After working so hard to fully upgrade the Farmhouse and complete the Community Center (or funnel money into JojaMart's Community Development Projects...), Stardew Valley players may worry that there's a lack of post-game content waiting for them within the Valley. Fortunately, this isn't the case, as Community Upgrades will give players something to continue working towards long after they've completed their initial goals of fixing up their farm and helping the town.
Community Upgrades are intended to allow players a way to make life better in the town, both for the residents and for the player. As of the most recent 1.5 update, there are two Community Upgrades for players to invest in: building Pam a house, and creating town shortcuts throughout the Valley.
In this article, players can find out what these upgrades do, as well as how to get involved with making them a reality.
How to Access Community Upgrades
To get started on Community Upgrades, simply head to Robin's Carpenter Shop in the Mountains. There, players can speak to her and discuss the first Community Upgrade, focused on building Pam (and Penny, if the player hasn't married her) a house. Once Pam's house is completed, players can return and ask about the second Upgrade, which creates handy shortcuts around town.
Pam's House
This is the first Community Upgrade that players can get involved in. To be able to create the house, Robin will require two things from the player: 500,000g and 950 pieces of Wood. Though these are huge amounts of resources to hand over, both things have to be given to Robin at the same time, or else players will be unable to proceed with building the house. Similarly, if playing in multiplayer, only the host player will be allowed to purchase this upgrade.
Building the house will take three in-game days beginning from the day the player hands over the materials. After Robin is finished building, Pam's dilapidated trailer will be replaced with a house as well as an actual address of 2 River Road on the map. Along with that, players will also be able to watch a very sweet cutscene where the house is revealed to Pam and Penny. In this cutscene, players can either decide to keep their involvement with the project a secret or tell Pam the truth. Thankfully, there is no wrong option - no matter which option the player picks, they will receive a full four hearts of friendship with Pam.
Shortcuts Around Town
There are a surprising amount of secrets waiting to be found by players in Stardew Valley, and this Community Upgrade adds five more for the players to find.
Firstly, to be able to get this Community Upgrade, players must have completed the prior Upgrade involving Pam's house. For the second Community Upgrade, Robin will once again require players to chip in quite a hefty amount of gold, though this at least doesn't require any further materials. All that is needed for this upgrade is 300,000g.
After giving Robin the gold she needs, she will build five secret shortcuts around town, intended to help the player navigate around the Valley quicker and easier. The shortcuts can be especially hard to find since many are very well-hidden. To help, here are the details of where the five secret shortcuts can be located at.
Shortcut | Details of Shortcut | Image |
Cindersap Forest to Beach | The path is to the right of Leah's Cottage and below Marnie's Ranch. It allows the player to access the Beach via the left, and can even be used on festival days, allowing access the player wouldn't usually have. |  |
Pelican Town to Mountains | North of the Movie Theater or JojaMart, there will be a very narrow path leading to the bridge near the Quarry. This path is small enough that horses won't be able to pass through. |  |
Museum to Beach | To the south of the Museum, there will be a well-hidden path leading down to the tide pool area of the Beach. This path is again too small for horses to be able to fit through. |  |
Bus Stop to Backwoods | At the Bus Stop, take a left to head towards the tunnel. At the northern wall, there will be a staircase that connects to the Backwoods - the stretch of path that connects the player's farm to the Mountains. |  |
Mountain Lake Plank | A plank will be added to the Mountain Lake islands, creating a path that leads straight to the Adventurers Guild. |  |
Stardew Valley is available for Mobile, PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.