1) When choosing your birthday, you don't have to worry about overlapping with festivals...all events will still happen (one won't get pre-empted for the other...not your town party OR your private party with family/significant other.) If you still wish to choose a day with nothing else on it, though, by all means consult with Cherubae's
fully-filled out calendar.
2)
Save at least once per day in case you need to reset something unexpected or run into a surprise glitch. Also save after completing anything you really don't want to have to redo, should anything happen, like reorganizing your whole farm.
3) Early on in the game, Ford's 'Medical Test Subject' jobs (through the Part Time Job recruiter) are a great source of income. But it's risky unless you know what each bottle contains.
Thonky has a page on exactly what that is, so you can always choose a good or neutral (or least bad) bottle.
4) The plot of the game doesn't really get started until Summer 1, and the 3 towns aren't all accessible until a few days after that, so hang in there! It'll be slow for your first season but you may find it crazy busy after that.
5) If you DO find it crazy busy...don't panic. You'll find a routine that works for you. And here's one major help:
FRIENDSHIPS DO NOT DEGRADE FROM NEGLECT IN TRIO OF TOWNS. Characters in the game DO have dialogue they'll say if they haven't seen you in a long time, but it does NOT mean you've lost any FP. You haven't. The only way to lose FP in Trio of Towns is to play pranks with Witchie, throw trash in the water, give gifts people hate, or make your bf/gf or spouse jealous by showing other candidates the pendant. So if you don't have time to talk to villagers the entire summer because you're concentrating on other things, don't worry about it. Nothing bad will happen because of it, so you can socialize at your leisure.
6) Save before the
FRUIT FIESTA on Fall 26 in Lulukoko. You have a chance of being given
COCONUT as a gift, and it will almost definitely be your first chance to get them in the game. (Otherwise you will have to wait until you can get Lulukoko to Rank B, or until you've shipped 200 tree fruits to Lulukoko, which most people don't manage to do by then.) Coconuts are required to build the winery.
7) Consider getting a
pet as soon as possible, as it takes a very long time to max their stats. Herding pets are very useful, as are pets with the 'finding plants' skill, as their job is to bring you foraged plants every day, and they can potentially bring you
THYME, which is a rare foraged herb that you cannot buy that is required to make the Jam Factory. ANY type of pet also has a chance of finding thyme when you take them on a walk and dig at the treasure-hunting spots...the one closest to the post office in Westown is known to be the most common source of Thyme. (They can't find Thyme as their job until they are level 5 or 6 at least, but you can find them in treasure hunts with ANY pet at ANY level.)
HERE is a spreadsheet (with 3 tabs) on pet levels and skills, if you want to know more. And
HEREare all the pets with pictures included and where and when they unlock.
8] For some reason people seem to get stuck in particular on
SWEET POTATOES. 20 are needed for the Westown C Rank lock. They are a Fall crop that will be available for purchase in seed form in Tsuyukusa once you raise its rank to D. To be able to buy pre-grown sweet potatoes rather than seeds, get Tsuyukusa to Rank C and ship 10 sweet potatoes.
9) If you like to
hoard necessary items rather than acquire them as needed, we have compiled
a list of every item you'd ever need in order to upgrade every tool to max, make every one of the makers, and fulfill every town link rank requirement. This does not contain spoilers but it does list every single item so it is quite long.
10)
FARMING TIPS ... It can be difficult to raise crop quality much before you have the seed maker, especially crops with a short growing time, but even without it, there is a way. You can sow your seeds and fertilize them every day without watering them, as they will not wilt until they have sprouted from their seed form. Of course, this is not as effective if you are trying to raise the JUICINESS stat, as watering adds to juiciness. And keep in mind that
vine crops are not finished growing until you can no longer water them...you can pick a tomato as soon as it appears, but if you leave it alone until it finishes growing, it will have many tomatoes on it, and the overall harvest is better.
(Thanks, Mikodesu.)
11)
Money-making tips: Gems and ores are worth a lot, so if you have any you can part with, they'll net you quite a bit. (
HEREis a page on mining frequency and probability...useful if you are trying to mine for specific items.) Also check craft options in your makers...some of them have a very good profit, too. Maple syrup is also a good new money crop and can be turned into maple butter for even more money. (Maple syrup comes from mature maple trees every three days in Spring if you have a sap bucket...purchased from Miranda in Westown...attached to them).
But the main money-maker in Trio tends to be cooking. It should be used with caution, as it is possible to buy unlimited quantities of ingredients to churn out many many stacks of cooked dishes and make millions per day. This, however, tends to take the fun out of the game for many people by making you progress extremely quickly with no effort, so use these methods with discretion. If you are simply trying to increase your cooking level, check out the
Hot Milk thread. The Hot Milk will still make you money and accelerate your town link with whoever you buy from and sell to, but somewhat less so. If you want to try getting very rich really quickly (and raising town ranks so fast your head will spin) it's on your head, but...there is some good information on options
HERE. Most very good profit recipes are not available early in the game
12)
Fishing is something you can do pretty early on (around Spring 9) to make better pocket change than selling foraged items you should probably keep anyway. Also, some people just love to fish. So here is a
very useful spreadsheet on it that shows every type of fish available at every spot.