How to get Mystery Boxes in Stardew Valley

Emily Stander
Mystery Boxes in Stardew Valley

Mystery Boxes are a fairly new item in Stardew Valley, but they contain a pretty large variety of rewards that are similar to what you find in Geodes. Here is everything you need to know about Mystery Boxes, including where to find them and what you can get from them. 

Mystery Boxes in Stardew Valley are drop crates that are released across the land by Mr. QI. As the resident mystery man in the Valley, it’s no surprise that he is behind them. 

Unlike most of QI-related quests and items, though, Mystery Boxes act more like Geodes you can find for rewards. Here is everything you need to know about them, including where to find them and how you can get to what’s inside. 

Where to find Mystery Boxes in Stardew Valley 

Mystery Boxes can be found in Stardew Valley while looting, fishing, mining, and foraging.

There are a few ways you can get Mystery Boxes, and most of them fall into the kind of things you would be doing in your day-to-day anyway:

  • Monster loot 
  • Mining rocks
  • Shaking or cutting down trees
  • Hoeing artifact spots 
  • Getting Treasure Chests while fishing 
  • Rewards from the Trout Derby and SquidFest
  • Breaking open crates in the mines 
Mines in Stardew Valley
You can get Mystery Boxes from mining and slaying monsters.

How to unlock Mystery Boxes in Stardew Valley

Mystery Boxes are unlocked in Stardew Valley after 50 game days have passed or you have acquired a Prize Ticket for Mayor Lewis’ Prize machine.

Once the 50 days have passed, or you have collected Prize Tickets, a screen of Mr. QI dropping Mystery Boxes from a plane across the Valley will play out. This is when Mystery Boxes are officially available for you to find.

Prize Tickets can be obtained from completing quests on the small billboard outside Pierre’s shop. These will usually involve an NPC asking for a specific item, and you usually have about 2 in-game days to complete them. 

Where to find Golden Mystery Boxes in Stardew Valley 

Golden Mystery Boxes are unlocked once you have reached Foraging Mastery in Stardew Valley, and can be found in Treasure Chests or by killing monsters

Golden Mystery Boxes are similar to normal ones, but they provide more substantial rewards. You’ll only be able to find them once you reach Foraging Mastery, which can only be accessed once you have opened the Mastery Cave in Cindersap Forest.

Mastery Cave Stardew Valley
You can unlock the Mastery Cave once you have maxed out all your skills.

How to reach Foraging Mastery

To reach Foraging Mastery, you need to max out all five of your skills. Once you have done so, you will gain access to the Mastery Cave in Cindersap Forest. There are five pillars in the cave, and you can choose which skill to max out as you go. 

When you go to the box in the middle of the room, you will be able to track your progress to mastering skills. You do this by going about your day normally – mining, farming, fishing, and foraging as you always have. Once you reach the required amount of XP, you can choose the rewards from any one of the five pillars.

Each skill will cost more XP to max out than the last, however, so we suggest choosing Foraging first if you want to get those Golden Mystery Boxes. You start out at needing 10,000 XP, and the last pillar will cost you 100,000 XP in total.

How to open Mystery Boxes in Stardew Valley

You can open Mystery Boxes in Stardew Valley by going to Clint and asking him to open them for you.

Exactly the way you would open Geodes, you need to go to Clint’s shop and select the ‘Open Geodes’ option in the menu while you have Mystery Boxes in your inventory. It will cost you 25 gold to open each one.

Each Mystery Box will give you a special reward, and some of them can be quite valuable, even from the normal Mystery Boxes you find while foraging and farming.

What is in Stardew Valley Mystery Boxes? 

Mystery Boxes in Stardew Valley have a large variety of rewards you can get, including seeds, more Mystery Boxes, clothes, food, rings, and rare gems

Mystery Box possible rewards

Here are all the rewards you can get from normal Mystery Boxes: 

Amethyst RingAquamarine RingArtichoke seeds (8)Autumn’s Bounty
Baked FishBean Starter (8)Blueberry TartBomb (5)
Book of MysteriesCauliflower seeds (8)ChowderCoffee (3)
CookiesCorn seeds (8)Cork BobberCrab Cakes
Deluxe Speed-GroDish O’ The SeaEggplant ParmesanEscargot
Fish StewGlowstone RingGolden PumpkinHardwood (10)
Ice CreamIron ore (5)Jade RingLife Elixir (2)
Lobster BisqueLucky Lunch (2)Magic Rock CandyMaki Roll
Maple BarMega Bomb (5)Mining MonthlyMixed Flower Seeds (10)
Mixed Seeds (10)Mystery Box (2-4)Mystery HatMystery Shirt
OmeletOrange SaplingOssified BladeParsnip seeds (8)
Parsnip Soup (8)Pepper seeds (8)Pomegranate SaplingPowdermelon seeds (8)
Prismatic ShardPumpkin seeds (8)Quality Fertilizer (10)Quality Sprinkler
PearlRadish seeds (8)Rice PuddingRuby Ring
SaladSashimiShrimp CocktailSpaghetti
StuffingSturdy RingSuper MealTortilla
Treasure ChestTrout SoupVegetable Medley Mystery Wallpaper
Warp Totem: BeachWarp Totem: Farm (1-3)Warp Totem: MountainsWheat Seeds (8)

Golden Mystery Boxes possible rewards

Here are all the rewards you can get from Golden Mystery Boxes: 

Book of StarsBook of Mysteries
Brocolli Seeds (8)Carrot Seeds (8)
Corn Seeds (20)Deluxe Speed-Gro (10-20)
Dish O’ The Sea (2)Golden Pumpkin
Life Elixir (2)Lucky Lunch (2)
Magic Rock CandyMega Bomb (5)
Mystery Box (4)Mystery Hat
Mystery ShirtOssified Blade
Pepper Seeds (20)Pomegranate Sapling
Powdermelon Seeds (8)Prismatic Shard
Quality Fertilizer (10-20)Quality Sprinkler
Ruby RingSummer Squash Seeds (8)
Triple Shot Espresso (3)Wheat Seeds (20)

If you manage to get the Book of Mysteries, this will increase your chances of finding Mystery Boxes in the Valley. 

That’s everything to know about Mystery Boxes in Stardew Valley! If you want to read more content like this, you can check out our guides below.

How to get Largemouth Bass in Stardew Valley | How to get Tuna in Stardew Valley | How to catch Tilapia in Stardew Valley | How to catch Tiger Trout in Stardew Valley | How to catch Walleye in Stardew Valley | How to catch Bream in Stardew Valley

Related Topics

About The Author

Emily is a Games Writer at CharlieIntel. Most of the time, you can find her playing RPGs and platformers - but she enjoys engaging in the rage of Overwatch 2 or Apex Legends from time to time. Emily has a Masters in Media Studies and has been working as a journalist for over 5 years, both freelance and full-time. You can contact her at [email protected]