Stardew Valley has given more than a million players the chance to trade guns and explosives for crops and livestock, and a glance at its Steam reviews show players with dozen (and often hundreds) of hours invested. But farm life isn't all idyllic, and after those dozens or hundreds of hours, most players hit the same roadblock: a lack of endgame.
Like its sword & sorcery RPG counterparts, much of the joy of Stardew Valley is in the journey, not the destination. And just as over-leveling your characters to mow through enemies can take the fun out of RPG combat, there reaches a point—a relatively easy one to reach, at that—in Stardew Valley where money is no longer an objective, and many players have found reaching that point makes the game no longer enjoyable.
Even the Community Center bundles, one of the game's only clear "objectives," can be completed in the first game year with a little planning. Once that task is done and the money is flowing regularly, you might start to feel like there's nothing more to do in Stardew Valley. Developer Eric "ConcernedApe" Barone says he has ideas for future content that will keep players interested well into years three, four, five, and beyond, but Barone is a one-man operation, which means that content is probably a long ways off.
While we wait for Stardew Valley's planned updates, including more endgame content and online co-op, we've come up with a few ideas for "arbitrary goals" to set for yourself to keep the game interesting for seasons to come.