The best thing about this game is that there is no set list of what to do or what not to do, but with that being said, there is no worse feeling than getting neck deep in the game and wishing you hadn't sold something or had bought something sooner before it was too late.
Use these tips to help keep the anxiety to a minimum... hopefully.
DO NOT SELL- 5 x Turnip Seeds, 5 x Milk, 5 x Brick, Iron, Copper, 5 x Bottles, Gold, Platinum
To find out how the townspeople feel about you, walk up beside them and press the Left Bumper. This will display a thought bubble full of their feelings.
Bachelors and Bachelorettes (depending on your character's gender) will also have a flower to show what stage of your relationship you are in.
During the Tutorial after Eda lets you wander around, you can swim and forage and the Silk Trader will be there to ship everything you find, so do as much swimming, collecting and trading as you can.
After the Tutorial on Turnip planting, the example plot that Eda teaches you with is yours to tend for the rest of the game. Don't forget about it.
You will only be able to collect mostly twigs for the entire month of Spring, don't panic. Summer will bring branches.
Plant a few turnips and potatoes, but focus on swimming for fish, clams and those precious minerals.
The Silk Country Trader, Ashe, will only be available for shipping every four days, but new traders are coming, so don't worry.
Focus on upgrading your house first and then your tools. You will need a barn. And the best news is that your barn and your first cow will be on the house! You will need Fodder as soon as your cow arrives and it will take two days to sprout. If you had started collecting from the tutorial, you should have just about everything you need from your first day or two on your own.
In the beginning, I always like to plant four fields of Fodder. It only sells for 1G a piece, but it doesn't require watering and grows back everyday, so it adds up pretty quickly.
Getting a horse will unlock Carrots and Grass Seeds at the General Store. The Carrots cost 200G and can't be grown until Fall.
Using the fast travel options at the Horseback Riding Stations will use up a Carrot each way, so be careful with them.
Your rental field will become available towards the end of Spring and will give you a new foraging area. You can only grow seasonal Root Veggies here for now, so be careful with your planting times- any plants that go out of season will die.
All of your seeds will start off as 1-Star until you build the Potting Shed and will gain about a half a star with two fertilizer treatments. Watering twice a day will speed up the growing time, but will give you less opportunity to fertilize.
Your building focus should be getting a Kitchen and Fridge up and running, making a Pitchfork and upgrading tools.
The First Day of Summer will unlock your Fishing Pole and the ability to create Bait at the General Store. Use your pole a bunch for those first few weeks (And choose Fish Hatchery as your fishing point) to have a chance at winning the Fishing Tournament in the second week of Summer.
You will start collecting Branches to fabricate into Lumber, which will make you life oh so much better.
The Cabin Country Trader will show up this month if you've been doing enough Shipping and will bring Sheep, animal treats and tool upgrade Blueprints. Animal Treats are either species specific for faster treat leveling and faster By-Product (Milk, Eggs, Fur...etc.) production or just general "Treats" that are cheaper, but slower.
The day of "The Challenge Begins" cut scene, you need to go to the Guild Office and ask about renting a field. It should already be leased in your character's name. If you don't go that day, the field will be leased out to someone else.
After the "Listening to Requests" cut scene, always check the Requested Shipping list before shipping anything. Requests give you more friendship with the traders and will result in better selling prices.
*Note* Blue Requests are required to unlock Blueprints and patterns that you won't find anywhere else.
Keep your small fish to make into Grilled Fish on your Kitchen. They sell for more than the fish themselves and can be used to recover Stamina. The more you cook, the higher the quality of your food, so keep cooking.
Planting 4 fields of grass isn't very smart imho considering each field only gives you about 8G a day where other plants (turnips) might get you 160G average a day.The extra effort is well worth it. Even after weighing in cost of seed, turnips are still far more profitable and require only a little more effort.
Thanks for these helpful tips =)