Island Trader
| Island Trader | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Type | Location |
| Address | Ginger Island |
| Open Hours | Always |
| Residents | Island Trader |
The Island Trader is a bluebird in a hut on the north side of Ginger Island, and he will not look at gold. Everything on his counter is swapped for something else: fish, taro, shards, bones, fruit. Ten Golden Walnuts paid to the parrot on the island farm open the hut, and the Island Farmhouse has to be standing first. He is the only place to buy Pineapple Seeds and Taro Tuber, the only shop that stocks Mango and Banana Saplings, and the only source of the Galaxy Soul that turns a Galaxy weapon into its final form. Half his stock rotates by the day of the week, so what is on the shelf depends on when the boat lands.
Area
The hut stands in Ginger Island North, within reach of the Dig Site and the path up to the Volcano, and it never closes. There are no opening hours to work around and no day off, so a late arrival on the boat still catches him.
He is one of a pair in the game, the other being the Desert Trader out in the Calico Desert, and the two work the same way: a shop screen with prices written in goods rather than gold. The difference is in what he wants. The desert runs on minerals and ore, and the island runs on what the island itself grows and spits out.
Shops
The permanent stock is the reason to keep walking back. Taro Tuber costs a couple of Bone Fragments, which makes taro almost free to start growing, and Pineapple Seeds cost a single Magma Cap. Pineapple keeps fruiting once it has matured, so one Magma Cap handed over the counter turns into a crop that pays out again and again. Those two seeds are stocked here and nowhere else.
Fruit trees are the other serious purchase. A Banana Sapling costs Dragon Teeth and a Mango Sapling costs a heap of Mussels, and both bear fruit all year round when they are planted on Ginger Island rather than only in Summer. Mahogany Seeds go for a single Stingray, which is a cheap way to start a hardwood plantation for anyone who can land one.
Two recipes sit on the counter and are easy to miss. Bone Fragments buy the Banana Pudding recipe, and Cinder Shards buy the recipe for Deluxe Retaining Soil, which keeps a tilled square watered rather than needing the can every morning. Golden Coconuts can be bought ten Coconuts at a time, but only once one has already been cracked open, so the trade is a way to keep the coconut prizes coming rather than a way to start them.
The rest is decoration and clothing, and it is deliberately tempting. Warp Totem: Farm for a handful of Taro Root is the cheapest way home from anywhere. The Tropical TV, Jungle Torch, Wild Double Bed and Tropical Bed turn island produce into furniture, and the Luau Skirt is paid for in taro.
Notes
The rotating shelf changes every day. Mondays bring the Small Cap, Tuesdays a Palm Wall Ornament for a single Pineapple, Wednesdays the Bluebird Mask that makes the farmer look like the shopkeeper, Thursdays a Volcano photograph for a few Mangoes, Fridays a Deluxe Cowboy Hat, Saturdays an Oceanic Rug for three Blue Discus and Sundays a Tropical Double Bed for five Bananas. A Tropical Chair appears on even-numbered days for one Lionfish. None of it is essential, but a collector has to plan the week around it.
The Galaxy Soul is the one piece of stock that matters for combat, and it is the hardest to reach. It only appears on the last day of a season, it costs ten Radioactive Bars a time, and it does not appear at all until fifty dangerous monsters have been killed beyond anything Mr. Qi has already asked for. Three souls forged into a Galaxy weapon unleash its final form, so reaching that end of the weapon tree means three separate visits on three season endings.
All Shops
Every entry in this group, with its key details.
| Name | Image | Open Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Abandoned House | 
|
All Day |
| Adventurer's Guild | 
|
2:00pm to 2:00am |
| Blacksmith | 
|
9:00am to 4:00pm |
| Bookseller | 
|
- |
| Carpenter's Shop | 
|
9:00am to 5:00pm |
| Casino | 
|
9:00am to 11:50pm |
| Desert Trader | 
|
Always |
| Fish Shop | 
|
9am to 5pm |
| Giant Stump | 
|
- |
| Harvey's Clinic | 
|
9:00am to 3:00pm |
| Ice Cream Stand | 
|
1pm to 5pm during Summer |
| Island Trader | 
|
Always |
| JojaMart | 
|
9:00am to 11:00pm |
| Marnie's Ranch | 
|
9:00am to 4:00pm; (Building open 9am to 6pm) |
| Oasis | 
|
9:00am to 11:50pm |
| Pierre's General Store | 
|
Shop: 9am to 5pm; Building: 9am to 9pm |
| Qi's Walnut Room | 
|
Always |
| The Stardrop Saloon | 
|
12:00pm to 12:00am |
| Traveling Cart | 
|
6:00am to 8:00pm Friday and Sunday; 5:00pm to 2:00am during Night Market; 12:00pm to 2:00am during Desert Festival |
| Volcano Dungeon | - | - |
| Wizard's Tower | 
|
6:00am to 11:00pm |