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Playing Stardew Valley seems like the game can run forever. So, it begs the question, how long can you play?While Stardew Valley does have an "end", it doesn't have to be the end for your village and farm! We cover how time works in Stardew Valley, when the game's storyline ends, and how many years the game lasts below.
At the time of writing, Stardew Valley has been providing players with the digital farm life of their dreams for 7 years. Since its launch, no maximum time limit exists to play Stardew Valley.Some players can complete all of the game’s objectives by around year 40. But you can continue farming and going around the game’s map until you reach thousands of in-game years. Even then, the game will continue!
The 2-Year Time Limit
Note that Stardew Valley’s main story has a time limit of two in-game years. At the beginning of the first day after that 2-year period, you’ll get a visit from the ghost of your deceased Grandpa.At this point, you’ll get a rating based on completed activities. This event is also the closest thing to the game’s ending. Once the scene ends, you can continue playing the game normally.
Time Periods
Time in Stardew Valley flows differently from real-world time. Below are the real-world time equivalents to the game’s in-game periods:
- One Hour - 43 Seconds
- One Day - 12 Minutes and 54 seconds
- One Week - 1 Hour, 39 Minutes, and 40 seconds
- One Month or Season - 6 Hours, 1 minute, and 12 seconds
- One Year - 24 Hours, 4 Minutes, and 48 seconds
Limitations
Remember, the game grants players an unlimited amount of time to play it. However, it doesn’t mean that there aren’t any limitations.For instance, your character will become tired in-game every day at midnight (12 am), and players must make it back to their beds before 2 am, or they'll pass out where they are.Apart from looking at the in-game clock, you should notice a speech bubble with “Zs” in it from your character. At this point, it’s advisable to return to your bed as fast as possible.Failure to reach your bed before 2 am will result in your character sleeping in place, regardless of the location. You’ll still wake up in your bed, but you’ll trigger different events:
- The Joja Co team mails you a message telling you that they carried you home
- Linus mails you a message, telling you that he carried you home after finding you unconscious
- A neighbor brought you to Dr. Harvey, and you lost 1,000 gold in medical fees
- You’ll notice that some items are missing from your inventory upon waking up
Note that sleeping also affects processing time. An hour of sleep becomes the equivalent of 100 hours, speeding up processes as a result. That means you can harvest resources faster when your character falls asleep as opposed to waiting for them to complete while awake.
