All farm maps in Stardew Valley and their bonuses

Stardew Valley is often hailed as the pinnacle of cozy farming sims, and that’s largely down to the fact that every save file you make can be entirely different from the last. Choice is a huge part of Stardew Valley: who to marry, which side to pick, and which farm to opt for. 

As of the 1.6 update, there are a total of eight different farm types to pick from when starting a new virtual life in Pelican Town. Each farm type has particular pros and cons, so it can be hard to pick which one you want to live on for the rest of your save file. Without mods, some farm types can be downright impossible to work with if you’re going in blind and not aware of the pitfalls.

On top of that, each farm type has a particular perk and is linked with a particular skill, so if you’re looking to quickly level up one skill in particular, you should know what farm is best suited. With that in mind, here are all the farm types and what they can offer when starting a new game. 

How to choose a farm type in Stardew Valley

You can choose one of the eight different farm types at the beginning of a new game while customizing your character. It’s worth knowing what each type of farm can offer before pressing “Ok”, because you cannot change your mind once you’ve started your save file.

The farm type is chosen on the right side of the character customization box, and the types are:

1. Standard Farm
2. Riverland Farm
3. Forest Farm
4. Hill-top Farm
5. Wilderness Farm
6. Four Corners Farm
7. Beach Farm
8. Meadowlands Farm

All farm types and what they offer in Stardew Valley

Standard Farm

This is definitely the easiest type of farm for a new player of Stardew Valley, as it offers mostly tillable and buildable land and is as close to a blank canvas as you’re going to get. It has the most tillable land of any of the farm types, so you can grow as many crops as you like without feeling limited. 

Sadly, this map doesn’t come with any additional perks, but sometimes those are worth sacrificing for prolonged ease when playing through years of life on the farm. 

Riverland Farm

The Riverland farm slashes the number of tillable tiles by a huge amount, so it’s probably not best suited if you want to focus your energies on growing crops or rearing livestock. However, the river that separates the islands on this map is rich with fish to reel in, including those in Pelican Town (70% chance) and those in Cindersap Forest (30% chance). 

One of the perks of using this map is that it comes equipped with a Fish Smoker, which can significantly increase the profit you can make with Fish, especially early into a playthrough. On any other map, the recipe for the Fish Smoker must be purchased for 10,000 Gold at Willy’s Fish Shop, then made using one of each Jelly. 

Forest Farm

The Forest Farm map is ideal for anyone who wants to excel in the Foraging skill, but it’s not great for those who want to focus on Farming thanks to the lack of tillable soil tiles. This map comes with multiple Berry Bushes and resembles the appearance of the Secret Woods, so it’s aesthetically pleasing to look at if nothing else. 

One huge perk boasted by the Forest Farm is the eight renewing Large Stumps that spawn in the western clearings, which drop Hardwood when destroyed. Alongside these stumps, various forageable items also spawn in these clearings. These change according to the season, but you’ll always get Mixed Seeds as an additional bonus when foraging.

Each of the following forageables has a 25% chance to spawn in the western clearings of the Forest Farm:

Hill-top Farm

Thanks to the personal quarry located on the lower half of the Hill-top Farm, this map is perfect for those who want to focus on Mining. The quarry will reproduce around 10 nodes every four days. However, when you begin a playthrough using this map, the quarry is initially blocked by large items that cannot be removed until you’ve upgraded your tool to the correct level. 

Due to the number of levels and cliffs on this map, the number of tiles available for farming is limited, and there aren’t many large areas where Coops or Barns can logically be placed, so it’s not the best for animal rearing either. On the plus side, the river that separates the two halves of this map is filled with fish that can regularly be found in Cindersap Forest. 

Wilderness Farm

The Wilderness Farm offers ample space for farming and animals, but it does come with the added threat of monsters spawning at night, as long as you have the “spawn monsters on the farm” option enabled. This is true for all farm types, but this one can spawn more Wilderness Golems, which can be a rich source of resources. 

After reaching Combat level 9 on a Wilderness Farm playthrough, there’s a 50% chance that Iridium Golems can spawn after dark. This can be an easy way to get Iridium Ore and other drops, but it’s a risky strategy when the material is available elsewhere. 

Four Corners Farm

Rather than being set up to cater to a particular skill, the Four Corners Map is designed to allow for multiplayer gameplay while each player maintains their section of the map. The map is split into four quadrants, with each being reminiscent of a different map:

While it’s possible to play on this map in single-player, it’s definitely geared towards multiple players who want to focus on different skills. The sectioning reduces the number of tillable tiles, although there are still enough to allow for lots of crops and large enough areas for animals to live comfortably. 

Beach Farm

Often described as the hardest of all farm types to work with, the Beach Farm definitely shouldn’t be chosen if you’re new to Stardew Valley. There are many reasons for this, but the main one is that even though there are many tillable tiles, growing crops isn’t advised because sprinklers do not work on the sandy soil. Instead, you’ll have to hand-water all of your crops and this will take up valuable time every single day. 

The advised strategy when playing on a Beach Farm is to focus on animals, as grass can still grow on the sandy soil, and there are large areas where animals can have large fenced-in pens. Most of your time on a Beach Farm will be spent fishing, with the majority of the catches on this farm being those usually reeled in at the Beach, unsurprisingly. 

Meadowlands Farm

The latest addition to the list of farm types, the Meadowlands Farm was added as part of the 1.6 update. It’s the only map that boasts Blue Grass, which not only boosts the speed at which your animals will gain hearts but also gets eaten at half the speed.

Aside from the Blue Grass, the biggest benefit of opting for a Meadowlands Farm is that it comes prepared with a Coop and two Chickens. These Chickens are randomly named (although their names usually relate to one another) and have some hearts as soon as you move in, allowing you to quickly start getting Eggs to sell or grow your brood.