journey of the prairie king

Stardew Valley: How To Beat Journey Of The Prairie King

If you can defeat the Prairie King you'll be rewarded with your very own arcade machine. We're here to help.

Indie darling Stardew Valley is packed with content. From creating the ultimate farm to marrying a townsperson, there is no shortage of stuff to do. In addition to this, there are arcade games.

Related: How To Win The Stardew Valley Fair Grange Display Contest

While building your farm, you will also have the opportunity to play Journey of the Prairie King. This is a cowboy-themed shooting game that can be quite difficult. Fortunately, this guide is here to help. Keep reading to learn all about Journey of the Prairie King, as well as how to beat the game.

Updated December 26, 2021 by Ashely Claudino: Stardew Valley is a game that just keeps on giving. It has received several major updates since it was first released, and they've all been free! Some updates have impacted the notoriously difficult arcade game Journey of the Prairie King. So, we've decided to freshen up this article and add some information that you might not know about the game while detailing what has changed with the new Stardew Valley updates.

Where To Find Journey Of The Prairie King

The Journey of the Prairie King arcade game is located inside of the Stardroop Saloon. When you enter the saloon, turn right and enter the back room that has a pool table and couches.

The game is available on the first arcade machine with a yellow star on the front. All you have to do is walk up to it, and you are ready to play.

* Update 1.5 made it so you could finally save the game and resume whenever you wish to. Before, you had to play it in one sitting otherwise your progress would be lost and you'd have to start all over from scratch. It's a great quality of life improvement.

In-Game Items And Their Uses

Journey of the Prairie King features a variety of items to use. There are two types of items; those dropped from enemies and upgrades that can be purchased. We are going to go over both types and what they do.

When killing an enemy, there is a chance that they will drop an item in addition to coins. These items can only be used once and will disappear after use. Additionally, if you are already holding an item, and pick up another, the second item will be consumed immediately. Below, you will see a list of all items and what they do.

Items Dropped From Enemies:

1-Up: Allows one additional life.
Coffee: Increases movement speed for 16 seconds.
Heavy Machine Gun: Increases fire rate for 12 seconds.
Screen Nuke: Instantly destroys all enemies on screen.
Shotgun: Shoots three bullets at once, lasts 12 seconds.
Smoke Bomb: Teleport to a random spot, confusing enemies for four seconds.
Sherrif Badge: Increases movement and fire rate, and allows three bullets to be shot for 24 seconds (combines Coffee, Machine Gun, and Shotgun).
Tombstone: Become a zombie for a short time, with the ability to kill on contact. All enemies will flee from the player.
Wagon Wheel: Able to shoot in eight directions at once for 12 seconds.

As mentioned above, you can also purchase items. These items will be available to buy at the end of every second level. The Vendor will appear with a selection of three items. However, you are only allowed to buy one, so choose wisely!

Items such as the Sheriff Badge and 1-Up can be purchased with coin in addition to dropping from enemies.

Purchasable Upgrades:

Boots: 8 to 20 coins. Upgrades movement speed.
1-Up: 10 coins. Allows additional life.
Gun: 10 to 30 coins. Increases fire rate.
Super Gun: 99 coins. Permanent Shotgun effect. Only available in hard mode, with all other guns/ammo purchased.
Sheriff Badge: 10 coins. Buy the Sherrif Badge instead of waiting for it to drop.
Ammo: 15 to 45 coins. Increases bullet damage, gain penetration, and allow multiple enemies to be killed with one shot.

Level Progression And Enemies

*There are three stages in Journey of the Prairie King, consisting of Prairie, Forest, and Graveyard. Each stage brings different challenges and enemies, so we are going to go over what to expect for each stage. There is a total of thirteen levels in the game — five in the first stage, and four in both the second and third stages.

The first stage is the Prairie (five levels), where you are first introduced to the game. Enemies in this stage include Orcs, Spikeballs, and Ogres.
After clearing the Prairie, you will head to the Forest (four levels). This stage contains Ogres, Mushrooms, and Evil Butterflies.
Finally, you will move on to the last stage. The Graveyard (four levels) will spawn Mummies and Imps.
NOTE: Friendlies can also spawn but it is completely random. These fellows are called Gophers, and they will cross the screen to distract enemies. They'll also kill enemies if they run into them. Don't worry about accidentally killing them, because they cannot be killed by the player nor can they kill the player.

In addition to these enemies, you will also come across two different bosses; the Cowboy and Fector. The Cowboy will appear in 1-5 and 2-4. He will spawn across a ravine from you. Fighting him is pretty straightforward; just shoot and avoid being shot. In addition to the ravine, you will also have a little covered area to hide behind. Use this as often as possible to avoid being shot. Run around, chipping at the Cowboy's health, and duck behind the cover as often as possible.

Fector appears in 3-4. which is the final stage of the game. He is considerably harder to fight than the Cowboy. Before 1.5.2 you could use the Tombstone item and kill him instantly once you became a zombie, but that has now been patched with the update.

There is no ravine to separate you from him, and he is able to shoot in any direction (with the Wagon Wheel). As his health declines, he will begin to summon enemies as well. Before entering into this battle, make sure you have an item. You will want items such as the Sherrif's Badge or Ammo to do additional damage. The boot upgrades are also incredibly useful for dodging bullets quickly. If you don't have any items or power-ups, then you can still chip away at his health while running around the map and avoiding attacks.

It is important to keep moving while fighting Fector. He is able to shoot homing missiles and you can avoid these by moving around often. Fector tends to stick to the sides while occasionally moving to the center of the stage to fire in all eight directions. You will want to keep your distance since it is easier to avoid bullets if you are farther away.

When his health gets low, Fector will start to summon enemies from every previous stage. Continue to run around the map, attacking Fector and the summoned enemies. When his health is low enough, Fector stops attacking and focuses on summoning. This is a perfect window to get close and take him out.

Once you have defeated Fector, you have beaten the game! A cutscene will play, showing what happens after you successfully kill Fector. After completing the game, you will be able to start again on hard mode. This mode is basically just a harder version of the game. However, coins and upgrades will carry over. Each time you complete hard mode you can start a new game on an even harder mode — you can do this indefinitely to push yourself as much as you can. With update 1.5, you can also beat the game again on normal difficulty. You're not forced to only replay it in hard mode.

Beating the game will also reward you with your own arcade machine! You will get a letter in the mail with a personal Journey of the Prairie King arcade machine attached.

Tips And Tricks

Journey of the Prairie King starts off fairly simple but can become quite difficult. Here are some tips and tricks to help you beat the game.

Firstly, you should stay in the center of the map as often as possible . It is very easy to get trapped along the side or in a corner. Instead of hugging the walls, stay in the center.
Additionally, you have unlimited ammo so you should constantly be shooting. Even if you are not aiming, there's a good chance that a continuous fire will hit some enemies. You should also utilize the ability to shoot in diagonals. When holding down two adjacent buttons, your bullets will shoot diagonally across the map, allowing you to attack even more enemies.
Different power-ups and items may seem important, but don't be afraid to use them. Many of us like to hold onto an upgrade as long as possible, but for Journey of the Prairie King, use them whenever they feel needed! New items will drop from enemies, and you can buy more from the vendor. Certain items are also useless against bosses. For example, the tombstone will not help you defeat the Cowboy or Fector, so it's best to use it before entering a boss area.
Remember, this game is not timed. You can take as long as you want. Instead of rushing through a stage and risking death, take your time to avoid enemies before attacking.
Now, you should be able to beat Journey of the Prairie King! Next, you can play Junimo Kart, the arcade game right next to the Prairie King.

Next: Stardew Valley: Complete Guide And Walkthrough

This wiki is a read-only version of the Stardew Valley Wiki. The official editable wiki maintained by ConcernedApe can be found at stardewvalleywiki.com

Journey of the Prairie King

Journey of the Prairie King is a SmashTV-style minigame that can be played on one of the arcade machines in The Stardrop Saloon . Beating the game will award the player with a Prairie King Arcade System , delivered by mail the next day. Abigail also possesses a console version of the game that can be played during her 2-Heart Event. Random elements of the game are not affected by Luck . [1]

Please note that none of the power-ups or enemies are referenced by any name in-game, so they have been named by members of the community.

1 Gameplay Mechanics
2 Items Dropped by Enemies
5 Friendlies
8 Hard Mode
11 References

Gameplay Mechanics

Journey of the Prairie King is a top-down shooter, resembling "twin-stick" shooters such as " Smash TV ". W A S D moves the character and ↑ ← ↓ → shoots. The player can move and shoot diagonally by combining two keys (e.g. W and A together move up and left diagonally). While using a controller, the left joystick moves, and the right joystick shoots. The D-Pad can also be used for movement and the button pad can also be used for shooting.

In the mobile version of the game, there are two transparent red circles. The one on the left moves the character and the one on the right aims.

The player begins with four lives (shown as "x3" in the upper left), and is instantly killed upon contact with an enemy or projectile. Losing every life (when the counter changes from "x0" to "x-1") results in a Game Over. In each level, a timer bar counts down at the top of the screen while waves of enemies appear from the edges of the screen and move towards the player. Enemies stop spawning when the timer bar has counted down completely, and the level is completed when all enemies are defeated, allowing progress to the next area.

Enemies will sometimes drop power-ups , coins and extra lives upon being killed. One power-up at a time can be stored in a slot in the top-left, and can be activated by pressing Space . If a power-up is picked up while another is already being held, the new power-up is consumed immediately. Power-ups last only for a short time.

Items Dropped by Enemies

A Vendor appears after certain levels are completed and will present the player with three upgrades that can be purchased with coins dropped by enemies (see above). Only one item may be purchased per visit, and the items in each slot are always presented in the same order, requiring the first item in that slot to be purchased before the next one is shown in a later level, etc. (For example, both boots upgrades must be purchased before an extra life can appear in the first slot.)

The Vendor appears at the end of every second level: 1-2, 1-4, 2-1, 2-3, 3-1 and 3-3.

As of version 1.1 , after completing Journey of the Prairie King , the player has the option to start over in Hard Mode. All upgrades and coins are carried over into the new game, but lives reset to the default "x3", and held power-ups are removed. Enemies spawn in greater numbers, some move faster, and each has at least one extra hit point. Additionally, Imps now spawn in every level except boss stages, and extra lives drop far less often.

Each time a harder mode is beaten, the option to start once again is offered, with the game getting progressively harder each time.

There is a Lost Book about this game titled Journey of the Prairie King -- The Smash Hit Video Game! .
Zoom level also influences the portion of screen the arcade game takes up.
The title of the game is most likely a reference to the "River King" games (a series of fishing RPGs made by Natsume, who also made the Harvest Moon series), specifically the Game Boy title released in the US as Legend of the River King .
If the nuke power-up is used during the first boss fight, the enemy will vanish from the screen but the stage will not end, resulting in a softlock. This also occurs when using the Tombstone power up against Fector.
↑ https://twitter.com/concernedape/status/1094755018945703937
1.0 : Introduced.
1.1 : After beating the game, the player can play in Hard Mode.
1.5 : Progress can now be saved and resumed, so it can be completed in multiple sessions. You now also replay the original difficulty even if you’ve already completed it. (Previously it would increase difficulty automatically, which is now a New Game+ mode.)
1.5.2 : You can no longer instantly kill Fector as a Zombie.
Bugs tested in an unknown version

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This page was last modified on 9 January 2021, at 06:04.
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Stardew Valley: How to Beat Journey of the Prairie King

Journey of the Prairie King is a difficult arcade game in Stardew Valley. Check out this guide for tips on how to beat it.

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Where to find journey of the prairie king, best upgrades for journey of the prairie king, tips for beating journey of the prairie king.

Within the Stardrop Saloon in Stardew Valley , there's much more to do than just hang around with some friends and drink a couple of beers. You can also play some arcade games, tucked away in the small room to the right of the main bar.

Some of the games you can play include Journey of the Prairie King , a top-down shooter mini-game that will require you to defeat enemies and bosses to get further through each level. However, this game is a lot harder than it might seem on the surface. To help you complete the full game, this guide will provide you with some tips.

Stardew Valley: How to Get Emerald

To get started on playing Journey of the Prairie King, you'll first need to locate the game. Take a trip to Stardrop Saloon within the town center, which is the bar south of Pierre's General Store . Stardrop Saloon opens at 12 pm , so make sure to visit after then.

Inside the bar run by Gus , take a right and make your way into the room with a large arcade sign, and a pool table in the middle. The first arcade booth with a star print on the front will be Journey of the Prairie King. You won't need to pay anything to play the game, so you can play it as much as you want.

Stardew Valley: How to Get Galaxy and Infinity Weapons

After having yourself a nice meal at the bar and making your way over to Journey of the Prairie King, you'll notice there are upgrades you can pick up off the ground that enemies have dropped, as well as purchasable upgrades . These purchasable upgrades include:

Boots: Upgrades movement speed.
Ammo: Increases bullet damage and penetration.
Gun: Increases shooting speed.
Super Gun: Gives a permanent 'shotgun' effect, which shoots three lines of bullets at enemies. The Super Gun will also shoot at the same fire-rate as a regular gun. Super Gun is only available in Hard mode.
1-Up: Increases lives by one.
Sheriff Badge: Gives the same effects of the enemy drop Sheriff Badge, which increases fire rate and movement speed, and also allows you to shoot three lines of bullets like the shotgun.

When you get to the first upgrade, you'll be able to choose between Boots, Ammo, and Gun. We recommend either choosing Ammo or Gun to make the next few stages easier, with Ammo being the best one overall, since it will increase your power. As you get further in the game, enemies will be much harder to defeat, and you'll need to hit them with multiple shots if you do not upgrade your Ammo. This will eventually cause you to be overwhelmed by enemies, so it's best to focus on the Ammo upgrade first. If you don't have enough coins, the Gun upgrade is useful as well. You won't really need the Boots, unless you are at a point towards the end where you can't afford the other options.

As for upgrades that are dropped by enemies on the stage, you should pick up every single one that you find, unless it puts you into a compromising position and will cause you to be overtaken by enemies. The best upgrades are the Sheriff Badge, 1-Up, Shotgun, and Wagon Wheel. You'll want to pick up every 1-Up you see if possible, so you have more lives and can last for longer.

Stardew Valley: How to Get Ancient Seeds

Now that you're aware of the upgrades you can pick up in Journey of the Prairie King, we are going to provide you with a few additional tips to make your run easier, and allow you to obtain your own Journey of the Prairie King arcade system to decorate your house and play from home.

Stay Towards the Middle of the Map

This first thing you'll want to focus on doing while playing through Journey of the Prairie King is to make sure you're sticking to the middle of the map. This is to help prevent you from getting stuck in a corner and being unable to move, resulting in losing a life. You'll have more freedom to move around if you stay towards the center.

Hold Down the Shoot Button

While playing, you'll notice that you can tap the shoot button or hold it down. You'll want to continuously hold down the shoot button since you have infinite ammo, as this will make it easier to take out enemies before they even enter the stage.

Don't Use Item Upgrades Immediately

When you pick up item upgrades dropped by defeated enemies, they'll sometimes be used immediately by your character or get placed into your item bag . Though it might be tempting to immediately hit Space and use this item upgrade, it's better to time the usage of the upgrade strategically. There's no need to use your upgrade if there are only a few enemies on the map, for example. The best time to activate them is when a ton of enemies suddenly appear, and you know you'll be overwhelmed without a buff.

Shoot Using Diagonals

You might be tempted to stick to the regular controls of up, down, left, and right, but we highly recommend using diagonals for this game. You can shoot diagonally by pressing down on two direction buttons at once. Since most enemies will not always be perfectly aligned with your character, using diagonal shooting will prevent you from having to excessively move around the map to perfectly line up with each enemy.

Use Trees and Gravestones to Defend Yourself

After the first stage, you'll find a ton of barriers in the following stages that allow you to defend yourself. You'll want to utilize these as much as possible, especially since enemies are attempting to run towards you directly, and hiding behind a barrier will prevent some enemies from coming at you while you try to defeat others. Some of these barriers you can actually shoot through as well, which includes trees and gravestones. Use this to your advantage to protect yourself, while also still taking out all the enemies surrounding you.

Grab Coins to Get Better Upgrades

Coins are a lot more important than you might think. As we mentioned earlier, there will be certain parts of the game where you'll be able to buy upgrades. The better upgrades are going to require more coins, especially the Ammo upgrade, which starts at 15 coins. The Boots upgrade is the cheapest, but it is the least desirable. So, whenever you see a coin, make sure to pick it up unless it puts you in a compromising position.

Stay In the Corner For the Bridge Level

In the second area of the Forest stage, you'll have two rivers going across the screen with some bridges attached. Instead of staying in the center, you'll want to stay in a corner for this stage to prevent any enemies getting behind you. You can shoot across the river and bridges, so you can get enemies from far away.

Use Barriers During Boss Fights

We mentioned barriers earlier for regular stages, but you're also going to want to use the barriers set up for the first two boss fights as well. You can easily defeat bosses by staying behind the barriers, and coming out and shooting them when they've stopped shooting for a moment. Just make sure you're staying as close to the barrier as possible. With all of these tips, you'll be a better player in Journey of the Prairie King, allowing you to easily beat it and work on finishing your completionist route .

Stardew Valley

Stardew Valley/Journey of the Prairie King

Table of Contents

Phases of play
First Spring
First Summer
First Winter
Second Year
Later Years
Community Centre
Tips and Tricks
Mistakes to Avoid
Journey of the Prairie King
3.1 The Cowboy
6 Hard Mode

Controls [ edit ]

WASD moves the character. The arrow keys shoot. Holding two buttons at once will result in diagonal movement or firing. Diagonal shots are often the key to survival. Holding down the fire buttons will result in continuous firing. The spacebar will use the currently stored item.

Items [ edit ]

Items drop randomly from enemies. The first item collected (other than coins and extra lives) will be put in the item slot on the top left until you are ready to use it. You will not drop it on death. Any additional items will be used immediately.

1 Coin: Gives you one coin.
5 Coin: Gives you five coins.
Extra Life: Increases your spare lives by one.
Coffee: Increases your speed for a limited time. Usually not worth the risk.
Heavy Machine Gun: Drastically increases fire rate for a limited time. Looks like an ammunition belt.
Nuke: Kills all on screen enemies without dropping any items.
Sheriff Badge: Combines the effects of Coffee, Heavy Machine Gun, and Shotgun. It lasts longer than most timed items.
Shotgun: Makes you fire three shots at once at a slightly lower rate for a limited time.
Smoke Bomb: Causes you to teleport to another location. Enemies will be confused and not move or damage you for a limited time, but will still spawn.
Tombstone: Turns you into a zombie. You can move faster and kill enemies on contact until the music stops.
Wheel: Makes you shoot in all eight directions at once for a limited time.

If you want use the stored item as an emergency device, it is best to use a Nuke or Wheel. Sheriff Badges, Smoke Bombs, and Tombstones are also useful.

Stage 1 [ edit ]

Area 1 has no cover and the only enemy that spawns is the Orc. Orcs have 1 HP, move at varying speeds, and sometimes don't even follow you. They will try to swarm you. Area 2 adds Spikeballs and stockades. Spikeballs initially have 2 HP and move very quickly, but they do not follow you. Once they deploy, they will have 6 HP and block Orcs. The stockades will block bullets and movement, so you can hide behind them if necessary. Once Area 2 is complete, you will have the option to buy an upgrade from the vendor. If you have 15 or more coins, you should buy the Ammo to double the damage your bullets do. If you have 10-14 coins, you should buy the Gun to increase your firing speed. The Boots increase movement speed, but they are generally a waste of coins until you get to Hard Mode.

Area 3 adds Ogres. Ogres have 3 HP, but move slowly. They will destroy deployed Spikeballs on contact. The stockades are now directly in the firing path to the spawn areas, so you will have to move around a bit more to shoot the enemies. Area 4 makes the stockade look like a fort. You should stay inside unless you can get to an item without dying. If you do not have the first Ammo upgrade yet, now is the time to buy it. If you do have it, but you do not have the 30 coins for the next Ammo upgrade, buy the Gun.

The Cowboy [ edit ]

The Cowbow has two basic movement patterns that he uses in a random order. One pattern will make him stay directly below you while he fires. You should be firing continuously just to the edge of his stockade. Dodge back in after your first bullet hits him. The other pattern has him move to one side, back to the center, and possibly to the other side, still firing continuously. He will then pause. When he performs this move, shoot him diagonally from the side he is not on. If he pauses in the open, you can fire straight down without worrying about counter attack. Usually it is easier to keep shooting diagonally. If you fail to hit him for an extended period of time, he will start firing diagonally.

Stage 2 [ edit ]

Area 1 has trees that can provide cover in the corners. Trees do not block shots. Ogres return, but the Orcs and Spikeballs have been replaced with Mushrooms and Pixies. Mushrooms have 2 HP and move very quickly, so they are tough to take down if you do not have the Ammo upgrade. Pixies have one HP and can fly over obstacles. They also spawn anywhere on the edge of the screen, so you will need to watch for them if you are hiding in a corner. After completing the area, you will get another chance to buy an upgrade. If you can afford the green Ammo, buy it to raise bullet damage to 3. Otherwise, upgrade your gun.

Area 2 has scattered trees and stumps. Stumps act like the stockades. You will effectively be focusing on three directions and sniping to the right when necessary. Area 3 has two streams with three bridges each. You will generally want to stay between the streams unless an item is beyond them. If you decided to buy the Boots, they will help you reach the item and get back quickly. After clearing the area, the vendor will come back. You are going to want the green Ammo for the next stage if you can afford it. If you already bought the green Ammo, a gun upgrade is better than the silver Ammo (which boosts bullet damage to 4). After choosing an upgrade, you will fight the Cowboy again. The fight is essentially the same as the first one.

Stage 3 [ edit ]

Area 1 has Imps and Mummies instead of the previous stage's enemies. Mummies have 6 HP but move very slowly. Imps have 3 HP and fly very quickly. Focus on shooting the Imps. The tombstones act like trees. When the vendor arrives, buy either the green Ammo or the next gun upgrade. Ideally, you should now have bought three guns and two boxes of ammo, but the coin drops do not always permit that.

Area 2 has lava at the top and bottom edges. It will not hurt you, but it will prevent you from collecting any items that drop beyond it. The four tombstones are less helpful than Stage 1, Area 4's stockade, but they do provide some protection. Area 3 will only spawn Mummies on the left and right. This makes it hard to use the Mummies as protection against the swarms of Imps that spawn. Expect to lose quite a few lives here if you do not have the green Ammo. If you have the opportunity, replace your emergency item with a Sheriff Badge. Once the area is clear, the vendor will come back. If you have already purchased three guns, the gun slot will have a Sheriff Badge for 10 coins. If you do not have one in your item slot, use your current item and buy the Sheriff Badge. You can also get a Sheriff Badge if you have bought all three boxes of ammo. If you bought both pairs of Boots, you can get an extra life for 10 coins.

Fector [ edit ]

Fector can shoot in eight directions at once (from time to time), vary his firing speed, and spawn enemies to protect himself. He occasionally pauses. If you do not have the Sheriff Badge, focus on dodging while firing in his direction. If you do have the badge, wait until Fector is in the center of the area and you are in a corner. (Not the very corner, but a few squares away.) Use the badge and fire at him. Come closer if your outside shots are missing the enemies that he will try to spawn. This should destroy most of his health bar, if not all of it.

You can get similar results with a Heavy Machine Gun, but you will have to aim more. If you have a Shotgun, you can use the outside shots to hit Fector while he is doing his fire-in-eight-directions attack. If you brought a Nuke or Tombstone, it will only be useful against the extra enemies that Fector spawns. Touching Fector while in zombie mode may cause the game to become unwinnable. Coffee can help you dodge, but you should only be carrying it if you could not find a better replacement for your emergency item. Smoke Bombs may give you a short time to attack or a quick get away, but the random re-spawn location will limit your ability to get in shots. The Wheel item is virtually useless since the enemies will always be clumped in one spot.

Hard Mode [ edit ]

Once you beat Fector and watch the cutscene, you will be able to continue to Hard Mode with all your items and coins, but with three extra lives regardless of how many you had before. Extra lives will drop less frequently, so you may find that buying the Boots to get to the extra lives from the Vendor pays off. All enemies now have more HP. For example, Orcs will have 3 and Imps will have 5. Imps also spawn in every non-boss area. If you can survive long enough to collect 99 coins and all three gun upgrades, you will have the option to buy a Super Gun that will give you the three bullets of the Shotgun without the decrease in firing speed.

How to Beat Journey of the Prairie King

You'll get the Prairie King Arcade System in the mail the day after you beat Journey of the Prairie King. This will make a deathless run for the hidden achievement (Fector's Challenge) much easier.

To make the challenge easier, set up the Arcade System in your house and play it the first thing in the day. Patch 1.5 has made this much easier as your progress in the arcade game saves between each level -- this means that you can restart the day (instead of saving) if you die. The pattern you'll want to follow is:

Wake up -> Play one section of the level in Journey of the Prairie King -> exit the arcade game -> finish the normal Stardew Valley day -> sleep/save your progress -> repeat

Again, at any point during the game, restart the day (as in, return the main menu or restart the game without saving) and try again.

Upgrades to Prioritize

On the first map (Prairie), focus on the Ammo Box upgrade (15) and the gun upgrade (10). If you make it to the Outlaw boss without both upgrades, it may be easier to reset the run instead.

On the second map (Forest), buy a second Ammo Box (30) at the first vendor. If you don't have enough gold, you can buy the gun upgrade (20) instead but you risk not having the second ammo upgrade.

On the third map (Graveyard), buy whichever upgrade you didn't get during the forest map -- either the Ammo Box (30) or the Gun (20). At the second vendor, pick up boots.

The overall upgrade path is: Ammo -> Gun -> Ammo -> Gun -> Boots (this allows you to skip purchasing from one of the vendors). The boots aren't necessary but it's nice to have. When I completed Fector's Challenge, I cheesed the run by saving after each level and it allowed me to beat the boss after a couple of attempts with one Ammo upgrade, two Gun upgrades, and one Boots upgrade -- definitely not recommended for a truly clean run.

Tips and Tricks

3-2 and 3-3 Graveyards

Unfortunately these levels rely largely on luck. Try to save a Screen Nuke for at least one swarm of Imps during 3-3 and take advantage of the downtime to kill as many mummies as you can (hopefully picking up items along the way). Spam items liberally but try to save a Heavy Machine Gun or Wagon Wheel for the final boss.

Outlaw Bosses

The outlaw bosses are mostly trivial with a little patience. While shooting the entire time, hide behind cover and peak out to get a few shots in. Once the Outlaw fully leaves cover, shoot at them using diagonal attacks then return behind cover as they do. Repeat this process until they are defeated.

Boss 3-4 (Fector) -- Side Step Trick

If you step slightly to the left (about half of a normal square), you can still hit Fector while dodging his attacks -- his shots will miss your left should by a few pixels but your shots will still hit him. With a Machine Gun (or similar item bonus), you'll be able to do about 3/4 of his health before he starts summoning monsters.

If you don't have a Machine Gun, you can still take advantage of the trick but you'll only get 1/3 of his health done before entering a different phase. The best thing you can do during a more fair fight is to focus on dodging his attacks than it is to hit him, he'll reset after each phase giving you a window to hit him in the center of the map. The pattern is damage during reset, dodge (and only dodge) when he attacks.

True Achievements has an in-depth guide on completing Fector's Challenge if you'd like to read it . Reddit also has some extra tips .

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Full Splash

Screen Rant

How to beat journey of the prairie king in stardew valley.

The fun, relaxing Stardew Valley’s punishing mini game Journey of the Prairie King has one achievement for beating it, and one for not dying.

Stardew Valley released in 2016 to critical acclaim. Since then, it has received numerous updates free of charge. It is a charming game where players manage a farm much in the style of the Harvest Moon series. Despite being an indie game, it has released on so many different platforms making it very accessible. Another impressive thing about the game is that it was developed by one person: Eric Barone , also known as ConcernedApe.

RELATED: How Stardew Valley's Creator Single-Handedly Made Such A Beloved Game

Stardew Valley may be a peaceful farming simulator most of the time, but within it, there is an action-packed arcade minigame called Journey of the Prairie King. It can be accessed by an arcade cabinet inside the Stardrop Saloon. It is completely optional to play, though players will encounter a version of it if they befriend Abigail. There is an achievement for beating Journey of the Prairie King, and another for beating it without dying. Neither are simple tasks. Players who manage to achieve this will join an elite group. For the Steam version of Stardew Valley on PC, only 1.3% of players have actually managed to beat Journey of the Prairie King, and only 0.7% have completed a run without dying. It is exceedingly difficult, and players are unlikely to succeed on their first try. Or second. Or third. However, there are some strategies for staying alive. If players keep practicing, they will soon see progress, and learn what their playstyle is and what works best for them.

General Strategies for Journey of the Prairie King in Stardew Valley

There are a few general strategies and important things to know when playing Journey of the Prairie King. First is that when items drop and enemies spawn, they do so in a random manner. This means it is possible to get into an unlucky game where the player is swarmed by enemies and has no effective weapons or powerups to deal with them. It happens. The best bet is simply to try again. Generally speaking, if players use the following strategies, they will find themselves dying less frequently.

Keep to the center of the screen as much as possible . Staying in the center of the screen gives the player the most amount of time to react to the incoming enemies. They will be better able to dodge enemies while firing upon them. Also, players will have a better chance of grabbing pickups if they are near the center than if they are on the opposite side of the screen.
Use obstacles when things get desperate. Many levels have obstacles, which brings both advantages and disadvantages. It does mean that sometimes bullets will be blocked, and the player has less space to maneuver, but it also can block the paths of enemies. If the player is finding themselves overwhelmed, they can hide behind obstacles, and the enemies will have to go around to get to the player. During that time, players can get a few shots off, whittling down the number of enemies.
Use diagonals. The game does not make it immediately clear, but players can both move and shoot diagonally, which is crucial to winning. Moving diagonally can be essential to not dying, because while a player moves diagonally, many enemies do not, which give the player a little more time to deal with them.
Keep an extra weapon stored for emergencies. When players pick up a weapon or item, it is stored in their single-slot inventory until they decide to use it by pressing the appropriate button. If an item is already stored when picking up a new item, the new item will automatically be used. This can save crucial moments when things get desperate, but if need be, the player can also use the stored item. There are some weapons that are incredibly useful to use in these desperate times. First is the nuke (the rocket with a skull), as it instantly kills all enemies on the screen, giving the player much-needed breathing room. The Wheel is also a good choice, as it fires bullets in 8 directions. The Sherriff’s Badge is great as well, as it increases fire rate, movement speed, and the bullets fire in a cone, like the shotgun.
Collect as many coins as possible. Sometimes when enemies die, they will drop coins, indicated by a 1 for pennies and a 5 for the extremely rare nickel. Okay, technically enemies drop whatever the equivalent is for currency upon the prairie. In any case, these coins can be spent at the vendor, who appears after every second level. The player can use the coins to purchase items or permanent upgrades. There are three upgrades in total, and with advanced versions later. Boots increase movement speed, the revolver increases shooting speed, and the ammo box increases both bullet damage and bullet penetration, which means it is possible to kill multiple enemies with one bullet.

Boss Fights for Journey of the Prairie King in Stardew Valley

At the end of every stage, the players will face off against a cowboy in a shootout boss battle . The cowboy has a lot of health, and the player can still only take one hit. If that’s not fair enough, the cowboy also has cover he can hide behind. The strategy here is to keep firing bullets just to one side of the cover. The cowboy will come out eventually and will suffer damage when he does so. He will also return fire, so be ready to dodge. It can be a challenging fight, but just remember that there is no time limit. If players need to be careful and take their time, it is better than taking a bullet and dying.

The Final Boss for Journey of the Prairie King in Stardew Valley

The final boss is named Fector, and it is for him that the second achievement is named. Unless the player has powered up enough, they are in for a very tough fight. Fector will do things like fire in all eight directions, summon enemies, and be generally a nuisance. In order to defeat him, there are two main tactics. The first is to get a weapon powerup like the heavy machine gun, and simply shoot him until he is dead. If that is not an option, players can move quickly from side to side while firing back at him. He will fire at where he anticipates the player to be, but if the player reverses direction, the shots will go wide. A fun fact about this tactic is that it can work in some other games as well, especially older games with slower-moving projectiles. Try it out!

NEXT: Stardew Valley: Best Mods for 2020 (& How to Install Them)

Stardew Valley is available now on PC, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Linux, Android, macOS, and iOS.

Stardew Valley Journey of the Prairie King Mini-Game Guide

Tips and strategies to play Stardew Valley Journey of the Prairie King mini-game by understanding the items and complete all stages of the game.

Journey of the Prairie King is a mini game within Stardew Valley. The arcade is available inside Gus’s Saloon and is incredibly hard.

Stardew Valley Journey of the Prairie King essentially revolves around completing areas and stages by eliminating enemies and bosses. With the exception of the first stage, each stage in the game is divided into 3 areas and a boss battle.

For more help on Stardew Valley, read out our NPCs guide , Stardrop Fruits Locations guide, and Fishing guide.

Stardew Valley Journey of the Prairie King Walkthrough

When it comes to controls of the game, you can refer to controls section in the game for more information! This guide details everything you need to know about Journey of the Prairie King in Stardew Valley and how to beat it:

Understanding Items

You will stumble upon different items throughout the course of the game. Each of the items has a unique function that lasts for a short while. Acquiring an item automatically negates the active function of a previous item. The items include:

Coin : Adds one coin to your coin total
5 Coins : Adds whopping 5 coins to your total
Coffee : Temporarily speeds up your character
Shotgun : Gives your character 3-way shot
Ammo Sash : Gives your character rapid-fire
Wagon Wheel : Gives your character multi-directional spreadshot
Sheriff’s Star : Gives your character rapid-fire, 3-way spreadshot, and a speed boost
Ninja-Box : Makes your character invisible to enemies; confusing them for a short while
Power Tablet : Turns you into a powerful undead that will kill enemies
Skull-Nuke : Kills all enemies in the area
1-Up : Gives you another life

Journey of the Prairie King Walkthrough

Stage #1; Area #1 In this area, you will encounter the Desert Lizardman. You simply need to avoid corners, have open space all across you, avoid stepping in spawns, and use power-tablet as an escape tool.

Stage #1; Area #2 Once again, you need to stick in the middle of the area. There is no need to head towards the barricades unless there is something worthwhile. Once done, purchase everything you can from the merchant and head to the next area.

Stage #1; Area #3 In the area, you will encounter the Lizardman Spikehead. These enemies are harder to eliminate, but do not follow you around. Furthermore, barricades move in front of spawn areas which sometimes prove to be a hassle.

Stage #1; Area #4 In this area, you need to stay inside the barricaded area as much as possible. With this, try to eliminate enemies trying to get in the area and use the Happy Gopher to distract and eliminate enemies.

You will also encounter the Lizard Demon in the area who is quite strong, but really sluggish. Once done, try and buy the Gun Upgrade and Ammo Upgrade.

Stage #1 Boss Battle You need to learn the movement pattern of the boss to complete the boss fight. After running right/left and shooting, the boss will always come to a halt.

You basically need to continue running and shooting while constantly avoiding boss’s bullets to complete the run. Do note that peeking from a corner and upgrades can render the fight even easier.

Stage #2; Area #1 It is important that you have Ammo Upgrade to pass the area. The reason for this is to eliminate the Rush-Room and the Poison Moths that die hard otherwise. The area is identical to Stage #1; Area #2 so you should not face any problems.

Stage #2; Area #2 There are no new enemies encountered in the area, just stick to the strategies mentioned earlier and you should be fine. You can also use trees to hinder enemy movement and find some breathing room.

Stage #2; Area #3 Once again, you need to stick in the middle of the area and head up/down the bridges as necessary. The Demon Lizards and the Rush-Rooms do not cause any trouble, but the Poison Moths do.

However, with the Happy Gopher available, it should carry some heat off you and get you some breathing room. You must try and buy the Ammo Upgrade from the merchant.

Stage #2 Boss Battle For this boss battle, you need to have the Ammo Upgrade. Other than this, the entire battle is pretty similar to the Desert Cowboy fight. Just stick to the strategies that you used to defeat the Desert Cowboy and you will do fine.

Stage #3; Area #1 For this stage, you need to avoid running between the tombstones and must have Ammo Upgrade as enemies featured in this stage are insanely hard.

In addition to this, do not be shy when it comes to using items! Once the area has been completed, grab the Ammo Upgrade or boots before proceeding ahead.

Stage #3; Area #2 Since all tombstones are concentrated in the middle of the area, you need to stick to the corners. Once again, you need to utilize all the items that you come across and stick to corners to proceed ahead alive.

Stage #3; Area #3 This is hands-down the hardest area in the mini-game to complete! You need to make sure to utilize everything at your disposal – including items and extra lives – and hope to get through this.

If you managed to do so, grab anything you need from the merchant and get ready to face the final boss.

Stage #3 Boss Battle One of the first things to note here is that items such as Ammo Sash and Sheriff’s Star will help you a ton during this boss fight.

The idea behind completing the boss battle is to learn about his moves and positioning. You basically need to stick to corners and avoid taking any unnecessary damage.

However, as soon as you see the boss head to the center of the area, go in to land a couple of shots, and retreat.

About half way through the battle, the boss will call upon almost all the basic enemies from the very first stage to the third. During this time, focus your attention on these enemies as the boss will not fire much.

Once you are done with minions, head in to dish out some damage to the boss and complete the fight.

Lastly, do not forget to share your own tips and strategies with us in the comments section below!

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Haider is a freelance contributor, who loves video games, playing guitar, and aviation. He is a competitive FPS player and also enjoys exotic RPG games like Diablo and Xenogears (his favorite game of all time) ...

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Journey of the Prairie King

A downloadable game

Become a cowboy and fight your way through Prairie Island in this action-packed game based on a true cowboy hero from the prairie-island in the Gem Sea!

Anyone who beats Journey of the Prairie King is automatically entered into a drawing for a special prize!

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This is a clone (or the closest to a clone I had time/motivation for) of the hit game Journey of the Prairie King from the star drop saloon in Stardew valley.

I am trying to make one small project per week to learn the unity engine and figured that a good idea was to make some clones of existing games, to speed up my learning and progress

I am very pleased with the result, being my most complete, complex and polished project to date. It turns out not having to come up with your own ideas and just being able to copy art is incredibly timesaving and lets me get straight down to what I am trying to learn, game development and design.

I have learned a lot while doing this project, animation in unity. the sound design in unity and a bunch more bits and bobs to do with scripting and the way systems work to do with spawning or loot drops for example. I felt this has been my most productive week yet (albeit the sample size is not massive) due to the amount I have learned and the progress I have made.

Next up I want to progress with making my own assets and art. It would be nice to find a style and flow with that sort of thing. I also think making a small puzzle game would teach me a lot. I very much liked working in 2d with a top-down style and want to continue developing my skills in this style, but also want to try some 3d at some point.

Any feedback is greatly appreciated, all the art, assets and music is from the game Stardew Valley. This is not a commercial venture at all and just a small project to help me learn how to make games.

Click download now to get access to the following files:

all i want is a full game that is journey of a prairie king but with more levels and overall more so i really like this. i would also like to see this updated. really cool

That's a good job!

Stardew Valley

Originally posted by dexter : You can exit the machine and sleep to save your progress after each stage. It made the achievement way easier. If you mess up, then you can restart the day and keep your progress for the achievement.

Originally posted by fertorma : Originally posted by dexter : You can exit the machine and sleep to save your progress after each stage. It made the achievement way easier. If you mess up, then you can restart the day and keep your progress for the achievement.

Originally posted by Sstavix : If all else fails, there is a mod that makes beating the game trivial. I used it because I really suck at twin-stick shooters, but wanted the achievements out of the way. If you want a link just let me know.

Originally posted by fertorma : Originally posted by Sstavix : If all else fails, there is a mod that makes beating the game trivial. I used it because I really suck at twin-stick shooters, but wanted the achievements out of the way. If you want a link just let me know.

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