Our Sugardew Island Guide will teach you the basics of the game, explain the HUD, and give you a walkthrough for your first few days on the island.
Sugardew Island HUD Explanation
- Energy Meter: This shows how much Energy you have. Energy is needed for chopping down trees, breaking rocks, pulling weeds, tilling fields, and watering fields. Planting seeds and harvesting grown crops does not cost Energy.
- Energy Bar Count: This shows how many Energy Bars you have in your inventory. 1 Energy Bar restores 20 Energy.
- Bag Row: This shows what section of your bag is currently selected on your hotbar.
- Current Item / Hotbar: This shows your currently equipped item. You can press Q and E to switch between tools or items on your Backpack row.
- Tool Target: The tile your currently equipped tool will affect is highlighted by a blue square.
- Context Commands: Your current tool or item may have different options depending on the tile below your Tool Target.
- Sugardew: This shows how much Sugardew (money) you currently have in your possession.
- Day and Weather: This circle shows the current weather, whether it's daytime or nighttime, and what day you are currently on. There are no seasons in Sugardew Island.
- Current Quest: Your current quest and your progress with collecting Harmony for that quest are shown below the Day and Weather.
- Controls: Other controls are shown on the bottom right of the screen.
Sugardew Island Guide | Starter Guide Walkthrough
Now that we've explained the HUD, it's time to dive into the Starter Guide Walkthrough portion of our Sugardew Island Guide! We'll guide you through your first few days and teach you the basics of farming, raising animals, running your Store, and more.
It's important to note that Sugardew Island is best played on a controller. You can make things work well enough with a mouse and keyboard, but be sure to give a controller a try first if you have that option!
Creating Your Character
Your first step, as always, is to create your character. There aren't very many options, but you can make something that looks nice with what you have available in the character creator.
An important note: you can change your appearance and your voice at any time via the mirror in your house. However, you cannot change your name or the name of your farm once you've made those choices. Make sure you pick names you like for both your character and your farm!
Selecting Your First Quest
Your next step is to select your first quest. I recommend taking the Owl Island Level 1 quest over the quest that is selected for you by default; this will allow you to unlock chickens ASAP.
Next, walk over to Tomte in the Forest Island area near the Harmony Tree and purchase the following:
- 9 Carrot Seeds
- 9 Corn Seeds
This should leave you with 50 remaining Sugardew. Store these items away in the nearby chest. Note that all chests are linked together in a shared stash; you can find other chests inside your house, outside your house, and in your Store.
Cleaning Up the Field and Planting
Our next step is to clean up the field and make some space for planting. You'll want to clear a total of three 3x3 grids wherever it makes the most sense as shown here:
Once this space is cleared, you'll want to plant the 9 Wheat Seeds you begin the game with along with the 9 Carrot Seeds and 9 Corn Seeds that you just purchased. Use your Watering Can to water all 27 of these fields.
You will spend more Energy than you have available on this first day, so eat Energy Bars as needed. There are also a few crops already planted on the eastern side of the farm; make sure to water those, too, so you can collect some free extra crops.
Setting Up the Store
Next, head east and walk into your Store. Tomte will give you a short tutorial on how to run the Store.
Place all of the Carrots, Wood, Stone, and Weeds that you have on the four tables in the Store. Selling Wood, Stone, and Weeds doesn't earn you very much money and you generally shouldn't do it, but we want to make as much money as possible for our first day.
When everything is on the tables, walk behind the counter and open the Store.
As you sell items, you'll occasionally have a customer present you with three options: Recommend, Advise, or Discount. "Recommend" gives you a +50% profit but has a low risk of success, "Advise" has no price bonus and has a moderate chance of success, and "Discount" reduces your sale price by 50% but has a high chance of success.
If you fail to convince a customer to buy an item in these rare situations, they will place it in the bin near the door. I recommend that you always select "Recommend" — if you don't sell an item today, you can always try to sell it again tomorrow!
When you've collected enough Harmony, close down the store — even if you have items left to sell. The Store is the only way to generate Harmony, and you don't want to miss an opportunity to get more Harmony tomorrow.
Any customers who are still holding items will place them in the basket. Collect the leftover items from the basket and place them back on the shelves.
Turning In Your Quest
Once you've closed the store, return to the Harmony Tree. The "Hare" will be revealed — your collecting of Harmony has removed the thorns surrounding the tree and freed this creature. Unfortunately, the Hare is still quite distrustful of humans and it will take some more time to regain its trust.
For now, select the quest "Ferret Island Level 1" — this will unlock two new farming crops for you to plant once it's completed. Return home and go to sleep.
Day 2
When you wake up the next day, immediately go to your diary and make a manual save. While the game auto-saves every day, you should also make a manual save each morning just to be safe.
Head outside and Tomte the merchant will tell you that the Bulletin Board has been unlocked. For now, don't worry too much about it; investing in the Bulletin Board requires that you grow many more crops than you have now. (You can learn more about this aspect of the game in our Bulletin Board guide.)
Next, take out your Watering Can and water all of your plants. You can also harvest the random wheat that was planted automatically on the farm. Use any remaining energy to harvest more Wood, Stone, and Weeds.
Take the Wheat and add it to the table in the Store. Continue selling items and saving money.
Day 3
On Day 3, the Wheat you've planted should have grown. Harvest it, then buy 9 more Wheat Seeds from Tomte to plant a new batch of Wheat. Water all of your 27 crop fields.
Wheat and Carrots are necessary for crafting Energy Bars. You should always have at least one 3x3 field of Wheat and one 3x3 field of Carrots growing at any one time. You can make your money by selling other crops.
Once again, close out the day by selling items at the Store. I recommend holding onto at least 10 pieces of Wheat for now; sell the rest to earn some money.
Day 4 and Beyond
On Day 4, your Corn should have grown as long as you've been watering it every day. Corn produces plants multiple times, so you won't have to replant it until you've harvested from it multiple times.
Water your fields and sell your Corn and whatever else you can in the Store. Your goal is to save up 500 Sugardew. Once you have it, go back to Tomte and buy your first Chicken.
Chickens (and other animals) need to be fed 1 piece of Wheat per day. In exchange, they will give you 1 Egg or 1 Milk the following day. Chicken Eggs sell for 20 Sugardew, meaning it will take 25 days to pay off your first Chicken at worst, not counting the cost of feeding it.
However, animals will produce even more goods as you level up. This early-game chicken will pay off in the long run, so make sure to take good care of it! You should make sure to set aside a few pieces of Wheat to make sure you can feed it every day.
You now have some crops, a couple of completed quests, and your first animal. There are many more quests to complete and new items to unlock — take the skills you've learned here and have fun exploring Sugardew Island! In the meantime, don't forget to check out our other guides below.
Is Sugardew Island Multiplayer?
No, Sugardew Island is not a multiplayer game.
Where is the Sugardew Island Save File Located?
The Sugardew Island Save File is located in:
C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\LocalLow\rokaplay GmbH\Sugardew Island
Where "USERNAME" is your Windows username.
How Do You Restore Energy in Sugardew Island?
There are two ways to restore Energy in Sugardew Island:
- Consume an Energy Bar to restore 20 Energy
- Go to sleep and start the next day to fully restore your Energy
You can craft Energy Bars at the Workbench using Wheat and Carrots or you can purchase them from Tomte the merchant. Crafting Energy Bars is much cheaper, so you should only buy them from Tomte as a last resort.
What Happens When Your Energy Runs Out in Sugardew Island?
If your Energy runs out in Sugardew Island, you will not be able to use any of your tools or perform most farming actions until you restore some Energy.
When Does the Day End in Sugardew Island?
The day does not end in Sugardew Island until you go to sleep. The clock stays at daytime until you open the Store and it shifts to nighttime after you close the Store.
Thanks for reading our Sugardew Island Guide. Make sure to check out our other guides below!
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