Spent 2 years watering my crops at 6pm every night, then my kid asked one simple thing
For my first two years in Stardew Valley I always watered everything right before bed, thinking it gave the plants all night to soak it up. Then last month my 9 year old sat next to me and asked why I water when it's dark, and I honestly did not have a real answer. I looked it up and found out watering in the morning matters because the game counts the day, and some crops even need that full day to grow. So I switched to watering first thing after waking up, and my harvest on the same 40 plots came in two full in game days sooner. Two years of late night watering, all because I never thought about it. Now I want to know, does anyone else have a habit in these games they just did forever without checking? I need to know I'm not the only one who played it slow for no reason.
Oh boy, this reminds me of my first farm in Harvest Moon back on the GameCube. I had no idea you could upgrade your tools at the blacksmith, so I spent three whole seasons watering everything with the basic can, one square at a time, sweating through entire afternoons. My daughter finally looked over my shoulder one day and asked why I never bought the better can, and I just sat there blinking at the screen. Turns out I could have saved myself hours every single day and I was just too stubborn to poke around the shop menu. Live and learn, I suppose, but it still stings a little every time I think about all those wasted afternoons.