Stardew Valley Crystal Puzzle [Explained]

Stardew Valley isn’t just limited to cultivating crops in your old farmhouse. The game has tons to offer in side-quests, objectives, achievements, and puzzles. 

The Crystal Puzzle is one such side objective you can unlock once you thoroughly explore Ginger Island. However, this can be slightly complex, and many players end up struggling with it. That’s precisely why I’ll tell you everything there is to know about the Crystal Puzzle in Stardew Valley today!

What is the Crystal Puzzle?

The Colored Crystals Puzzle is a mini-game in Stardew Valley. It is located in a cave in Ginger Island, slightly northeast of Tiger Slime Grove. The puzzle features a ‘Simon Says’ game that awards you 3 Golden Walnuts if completed. 

Since the puzzle is located on Ginger Island, you must first travel to the area. Ginger Island is more of an end-game venture, so this puzzle will not be available if you are in the early or mid-game stage. 

Additionally, the mini-game awards you with Golden Walnuts which can also only be used at the end-game, there really is no point trying to access it earlier!

The puzzle mini-game is located in a cave and features a lion statue in the middle of a room containing 5 different Crystal decorations. Interacting with this statue starts the mini-game. The puzzle is a small game of ‘Simon Says’ that goes on for 5 rounds.

If you are unaware of how Simon Says works, a pattern will be shown to you, and you have to repeat that pattern. In this case, each round of the puzzle will light up some of the crystals in the room. You will then have to interact with the crystals in the same order as they were initially lit. 

Each time you get the pattern correct, you’ll win a round. Completing 5 rounds successfully will net you 3 Golden Walnuts, which you can use in Mr. Qi’s Walnut Room to unlock items and upgrades. Each successive round of the puzzle gets more difficult as the patterns become more complex and faster!

The colored crystals puzzle can become quite complex in later stages, and if you fail any round, you have to restart the entire puzzle! However, the game automatically slows the puzzle down if you fail to complete it too many times, so don’t worry. 

If you are struggling with the puzzle even after the game slows it down, here’s a little tip – you can use your phone to record a short video of the pattern. Once it’s fully shown, you can replay that video to quickly see which crystals you are supposed to interact with and the order in which it is to be done! In this way, you can complete the mini-game pretty easily.

Where Is the Crystal Puzzle Located?

The colored crystal puzzle in Stardew Valley can be found in a cave on Ginger Island. To be more precise, it’s situated on the Island West. Island West is the one that a sleeping Turtle initially blocks off and, of course, is located on the western side! 

Within this Island, you’ll find a pond on one side. Heading directly to the north of this pond, you will come across a small grove containing many Mahogany Trees. Be careful, though; a good number of Tiger Slimes also spawn inside this grove! This area of the Island West is rightly called the ‘Tiger Slime Grove.’

Once you are in the Tiger Slime Grove, you will have to head directly northeast. Here, you will find an entrance to a cave. This cave contains the colored crystals puzzle, which will start as soon as you interact with the lion statue at the top of the room!

You can find in-depth instructions on other areas of Island West on the official Stardew Valley Wiki!

The Mermaid Crystal Puzzle

Aside from the puzzle on Ginger Island, there also exists one other colored crystal puzzle in Stardew Valley. This one takes place in the Mermaid Room of the Night Market. I’ll cover that puzzle below!

The Mermaid Puzzle is open to you from 5 pm to 12:30 am every year during the Night Market event which occurs between the 15 and 17th of each Winter. The Mermaid Boat contains this puzzle and is near the vendors next to Willy’s Fish Shop.

Upon entering the boat, a Mermaid appears and starts a musical performance for you! This goes on for about 2 hours, after which you can attempt the puzzle.  

There are several shells located in front of the Mermaid’s performance stage. Interacting with these shells plays some musical notes. Like the crystal puzzle on Ginger Island, if you play the correct sequence of notes using these shells, you will be rewarded with a unique item!

The correct sequence of notes is found through ‘Secret Note’ number 15. Since you don’t need to find the note for this to work, you can play the following sequence (from left to right) to complete the puzzle: 1-5-4-2-3. Spoiler alert: the unique item you receive from this puzzle is a Pearl! 

That covers both of the puzzles you will find in Stardew Valley. Feel free to ask below if you still need clarification about how any of these work. While you are here, why not check out everything there is to know about Leo – Ginger Island’s sole resident!