Everdream Valley Written Walkthrough Guide

Everdream Valley Written Walkthrough Guide

written 11/24/2023, updated 1/5/2024

Published: Untold Tales
Platform Played: Nintendo Switch
Price: $14.99 from MSRP: $24.99
Rated: E (Everyone)
Genre: Adventure, Lifestyle, Simulation, Arcade
Date of Release: June 23, 2023

Fan-written and completed as I play through the game

You arrive on your grandparents’ farm for the summer to find it in disarray after their extended hospital stay. Everything is a mess, and the animals have all run away. Mom leaves you to be free labor for her parents while she and dad work sans kid for a few months. Help renew the farm, make it even better than before, and solve the mystery of the familial property!

Quick Jump

Notes

December 2023 – Was stuck after Green Frog Dream, being unable to sleep without the game freezing and therefore unable to proceed with time. An update to game software performed on Switch, reverted my game to before the Green Frog Dream. Successfully saw the dream, then next sleep successful without any crashing.
After finishing the main quests, the game stated that I’m missing 8 quests, but I can’t seem to find any way to start them.

Game Mechanics

Stamina Bar

Temporary Decrease – Using tools, running
Permanent Decrease – Beestings, not eating
Increase: Eat berries or tree fruit up until the third bar is filled, then only more ingredient-foods after that will increase. To gain new bar, eat crafted food with more ingredients in them

Time

Animals get hungry, plants grow and need water, seasons start to change

Time stops progressing after 2200 hours. If you’re outside the farm in the night, wolves will attack you resulting in a dreamless rest and reappearance at the farmhouse

Sleep

You can sleep at the farmhouse or in a tent

You must sleep in order to start dreams

Main Tools

Hammer – Complete Talk to Grandpa Quest (use to repair fences)
Axe – Complete Talk to Grandpa Quest (use to chop trees, small trees, and shrubs, also to disassemble fences)
Wooden Sword – Complete Repairing the Chicken Coop Quest (use to cut grass and shrubs and small trees)
Spade – Can find around the farm (e.g. the orchard near the wheelbarrow – Use to transfer trees, shrubs, and vegetables)
Watering Can – Get from next to the Well (Use to water plants)
Cat Toy – Sitting on a rock right at the end of the fence line between the Chicken Coop and the Kitchen (Use to train cat)
Insect Net – Catch your first beetle and talk to Grandpa (equip to catch butterflies)
Basket – Tend to the garden patch then talk to Grandma (keep on person to automatically pickup fruits and vegetables)
Magnifying Glass – After finishing Sheep Quest, talk to Grandpa (use to change animal names)
Hoe – Finish Preparations for Cooking sidequest (Use to prepare crop beds)
Tent – Repair bridge near the farm (Use as portable bed, dreams will occur)
Camera – Enter the island North of the barn after repairing the bridge which will initiate dialogue. Talk to Grandma (Use to take photos for a side quest)
Bee Smoker – Find near the 3 beehives west of the barn (Use to calm bees when catching or collecting honey. Works as long as the smoke is present on screen)
Pickaxe – Get from Grandpa during the Find the Goat Main Quest (Use on rocks)
Fishing Rod – Get from Grandpa during Find the Alpaca Main Quest (Catch Fish)

Map

*This is a fan-made map, not official. I’ve tried to mark the X Rocks, but some may be missing. The names of the islands and bridges are some that I made up for easier reference and are not actual names. Hopefully it’s helpful!

Main Quests

Talk to Grandpa

Get: Hammer, Axe, & Denim Overalls

Find and Talk to Grandpa

Repairing the Chicken Coop

Get: Wooden Sword & Dungaroos

Use Axe to chop some trees and get wood. Walk up to the chicken coop to repair it, then talk to Grandpa

Chicken Collector

Get: Recipe for Chicken House, White Down Jacket, Permission to get a dog

Find 3 runaway chickens around the outside of the farm. Catch them and carry them back to the coop area. They’re hidden in bushes. You will hear and see movement when you get close.

Right on the other side of the fence (due east) near the coop
Near the duck pond southwest of the farmhouse
Northwest of the barn on top of the hill

Go talk to Grandpa

Four-Legged Friend

Get: Dog, Orange Pea Bow

Go talk to the merchant. Choose a Dog. Return to Grandpa.

Dog Training

Get: Stick, Cow Bell, Treats

Throw the stick for your dog until the 2nd level of training above his head is reached (I threw it 7x).

Go Talk to Grandpa

Find Willow

Get: Cow

Recommended: Before going to find Willow, repair an enclosure

Raise your dog’s level to 3 by playing with the stick
Equip the Treat (from grandpa) and use it on the dog
Immediately equip the Cow Bell
Wait for the dog to process the scent
Follow the dog (or just head due East of the barn) to Willow the Cow
Either chase and pet her to get her to follow you, or chase her back to the farm

Talk to Grandpa

Repair Willow’s Homestead

Get: Recipe for Fence, Recipe for Gate, Cow Sign

If you haven’t, either repair or build an enclosure and place a cow sign in it

Talk to Grandpa AND Grandma

Mission – Milk

Get: Recipe for Hay Bale, Recipe for Hay Rack

Grandma gives you a milk jug and asks you to milk Willow (make sure it’s a Milk Jug and not any other vessel)

Talk to Grandma and Grandpa

Feed the Animals

Get: Striped Sweater

Craft a Hay Cube and put it in Willow’s pen

Preparations for Cooking

Get: Recipe for Vegetable Stew, Recipe for Milkshake, Recipe for Pumpkin Soup, Recipe for Berries and Cream, Recipe for Milkshake

Collect 3 different veggies from the garden
Fix the kitchen next to the farmhouse
Make Vegetable Stew (Tomato, Carrot, Eggplant, and Milk)

Talk to Grandma

More Vegetables – More Cooking

Get: Hoe

Use Hoe to dig 6 new patches
Plant 3 different crops in the patches
Cook 3 different recipes (I made Milkshake [1x Milk], Bottle of Cream [1x Milk, 1x Bottle of Water], and Scrambled Eggs [2x Eggs])

*Hint: Get Bottle of Water by filling Empty Water Bottle from the well or any body of water

Head towards the crop patches and talk to Grandma

Scarecrow – Do it Yourself

Get: Recipe for Scarecrow, Scarecrow Hat

Gather materials:

Hay Cube – Craft or find on farm
Wood 2x- Find on farm or chop trees
Rope 1x- Find on farm
Old Gloves – Steps of old Mill (southeast of Farmhouse)
Old Scarf – Right of the Farmhouse front door

Put Up the Scarecrow

Get: DREAMS, Red, Blue, and White Birdhouses 1-3

Craft Scarecrow
Place in yellow ring

Sheep on the Farm

Get: Hairpin

Build a sheep pen by either repairing/fixing or building a new enclosure
Place sheep sign in enclosure

Talk to Grandpa

More Sheep

Get: Whistle, Wool

Either use the dog to track or go due East of the barn to find a herd of sheep
Either use the Whistle on your dog to herd the sheep to the farm, or just pet them one by one and lead them to your enclosure (I did 3 at a time)
Talk to Grandpa and Grandma

Bring the Ram to the Farm

Get: Ram, Next Dream

After the first Dream after placing the scarecrow, talk to Grandpa. Either buy a Ram or find one (Southwest of the duck pond near all the mushrooms) and lead it back to the sheep enclosure

Talk to Grandpa and Grandma

Find the Duck

Head to the ducks (on a peninsula due west of the barn)

Bring the Ducks to the Farm

Get: Drought Season, New Quest, Next Dream

Using either snails (collect when it rains), or chasing/grabbing, bring 6 ducks back to the farm

*HINT: Catch a mallard (male duck) and bring it back to the duck pond. Go to sleep, play the dream game, and the rest of the group will appear on the farm afterwards

**NOTE: Finishing this quest will initiate a drought

Find the Goat

Go to the Southwest bridge and repair it
Go up to the rocks and bees
Talk to Grandpa
Do the Bee Quests
Get the pickaxe
Break the rocks
Find the goat
Bring it back
Go to Sleep

First Steps in Beekeeping

Get: Bees, Recipe for Yellow Beehive

Catch 20 bees with the Insect Net

Build a Home for the Bees

Craft a Yellow Beehive and place it near some wildflowers,
Talk to Grandpa
Go to sleep
Talk to Grandpa

Materials for the Goat

Place in the Barn: 10 each of Hay Cubes and Wood Planks
Talk to Grandma
Go to sleep

Find the Alpaca

Get: Fishing Rod, Fish, Nails, Green Rubber Boots

Recommended: Take a few fence panels with you and then find the Sick Alpaca north of the barn if you haven’t, and bring it with you
NOTE: Make sure you have your tent with you unless you enjoy running back and forth across the map
Go across the southwest bridge where you found the goat and look for the Sad Alpaca across the bridge. You can’t get to it because you need 4 nails to repair the bridge
Build a temporary enclosure and put the Sick Alpaca in it
Talk to Grandpa
Do your best in the fishing game
If you don’t win, just keep playing by approaching the stool next to the pond until you get 4 nails (you can’t get more than 4 nails, so don’t keep trying once you get all 4)
Repair the bridge (35x wood, 4x nails)
Approach the alpaca
Set up your tent and sleep

Companion for the Alpaca

Get: Alpaca, Owl Stand, Yellow Rubber Boots

Bring Sick Alpaca into the range of the Sad Alpaca
Bring both alpacas back to the farm
Build and place into enclosure
Talk to Grandma

Check the Location Indicated by the Alpaca

Get: Small straw hat with black ribbon

Head to the southeast bridge
Repair it with 35x Wood and 6x Nails
Go to the place indicated on the map

Bring the Pigs to the Farm

Get: Green Down Jacket

Gather and bring to safety 3 pigs without running into any geese
Bring a pig back to the farm

Look for the Girl in the Old Forest

Go to the location on the map on the Central island
Go to sleep
Talk to Grandpa

Get Rid of the Water from the Boar’s Home

Go kick the dam blocking the water on Central Island
Craft Forest Nurseries and place next to parent trees

NOTE: Do NOT plant down the saplings immediately after you harvest them. Hang onto them until you gather 15 total saplings, otherwise they will not count towards the next part of the quest, and you have to gather 15 more.

Place nurseries next to parent trees (you’ll know you did it right when you see little tree signs after you sleep), water, sleep for a total of 4 sleeps in your tent watering in the meantime, gather 15 saplings

Go across the bridge to the place indicated on the map, and plant the 15 saplings
Chase 5 Beavers into the new forest you just planted (I did 3 for the first round, then the last 2. Use the map to help find them, and best of luck getting them across the bridge. Be careful not to allow them back across! Make sure all are within the yellow boundaries)

Go back and destroy the dam
Talk to Grandma

Mouse Hunter

Get: T-Shirt, Mouse Dream

Catch mice (Will immediately complete if previously caught mice)
Go to Sleep

Explore the Heart of the Old Forest

Get: Blue Fireflies, Boar Plaque from Merchant

Go towards the location on the Southwest Island (must complete Get Rid of the Water from the Boar’s Home Quest first to clear the water)
Go to sleep when prompted (Tent) and play the mini game with the fireflies. If you lose, you need to keep playing until you beat it (reach the goal by collecting fireflies and looking for the large blue orb.)

HINT: Try really hard to capture at least 10 fireflies. Will save a lot of frustration with the next part

Mysterious Hut

Get: Answers to the weird happenings

Inspect the house
Follow your dog
Use your shovel on the X rock
Return to the house next to the large gnarled tree and use the Key to release Remenedes the Cat
Go to sleep

Magic Lantern

Get: GAME END (sort of)

Catch 10 Blue Fireflies
Hopefully you’ve already caught 10 blue fireflies because the only way to get them is to catch them in the dream mini-game. If you don’t, then you have to try sleeping until you hit the firefly dream and play it again.
Obnoxiously, the firefly dream wasn’t even an option for me until the 3rd try and then I FAILED so I had to try again!!! The mini game itself on top of the dumb random mini game wheel is annoyingly hard, too. I can never find the blue orb goal!
Do your best, save before something goes wrong, and fabricate the Magic Lantern (5x Wood, 6x Board, 10x Blue Firefly) at the crafting station
Read the Cutscene

Main Quest End

Your mom shows up to check on you
You get a rundown of your farming exploits

Mom wants to take you home, but you don’t want to
You get a rundown of things left to discover

Watch End Credits (or not)
See the Goose Squad planning to get up to no good

Side Quests

The Second Youth of the Old Orchard

How to Start: Go towards the Orchard behind the farmhouse. It will prompt dialogue. Go find Grandma and ask about it.

Cut down 5 old trees or shrubs
Find, dig up, and place 10 new trees (need Spade). They are scattered all over the map. Trees are indicated by white-painted trunks, while bearing shrubs have fruit on them.

Talk to Grandma

First Eggs

How to Start: After returning chickens to the farm talk to Grandma

Need: 4 Hay and 5 Boards for each Perch, for a total of 12 Hay and 15 Boards

Get: Recipe for Scrambled Eggs, Incubator

Make 3 Perches for chicken

If you haven’t done so, repair the Crafting Table near the barn in order to craft them.
Find the Boards and Hay inside and around the barn or elsewhere on the farm.
Place them near the Chicken House.
Now wait until the chickens lay the eggs.
Gather 3 eggs (1 day wait)

Talk to Grandma

More Chickens!

How to Start: Finish First Eggs sidequest

Place the Incubator and add an egg and wait 2 days

Talk to Grandma

The Missing Rooster

How to Start: Pick up feathers around Chicken House and talk to Grandpa

Either use your dog (using treat and feather) or just go find the rooster (in a huge brown tree southwest of the duckpond)
Bring the cat over right beneath it causing it to jump down
Bring it back to the coop

Field Restorations

Main Island

Primrose – Near Mill – (Get: 5x Yellow Common Foxglove)

Chicory – West of farm/East of Bee Houses – (Get: 5x Yellow Primula)

Knotwood – North of barn, across bridge with Sick Alpaca – (Get: 5x Blue Common Foxglove)

Southeast Island

Dandelion – Deep southeast next to river – (Get: 5x Yellow Canterbury Bells)

Bellflower – Northeast, just east of bbridge – (Get: 5x Purple Primula, Orange wide-leg pants)

California Poppy – Just southeast of the bridge – (Get: 5x Pink Primula)

Daisy – Southwest portion – (Get: 5x Pink Canterbury Bells)

North Crescent Island

Scarlett Clover – Northeast – (Get: 5x Blue Canterbury Bells)

Lupine – Northwest at the “throat” of the crescent – (Get: 5x Red Common Foxglove, Orange Wool Cap)

Preparing for a Birthday

How to Start: Finish Ram quest and talk to Grandpa

Get: Recipe for Wood Stool, Recipe for Log Table, Recipe for Firefly Lamp

*Hint: find fireflies randomly around the map at night, there are some near the entrance of the farm. Use the Insect Net

Gather materials (Planks x20, Fireflies x10)
Talk to Grandpa
Place items in the yellow area next to the Farmhouse (1x table, 3x stools, 4x firefly jars)

**NOTE: Finishing the quest will immediately end the day and initiate the next dream

Talk to Grandpa

Lost Sheep

How to Start: Lose a sheep during wolf dream

Get: Japanese Pajamas

Locate and return sheep to farm

Small Photographer

How to Start: Repair bridge north of barn, go onto the island, then talk to Grandma

Get: $500

Go to 5 locations on the map and take a photo for Grandma

North island
In front of Sad Alpaca’s Island in South-Central Island
Southeast Island next to Dandelion Field deeply southeast next to the river
Southwest portion of North Crescent Island
Central area of the West Island

Talk to Grandma

Take Care of the Sick Animals

How to Start: Find the alpaca on the island north of the barn across the bridge, then talk to Grandma

Get: Purple Rubber Boots with a Yellow Bow

Use Animal Bandage on a sick animal
Talk to Grandpa
Craft an Animal Shelter
Cure a sick animal
Talk to Grandma

Mysterious Noises

How to Start: Talk to the merchant

Get: Bull

Go across the Southern bridge
You’ll find the bull if you follow the western shore past the cabbage patch and up a hill
Free him by picking up the boards
Lead him back to the farm

Irrigation System

How to Start: After the Duck dream, drought season will initiate. Talk to Grandpa.

Gather the materials:

Water Pump – On South-Central island near the sad alpaca inside the abandoned house
Turbine (Engine)- North Crescent just north of the 2 goats
Sprinklers – Southeast Island SE house inside and behind the house
Garden Hose – Around the farm
Electrical Wiring – Next to the windmill-looking thing between the Farmhouse and the duckpond

Connect the system:

Set the Sprinklers where you’d like
Repair the Turbine with the Engine
Place the Water Pump against the pond
Equip the Electrical Wiring and connect the Water Pump to the Turbine
Equip the Garden Hose and connect the Water Pump to the Sprinkler
Connect any additional Sprinklers to the first connected Sprinkler

On the Lookout for a Bee Smoker

How to Start: Get stung by bees

Get: Bee Smoker

Go to the cluster of 3 beehives west of the barn and get the Bee Smoker

Feeders for Animals

How to Start: Find deer in the orchard. Talk to Grandpa

Get: Recipe for Feeder

Craft a Wildlife Feeder
Place in orchard

Catch Butterflies for the Merchant

How to Start: After the Irrigation System Quest starts, talk to the merchant and then Grandpa

Get: Jeans, Reduced prices

Catch 4 type of butterflies (Go to 4 different wildflower fields and catch the butterflies there)
Talk to merchant

New Millstone

How to Start: Get the pickaxe while talking to Grandpa

Get: Mill use

Gather 10 stones
Craft millstone
Repair Mill

Entertaining Goats

How to Get: After finishing Materials for the Goat Quest, talk to Grandma

Find goat companions for your goat. Both are sick so make sure you bring 2x Medicine for Animals

Talk to Grandma

Mr. Alpaca

How to Get: Finish Companion for Alpaca Main Quest and talk to Grandma

Get: 10x Scarlett Clover, Male Alpaca

Sow 100 Clover in little island where Sad Alpaca was found
Head back to where you came from and you should see a brown alpaca
Lead male alpaca back to farm

Wild Bee Honey

How to Get: Finish Companion for Alpaca Main Quest and talk to Merchant

Get: Wild Honey, $226, Garland of Field Flowers

Head to spot on map
Using a Bee Smoker, collect Honey of the Forest Bees under the tree
Head back to Merchant and sell the honey

A New Home for Wild Bees

How to Get: Catch a Forest Bee and talk to Grandpa

Get: recipe for Hive of Forest Bee

Craft Forest Bee Hive and place it in a flower meadow

Scrambled Eggs with Chanterelles for Grandpa

How to Get: After a downpour, talk to Grandpa

Get: Recipe for Scrambled Eggs with Chanterelles, Recipe for Scrambled Eggs with Boletus

Find Chanterelles (South Island)
Make dish
Return to Grandpa

A Horse in the Valley

How to Get: Talk to merchant after bringing pigs to the farm

Get: Horse, White Everdream Valley T-Shirt

Head to the Western part of the North Crescent Island
Lead the horse back to the farm

A Boar in the Valley

How to Get: Talk to Grandpa after going to the Central Island

Get: Half-boar

Find the half-boar as marked on the map on the Central Island
Chase and pet the boar
Ride it back to the farm (it’ll knock you off a few times)

Build a Treehouse

How to Get: Talk to Grandpa after the Fire dream (mine came after finishing the Horse side quest)

Get: Mathematica T-Shirt

Choose a location for a treehouse (3 choices)
Build with materials:

20 Boards
50 Boards

The Little Aquarist

How to Get: Finish Build a Treehouse side quest and talk to Grandpa

Catch 2 small fish (taking fish from your storage box doesn’t count)
Put them in the aquarium

The Medium Aquarist

How to Get: Complete The Little Aquarist side quest

Place Medium Aquarium in treehouse
Catch 5 small fish
Place in aquarium

Frog House

How to Get: Talk to Grandma after Build a Treehouse side quest

Get: Small Frog Terrarium

Catch 1 frog
Place in treehouse

Frog Hunting

How to Get: Complete Frog House side quest

Catch 5 frogs
Make Big Frog Terrarium
Place somewhere on the farm

Beetle House

How to Get: Talk to Merchant after Build a Treehouse side quest

Get: Small Beetle Terrarium

Catch 1 beetle
Place in treehouse

Contaminated Pond

How to Get: Reach the far southwest portion of the North Crescent Island

Clear out 20 trash and weeds (use shovel)
Clear out 6 dead bushes (use sword or axe)
Go talk to Grandma who gives you Calamus
Plant 100 Calamus around pond
Go to Sleep

Dreams

Wolves

Get: Pumpkin Hats, Matches, Bonfire, Lost Livestock Quest, Wool

As the dog, chase away the wolves which will try to attack livestock and will damage the enclosure (affects persist when you wake up). Be sure to use the Run command!
NOTE: This mini game cannot be skipped like the others in the lottery

Chicken

Get: 5 Eggs

Run and jump on the Chicken Perches to collect the eggs within the time limit

Ram

Get: Find the Duck Quest

Talk to the Ram

Magpie

Get: Recipe Log Bench, Any money you collect

Collect objects. You can only carry 3 at a time, so drop them off at the nest. Get money by flying through yellow circles

Duck

Get: Magic Flute, Orange Down Jacket

Swim around and collect the 5 ducklings

Bee

Fly to the blue circle

Goat

Get: 10x Wood Board, 5x Milk Jug

Do your best and try to navigate the obstacle course

Alpaca

Get: 6x nails

Talk to the alpacas

Pig

Get: 12 Nails

Talk to the pig who directs you to the Central island

Wild Boar

Talk to the Boar

Fire

Put out the fire with your Watering Can

Horse

Get: Saddle (merchant)

Race the other horses to the finish line (not only did I find it hard to maneuver, but I got lost, lol)

Green Frog

Get: Fish stocked into originally contaminated pond

Talk to the Frog

Mouse

Get: No mice for 3 days

Head to the highlighted spot and sit on top of it to eat until the wheat bag at the bottom of the screen is completed
Avoid the cat by hiding in grass

Fireflies

Get: Blue Firefly, Owl Stand

Reach the goal by following the trail of fireflies before the last firefly’s light goes out

Cat – Remenedes

Get: Recipe for Magic Lantern, Magic Lantern Quest

Talk to Remenedes the magic cat
Find out that the Scarecrow’s hat is Remenedes’ owner’s (a witch) magic hat

Dream Lottery

Random Game or a Prize

Post-Game Quests

Bridges

SW Bridge (to goat) – 35x wood

NE Bridge (to alpaca) – 35x wood

Southern Bridge (to sad alpaca) – 35x Wood, 4 nails

SE Bridge – 35x wood, 6x nails

W Bridge – 35x wood, 12x nails

North Crescent Island Bridge: 35x Wood

Cooking Recipes

There might be more! This is all I could find from both my game and the internet. I’ve attempted them myself to confirm that they work. Mashed Potatoes apparently does work, you just need to officially find the recipe in-game.

RECIPE	INGREDIENTS
*Apple Pie*	Flour, Apple, Bottle of Water, Egg
Berries and Cream	Strawberry x2, Bottle of Cream
Bottle of Cream	Milk, Bottle of Water
*Bread*	Flour x2, Bottle of Water, Egg
*Caramel Apple*	Green Apple, Honey
*Cherry Pie*	Flour, Cherry x2, Bottle of Water, Egg
*Cheese*	Bottle of Cream x2
*Corn on the Cob*	Corn
*Creamy Mushroom Soup*	Boletus Mushroom x2, Bottle of Water, Bottle of Cream
*French Fries*	Potato x3, Sunflower Oil
*French Fries with Truffles*	Potato x3, Sunflower Oil, Truffle
*Fried Cabbage*	Cabbage, Flour, Cornish Cross Chicken Egg
Fruit Soup	Strawberry, Cherry, Bottle of Cream, Bottle of Water
*Fruit Salad*	Strawberry, Raspberry, Blackberry, Gooseberry, Cherry
*Green Vegetable Dish*	Peas, Broccoli, Bottle of Cream
*Mashed Potatoes**	Potato x2, Milk, Egg x2
*Milkshake*	Milk
Omelette with Truffles	Egg, Milk, Truffle
*Pie*	Flour, Water, Egg
*Pumpkin Soup*	Pumpkin, Bottle of Water
Ratatouille	Tomato x2, Carrot, Eggplant, Red Pepper
Scrambled Eggs	Egg x2
Scrambled Eggs with Boletus	Egg x2, Boletus
Scrambled Eggs with Chanterelles	Egg x2, Chanterelle
Shakshuka	Tomato x2, Egg x2
*Fried Vegetables*	Carrot, Peas, Bell Pepper
*Strawberry Jam*	Strawberry x2, Honey, Bottle of Water
Sunflower Oil	Sunflower x2
Tomato Soup	Tomato x3, Bottle of Water
*Vegetable Soup*	Cabbage, Carrot, Potato x2, Bottle of Water
Vegetable Stew	Tomato, Carrot, Eggplant, Milk

*Mashed Potatoes require finding the recipe via X Rocks

Tips

Save often not just relying on autosave because the Switch version crashes a lot, mostly during autosaves
Do not go down the rocks behind the Sad Alpaca without an Owl Stand! Game breaking stuck area despite there being a recipe rock there!
If there are no more forthcoming quests, go to sleep and/or talk to Grandparents
You don’t actually have to play the Dreams. Just cancel out of them. The only exception is the wolf one.
Most animals are happy to eat Calamus grass
Eat lots of Ratatouille (easy in the beginning)
Carry and eat lots of berries/fruits to quickly replenish stamina and easily manage goose attacks
Keep playing the fishing game against Grandpa to get enough nails for the Sad Alpaca bridge
The game gives you just enough nails to advance at the pace it intends for you
Most of the minigames are frustrating and difficult
After getting the pigs onto the farm, there will be truffle-loving pigs roaming around. You can ride them!
Turn on “Calm Horse Camera” in the Gameplay Settings if you’re prone to motion sickness like I am
If your game continually freezes on the loading screen after a dream or trying to sleep, just run around until the wolves come out and kill you. That will avoid dreams and allow you to progress to the next level. Hopefully this massive bug/glitch has been resolved with the update.

Game Review – Deiland: Pocket Planet (Switch)

written 7/06/2022

Deiland: Pocket Planet, released April 15, 2021, for Switch by developer CHIBIG, is an adventure/simulation/RPG remade from Deiland which released for PS4 and Steam in 2018, which was also a remake from the original Deiland: Tiny Planet which was released for iOS and Android in 2016. Pocket Planet is a farming adventure on planet Deiland where the protagonist, Arco, is the sole inhabitant. The young boy must care for the minor planet through farming, crafting, building, fishing, mining, and protect its heart crystal from monsters and those who seek to use the power for themselves.

Rating: 2.8 out of 5

Price: Paid $8.16 out of MSRP $19.99

Recommended: No

One Word Description: Boring

Pros: Throwback to Summer in Mara (if you played that first), good initial/basic gameplay, smooth beginning advancement
Cons: Time, random events, RNG mining/drops, waiting, lack of clarity, boring, fishing mechanics, fighting mechanics, minor glitches, punishing hunger meter, lack of pause feature

Game Review

The beginning of the game shows a young boy drifting down to a small planet. All he has initially is a tent and you get to run around a little to see that the planet is a sphere that rotates (kind of like Mario Galaxy) as you move. This made my initially worried that I might get motion sickness because I’m really bad about that, but I found that the more I planted trees, the less I noticed the movement. Immediately, a space traveler appears, introducing herself as Mun from the interstellar troopers. I was excited because having played Summer in Mara first, I anticipated seeing characters I recognized. She gives you recipes and quests to start you off. The beginning smoothly pushes you into the building/farming aspect. I was busy planting trees as I saw fit, their placement limited by water supply which required materials. Building new constructs unlocks further recipes. Mining is heavily random in what is mined. You could get rocks, or gold/silver ore, or crystals, or in the winter, ice. New characters/merchants arrive, and you have 30 seconds to decide where to land the spaceship before they give up and go away. Then, when they land, they only stay for about 60 seconds.

After the initial excitement of placing trees, building, upgrading tools, etc, came the frustration that would plague the rest of the game: random chance and time.

Everything is random, which isn’t initially bad until it is.

The fishing mechanics are just muddy and plain obnoxious and especially in the beginning I kept wasting the precious bait from hitting the wrong buttons which are completely random.
The arrival of visiting characters doesn’t seem to follow any particular order unless it’s to satisfy a dialogue quest. Given that the quests and gathering of items specific to each character/merchant are dependent upon their visits, this gives a sense of helplessness to the player. There are only 2 characters able to be called to the planet on demand and even then, they won’t come if certain variables are not in line such as storms, or another character is there, or sometimes I have no clue why they won’t come.
The mining mechanics are just terrible. Completely random rate of drops which is super frustrating if you need a particular mineral. There is a mining cave in the game where Arco can mine for crystals and then uncover something in the back of the cave. To do so, you are allowed 4 mines before the cart is full and now you have to wait for Goliath to randomly come so that it can be emptied, and you can further mine. (*spoiler* it’s the crystal heart and adds nothing to the game and has no purpose)
Meteorites or items will randomly fall on the planet regardless of what you’re doing. You could be fishing where it strangely changes the view, or even sleeping. If it hits your plants, they will burn
Enemies randomly spawn. The number ranges from 1-3 and what appears is random, too. Their drop rates can also be random depending on the enemy. For instance, you need insect wings for a quest, but the bees can drop either honey or wings.

Time’s flow was an issue for me. It is unclear how the game tells time because there’s no clock showing, just the sky will change colors sort of. Each season lasts for 7 days with winter being the worst because very few things grow and it’s just boring to wait it out. Sleeping only advances time somewhat and even standing still didn’t seem to advance time much, either. Other times, time appears to move too quickly, and I’ve lost the opportunity to plant a particular crop that is necessary for a quest, or that character/merchant has already left the planet. Towards the end of the game, there’s nothing left to do except wait for time to advance and it became unbelievably boring. Also, time never stopped. There was no pause feature at all. I’d have to hit the Switch’s Home button to pause.

The story advances via the main quest line through Mun. Similar to Summer in Mara the game is heavily quest dependent. Each completed quest will unlock new items to buy from the merchants. It was really nice to see Brram from Summer in Mara and see his story when he’s clearly older (even at one point trying to woo females on his planet). Not only was his music nice, but he had the fish bait and food necessary to satisfy the hunger meter. Eventually, the story allows movement to Ankora which was nice because finally, some other place than the tiny little Deiland. Finally, the end boss battle shows up and the game is over unless the player wishes to completely finish out the side quests.

The RPG element – the level up system – seems completely useless with somewhat appreciable upgrades to stamina, strength, intelligence, and agility. However, the illustrations are eye-pleasing.

That brings me to the fighting mechanics. Well, it’s primitive, and many times physical attacks would miss the enemy altogether if Arco was juuuust turned the wrong direction. There seemed to be a best weapon to use against each enemy, but I ended up either just whacking them to death or using magic. Fire magic would burn all of my plants or chickens, the lightning didn’t seem to work well on the monsters I tried, the ice spell seemed useless because it encased the enemy in ice but then made them impossible to hit. The frog spell was probably the funniest one, but I received that too late in the game to really take advantage of it. Healing was hard because the healing potions are set all the way at the bottom of the item list and since pausing is not an option, I was killed a few times trying to use a healing potion. The game is by no means, hard, though. Healing was only necessary for the last boss and the demon monster that dropped horns. Speaking of the last boss, that battle was plain obnoxious. There was literally no way to get out unscathed and you had to direct Mun to fire otherwise she wouldn’t.

The lack of clarity was frustrating. I turned to the internet a LOT in this game. How does the mine cart get emptied? How to get sheep’s wool? Where is the plantmutate seed? How does one get dandelions? Who the hell is Bom and why do I keep having food stolen? How to get chicken for Goliath (OMG you have to BURN the wild chickens????)? There’s just too much that’s not obvious or explained. I can’t imagine trying to play this game before the internet made it easy to look things up.

Overall – I, unfortunately, do not recommend it. If you played Summer in Mara it could go either way, but I’d still likely tell you to skip it. The game does flesh out Mun and Brram a bit, and does mention the pirate races and Ereti, so if that’s what you’re looking for, go for it, but definitely don’t pay full price. Ultimately, its flaws outweigh the simplistic charm of the game (namely, time progression and random chance) and it’s almost like the developers wanted to make a game that has a little bit of everything. I understand that it’s 6 years old and was originally a mobile game. I mean, it certainly plays like a mobile game hoping to push microtransactions. Regardless, I felt like I wasted my life playing this (took me 2 full days) game that left the taste of BOOOOORING (I even texted that I was bored out of my mind to my brother while waiting for the rest of the characters to visit so I could 100% the side quests) in my mouth, which is not how I feel about Summer in Mara, and don’t wish that on someone else.

Glitches

Thankfully, there weren’t too many glitches in this game, but here are 2 that I found, both late in the game.