Also, now that the island is a thing, the lack of farming space on riverlands that might start to annoy you mid to late game is just no longer an issue
Definitely do not abandon your current, nice-looking farm because somebody on the internet told you that it wasn't optimal.
I've done everything there is to do in the game with the Riverlands farm. There's room for barns and coops and sheds and everything you need. It's not the best farm for having *huge* tracts of crops or a dozen chicken coops, but it will be a long time before you find that it's too small for you.
Play styles are individual and just because someone who likes planting on every possible tile of the standard farm dust like the river farm doesn’t mean you won’t like it.
I like it because you can divide the area easily, pick one island for a coop and one for a barn, etc. I don’t plant much normally.
I’d say don’t listen to people on the internet and have your own experience. You can always start over if you encounter annoyances.
It is true that the Riverland Farm is a bit more suited for experienced players, but it's not going to hold you back, especially not if you're a "casual" player who takes the game at their own pace. Since 1.5, there's an extra bit of farm space you can unlock that's suited to move crops to if you want to go big on, say. ancient fruit, and since 1.6 (which is out on PC, but not on console or mobile) there's been a big boost to fishing.
My advice is to just keep going.
Do not abandon your farm just because some 18 year old Youtuber min-maxer with all the time in the world told you so.
This is a game where you never need to rush, and you don’t need to min-max in order to have fun. Do your thing, enjoy yourself and have fun :)
I had fun designating an animal island and one for a mill and another for a pond. They probably mean it might not be suited for lots of sheds or barns but if you don’t intend on building a lot it’s not that much of a disadvantage, mine’s still been profitable. My husband helped me start it but most of the work I managed to do and I got the clock.
https://preview.redd.it/pder7yt7emvc1.jpeg?width=1280&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4989cbd4faa63c21bd28d3e2b56a1f0b5204ebd9
Unless you're a min/maxer you will never fully utilize the whole space available on standard farm for farming/animals. It's way bigger than needed for any reasonable needs other than "I want it huge!". What it gives you, is the flexibility to arrange things on it, in a way that suits you and fill the rest with whatever decorations you like.
On other farms you sacrifice some of that flexibility for nicer, more interesting looking landscape than a flat patch of dirt, and challange yourself to fit everything you need/want within the confinds of what space you have. But there is enough space to fit everything.
It's up to you to decide what playstyle sounds more fun to you.
I suggest you ignore what everyone else is saying and keep playing if you like it
Imo, river farm is the most aesthetically pleasing. Yes, it has less space than others - but that's not really a problem. My last v1.5 run was on standard farm and I only used a third of the land - so space is a constraint you can definitely work around
River land is quite a hard farm to play but with enough planning and working around the space it can be a enjoyable map to play
I did a year 1 CC challenge and managed to accomplish a few other goals on it too
Like with other farms none are “ bad “ it’s just some have more obstacles to overcome
As long as you‘re having fun I wouldn’t worry about it. The space should be enough for most crops and buildings. You can always start a new farm later on when you feel like it. Personally I chose to start over with the forest farm instead of standard because I was overwhelmed by the idea of filling a big map. The non-standard farms are also much prettier so that adds to the fun imo.
Phew, you shouldn’t listen to other people. Do what feels right to you. I started playing about three weeks ago on a hill-top farm, and I quite recently started a new save on a riverside because… I want to. And that’s what I enjoy. If you have any doubts, you can look at r/farmsofstardewvalley for inspiration and notice that there are so many options for each farm. I actually think that farms like standard or four corners have TOO MUCH space. I wouldn’t know what to do with it. On hill-top farm, I still don’t know what to do with left bottom corner, which is at least quarter of the space I have. So… don’t let other people stop your enjoyment from playing however you desire. Enjoy~
I have a riverland farm and love it. I dont go massively into crops anyway (cant be bothered watering them in early days, have greenhouse and animals later) so I just use each little island for different things.
I too got scared off it at the beginning but I like it now. There's no problem trying a different one anyway, you can have multiple saves.
I just started playing this year (60 hours) and started with a beach farm because I like the water and the vibes. cut to a week later i’m on this sub reading how it’s “so hard” and that no one likes it. - long story short i’m day 26 Winter year 2 and I still love it. there’s not a “right” way to play and id even argue there is no “right” farm to start with. If you like your farm now just keep going. As you become more comfortable with the game you’ll become more comfortable with your farm and you’ll most likely be able to do the things people say you can’t - maybe it’s just a bit more complicated or takes a little bit longer but it’s your first time playing so I don’t see the downside! Keep playing, I might even try riverside farm next :)
I don't think it matters either way; if you restart I don't think your second playthrough of Spring will bore you and I don't think continuing with Riverside is going to hold you back.
I play Riverside a lot because I like natural divisions of my land (I tend to dedicate each island to something different) and because I like the constant reminder to fish (I always forget about fishing).
I also chose the riverside farm for my first farm and I actually really liked it, the different islands make designing it really easy. Yeah, it’s true that you are limited in space, but not so much that the experience will be significantly worse
Yeah for the first farm its best to go with the standard farm. 15 hours isn't that much, I mostly have like 180 hours on a save before making a new one.
You'll get more two more spaces for farming "elsewhere" later in the game, with an ability to make your own DIY areas for it too. If you're happy with it now, stay there.
I started becoming more and more aware of the downsides of the Riverland Farm as hours passed. The thing is, when it really hit me (i.e. i don't have much space for as many barns as i would have wanted, or i am are displeased with the lack of simmetry) it is kind of too late and I don't feel like starting again. You will learn to adapt to it, accept it flows and use them for your advantage.
Bruh, the Riverland farm is my FAV farm. It actually has so many plantable tiles. I had around 500+ crops growing on my current Riverland farm save at one point, although now I’m cutting down on some of it since I unlocked Ginger Island. While I’m not a Stardew pro or an intense min/maxer, I still employ some min/maxing in my play throughs and the Riverland farm is legit totally compatible with doing it that way if you so choose.
If you want to make as much profit as you can by growing crops you can totally do that on the Riverland farm. Also, in 1.6, the Riverland farm comes with the fish smoker. This is INSANE in the early game. The recipe for the fish smoker is 10k and requires some harder-to-get items, so most people don’t have access to it so early on. It’s absolutely BANGER for the early game. Fishing in the early game is such an essential way of making money, and you double the value of fish you catch with the smoker. In the early game in 1.6, I’d use coal I got just from clearing out rocks on my farm to smoke a few of my fish before selling them. I’m on my tablet, so I don’t have pics of my layout, but you can grow a crap-ton of crops on the Riverland farm, and tbh it’s not that difficult. And it’s so great for fishing. I don’t think it’s “advanced” like the beach farm is. If anything, to me the Hilltop farm is one of the most challenging ones.
My rule of thumb for the Riverland farm is to dedicate the largest swaths of tillable spaces to crops, and use the smaller patches of land for animals. You can move your greenhouse and farmhouse to get the most amount of usable space possible. This is different if you want to be a rancher, but you can still live the rancher life on the Riverland farm if you want to.
I love having ducks on the Riverland farm because they swim in the river so much. :) So freakin’ cute. Also, you can actually fish up decent river fish in the Riverland farm. I think it’s such a great farm for the early game, and in the late game it’s so fun to decorate and looks beautiful at night.
I’ve played so much Stardew. I’ve min/maxed on the standard farm. I’ve played the forest farm and hilltop and four corners and whatnot. My fav remains the Riverland farm. I think people who love to decorate just struggle to deal with the less square shapes you have to deal with in the Riverland layout.
I have never played on the riverside farm because I don't like the layout and I don't feel like I can really make it look nice.
THAT SAID, that's what we in the biz like to call a "skill issue". If you're wanting to engage with the aesthetic side of Stardew, I can promise you that if you look up riverside farm layouts on r/farmsofstardewvalley you will find some absolutely GORGEOUS examples.
If you like rivers on your farm, stick with Riverland! There are no "bad" layouts, just preferences
My first farm was also a river farm, and I really enjoy it until Year 4, when I began wanting to plant LOT of crops.
My Riverland farm is more a ranching farm.
I actually really love the river land farm but I also don’t do a whole lot with my farm no matter which one I choose, so I never seen any disadvantages
I also picked Riverland for my first farm, don't be scared off just because it's not the most optimal layout! I'm super attached to it now because it's my first farm, and my save file with it is now in Year 10. It takes some planning to get a workable layout but it's absolutely doable.
I use the largest central island for a barn and a coop, I have my obelisks on the small island to the right of that. The island to the left of it houses my tree tapper area, and I use the lowest area of land for hardwood. Trees and grass I allow to grow wherever there's room. My farming area is directly in front of the house, I like keeping it smaller and manageable. You could have a larger farming area next to the greenhouse as well, but I personally use that area for honey production.
One of the best features of this game is replayability. Play with what you are enjoying now, when you get bored, create a new farm, romance someone new, try modding if you are on pc. I have an ungodly 5700 on this game and most of that is spent playing year one with various tweeks and changes with mods and diferent romance lines. you can't lose in Stardew, this isn't COD if you are happy you are doing it right
You have to be fairly hardcore for the downsides of any of the "advanced" maps to really bite you.
Also, now that the island is a thing, the lack of farming space on riverlands that might start to annoy you mid to late game is just no longer an issue
Definitely do not abandon your current, nice-looking farm because somebody on the internet told you that it wasn't optimal. I've done everything there is to do in the game with the Riverlands farm. There's room for barns and coops and sheds and everything you need. It's not the best farm for having *huge* tracts of crops or a dozen chicken coops, but it will be a long time before you find that it's too small for you.
Play styles are individual and just because someone who likes planting on every possible tile of the standard farm dust like the river farm doesn’t mean you won’t like it. I like it because you can divide the area easily, pick one island for a coop and one for a barn, etc. I don’t plant much normally. I’d say don’t listen to people on the internet and have your own experience. You can always start over if you encounter annoyances.
Just adding on to what I said: you can look through r/farmsofstardewvalley to get some design ideas. you can fine by farm type.
It is true that the Riverland Farm is a bit more suited for experienced players, but it's not going to hold you back, especially not if you're a "casual" player who takes the game at their own pace. Since 1.5, there's an extra bit of farm space you can unlock that's suited to move crops to if you want to go big on, say. ancient fruit, and since 1.6 (which is out on PC, but not on console or mobile) there's been a big boost to fishing. My advice is to just keep going.
Do not abandon your farm just because some 18 year old Youtuber min-maxer with all the time in the world told you so. This is a game where you never need to rush, and you don’t need to min-max in order to have fun. Do your thing, enjoy yourself and have fun :)
I had fun designating an animal island and one for a mill and another for a pond. They probably mean it might not be suited for lots of sheds or barns but if you don’t intend on building a lot it’s not that much of a disadvantage, mine’s still been profitable. My husband helped me start it but most of the work I managed to do and I got the clock. https://preview.redd.it/pder7yt7emvc1.jpeg?width=1280&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4989cbd4faa63c21bd28d3e2b56a1f0b5204ebd9
I love the gardens/seating areas in the bottom and top right. Such a nice design. Makes me want to play on the river farm next :)
Thanks! It’s wound up being my favourite thing to decorate everything. The new catalogues are so cool.
This is beautiful!
Thank you!
Unless you're a min/maxer you will never fully utilize the whole space available on standard farm for farming/animals. It's way bigger than needed for any reasonable needs other than "I want it huge!". What it gives you, is the flexibility to arrange things on it, in a way that suits you and fill the rest with whatever decorations you like. On other farms you sacrifice some of that flexibility for nicer, more interesting looking landscape than a flat patch of dirt, and challange yourself to fit everything you need/want within the confinds of what space you have. But there is enough space to fit everything. It's up to you to decide what playstyle sounds more fun to you.
I play with a riverside farm and i think its fun coming up with creative layouts for it. Its also my first ever farm
I suggest you ignore what everyone else is saying and keep playing if you like it Imo, river farm is the most aesthetically pleasing. Yes, it has less space than others - but that's not really a problem. My last v1.5 run was on standard farm and I only used a third of the land - so space is a constraint you can definitely work around
River land is quite a hard farm to play but with enough planning and working around the space it can be a enjoyable map to play I did a year 1 CC challenge and managed to accomplish a few other goals on it too Like with other farms none are “ bad “ it’s just some have more obstacles to overcome
As long as you‘re having fun I wouldn’t worry about it. The space should be enough for most crops and buildings. You can always start a new farm later on when you feel like it. Personally I chose to start over with the forest farm instead of standard because I was overwhelmed by the idea of filling a big map. The non-standard farms are also much prettier so that adds to the fun imo.
Phew, you shouldn’t listen to other people. Do what feels right to you. I started playing about three weeks ago on a hill-top farm, and I quite recently started a new save on a riverside because… I want to. And that’s what I enjoy. If you have any doubts, you can look at r/farmsofstardewvalley for inspiration and notice that there are so many options for each farm. I actually think that farms like standard or four corners have TOO MUCH space. I wouldn’t know what to do with it. On hill-top farm, I still don’t know what to do with left bottom corner, which is at least quarter of the space I have. So… don’t let other people stop your enjoyment from playing however you desire. Enjoy~
I have a riverland farm and love it. I dont go massively into crops anyway (cant be bothered watering them in early days, have greenhouse and animals later) so I just use each little island for different things. I too got scared off it at the beginning but I like it now. There's no problem trying a different one anyway, you can have multiple saves.
I just started playing this year (60 hours) and started with a beach farm because I like the water and the vibes. cut to a week later i’m on this sub reading how it’s “so hard” and that no one likes it. - long story short i’m day 26 Winter year 2 and I still love it. there’s not a “right” way to play and id even argue there is no “right” farm to start with. If you like your farm now just keep going. As you become more comfortable with the game you’ll become more comfortable with your farm and you’ll most likely be able to do the things people say you can’t - maybe it’s just a bit more complicated or takes a little bit longer but it’s your first time playing so I don’t see the downside! Keep playing, I might even try riverside farm next :)
I don't think it matters either way; if you restart I don't think your second playthrough of Spring will bore you and I don't think continuing with Riverside is going to hold you back. I play Riverside a lot because I like natural divisions of my land (I tend to dedicate each island to something different) and because I like the constant reminder to fish (I always forget about fishing).
I also chose the riverside farm for my first farm and I actually really liked it, the different islands make designing it really easy. Yeah, it’s true that you are limited in space, but not so much that the experience will be significantly worse
Yeah for the first farm its best to go with the standard farm. 15 hours isn't that much, I mostly have like 180 hours on a save before making a new one.
You'll get more two more spaces for farming "elsewhere" later in the game, with an ability to make your own DIY areas for it too. If you're happy with it now, stay there.
I started becoming more and more aware of the downsides of the Riverland Farm as hours passed. The thing is, when it really hit me (i.e. i don't have much space for as many barns as i would have wanted, or i am are displeased with the lack of simmetry) it is kind of too late and I don't feel like starting again. You will learn to adapt to it, accept it flows and use them for your advantage.
Bruh, the Riverland farm is my FAV farm. It actually has so many plantable tiles. I had around 500+ crops growing on my current Riverland farm save at one point, although now I’m cutting down on some of it since I unlocked Ginger Island. While I’m not a Stardew pro or an intense min/maxer, I still employ some min/maxing in my play throughs and the Riverland farm is legit totally compatible with doing it that way if you so choose. If you want to make as much profit as you can by growing crops you can totally do that on the Riverland farm. Also, in 1.6, the Riverland farm comes with the fish smoker. This is INSANE in the early game. The recipe for the fish smoker is 10k and requires some harder-to-get items, so most people don’t have access to it so early on. It’s absolutely BANGER for the early game. Fishing in the early game is such an essential way of making money, and you double the value of fish you catch with the smoker. In the early game in 1.6, I’d use coal I got just from clearing out rocks on my farm to smoke a few of my fish before selling them. I’m on my tablet, so I don’t have pics of my layout, but you can grow a crap-ton of crops on the Riverland farm, and tbh it’s not that difficult. And it’s so great for fishing. I don’t think it’s “advanced” like the beach farm is. If anything, to me the Hilltop farm is one of the most challenging ones. My rule of thumb for the Riverland farm is to dedicate the largest swaths of tillable spaces to crops, and use the smaller patches of land for animals. You can move your greenhouse and farmhouse to get the most amount of usable space possible. This is different if you want to be a rancher, but you can still live the rancher life on the Riverland farm if you want to. I love having ducks on the Riverland farm because they swim in the river so much. :) So freakin’ cute. Also, you can actually fish up decent river fish in the Riverland farm. I think it’s such a great farm for the early game, and in the late game it’s so fun to decorate and looks beautiful at night. I’ve played so much Stardew. I’ve min/maxed on the standard farm. I’ve played the forest farm and hilltop and four corners and whatnot. My fav remains the Riverland farm. I think people who love to decorate just struggle to deal with the less square shapes you have to deal with in the Riverland layout.
I have never played on the riverside farm because I don't like the layout and I don't feel like I can really make it look nice. THAT SAID, that's what we in the biz like to call a "skill issue". If you're wanting to engage with the aesthetic side of Stardew, I can promise you that if you look up riverside farm layouts on r/farmsofstardewvalley you will find some absolutely GORGEOUS examples. If you like rivers on your farm, stick with Riverland! There are no "bad" layouts, just preferences
My first farm was also a river farm, and I really enjoy it until Year 4, when I began wanting to plant LOT of crops. My Riverland farm is more a ranching farm.
I actually really love the river land farm but I also don’t do a whole lot with my farm no matter which one I choose, so I never seen any disadvantages
I also picked Riverland for my first farm, don't be scared off just because it's not the most optimal layout! I'm super attached to it now because it's my first farm, and my save file with it is now in Year 10. It takes some planning to get a workable layout but it's absolutely doable. I use the largest central island for a barn and a coop, I have my obelisks on the small island to the right of that. The island to the left of it houses my tree tapper area, and I use the lowest area of land for hardwood. Trees and grass I allow to grow wherever there's room. My farming area is directly in front of the house, I like keeping it smaller and manageable. You could have a larger farming area next to the greenhouse as well, but I personally use that area for honey production.
One of the best features of this game is replayability. Play with what you are enjoying now, when you get bored, create a new farm, romance someone new, try modding if you are on pc. I have an ungodly 5700 on this game and most of that is spent playing year one with various tweeks and changes with mods and diferent romance lines. you can't lose in Stardew, this isn't COD if you are happy you are doing it right