Beginner's guide

Note: This page contains content based on player opinions, such as advice on the best way to play Cozy Grove.

Starting recommendations

Early in the game the player is fairly limited in storage, coins, and resources. This section contains some general recommendations about what a player might want to keep, sell, transform, etc. A player's specific needs may change depending on current quests, so these are recommendations rather than hard rules.

It is always best to donate new items to the Captain for his collection! He is generous with rewards, and some donation rewards include recipes the player will rely on throughout the game. The recommendations below assume that the player has already donated anything that is eligible to donate.

Fish

• Quests will occasionally ask for fish of a specific rarity, but the player will never be asked for mythical fish. Because it is easy to catch common and uncommon fish these do not need to be stored, however if storage is available the player may wish to pick one species each of rare and legendary fish and keep a stack of 10 of each.
• Burn the rest into charred fishbones and sell them. Rarer fish sell for more coins, but they also yield a larger number of fishbones. It is never more profitable to sell a fish than it is to sell the charred fish bones.
• If storage space is not a concern it is helpful to keep a small stack of fish bones for repairing tools, but the rest should be sold unless the player has found one of the crafting recipes discussed below

Some crafting recipes call for 4 charred fishbones and sell for 2,000 old coins, which makes them quite profitable. If the player has one of these recipes they should use it instead of selling fishbones.

The fishbone recipes are:

• Amanita mushroom
• Counting sheep statue
• Frog spinner
• Fruit crate
• High Priest artifact
• Homemade jams
• Ice cream display fridge
• Kelp
• Laboratory bubble tube section
• Lei stand
• Orrery
• Pruned potted tree
• Ringmaster sculpture
• Rolled parchment
• S'mores table
• Scarecrow
• Scout chair
• Seagull kite
• Skateboard
• Small potted lilac
• Snow bricks
• Stack of flower pots
• Stone bear statue
• Tall ceramic vase
• Tall potted plant
• Tool rack
• Tray table
• Wilted memorial flowers
• Wood buoy
• Wooden bath bucket

Food

Fruit

• Burn most fruit into roasted fruit and keep a stack for other cooking recipes and to feed to pets :)
• Turn the rest to fruit jam and keep a stack for other cooking recipes and to feed to pets
• Turn the rest to fruit tincture. This is one of the best income sources available!
• Quests will occasionally ask for in-season fruits and berries, so if storage space is not an issue it may be helpful to save a few unburned pieces of each in-season fruits and berries.

Root vegetables and mushrooms

• Imps will sometimes ask for specific raw cooking ingredients, so it may be helpful to keep up to 10 of each. Most requests are for common and uncommon ingredients, so if the player is short on storage space they can sell rarer raw ingredients and ignore requests for any items they do not have.
• The player will need vegetable broth and mushroom tofu for other cooking recipes and to feed to pets. Make and keep one stack of each
• Burn the remaining raw ingredients into roasted root vegetables and roasted mushrooms and keep a stack of each for other cooking recipes and to feed to pets
• It is slightly more profitable to cook roasted root vegetables into vegetable broth and roasted mushrooms into mushroom tofu, but the profit margins are fairly slim. If storage space is limited the player can sell these for additional coins.

Greens

• Keep one stack of each type of green for cooking recipes and to feed to pets
• Cook all extra greens into fancy greens and then deluxe greens to sell (these are more profitable)

Eggs

• Keep 2-3 stacks of eggs for cooking recipes and to feed to pets
• It is not especially profitable to cook eggs into boiled eggs or deviled eggs to sell, however these are sometimes requested by bears or pets
• Sell extra eggs (or cook them into deviled eggs for slightly more profit), or cook and sell extra cob salads if all other ingredients are abundant (this may not be the case early on, see the Essences section below)

Cocoa beans and salt

• Keep at least one stack of each, more if storage is not an issue
• Sell extra salt, or cook and sell extra sauerkraut if all other ingredients are abundant (this may not be the case early on, see the Essences section below)
• Sell extra cocoa beans if storage is limited

Bonbons

• Keep at least one stack, as Bon bons are needed regularly for heartbroken imps

Nuts

• Imps will sometimes ask for whatever nut is currently in season, so it is helpful to keep 10-20. These (or nuts from any other season) can also be used for other quests, cooking recipes, or to feed to pets.
• Burn the rest for toasted nut flour and keep at least one stack for quests, cooking recipes, or to feed to pets
• Sell extra if storage is limited, or cook and sell extra pretzel buns, savory breads, or potato donuts if all other ingredients are abundant (this may not be the case early on, see the Essences section below)

Onions

• Keep at least one stack for quests, cooking recipes, or to feed to pets
• Sell extra onions if storage is limited

Other food

• Very few cooking recipes are truly profitable
• This means it is only necessary to cook recipes when a pet requests a particular recipe
• When a bear gifts a dish to the player for a quest reward it should generally be saved unless storage is limited
• There are a few cooking recipes that can be profitable if ingredients are abundant; see the Essences section below

Critters

Critters should be sold when caught. While quests will occasionally ask for critters, the requests are for common critters. They are easy to catch when needed, so there is no need to store them.

Ore

• Large ore stack better unburned
• 5 medium ore will be requested as part of a quest late in the game
• Other sizes of ore should be burned into ingots

The player will probably want to keep ingots rather than selling them, so they can be used for quests and for crafting.

Wood

In general, the player will probably want to keep wood rather than selling it, as it is useful for quests and crafting. However, if storage is an issue some can be sold: outside of crafting, the maximum that will be needed at one time is 400.

Gems

• Gems stack to 999, which makes them easier to store than some other items
• Keep at least one stack of quartz gemstones
• Gems can be converted to semi-precious gems if storage is an issue
• Lower-rarity gems are necessary for buying decorations so it is risky to convert too many to anything higher than semi-precious

While gems can be profitable to sell, it is risky to sell too many. This is because they are a less renewable resource than many other profitable items mentioned in this guide, and large numbers of them are necessary for purchasing decorations.

Shells

Quests will occasionally ask for shells of a specific rarity, so pick one type of each rarity and keep up to 10 of each. Other shells should be sold.

Relics

Early in the game, all relics should be burned into relic ash. Later, all common and uncommon relics should be burned, but the higher rarities stack better unburned.

Essences

Early in the game, it is best to keep all essences for decorations and cooking. If a player has an abundance of essences, some specific cooking recipes that call for essences are somewhat profitable. None of these are as profitable as other items mentioned in this guide, but they can be worth cooking if storage is limited and ingredients are abundant. Recipes with a profit margin of 1,000 old coins or more include:

• Pretzel bun
• Savory bread
• Potato donut
• Sauerkraut
• Cob salad

Amber and pearls

It is possible that either or both of these will be usable for other purposes at a later date, so some players choose to keep a stack of each in case they become useful later. At the time of writing:

• Amber can only be donated or recycled for quartz gemstones
• Rare pearls can only be donated or sold

Flowers

• Flowers can be recycled into tins of pigment and the player should keep one stack for quests
• Extra flowers can be sold (they are more profitable than tins of pigment)

There are some high-rarity decoration recipes for lamps that require tins of pigment, so once the player has those recipes additional pigment may prove useful for lighting the island.

Angler's Lament and treasure maps

• Both the Angler's Lament and the treasure map can only be crafted once you have obtained enough pieces
• Keep these until you have the required number, then craft them