Off the Shelf Media

In December 2023, Gameloft released Disney Dreamlight Valley, which was marketed and promoted as an “Animal Crossing-like” game. 

For those who are unfamiliar with Nintendo’s cozy life simulator, while a large game in theory, its map is rather small despite its lengthy character list. In Animal Crossing: New Horizons, the list of items to be collected and recipes to unlock is vast, but the plot itself is rather quick and easy. 

Compared to equally popular titles like Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild or Fallout 4, I would not call Animal Crossing a large or complicated game in the least bit, which is why when I first started playing Disney Dreamlight Valley a year or so ago, I was immediately taken aback by how massive the game was. Whether starting a new playthrough or running through late game, it is easy to become overwhelmed by the sheer number of tasks to complete, characters to befriend, and areas to unlock and explore in Disney Dreamlight Valley.  

If you read my recent review of the game and dove right in to playing, you likely became as overwhelmed as I found myself to be when I started. While there have been many substantial updates made to the base game since it originally released to improve the gameplay experience, there is still a ton to accomplish in the game. 

If you’ve recently jumped into the game and are feeling a bit lost, here’s my list of the five best steps to take first in Disney Dreamlight Valley. 

1. Build storage, save everything

When you begin to embark on your journey to rescue the Valley from “The Forgetting,” you’re going to be short on funds. To make money, your initial reaction will likely be to sell all of the various flowers, gems, fruit, and produce you collect. 

While selling a few items here and there won’t hurt, most of your crafting and character missions will require you to have a number of supplies on hand. To save yourself the trouble later, hold on to your supplies. 

After you’ve collected a few 50-item blocks of various wood types, fruits, produce, etc., then you can start to purge what you have. While it means you’ll be slow to make money, you won’t have to wait around to complete missions later when the random gems you need aren’t spawning fast enough. 

2. Centralize your farm 

You can place your house in any unlocked area of the map, which is a great perk for aesthetics. While the biomes don’t influence what type of crops you can plant or how much you yield, you’ll want to place your house and farm in an area with a ton of open space. 

Once you’ve set up shop, you not only want to plan out space for your crops but you’ll also want to reserve space to move all of your forgeable crops to one place, which includes the trees and bushes found around the map that respawn new fruit every 10-20 minutes or so. 

The goal here is to get all of your farming done in one spot where you can regularly and easily charge up your energy levels in your house. This will make it both more convenient and faster to grab all of the items for sale in one place. That is, only after you have a safe reserve of items per tip #1. 

3. Unlock the Glade of Trust and focus on okra

There exists some debate online about what crop to grow first for the most amount of money. In my view, nothing beats out okra, which is unlocked by upgrading Goofy’s stall in the Glade of Trust, aka, the swamp. 

While you might make a more exact return on investment from crops like pumpkins or potatoes, which are found in the Forgotten Lands, okra is accessible in an area that is easier to unlock, and the crop itself is easier to grow. 

While it is more expensive than crops like carrots or wheat, you will yield three okras per seed, and you only need to water them once upon planting. This means that you don’t need to babysit your crops to maximize your time and effort. Water once and let it grow. If you have a companion whose specialty is gardening, now you’ll really be raking in the cash. 

If you don’t trust my word for it, you can refer to this helpful Reddit graph on how much time each crop needs, watering schedule, costs, revenue, etc. 

4. Bring Remy to the Valley first

Once you unlock the realms in the Dream Castle, Remy should be one of the first characters you bring back to the Valley. 

In my first playthrough, I went for Moana first, which was helpful for other reasons. In hindsight, though, if I could go back, I would go back for Remy first. 

Once Remy is unlocked as a companion, you also progress toward opening up Chez Remy, and cooking becomes a much more utilized function of the game. 

Though serving up dishes at Chez Remy will only yield modest revenue and unlock new recipes over time, the best perk of having access to the restaurant is that serving customers helps with your friendship meter. 

Being able to serve characters meals at the restaurant makes befriending them move so much faster. You can have one companion join you on your adventures while serving others to gain more and more experience. 

5. Participate in DreamSnaps 

This tip may be a controversial one, but it’s an important task to undertake if you want to unlock unique items and earn the best rewards during limited-time Star Path events without spending real currency on Moonstones.

As explained in my review, DreamSnaps are the online community challenges where players participate by submitting photos to fit a theme or challenge. Moonstones are awarded based on how well the player met the challenge requirements and how many community votes they received. 

Moonstones are rewarded to players who participate and vote. Even if you simply send a random submission meeting the bare minimum requirements, you’ll earn a few Moonstones for your trouble. Give it an honest try, and you may even be surprised by how many Moonstones you can earn by simply decorating your island or house to match a theme. 

This portion of the game is controversial as it employs the much-hated pay-to-play system of microtransactions that have become a dreadful symptom of modern gaming. However, there are so many opportunities for players to earn Moonstones simply by participating in or playing the game that it’s an easy feature to defend for this title. 

If you want to unlock fun items or unique buildings, player outfits, or companions, submitting DreamSnaps is a must. Don’t wait until your favorite item is for sale on the online shop and you don’t have the Moonstones to buy it. Accept the challenge, submit your photo, and earn those coins. 

Bonus tips: 

• Always have a companion with you as you complete tasks, even if it isn’t their specialized task. You’ll earn friendship experience either way. 
• Eat Berry Salad when you need energy. It’s made from all forageable goods and will boost your energy levels so that you need to make fewer visits to your house to recharge. 
• Buy items you don’t necessarily want if they match criteria you don’t have. If you’re participating in DreamSnaps and you need a ‘Mulan’ item but don’t have one, it will get really irritating really quickly. Make sure you have an item for every occasion, even if it doesn’t match your typical aesthetic.  

Disney Dreamlight Valley fans, what advice do you have for new players getting started? What other strategies helped you progress in the early stages of the game? Leave us a comment to let us know!