Stardew Valley, the hit indie farming-RPG from lone developer Concerned Ape, remains one of the most popular titles in its genre. Players are given a slow introduction to the sleepy world of Pelican Town, clearing their farm, planting crops, and constructing new buildings. Stardew Valley allows players to grow their farm from a tiny shack to a sprawl of barns, orchards, and fields.
One of the most interesting buildings that players can construct on their Stardew Valley farm is the Slime Hutch. The Slime Hutch allows players to breed, raise, and harvest materials from Slimes that are normally found in the Mines and Skull Cavern. Though they may seem like monsters, players can actually make some money from these cute little blobs, and have fun doing it.
How to Build a Slime Hutch in Stardew Valley
Players can purchase a Slime Hutch for their farm from Robin's Carpenter Shop for the following materials:
- 10,000g
- 500 Stone
- 10 Refined Quartz
- 1 Iridium Bar
After the Slime Hutch is purchased, Marlon from the Stardew Valley Adventurer's Guild will deliver a Slime Egg, allowing players to start breeding immediately.
Slimes are hostile monsters in Stardew Valley, meaning players will be attacked by the Slimes in their Hutch. Fortunately, it's possible to place fences and flooring in the Hutch, which will allow players to cordon off a safe area near the door to enter and leave by. This will also be a good spot for placing Slime Egg-Presses, which are used to make more Slime Eggs using the Slime item. Placing flooring in the safe area will prevent any Slimes from spawning there, keeping them all in the dangerous part of the Hutch. Players can also protect themselves by wearing the Slime Charmer ring, which is received as an award from the Adventurer's Guild after slaying 1,000 Slimes.
How to Raise Slimes in Stardew Valley
The player's journey to raising Slimes starts with Slime Eggs. These can be acquired through Slime-Egg Presses, dropped from Slimes, or looted in Skull Cavern treasure rooms. A Slime Egg can then be placed in a Slime Incubator, which will hatch it into mature Slime in 3 days. It's also possible for a female and male Slime to mate in the Hutch, which will produce a baby Slime. Each Slime Hutch can hold a maximum of 20 Slimes, which all produce the same materials whether they are Green, Blue, Red, Purple, or Tiger-colored.
If the four water troughs in the Slime Hutch are full, which can be done automatically using a sprinkler, then the player's Slimes will produce Slime Balls. A full Slime Hutch can produce four Slime Balls per day, each of which can be broken down to produce Slime or possibly Petrified Slime. These Slime Balls are the end-goal of the Slime Hutch, as both their products are valuable to players. Slime can be sold for 5g each, or used in a variety of recipes in Stardew Valley's crafting system. Petrified Slime can be sold for 120g, given to the Wizard as a liked Gift, or used to increase the capacity of a Slimejack pond in the Fish Pond quest.
Once players have got their Slime Hutch up and running, they won't need to interact with it beyond collecting Slime Balls or refilling the water troughs (if not using a Sprinkler). However, there is a random event that can occur where Stardew Valley's Witch will turn all the Slimes in the Hutch black. Fortunately, this event can be prevented by placing a Wicked Statue inside the Hutch.
Stardew Valley is available now on Mobile, PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.