evengifts such as Universal Loves for Villagers ofStardew Valley.
Hotbar Shortcuts
Players can expand the utility of the Hotbar through special shortcuts and tips in the game. Knowing these can allow players to further personalize theirStardew Valleyexperience and optimize the way their character functions.
Inventory Spaces
Directly below the Hotbar are additional Inventory rows where players can put items. This is the primary player-based storage option for characters. Items stored here can be actively carried around, dropped, used, or given as gifts to villagers.
While it’s perfectly possible to just store all items players have in various Storage Boxes, it’s imperative that players use their Inventory for events that involve transferring items. These include gathering special resources or even providing gifts to other characters that require players to put those gifts in their inventory.
RELATED:Stardew Valley: Coolest Clothing Items & How To Make Them
Inventory Options
On the inventory menu screen, players have a few options related to the inventory that they can select. These include:
Inventory Shortcuts
Aside from being a nifty way of accessing major elements of the character’s information in the game, the Inventory also has shortcuts players can use to enhance their collection experience.
Upgrading The Inventory
When players startStardew Valleyfor the first time, they have access toonly the first row of items.Putting items here directly places them on the player’s Hotbar, giving them immediate access to these items for the duration of the playthrough. Thankfully, players have various opportunities to upgrade their Inventory and expand the number of items they can carry throughout the game — useful for stressful situations such asfighting monsters inStardew ValleyMines.
RELATED:Stardew Valley Expanded: A List Of New Recipes
Players actually have access to upgrade options for their inventory at the very start of the game. This can be acquired bypurchasing theStardew Valleyinventory upgradesatPierre’s General Store. The game offers two options for expanding their Inventory, which comes in the form of two special backpacks:
Management Tips
Players who always find their Inventory full while exploringStardew Valleymay not be optimizing their Inventory properly. Not taking the time to organize storage may result in players lacking the necessary space when acquiring rare items. They may even have to throw some valuables away simply because of the lack of planning. These include situations in whichNPCs like theStardew ValleyWizardmay want to give players special items. To avoid these circumstances, players may want to consider some management tips to ensure their Inventory won’t catch them by surprise.
Use Chests Everywhere
Similar to inventory systems in other games,ChestsinStardew Valleyserve as extra storage options for players. They are easy to craft, as the recipe is available from the start of the game and requires only60 wood.Chests have the following properties:
Thanks to Chests, players can store relevant items and resources, and don’t have to resort to throwing them away While players may have gotten used to putting their Chests on their Farm, players may have more use of Chests when placing them in strategic locations around Stardew Valley, especially when obtainingseason-specificStardew Valleyitems. However, players need to remember thatNPCs will destroy Chests if they pass through them.Here are ideal locations for Chests outside the Farm:
The Drop Or The Bin
Due to different players having different priorities, it’s always possible for them to either want to drop an item or discard them entirely through the Trash or Bin feature. While the two options seem interchangeable at first glance, it’s important to understand their advantages and repercussions, especially whendealing with seasonal items. Here are some things to consider:
Optimal Consumption, Disposal, Selling
Since all items in the game can be carried like inother farming sims, it’s important for players to understand that both Quest Items and even Consumables will occupy the same Inventory slot. There no special slots allocated for these items. As such, players need to consider the way items work when consumed when planning their Inventory management.
Stardew Valleywas released in 2016 and is currently available for the PC, macOS, Linux, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, iOS, Android, and PS Vita.
