New to Stardew Valley! Been living under a rock I guess.

imnvs

Local Legend
Honestly, there is just so much to learn... but on your first play, a lot of people believe that you should play it without too much guidance, that doing it that way is almost the best way to play the game, discovering things as you discover them. Of course, if you come to something that stumps you, ask for advice on that, and folks will try to help without spoiling the various storylines as best as possible.

Some small things I would recommend despite that?

Go fishing. Learn how to fish. Get good at it. You don't need to do it constantly, but you the player knowing how to do it will make some parts of the game more accessible than if you suck at it. Also, early on in any save, it's not a bad way to make some money.

Wander. Learn the map. Find the forage. Meet the people who are all awesome even if at first glance some might present in a way that might turn you away.
 

Lew Zealand

Helper
No tricks the first time around because you get that unparalleled, magical first time experience one time only.

You have the Golden Ticket right there in your hand. You got it. Don't waste it!

Play it through as a noob, not knowing, just experiencing. I envy you in ways you will only know once you're done, because I've already done it and you haven't yet.
 

Hill Myna

Farmer
While I 101% agree that your first playthrough should be about exploration and discovery, I think that there are a few tips that could help the journey be as smooth as possible.

Here are mine:

Check the TV – One of the first things that you should do every day is check your TV. The Weather Report is great once you know how different weather affects the game. The Fortune Teller is more useful than it might seem at first; on good luck days certain things will have increased chances, on bad luck days certain things will have decreased chances. Livin' Off The Land is going to give so many important tips, so read carefully! The Queen of Sauce is the only way to get certain cooking recipes that you'll eventually be able to use, so don't miss any.

Read Up – Whenever you find a Lost Book, I highly recommend visiting the Library to see what it says. While there are some not so useful Lost Books, most of them will reveal game secrets.

Don't go Joja – There'll come a point where you have to choose to support either JojaMart or the community. I highly suggest picking the community for your first playthrough. You can always choose the other option next time!

Pick your Favourites – Stardew Valley has so many different activities on offer, so experiment to see what you like and what you don't like. Often there are more than one way to do things, so you can skip the parts that don't interest you!

Enjoy! – Playing Stardew Valley is a magical experience, there is always more to discover, so I hope you enjoy every bit.
 
Just have fun, and don't stress 😋.
Even if something is difficult at first, it will get easier.
Like for the first year of a game I can't really fish at all, but then, I can fish later.....
I would highly suggest to play around with giving gifts, and not go to the wiki. But then again I have a bit of a mischievous streak sometimes.....
I still have my first farm, one day I will go back and play it again...

Seems the biggest tip is to not stress, feel free to avoid the wiki if you want, and just play for the sake of having fun. Don't worry about making "mistakes" just enjoy your first farm in Pelican Town.
 
Let the game guide you. The mail, early quests, and character dialog will point you in the right direction. The game is very open ended without harsh penalties or deadlines, so you can explore, try things, and do whatever seems fun. Enjoy!
 

Corvus

Sodbuster
Check the TV
One minor tweak I follow: Check the TV in the morning just to get the Fortune Teller's report for the day, then check it at night for tomorrow's weather report and the Queen of Sauce/Livin' off the Land. Saves a bit of time in the morning when you get going.

Keep track of the calendar and don't plant single-season crops if they haven't enough time to ripen. It's very sad to walk outside the first day of Summer or Fall and see all those dead plants you'd spent money on buying their seeds. If you've forgotten the date, there's a calendar just outside Pierre's.
 
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Lew Zealand

Helper
Yes. Don't worry; it's cheap; practically free. And if you can't tell, besides "Enjoy!" and "Keep your first farm around forever", a lot of us had trouble at first with fishing. :love:
Yes, this is pretty much a universal complaint of that first play through and I just avoided it my first time. However on following playthroughs, you get the hang of it and it's just dead easy.

It's a testament to how well the human mind can be trained to remember your first SDV fishing experiences where you wanted to throw your mouse/controller through the screen and stomp around the house cussing out the cat, and later on when 1000s of g per day Fishing is easy, just pick up a few here n there when you need them.

Actually clever game design, once you get past the swearing.

Hidden camera footage, paper hat added to protect anonymity:

 
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