With Stardew Valley multiplayer out on the PC, many seasoned and new farmers are likely heading back to the valley to get to work with some friends. While this feature adds a new wrinkle to the gameplay, it’s the same old Stardew Valley.

But, even if you’ve combed through our Stardew Valley beginner’s guide, there are some new tips that’ll get you and your friends started off on the right foot.

GETTING STARTED

When you load the latest version of Stardew Valley, you’ll notice a brand new option: co-op. From there, you get the option to either join a game via LAN or through an invite code to play with each other over the internet. If you’re looking to host a game, you can create a new farm from scratch, or if you want to bring a friend into an existing farm, you can speak to Robin in that save file and build a cabin for your friends to move into.

Chucklefish LTD via Polygon

To get your friends into your farm, you need to enter the menu and look in the multiplayer section under options. You’ll see several options for inviting friends, including displaying your unique friend code, which you can send to friends so they can directly join your farm. Since you’re on the PC, you can even add it to your clipboard, so you can paste it in a text chat.

Once you’re finally in a game with a friend, it’s the Stardew Valley you know and love. Your co-op partner will wake in the cabin you have for them on your farm, and you both can independently go about your days as you see fit.

SMALL CHANGES

While there aren’t many changes to the game with the introduction to co-op, there are some small things worth knowing.

First and foremost, all players share income. So whatever money you have is usable by all parties. At first this came as shock as I was farming and noticed my money rapidly disappearing. I freaked out until my partner informed me that she was off buying some new seeds for the farm. Whatever income you make and spend affects all players in real-time. Keep this in mind if you’re all out buying different things across the valley.

Chucklefish LTD via Polygon

While I had the luxury of playing with my partner in the same room, most PC players will likely farm with their friends over the internet. To make sure you can chat with one another, you can press T on your keyboard and bring up a chat window (with Stardew Valley-specific emoji!). Be warned though: Whenever a message is sent, you won’t get an audible alert, so if you’re looking away from your screen, you may miss it. You can always press T to check your messages. Also, individual achievements, like donating items to the museum or being caught digging through the trash, are also displayed in the text message area.

At the end of each day, you can go to sleep as usual. However, the next day won’t start until all players are in bed. A cheeky quirk about this function is that you can sleep in the same bed with other players, if you’re so inclined.

In addition to that, we learned that if you become exhausted, you can actually recover energy by triggering the prompt to go to sleep, but then canceling. As long as you’re in still in bed, your energy will begin to restore itself. This is great if you end up getting exhausted well before your partners and don’t want to end your day to restore energy.

When you do go to sleep, the day’s tally of income made will include all items sold from all players. It should also be noted that quests, like the game’s first mission which requires you to cultivate and harvest a parsnip, is not shared. It’s player-specific, so make sure to not hog all the resources.

Two final tips: If either player has crafted a chest, any player can use it to store and retrieve items. If you’re holding an item in your hand, you can give it to other players as a gift by hitting the interact key.

GO THROUGH OUR GUIDE TWICE AS FAST

If you’re playing through Stardew Valley for the first time with friends or just want to speed through the game as a group, you can run through most of our tips much faster. Our Stardew Valley beginner’s guide becomes a much easier set of advice once you have some cohorts to help out. Consult it to build a great farm with your friends.