The Benefits and Dangers of Hoarding Items in Animal Parade

This is another section that is taken from my Animal Parade General Guide. As always, you can find the links to the actual Guides on the right side of this page.

In Harvest Moon but especially in Animal Parade, there are both benefits and dangers to the practice of hoarding items. I am an inveterate packrat myself. I never have sufficient storage space in any Harvest Moon or Rune Factory game. I buy all the storage items and upgrades and whenever possible, as in Tree of Tranquility, even own more than one Refrigerator and Cabinet… In both Tree of Tranquility and Animal Parade, every night before I go to bed, I must sift through the items I temporarily stashed in the Shipping Container to remove those I feel that need most, filling my Rucksack to capacity before I sleep.

In Animal Parade, you will need specific items to complete Quests and Recipes BUT it is shipping that determines Shop Levels. Only by attaining specific shipping totals will many of the Shop expand their menus when they becomes Level 2 and then Level 3 business. In other cases, it is the completion of a Bell Quest that will allow the upgrade to occur, but shipping totals are vital in Animal Parade.

You therefore need to pursue a policy that balances future needs in terms of ingredients and items with shipping requirements that unlock new options.

An interesting and very beneficial aspect of Animal Parade is the fact that items retain their original categories even when transformed into new, more valuable items through forging or cooking. In other words, although Cooking fulfils various other requirements in Animal Parade, whenever you use an item to create a Cooked Dish or Accessory, it retains its original category designation for the purpose of any Shipping Requirements that you need to satisfy.

For example, any Egg is a Ranch Product. Cook it into a Boiled Egg to make it more valuable and ship it and it STILL counts towards any Ranch Total in terms of Shipping but now with its augmented as opposed to original value. The same is true with respect to Accessories made from items found in the Mines.

One of the Shipping Requirements that you should attempt to satisfy as early as possible is that of shipping a total of 30,000G in Farm Items (Crops, Flowers, etc.) in order to persuade the Marimba Farm to expand its menu. Note that, even when you have rung the Yellow Bell and met Anissa, the menu will not be expanded until you have met the Level 3 Requirement of shipping a total of 80,000G in Farm Items. As ringing the Yellow Bell requires only the production and gift of 10 Good or Better Lettuces to Ruth, it is quite likely that you will complete the Yellow Bell Quest before you have shipped even 30,000G in Farm Items.

Similarly, shipping a total of 10,000G in Ranch Products will expand the Menu at the Horn Ranch. You can boost the value of items such as Milk and Eggs by cooking them. Using a Pot to transform Milk into Hot Milk boosts its shipping value as does the same Pot when used to transform an Egg into a Boiled Egg. Remember that many Cooked Dishes do not have any Quality Rank designation. It therefore always is a good idea to look at the value of the raw ingredient, determined by its rank. Decent Egg or Milk is more profitably used to cook a Boiled Egg or Hot Milk but Shining Egg or Shining Milk has a higher value when shipped raw.

The following are the requirements for upgrading the menus at various shops in Animal Parade:



Requirements for Business Upgrades


If you are wondering when a new type of Animal that you always wished to own will be offered by the Horn Ranch or a new variety of Crop Seed will appear at the Marimba Ranch, the answer is to be found either in your Shipping Totals or the Bell Quests that you have completed.
At the end of each day, before you fall asleep, your Shipping Totals for the Day will be displayed on a special screen. You can find all of your Totals on a page of your Farm Menu as well.
If you wondered why your Shipping Totals are divided into a number of different Categories, including Crops, Animals, Fishing, Mining and ‘Others’, it is because shipping totals in these individual categories often are linked to business upgrades. Here are the requirements for unlocking upgrades for the various businesses in Animal Parade:

Accessory Shop

Upgrade to Level 2 when you have shipped a total of 50,000G of Mining Items and have completed the Red Bell Quest
Upgrade to Level 3 when you have shipped a total of 100,000G of Mining Items

Blacksmith’s Shop or Smithy

Upgrade to Level 2 when you have completed Red Bell Quest
Upgrade to Level 3 when you have shipped a total of 15,000G of Mining Items
Upgrade ot Level 4 when you have shipped a total of 35,000G of Mining Items and have summoned the Harvest King by ringing all 5 Bells.

Brass Bar

Upgrade to Level 2 when you have shipped a total of 100,000G
Upgrade to Level 3 when you have shipped a total of 200,000G
Upgrade to level 4 when you have shipped a total of 350,000G

Carpenter’s Shop

Upgrade to Level 2 when you complete the Blue Bell Quest
Upgrade to Level 3 when you have shipped a total of 300,000G and find Luke
Upgrade to Level 4 when you have shipped a total of 500,000G

Chorale Clinic:

Upgrade to Level 2 when you complete the Blue Bell Quest.

Fishery:

Upgrade to Level 2 when you complete the Blue Bell Quest and experience an introduction to Captain Pascal.
Note that the Menu at the Fishery always is seasonal in nature at ANY Level.

General Store:

Upgrade to level 2 when you have shipped a total of 40,000G, completed the Red Bell Quest and found Phoebe for her parents
Upgrade to Level 3 when you have shipped a total of 120,000G
Upgrade to Level 4 when you have shipped a total of 300,000G

Horn Ranch:

Upgrade to Level 2 when you have shipped a total of 10,000G of Ranch Products
Upgrade to Level 3 when you have shipped a total of 50,000G of Ranch Products and completed the Green Bell Quest
Upgrade to Level 4 when you have shipped a total of 80,000G of Ranch Products

Marimba Farm:

Upgrade to Level 2 when you have shipped a total of 30,000G in Crops
Upgrade to Level 3 when you have shipped a total of 80,000G in Crops, completed the Yellow Bell Quest and experienced introduction to Anissa
Upgrade to Level 4 when you have shipped a total of 160,000G in Crops

Ocarina Inn


Upgrade to Level 2 when you have shipped a total of 100,000G.
Upgrade to Level 3 when you have shipped a total of 200,000G
Upgrade to Level 4 when you have shipped a total of 350,000G

Simon’s Photos

Upgrade to Level 2 when you have shipped a total of 320,000G of items that you have collected from the wilds and/or Cooked Dishes
Upgrade to Level 3 when you have shipped a total of 540,000G of items that you have collected from the wilds and/or Cooked Dishes

Sonata Tailoring

Upgrade to Level 2 when you have shipped 100,000G of Ranch Products and experienced introduction to Luna
Upgrade to Level 3 when you have shipped a total of 200,000G

Town Hall

Upgrade to Level 2 when you have shipped a total of 150,000G
Upgrade to Level 3 when you have shipped a total of 250,000G and completed the Purple Bell Quest