Stardew Valley Best Farms - Which To Choose

I’m one of those Stardew Valley players that is constantly starting new farms. There’s nothing like opening a new save file and having Grandpa give us our new farm.

I love the thrill of starting with only 500 gold and a few parsnip seeds to make something of myself. I love the grind to level up and earn some money to survive.
When you open a new file, the most important decision of your entire game is in front of you:

Which farm is right for me? 

With so much variety in options ] where do you even start? Do you choose the reliable Standard Farm, or are you up for a bigger challenge with the new Beach Farm?

That’s why I’m here. I’m going to take you through each farm layout, rate them, go through their highs and lows and give a suggestion for  the types of players the map is best for.

Standard Farm

The Classic Standard Farm Layout

The Standard Farm layout is simplicity at its finest.  There’s plenty of space for crops and animal housing and there’s very little wasted space. 

The drawbacks are that because of this huge amount of room for farming, there’s very little water to refill your watering can. Fishing is basically a no-go and foragables are hard to find out here.

Standard Farm Pros:

• Large Farming Area
• Plenty of Room for Barns and Coops
• Very Little Wasted Space
• A Classic/Iconic

Standard Farm Cons: 

• Very Little Water Available
• Few Foragables
• Can Feel a Bit Dull

Standard Farm Details

• Almost 3,500 Farmable Tiles
• 235 Non-Farmable, Buildable Tiles
• 2 Small Ponds
• Tons of Trees and Rocks to Start

Overall Farm Score : 85/100

The Standard layout is standard for a reason. It’s ideal for farm focused players and for beginners to get a feel for the game.

Riverland Farm

The Riverland Farm is pretty self explanatory. There’s one giant honkin’ river running through your property.

If rivers are your thing, you’re probably going to be interested in this farm. If you’re like me, and always put off fishing as long as possible, maybe not so much. 

Riverland Farm Pros:

• Tons of Fish!
• Plenty of Places to Fill Watering Can
• Waterfront Property (Think of the Property Values!)
• Moderate Number of Farming Tiles

Riverland Farm Cons: 

• Crop Space Spread Out
• Little Space for Coops and Barns
• Little Room for Anything other than Fishing

Riverland Farm Details

• Around 1500 Farmable Tiles
• Just over 500 Non-Farmable, Buildable Tiles
• About A ZILLION Fishable Tiles

Overall Farm Score : 25/100 for Non-Fishers, 90/100 for Fishers

The Riverland Farm is exactly as you would imagine. If you want to live by a river, you’ll like this farm. If fishing isn’t your thing, you might want to skip this one..

Forest Farm

The Cozy Forest Farm Layout

The Forest Farm is my personal favorite layout, so please excuse my bias. But, it’s just so cozy to live in the woods!

This farm layout offers a moderate amount of farming space, and plenty of grassy areas where you can find various forigables or construct farm buildings. There’s also a couple ponds, and large stumps that respawn each day so you can chop up some hardwood.

Forest Farm Pros:

• Plenty of Foragables for Early Game Success
• Hardwood Aplenty
• Areas for Barns and Coops that Don’t Take Up Farming Space
• Pretty to Look At

Forest Farm Cons: 

• Less Crop Space than Other Farms
• Pond Locations can be Irritating

Forest Farm Details

• Just Under 1500 Farmable Tiles
• Just Under 1500 Non-Farmable, Buildable Tiles
• 8 Large Stumps
• 4 Small Ponds

Overall Farm Score : 90/100

The Forest Farm is really useful in the early days of your gameplay. The foragables and the stumps make life much easier as you’re trying to get a little extra energy or grind for hardwood to upgrade your house. If you’re a player that values the aesthetic of living in the woods, or just like to have an easier time your first month or so, this farm is probably a good choice for you.

Hilltop Farm

The Hilltop Farm has a number of cliffs and a mining area in the southwest corner of the map. If you’re into mining and want to start digging up ores and other goodies right away this is the place for you. 

The rocks in the mining area respawn after a few days, giving you plenty of geodes, ores and coal. The only problem is that the mining area can be blocked by a large boulder, a stump, or a log so you won’t be able to access it without the proper tools. 

Hilltop Farm Pros:

• Mining Available Right Away
• Lots of Tillable Tiles
• Pretty River Running Through the Property

Hilltop Farm Cons: 

• Mining Area Can be Blocked
• Smaller Layout Overall 
• Lots of Space Taken by Cliffs and Hills

Hilltop Farm Details

• Over 1600 Farmable Tiles
• Just Under 1000 Non-Farmable, Building Tiles
• Rocks Respawn Every 4th Day

Overall Farm Score : 70/100

The Hilltop Farm might be good for the first few days, but once the mines open up it’s not worth the loss in space for me. If you’re really passionate about mining, or want a bit of a challenge, you might want to give the Hilltop Farm a go. 

Wilderness Farm

With a large pond in the southwest corner, you would think that the Wilderness Farm Map would be a lovely place to settle down. Only problem is that there’s a freakin’ monster infestation every night!

Since the 1.15 update, you can enable monsters on any farm, so this feature isn’t exactly unique to this layout anymore. The difference is that more Wilderness Golems will spawn on this farm than any other.

Wilderness Farm Pros:

• Uniquely Challenging
• Quickly Raises Your Combat Levels
• Plenty of Farming Space

Wilderness Farm Cons: 

• THERE’S FREAKING MONSTERS AT NIGHT
• Wasted Space with a Cliff and Two Large Ponds
• Did I Mention the Monsters?

Wilderness Farm Details

• Over 2100Farmable Tiles
• Under 500 Non-Farmable, Building Tiles

Overall Farm Score : 80/100

The Wilderness Farm is definitely not a beginner friendly farm layout. The monsters can pose a problem, especially early in your playthrough when you don’t have high skills or advanced weapons to take them out.

However, if you’re looking for a more challenging and combat heavy game, this would be a great map for you.

Four-Corners Farm

As the name implies, the Four-Corners farm is separated by its four corners. This map was designed with multiplayer gameplay in mind. 

If you’re playing with friends, each player can have their own designated space for their cabin and crops. There’s a little bit of everything here because each corner has aspects from the other farm layouts.

Four-Corners Farm Pros:

• Each Corner Contains Elements from Other Farms (Mining Area, Foraging Area, Pond, etc).
• Large Layout
• Separate Areas for Different Players, or One Super Organized Player

Four-Corners Farm Cons: 

• Space Broken Up by Cliffs

Four- Corners Farm Details

• Just Under 3000 Farmable Tiles
• Contains Areas for Farming, Foraging, Fishing, and Mining

Overall Farm Score : 95/100

The Four-Corners Farm is probably the best farm objectively. It contains most of the positives of the other farms, and leaves the negatives behind. 

If you’re looking to have a massive farm with tons of space to do everything, or if you’re like me and have a tendency of being indecisive, then this farm might be a good option for you.

Beach Farm

The Beach Farm is the newest layout, as it was part of the massive 1.15 update last year. It boasts a lovely coastal feel, and plenty of areas to fish. A feature specific to this farm is the supply crates that can wash up on shore for you to open. 

This farm, however is suggested for more seasoned players. There are very little spaces for sprinklers so any crops you have, you will be watering every single day. Forever. 

Beach Farm Pros:

• Beautiful Beach Setting
• Supply Crates Spawn as well as both Beach and Forest Foragables
• Lots of Open Space
• Access to Ocean Fishing

Beach Farm Cons: 

• Only One Small Area for Sprinkles
• Water Spread Out so Filling Watering Can is Troublesome

Beach Farm Details

• 2700 Farmable Tiles (202 of those can have sprinklers)
• Just Under 2000 Non-Farmable, Buildable Tiles
• Two Small Ponds and Tons of Ocean

Overall Farm Score : 75/100

I rarely choose the Beach Farm layout because of the lack of sprinkler capabilities. I simply spend too much time watering my hundreds of crops to have fun doing everything else in the game. 

If you’re looking for a challenge though, this absolutely will provide you with one.

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