To even access this part of the game, players will first need to earn 25,000G. Farmers can do this by selling resources or the best Stardew Valley crops for making lots of money. Afterward, a villager named Demitrius appears in the morning to give the option. Essentially, the decision turns the farm’s cave into a haven for bats or a growing operation for mushrooms. While neither of these are game-changers, there are some reasons to stick with one over the other.

RELATED: Stardew Valley’s New Ginger Island Was Inspired by Super Mario 64

Stardew Valley beginners will make mistakes and likely be overwhelmed by all the various systems at play. The cave is no different, so it is important to first understand what each choice means. If picking the Fruit Bat option, players can occasionally find different fruits dropped in the cavern. This includes crops like peaches, berries, apples, and so forth. Some of these are necessary for completing the Community Center bundles, which is one reason to pick this choice. That said, fruit generation is random so there can be long stretches of no yield.

The mushroom cave on the other hand is reliable and in certain ways more useful. After picking this, 6 mushroom planters will appear inside the farm’s cave. This generates one mushroom per planter every other day, an improvement from the RNG of Fruit Bats. All kinds of fungal flora can appear here, including purple caps or red mushrooms in Stardew Valley. These crops are also for creating the life elixir item, which restores health fully. If players do not pick this choice, they will have to explore the mines or around the Wizard’s tower for more shrooms.

All things considered, the better option here is the mushroom cave. What new farmers may not realize is that fruit tree seeds are available for purchase, though expensive. By planting these on the farm, fruit is easily accessible in comparison to mushrooms. Plus, while fruit can make some of the best gifts in Stardew Valley, this is far less useful than the life elixir. Mushrooms can even be used for other types of recipes, so having them on hand every other day is a great boon.

Stardew Valley is available on mobile devices, PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.

MORE: How Stardew Valley Set the Standard for Farming Sims