Getting Started & Progression
Year 2+ Progression & Late-Game Unlocks
Year 2 adds new shop inventory, but many late-game systems are not actually year-gated. This guide separates true year conditions from shipment, Contest, building, story, friendship, tool and postgame requirements.
What Actually Changes
True Year 2 records
The tables below are generated from the shared seed and sapling unlock records, not from a simplified calendar summary.
True Year 2 records
13
Year 2 fallback records
5
True Year 3+ records
2
Current repository data contains year-gated crops but no confirmed year-gated flower records. If a secondary list names a flower absent from the shared dataset, it remains unresolved here rather than being imported as fact.
Year 2 Spring
Season remains the planting/shop season; Year 2 is the separate unlock condition.
| Item | Type | Year rule | Earlier route |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cherry Radish | crop-seed | Year 2 | No alternate source recorded |
| Pea | crop-seed | Year 2 | No alternate source recorded |
| Strawberry | crop-seed | Year 2 | No alternate source recorded |
| Lettuce | crop-seed | Year 2 | No alternate source recorded |
| Radish | crop-seed | Year 2 | No alternate source recorded |
Year 2 Summer
Season remains the planting/shop season; Year 2 is the separate unlock condition.
| Item | Type | Year rule | Earlier route |
|---|---|---|---|
| Garlic | crop-seed | Year 2 | No alternate source recorded |
| Pumpkin | crop-seed | Year 2 | No alternate source recorded |
| Sweet Melon | crop-seed | Year 2 | No alternate source recorded |
| Eggplant | crop-seed | Year 2 | No alternate source recorded |
| Green Pepper | crop-seed | Year 2 | No alternate source recorded |
Year 2 Autumn
Season remains the planting/shop season; Year 2 is the separate unlock condition.
| Item | Type | Year rule | Earlier route |
|---|---|---|---|
| Olive | crop-seed | Year 2 | No alternate source recorded |
| Sesame | crop-seed | Year 2 | No alternate source recorded |
| Lotus Root | crop-seed | Year 2 | No alternate source recorded |
Year 2 Winter
Season remains the planting/shop season; Year 2 is the separate unlock condition.
| Item | Type | Year rule | Earlier route |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lotus Root | crop-seed | Year 2 | No alternate source recorded |
Earlier Acquisition
Can Year 2 items arrive early?
The answer depends on the source and on whether the shop unlock itself has occurred.
Shipment fallbacks
Carrot, Spinach, Plum Sapling, Pear Sapling, Mud Seed use an explicit alternate condition. Plum Sapling is the current shipment OR Year 2 example.
Mud Seed
Mud Seed produces a random current-season field crop. Potential Year 2 field-crop candidates include Cherry Radish, Pea, Strawberry, Garlic, Pumpkin, Sweet Melon, Olive, Sesame, Lettuce, Radish, Eggplant, Green Pepper; this does not unlock the corresponding shop seed.
Mud Seeds authority →Bird sources
Wild-bird drops and Bird Bath rewards remain separate. Current data records wild-bird and Bird Bath as documented source categories.
Bird Bath authority →Dahlia
Dahlia has a source-reported Bird Bath path. Its normal shop timing remains unresolved here, so Year 1 acquisition is possible as a source path, not a guaranteed shop unlock.
Fox Shrine authority →Paddy Regression
Rice, Wasabi and Lotus Root keep their real conditions
A simplified Year 2 list must not overwrite the paddy authority.
| Item | Season | Actual unlock | Year condition |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rice | Spring | Plow | None |
| Wasabi | Spring / Summer | Plow | None |
| Lotus Root | Autumn / Winter | Year 2 | Year 2 |
Late Game, Different Gates
Systems commonly seen around Year 2 but not year-gated
Typical timing is not the same as an unlock condition.
| System | Actual unlock type | Actual requirement | Year gate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Goat | Contest | Participate in a Livestock Contest | None established |
| Pig | Contest | Earn A Rank or higher in Livestock | None established |
| Turkey | Contest | Earn S Rank with a Chicken | None established |
| Cashmere Goat | Contest | Earn two Livestock S-Rank results | None established |
| Horse | Building + NPC mail | Construct the Livestock Barn; Chinana then sends a mail announcing the Horse stock. | None established |
| Greenhouse | Chief Delivery + building | Complete the High-Quality Goods section of the Village Chief Delivery Catalog; typically a Year 2+ goal. | None established |
| Garden–Quarry Back Road | Postgame | Kisuke: ¥50,000 and 3 days; a shortcut, not a universal completion requirement. | None established |
| Miracle Whistle | Story clear | Story clear | None established |
| Sleepover Event | Friendship | Friendship Stage 6 plus prior meal events | None established |
| Full Shrine repair | Story progression | Eight Rules / Shrine repair sequence | None established |
| Enhanced Sprinkler | Shrine skill | Shrine skill tree and listed materials | None established |
Large House / Basement
House-stage construction requirements; no Year 2 condition is encoded.
Open authority →High-Quality Deliveries
Delivery, branding, livestock and gemstone inputs; not Year 2-only.
Open authority →Greenhouse
Building-gated, not Year 3-gated
The Greenhouse is commonly reached in Year 2 or Year 3, but the canonical condition is delivery/building progression.
Complete the High-Quality Goods section of the Chief Delivery Catalog, then satisfy the current construction requirements including Glass Rods. Confirmed Greenhouse-specific trees are Mango, Cacao, Banana; they remain building-gated rather than automatic Year 3 additions.
Postgame vs Year
Story clear is an independent axis
Year 2 does not imply postgame, and postgame does not imply Year 2.
The Garden–Quarry Back Road and Miracle Whistle remain story-clear/postgame systems. The Hot Spring is tied to the Quarry B120 path and is not presented as a Year 2 unlock.
Year 3+ Preview
Only true later-year records
The current shared dataset confirms a concise Year 3+ preview, not a full future calendar.
Year 3+ records
Pineapple (Summer), Cabbage (Spring).
Not automatically Year 3
Greenhouse trees, later Shrine skills, livestock, friendship events and postgame utilities remain under their real conditions even when players commonly reach them later.
Entering Year 2
Practical priorities
These are planning suggestions, not mandatory unlocks.
Protect alternate paths
Keep shipment, Bird Bath, Fox Shrine and Mud Seed routes distinct from shop timing.
Open authority →Prepare contests
Branding helps delivery progression, but contest results are not Year 2 gates.
Open authority →Build toward completion
Use later-year crops for Catalog, recipes, processing and Chief Delivery cleanup.
Open authority →For a first-year timeline, use the Year 1 Calendar and walkthrough authority; this page intentionally does not create a second Year 1 calendar.
FAQ
Year 2+ questions
What truly unlocks in Year 2?
The current shared seed data confirms Cherry Radish, Pea, Strawberry, Garlic, Pumpkin, Sweet Melon, Olive, Sesame and Lotus Root as year-reached records. Their planting seasons remain separate from the year condition.
Can Year 2 items be obtained early?
Yes, where the owning data supports it. Plum Sapling uses shipment OR Year 2 fallback semantics, and alternate bird, Bird Bath or Mud Seed routes are kept separate from normal General Store availability.
Does Rice unlock in Year 2?
No. Rice and Wasabi remain Plow-gated in the paddy authority data.
When does Lotus Root unlock?
Lotus Root is a Year 2 Autumn/Winter paddy crop, not a Year 2 Spring crop.
Can you get Dahlia before Year 2?
The current Bird Bath data records Dahlia Seed as a source-reported Bird Bath route. It does not establish a normal shop unlock date, so acquisition and shop availability remain separate.
Does Goat unlock automatically in Year 2?
No. Goat is tied to Livestock Contest participation and Chinana's follow-up mail, not a calendar-year gate.
Is the Greenhouse a Year 3 unlock?
No fixed year is encoded. The authority requires the High-Quality Goods Chief Delivery category plus Greenhouse construction materials.
Is the Quarry Back Road a Year 2 unlock?
No. It is postgame/story-clear content with Kisuke and the documented ¥50,000 route.
Is postgame the same as Year 2?
No. Story-clear state and calendar year are independent progression axes.
Are there new Year 2 Winter additions?
The current seed/sapling dataset contains zero true Year 2-only Winter additions.
Written by: Village in the Shade Guide Editorial Team
Last updated: August 27, 2026
Sources: Official publisher and storefront pages, released-game research and linked source notes.