Stardew Valley is an open-ended country-life RPG! You’ve inherited your grandfather’s old farm plot in Stardew Valley. Armed with hand-me-down tools and a few coins, you set out to begin your new life. Can you learn to live off the land and turn these overgrown fields into a thriving home? It won’t be easy. Ever since Joja Corporation came to town, the old ways of life have all but disappeared. The community center, once the town’s most vibrant hub of activity, now lies in shambles. But the valley seems full of opportunity. With a little dedication, you might just be the one to restore Stardew Valley to greatness!

Stardew Valley is an open-ended game, allowing the player to achieve goals non-linearly. There are various ways to earn income and many activities to choose from including farming, fishing, foraging, mining, combat (fighting enemies), crafting, cooking, gift giving, completing quests, donating to the Museum and restoring the Community Center.

The character creation screen allows customization options, such as character Appearance, Gender, Name, Farm Name, Favorite Thing, and Animal Preference.

• There are 2 genders, 24 skin tones, 73 hairstyles, 112 shirts, 4 pants, 20 accessories, and 6 animals (3 cats and 3 dogs) to choose from.
• The villagers will refer to you matching the case you put your name in - for example, if you put all lowercase, the first letter will not be corrected to uppercase. {confirmed on mobile iOS and Nintendo Switch}
• The sliders next to eye color, hair color, and pants color represent hue, saturation, and value.
• Animal Preference determines which pet will arrive on the farm later.
• Gender does not affect in-game marriage.
• The "Favorite Thing" will be referenced in-game when the player eats a Stardrop. If the player chooses ConcernedApe (Capital C and A) as their favorite thing, the following message will appear when eaten.

If the player puts anything containing Stardew (capital S), then the following message will appear.

Players can later change their appearance for 500g, in the Wizard's Tower, after reaching 4 Hearts of friendship with him or gaining access to the Witch's Hut and using the portal within.

At the character creation menu, there is a button with a wrench icon that contains all of the Advanced Options, which are:

• Changing the community center bundles between normal and remixed
• Making it so the Community Center is completable in year one by guaranteeing that the Traveling Cart will sell a Red Cabbage Seed sometime in the first year
• Changing the chest rewards in The Mines between normal and remixed
• Making it so monsters can spawn on the farm
• Changing the profit margin
• Choosing how many starter cabins there are and how far apart they are

The following options are available at the beginning of a new game:

• Appearance - This includes 24 skin tones, 73 hairstyles, 112 shirts, 4 pants, and 20 accessories. All of them can be used by either gender, with the option to randomize appearance. This has no effect on gameplay, can be changed later, and can be augmented with additional shirts and pants, as well as hats, and boots.
• Name / Farm Name - These are limited to most of the ASCII printable characters, which are spaces, uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and `~!@#$%^&*()-=+[{]}\|;:'",<.>/?_. Although " is in the valid ASCII printable character range, the textbox does not accept this character. Name and Farm Name are sometimes used in dialogues during gameplay. The player's name can be changed later, but not the farm name.
• Animal Preference - This determines the type of pet that arrives in Spring of year 1. There are six options; three dogs, three cats.
• Favorite Thing - This affects the text displayed after eating a Stardrop. The character limits are the same as the Name / Farm Name text boxes.
• Gender - This has minor effects on gameplay and can be changed later

Health is measured by a bar next to the energy bar in the bottom right corner of the user interface (UI). The health bar is only visible while inside of The Mines, the Secret Woods, the Slime Hutch, the Skull Cavern, the Mutant Bug Lair, the Quarry Mine, the Volcano Dungeon, or when the meter is not full. Outside of the Mines, the most common ways to lose Health are by getting hit by the train on the Railroad, or by the Slimes in the Secret Woods or in the Slime Hutch.

Players may choose the Wilderness Map, or offer a Strange Bun to the Dark Shrine of Night Terrors in the Witch's Hut to enable Monsters on The Farm, who will attack and drain the player's health at night.

Health can be replenished either by consuming food, sleeping, using the Spa, or eating Stardrops. In a multiplayer game, health (and energy) can be replenished by standing in bed without going to sleep for the day.

Maximum health capacity starts at 100 points. Each increase in Combat Level adds 5 points to the player's health meter, with the exceptions of levels 5 and 10. Health points are only increased when levelling up to levels 5 or 10 if the Fighter and Defender professions are chosen. Finding Secret Note #10 and then meeting Mr. Qi at floor 100 of the Skull Cavern will award the player with a cutscene in which Mr. Qi gives the player "Iridium snake milk", which will increase maximum health by 25 points.

Skills are player attributes which are leveled up through the use of specific tools or actions. Each skill has ten levels. A skill level increase is awarded immediately upon earning enough experience points for a new level, and is immediately displayed on the skills tab of the inventory. The new skill level immediately increases the proficiency of the tool(s) associated with that skill.

Overnight, after the player goes to bed on the day a skill level increases, a popup announces the increase, and additionally awards knowledge of any applicable crafting or cooking recipes. At level 5 and level 10, players also select which one of two available Professions to specialize in. Each profession has its own set of benefits, such as sell price bonuses for related items. It should be noted that awards of recipe knowledge or profession benefits do not take place until seen in the popup overnight, and are not available until the first thing the following morning. In particular, items sold or shipped the day of the skill level increase do not receive the new price bonuses. Like recipes, profession benefits are only available beginning the following day.