One of the most often overlooked parts of the Stardew Valley game is the role your grandpa plays in the story. Indeed, while Stardew Valley opens with your Grandpa and his letter bestowing the farm upon you, chances are, you won’t have thought much about him since those early days. However, your Grandpa is actually watching over you much more closely than you may have realized - which is where Grandpa’s Shrine and Grandpa’s Evaluation come in.
In line with this thought, today, we’re looking at some of the main things you should know about Grandpa’s Evaluation to help you prepare for this part of the game.
What is Grandpa’s Evaluation in Stardew Valley?
Grandpa’s Evaluation in Stardew Valley is a mechanism for assessing your progress within the game. The Evaluation is hinted at in the early days of the game, but it won’t come to pass until the first day of your Third Year. At this point, the game carries out the evaluation automatically, when you will be assigned anywhere between one and three candles for your performance in the game.
Of course, three years into the game is a long time - and it can be heartbreaking if things start to go wrong with your Stardew server at this point. As such, starting out with a premium Scala Cube server is often recommended at the start of your game, so you can count on consistent 24/7 uptime throughout the game - no matter how many in-game years you play for.
What Does the Stardew Valley Grandpa’s Evaluation Measure?
Grandpa’s Evaluation in Stardew Valley measures your progress within the game, largely based on Grandpa’s original aspirations (as mentioned in the Stardew Valley opening, when you read Grandpa’s Letter). Indeed, in Grandpa’s Letter, he expresses that he had lost sight of what was most important in life, hence moving to the farm - and this was also the player’s main intention, too.
There are several key metrics assessed in Grandpa’s Evaluation. The predominant factor measured is earnings, given that this directly relates to the commercial success of the farm. However, there are also many other attributes that contribute to the results of Grandpa’s Evaluation. A full breakdown of Grandpa’s Evaluation can be found as follows.

Category | Description | Quantity | Level |
---|
Earnings | 50,000g | 1 | 1 |
Earnings | 100,000g | 1 | 2 |
Earnings | 200,000g | 1 | 3 |
Earnings | 300,000g | 1 | 4 |
Earnings | 500,000g | 1 | 5 |
Earnings | 1,000,000g | 2 | 7 |
Player Level | Achieve a total of 30 levels | 1 | 1 |
Player Level | Achieve a total of 50 levels (max out all skills) | 1 | 2 |
Friendship | Eight-heart friendship with five villagers | 1 | 1 |
Friendship | Eight-heart friendship with ten villagers | 1 | 2 |
Friendship | Get married and complete two house upgrades | 1 | 3 |
Friendship | Reach 999 friendship (almost five hearts) with your pet | 1 | 4 |
Achievements | Complete the “Master Angler” achievement | 1 | 1 |
Achievements | Complete the “Complete Collection” achievement | 1 | 2 |
Achievements | Complete the “Full Shipment” achievement | 1 | 3 |
Community Center | Complete the Community Center | 1 | 1 |
Community Center | View the Community Center Completion Ceremony | 2 | 3 |
Keys | Obtain the Rusty Key | 1 | 1 |
Keys | Obtain the Skull Key | 1 | 2 |
Total | | 21 | |
How Can I Tell What Level I Achieved in My Evaluation?
You can tell what level you achieved in your Evaluation by checking how many candles are lit up around Grandpa’s Shrine, with each candle corresponding to one of the four levels. It is not technically possible to get less than one candle once Grandpa’s Evaluation activates, as even a score of zero will still light up one candle.
What is the Reward for Grandpa’s Evaluation?
If you have achieved all four candles in Grandpa’s Evaluation, you can receive a Statue of Perfection. However, the Statue of Perfection is only given if you manually interact with the shrine after achieving all four candles.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! If you weren’t able to achieve all four candles within the first three years of the game, you can always re-evaluate yourself by placing a diamond on Grandpa’s Shrine. However, this still doesn’t guarantee you will pass, so make sure you’ve got enough points before you do so.
You need four candles to successfully pass Grandpa’s Evaluation. If you don’t get enough points to achieve all four candles, you will have to try again if you want to complete Grandpa’s Evaluation. Fortunately, you cannot actually go down in the number of points you have, so each subsequent evaluation should always be either the same or an improvement.
[schemaHowto=How many points do I need to get four candles in Grandpa’s Evaluation?
You will need twelve points to get four candles in Grandpa’s Evaluation, which is the minimum required to get the Statue of Perfection.
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In total, you can achieve up to seven points from earnings in Grandpa’s Evaluation. Since the minimum number of points needed to achieve four candles in Grandpa’s Evaluation is twelve, there is no way to achieve four candles without also achieving other requirements.
Final Thoughts
You may not have been actively playing to impress your deceased Grandpa in Stardew Valley, but he’s always still watching your progress from the Afterlife - and as the third year of the game rolls around, he’ll give his thoughts on your progress through his Shrine.
As such, making sure you’re working towards achieving plenty of points can often be important if you want to complete the game fully; luckily, you should now know what it takes to achieve a four-candle evaluation in Stardew Valley, which should allow you to really live up to the wishes Grandpa set out in his letter to you, all those seasons ago.