Book of Mysteries
| Book of Mysteries | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Type | Book |
| Location | Mystery Box; Golden Mystery Box |
| Sell Price | 3000g |
The Book of Mysteries is the one power book that makes itself easier to find again. It comes out of Mystery Boxes, and reading it raises the chance of finding Mystery Boxes everywhere boxes can turn up, which feeds the loop that produced it in the first place. That matters because the boxes are a lottery for seeds, bait, machinery recipes and the other skill books, so more of them is quietly one of the better long-term improvements in the game. It is also a gate: the Book Of Stars only starts appearing in boxes once this one has been found. Traded back over the Bookseller's counter it is worth a handful of Mystery Boxes, which is a fitting way to spend a spare copy.
The in-game description reads: You have a slightly greater chance to find Mystery Boxes.
Overview
Mystery Boxes came into the valley courtesy of Mr. Qi. After enough time on the farm, or after a second Prize Ticket has been collected from the billboard, he turns up in a short scene to announce that his drop crates are now scattered about. From then on they appear in artifact spots, in fishing treasure chests, among broken rocks, in crates underground, from monsters and in trees that are shaken or chopped. Clint cracks them open at the Blacksmith's for a small fee, and what comes out ranges from junk to recipes a farmer would otherwise wait years for.
The book hides inside those boxes. A plain Mystery Box gives it up roughly once in a hundred and a Golden Mystery Box about twice as often, and the odds improve a fraction with every box opened until the book finally appears. There is a floor to it as well: the plain blue boxes will not produce the book at all until a decent number of boxes of either kind have already been opened, so a farmer who finds one box in their first week is not going to get lucky with it. Golden Mystery Boxes only start appearing once Foraging Mastery has been claimed, which puts the better odds firmly in the late game.
The power itself is a straight improvement to every roll. Any situation that might produce a Mystery Box becomes about a third more likely to do so, which compounds with how many such situations a working farm creates in a day: hoeing artifact spots, clearing rocks, chopping the woodline, checking crab pots and fishing all become slightly more generous. After the book has been read, the odds of finding another copy drop back to a lower rate.
It is also worth noting what the book unlocks rather than improves. The Book Of Stars, the skill book that gives experience to every skill at once, cannot come out of a Mystery Box until a Book of Mysteries has been found, so this is the first link in that chain. Rereading a spare copy of this one hands out a modest amount of experience in every skill, and the Bookseller will take one off a farmer who has already claimed the power, returning seven Mystery Boxes for it. Given that the power makes boxes commoner anyway, that trade has a pleasing symmetry to it.
Gifts
These villagers love receiving Book of Mysteries as a gift.
| Villager | Image |
|---|---|
| Wizard | 
|
Notes
The Wizard loves this book, which is the only time he reacts strongly to one, and it suits the man in the tower in Cindersap Forest. Penny loves it too, Elliott is glad of it, and Alex dislikes it.
For dyeing it is blue on both counts: blue in the pots at Emily and Haley's house on 2 Willow Lane, and blue again through the spool of the Sewing Machine with a dyeable garment in the feed. Reading it once also covers its slot in the list the Well-Read achievement checks off.
All Books
Every entry in this group, with its key details.
| Name | Image | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Animal Catalogue | 
|
2000g |
| Bait And Bobber | 
|
500g |
| Book Of Stars | 
|
2500g |
| Book of Mysteries | 
|
3000g |
| Combat Quarterly | 
|
500g |
| Dwarvish Safety Manual | 
|
1000g |
| Friendship 101 | 
|
3000g |
| Horse: The Book | 
|
1000g |
| Jack Be Nimble, Jack Be Thick | 
|
500g |
| Jewels Of The Sea | 
|
800g |
| Mapping Cave Systems | 
|
4000g |
| Mining Monthly | 
|
500g |
| Monster Compendium | 
|
2000g |
| Ol' Slitherlegs | 
|
1000g |
| Price Catalogue | 
|
1000g |
| Queen Of Sauce Cookbook | 
|
10000g |
| Raccoon Journal | 
|
1000g |
| Stardew Valley Almanac | 
|
500g |
| The Alleyway Buffet | 
|
3000g |
| The Art O' Crabbing | 
|
1000g |
| The Diamond Hunter | 
|
1000g |
| Treasure Appraisal Guide | 
|
500g |
| Way Of The Wind pt. 1 | 
|
5000g |
| Way Of The Wind pt. 2 | 
|
10000g |
| Woodcutter's Weekly | 
|
500g |
| Woody's Secret | 
|
500g |