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Within the Stardrop SalooninStardew Valley, there’s much more to do than just hang around with some friends and drink a couple of beers. you’re able to also play some arcade games, tucked away in the small room to the right of the main bar.
Some of the games you may play includeJourney of the Prairie King, a top-down shooter mini-game that will require you to defeat enemies and bosses to get further through each level. However, this game is a lot harder than it might seem on the surface. To help you complete the full game, this guide will provide you with some tips.
Where to Find Journey of the Prairie King
To get started on playing Journey of the Prairie King, you’ll first need to locate the game. Take a trip toStardrop Saloonwithin the town center, which is the bar south ofPierre’s General Store. Stardrop Saloonopens at 12 pm, so make sure to visit after then.
Insidethe bar run by Gus, take a right and make your way into the roomwith a large arcade sign,and a pool table in the middle. Thefirst arcade booth with a star printon the front will be Journey of the Prairie King. You won’t need to pay anything to play the game, so you can play it as much as you want.
Best Upgrades for Journey of the Prairie King
Afterhaving yourself a nice mealat the bar and making your way over to Journey of the Prairie King, you’ll notice there are upgrades you canpick up off the groundthat enemies have dropped, as well aspurchasable upgrades. These purchasable upgrades include:
When you get to the first upgrade, you’ll be able to choose betweenBoots, Ammo, and Gun.We recommend either choosingAmmo or Gunto make the next few stages easier, withAmmobeing the best one overall, since it will increase your power. As you get further in the game, enemies will be much harder to defeat, and you’ll need to hit them with multiple shots if you do not upgrade your Ammo. This will eventually cause you to beoverwhelmed by enemies,so it’s best to focus on the Ammo upgrade first. If you don’t have enough coins, the Gun upgrade is useful as well. You won’t really need the Boots, unless you are at a point towards the end where you can’t afford the other options.
As for upgrades that are dropped by enemies on the stage, you shouldpick up every single one that you find,unless it puts you into a compromising position and will cause you to be overtaken by enemies. The best upgrades are theSheriff Badge, 1-Up, Shotgun, and Wagon Wheel.You’ll want to pick up every1-Upyou see if possible, so you have more lives and can last for longer.
Tips for Beating Journey of the Prairie King
Now that you’re aware of the upgrades you can pick up in Journey of the Prairie King, we are going to provide you with a fewadditional tipsto make your run easier, and allow you to obtain your own Journey of the Prairie King arcade system todecorate your houseand play from home.
Stay Towards the Middle of the Map
This first thing you’ll want to focus on doing while playing through Journey of the Prairie King is to make sure you’resticking to the middle of the map.This is to help prevent you from getting stuck in a corner and being unable to move, resulting in losing a life. You’ll have more freedom to move around if you stay towards the center.
Hold Down the Shoot Button
While playing, you’ll notice that you can tap the shoot button or hold it down. You’ll want tocontinuously hold down the shoot buttonsince you have infinite ammo, as this will make it easier to take out enemies before they even enter the stage.
Don’t Use Item Upgrades Immediately
When you pick up item upgrades dropped by defeated enemies, they’ll sometimes beused immediately by your character or get placed into your item bag. Though it might be tempting to immediately hit Space and use this item upgrade, it’s better totime the usage of the upgrade strategically.There’s no need to use your upgrade if there are only a few enemies on the map, for example. The best time to activate them is when a ton of enemies suddenly appear, and you know you’ll be overwhelmed without a buff.
Shoot Using Diagonals
You might be tempted to stick to the regular controls of up, down, left, and right, but we highly recommendusing diagonalsfor this game. You can shoot diagonally bypressing down on two direction buttons at once.Since most enemies will not always be perfectly aligned with your character, using diagonal shooting will prevent you from having to excessively move around the map to perfectly line up with each enemy.
Use Trees and Gravestones to Defend Yourself
After the first stage, you’ll find a ton of barriers in the following stages that allow you to defend yourself. You’ll want toutilize these as much as possible,especially since enemies are attempting to run towards you directly, and hiding behind a barrier will prevent some enemies from coming at you while you try to defeat others. Some of these barriers you may actually shoot through as well, which includes trees and gravestones. Use this to your advantage to protect yourself, while also still taking out all the enemies surrounding you.
Grab Coins to Get Better Upgrades
Coins are a lot more important than you might think. As we mentioned earlier, there will be certain parts of the game where you’ll be able to buy upgrades.The better upgrades are going to require more coins,especially the Ammo upgrade, which starts at 15 coins. The Boots upgrade is the cheapest, but it is the least desirable. So, whenever you see a coin, verify to pick it up unless it puts you in a compromising position.
Stay In the Corner For the Bridge Level
In the second area of the Forest stage, you’ll have two rivers going across the screen with some bridges attached. Instead of staying in the center, you’ll want tostay in a corner for this stageto prevent any enemies getting behind you. You can shoot across the river and bridges, so you can get enemies from far away.
Use Barriers During Boss Fights
We mentioned barriers earlier for regular stages, but you’re also going to want touse the barriers set up for the first two boss fightsas well. You can easily defeat bosses by staying behind the barriers, and coming out and shooting them when they’ve stopped shooting for a moment. Just make sure you’re staying as close to the barrier as possible. With all of these tips, you’ll be a better player in Journey of the Prairie King, allowing you to easily beat it and work onfinishing your completionist route.
