There’s a lot to keep you busy in Starsand Island, with five Professions to master, over 100 fish to catch, 15 NPCs to romance, and more. With so much to do, it can be easy to become overwhelmed at the start of your cozy life! This guide lists 10 essential Starsand Island beginner tips and tricks to help you get to grips with the game as soon as possible, with pointers on exploration, farming, and general day-to-day life on the island.
10 Starsand Island Beginner Tips
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Be Mindful of the Clock!
In Starsand Island, your day ends at 02:00 AM. If you fail to sleep in a bed or tent in time, you’ll pass out and wake up with half of your stamina the next day, which is not ideal if you plan on doing stamina-consuming activities like planting crops or fishing. You can restore your stamina by sitting down and resting or eating certain foods, but that’s time-consuming and just wastes part of your day.
If you pass out for three consecutive days, you’ll sleep for a whole entire day to recover! So make sure that you’re always conscious of the clock; start making your way back to your house at 11 PM, just to be on the safe side.
You can see the current time to the right of the mini-map in the top left.
Always Use Transportation
Despite how tempting it is, you don’t need to run everywhere. Starsand Island is huge, so it helps to have a method of transportation to get around quicker. The faster you get to where you need to go, the more time you have in the day for activities.
If you unlock the Crafting Profession, you can make a skateboard or roller skates to get around. To do this, speak to Zerine, who is often found either in the General Store or in the basement underneath it, and progress the “Become an Apprentice Crafter” quest.
Click on a screenshot above to enlarge it!
If you’d prefer, you can rent a bike for a few days or even a live animal mount. Bikes are found scattered throughout town, and mounts can be rented from Green Pasture Ranch in Green Meadow. You need to pay a small fee to rent them, with the cost adding up the longer you have them in your possession.
Bikes and mounts can be summoned anywhere, so it’s well worth ensuring you’ve got a mode of transport at all times to make getting around much easier.
Expand Your Bag
Like us, if you like to pick everything up that you see, you’ll very quickly run out of Bag space. Luckily, you’re able to expand your inventory slots by collecting specific materials. Open your Bag (LB + Up on Xbox, B on PC) and then click on the yellow “Expand” button in the bottom-left of the Bag menu (View button on Xbox).
There are multiple Bag upgrades, with each one adding five slots and requiring a different set of materials, such as wooden planks or bricks. It’s worth getting at least two Bag expansions done in the beginning of your adventure – this helps more than you’d think!
Spend Your Starsand
Don’t forget to spend your Starsand! It is a currency awarded when completing quests and achievements related to the five Professions, finishing Bulletin Board requests, and more. Starsand is spent in the Workpedia app on your phone, where you can use it to unlock perks for each Profession, such as increased treasure chests chance when fishing or the chance to find a seed when harvesting your crops.
As you level up a Profession, better perks become available in Workpedia, so don’t forget to check back and see what new ones you can unlock!
After a few in-game days, you’ll also unlock the ability to expand the land at your Hopeland base (more areas become available later, too).
You need Starsand (and Coins!) to do this, so if you want more room to grow and harvest crops, make sure you’re putting some Starsand aside and not just dumping it all into Workpedia perks.
Redeem Your Stamp Collection
As you collect furniture, craft items, catch bugs and fish, and harvest crops in Starsand Island, they will register in your Islandpedia, which is a catalog of everything you’ve obtained. There are six sections:
Gatherables: Items you can gather from exploration and animal byproducts.Plants: Crops you harvest, flowers, mushrooms, and more.Crafting: Items you craft, including tools, equipment, and animal housing.Bio Research: Bugs, fish, and livestock.Cuisine: Meals you cook, including main dishes, desserts, and baked goods.Home: Home furniture that you purchase from stores or craft yourself.
As you make progress toward filling out a section, you’ll earn a stamp in your Islandpedia’s Stamp Collection. There are 1,865 stamps to collect, with a reward earned for every five milestones per section. Rewards include Coins to Blueprints, seeds, and more – and some are exclusive – so it’s well worth checking your Islandpedia app every so often to see if you’ve unlocked any new stamp prizes.
Pull Weeds
When growing crops on your farm, make sure you check your plots daily for weeds. If there’s a weed growing alongside your crop, its growth will pause until the weed is removed. To remove a weed, highlight the soil and pull it out (A on Xbox, F on PC). You’ll get some Pasture Grass for each weed you remove, which is used to feed your farm animals.
Keep an Eye Out for Treasure Chests
As you explore Starsand Island, look for treasure chests scattered throughout the map. These contain items like crafting blueprints, crafting materials, seeds, and Coins. There are currently 51 treasure chests to find, not including ones in NPC houses.
Chests are often hidden around the side of houses and tucked in corners, so keep an eye out whenever you’re exploring as you never know when you’ll find one!
Don’t Ignore Gold Spots
You’ll sometimes see a glowing gold spot when exploring the island. This is a mini-game; touch the gold spot and you’ll see it move. You need to follow the gold spot to the end of its path and, if successful, a chests will spawn with rewards.
All of the gold spots we’ve found have been platforming puzzles, like following a railing to the end without falling off. If you do fall off, you’ll have to start again. If you’ve unlocked the roller skates, they can make it easier.
Complete Treasure Maps
When exploring, you’ll sometimes come across treasure maps. These are used to find hidden loot in the Moonlit Forest, which you unlock via the Exploration Profession by speaking to Zephyria.
You’re prompted to unlock the Exploration Profession as part of the Crafting Profession automatically, though if you haven’t started Crafting, you’ll often find Zephyria by the Exploration Club, which is located between Green Meadow and Flower Corridor.
Click on a screenshot above to enlarge it!
Progress the Exploration Club quest until you craft the Slingshot and unlock the Moonlit Forest. When in the Moonlit Forest, select the treasure map in your hotbar and an arrow pointing to the treasure’s location will appear.
Follow the arrow to find the buried treasure. You’ll need to interact with the spot where the chest is buried to dig it up. Interact with the treasure chest to open it and claim your rewards.
Use Sentry Bots to Aid You in Combat
When in boss fights or tricky battles in the Moonlit Forest, use Sentry Bots. These craftable robots will fight alongside you for a few seconds, dealing more damage to your opponent than you would alone and can mean the difference between a victory and a loss against a boss.
You can purchase Mini Sentry Bots for 190 Gold each at the Exploration Club.
To use a Mini Sentry Bot in battle, put it in your hotbar, highlight it, and then summon it (RT on Xbox, Left-Mouse Button on PC). The Mini Sentry Bot will deploy and shoot at the nearest enemy for 30 seconds. You can place multiple at once, which is incredibly useful against harder foes.