Have you been looking for a new way to enjoy a game of Stardew Valley? If so, there are several different challenges you could try - and the Stardew Valley No-Bin Challenge is just one such example. In line with this thought, today, we’re looking at some of the main things you should know about the No-Bin challenge in Stardew Valley, including what this challenge is, how it works, and what restrictions this has on your use of the shipping bin in the game.
What is the Stardew Valley No-Bin Challenge?
The Stardew Valley No-Bin challenge is a unique gameplay style for Stardew Valley that asks the player to complete the game without shipping or selling a single item. The only time that players are able to sell items under this ruleset is on the last day of the year, when every item that has been obtained over the course of the year is shipped simultaneously. This offers a unique glimpse into the productivity of the farm over the course of the year - and, of course, makes the start of the next year a very exciting time indeed.
If I Can’t Use the Shipping Bin, How Can I Make Money with the Stardew Valley No-Bin Challenge?
Thus far, we’ve clarified that you can’t use the shipping bin or sell to shops under the Stardew Valley No-Bin challenge.
Understandably, this begs the question: can you make money at all in this way?
Surprisingly, yes. While you cannot directly sell any items, this game mode does not stop you from making money by completing quests for villagers. As such, this will likely become the main method by which you make money in the Stardew Valley No-Bin challenge. That also doesn’t stop you from receiving gifts from your parents, etc, nor does it prevent you from using the 500g you start the game with.
Of course, we should stress here that the amount of money you receive from quests will be limited. As such, while this does offer a way to make some money to purchase seeds, buildings, and the like, don’t forget you’ll still need to explore other opportunities to make money and get hold of resources.
One thing we should stress if going down this route is that building additional cabins on your Stardew Farm will naturally waste crucial funds. As such, if you want to take on the No Shipping Bin challenge in Stardew with friends, always start by setting up a multiplayer game with a premium Scala Cube server for a lag-free gaming experience.
How to Get More Crops or Animals in the No-Bin Challenge
The No-Bin challenge might seem restrictive, but there are actually several different ways to play following this unique game style. Indeed, if you’re looking to get more crops or animals in the Stardew Valley No-Shipping-Bin challenge, you’ll need to get a little creative - but these tips will help.
Sourcing Crop Seeds to Expand Your Arable Plots
Crops are perhaps the easiest thing to address for expanding your Stardew Valley farm, and you can go about this right from the start of the game. Given you won’t be able to bring in much income right at the outset of the game, though, it’s probably wise to avoid buying too many seeds, as doing so will simply use up your precious money.
Fortunately, there’s an easy - and free - way to get hold of crop seeds at the start of the game: with mixed seeds. Mixed seeds can be found by cutting weeds with the scythe, which has a relatively good chance of dropping mixed seeds. Mixed seeds can grow into any crop from that season, making them a good option to grow for free.
Once you have reached Farming Level 9, you can also craft a seed maker. This will allow you to craft seeds from previously harvested crops, negating the need to keep buying or sourcing new seed bags.
Getting Animals in a Stardew Valley No Shipping Bin Challenge
Getting hold of animals in a Stardew Valley No Shipping Bin challenge run is, unfortunately, much harder. To achieve this, you will first need to build a farm building; given that a basic coop and barn cost 4,000g and 6,000g respectively, you’ll likely want to focus on the coop for your first year in the game. Make sure you also build a silo at the start of the game, as feeding your animals won’t be possible without having your own homemade hay. Fortunately, building a silo only costs 100g, so this is much easier.
Of course, once you have gotten your first coop, you’ll likely want to upgrade it to a Big Coop as soon as possible. A Big Coop costs 10,000g to build and allows you to keep up to eight animals inside. In addition, this also unlocks the incubator, which is an important tool that enables you to hatch eggs into chickens, ducks, and even dinosaurs! Given that purchasing animals to live on your farm will use up precious funds you likely won’t have, the importance of this cannot be overstated enough.
It’s also worth noting that, if you don’t have enough g to purchase an animal for your coop, there are several other ways to get hold of an egg to incubate and hatch. These include:
- Purchasing an egg at the Desert Festival
- Receiving a gift of 12 eggs from Marnie at the Feast of the Winter Star
- Killing Pepper Rexes to drop a Dinosaur Egg
- Finding Dinosaur Eggs in Fishing Treasure Chests
- Digging up artifact spots in the Mountains
- Foraged from Skull Cavern Prehistoric Floors
- Receiving a Dinosaur Egg from a max friendship pet dog
It’s worth noting, as well, that you can potentially also purchase an egg or duck egg from the Traveling Cart for a potentially lower price than buying the animal outright from Marnie’s.
Frequently Asked Questions
There are several ways to make money without sales or the shipping bin. Firstly, you can complete quests and missions from other NPCs; in addition, you may occasionally receive gold in the mail. Finally, you can potentially get gold from slain monsters after equipping the Parrot Egg trinket. Don’t forget you can also sell all of your gathered items at the end of each year.
You can still get the Full Shipment achievement in Stardew when playing under the no shipping ruleset; however, this may take a lot longer than normal, as progress in the game is generally a little slower than regular games.
Final Thoughts
If you have been looking to take your Stardew game to a new level, the No-Bin challenge might be an excellent place to start. Indeed, this unique play style is incredibly challenging and requires a new approach to the game - making it a popular option for experienced players.