Stardew Valley is everyone's favorite farming/mining/fighting/romance simulator. It really has it all, including a great amount of quests for those of you who feel more motivated and engaged when you have a specific objective or goal. It definitely helps that the rewards are bountiful.
Completing quests in Stardew Valley will usually unlock a whole new game mechanic or area of the game itself, if not a helpful item that can't be obtained elsewhere. One such quest is "A Winter Mystery," a small but vital quest that unlocks the ability to find Secret Notes containing plenty of helpful hints and lore.
Updated August 12, 2023 by Jacqueline Zalace: A Winter Mystery is a simple Stardew Valley quest, but it unlocks an imporant little tool. We've updated this guide with a bit more information to help you complete this quest and obtain the Magnifying Glass.
How To Trigger The Quest
This particular quest is quite easy to activate, so much so that you will probably activate it while doing your daily farm chores.
You won't be able to unlock it until Winter of Year 1. Just enter the Bus Stop area from your Farm during Winter from 6 am to 4 pm. You'll see what the game describes as a "suspicious-looking figure" on the path, and they will run off after being startled by your approach.
This shadow person looks a lot like Krobus, but this is unconfirmed. As such, you may have already met Krobus in the Sewers prior to meeting this suspicious figure.
Where To Find The Mysterious Figure
The suspicious figure will run off after being spotted by you, so you'll have to either give chase or put on your detective hat and track down clues. Thankfully, the journey is not very far, and you can follow the footprints that appear in the snow.
In the image above, you can check out the short path that you need to take once you enter Pelican Town. As you can see, it's a very short trek.
Follow those prints as far as you can, and they'll lead you to a bush near the playground north of the town square. Interact with the bush to scare the figure out of hiding, and he'll confess that "it looked so valuable, I couldn't help myself!" You'll get a new item; the Magnifying Glass.
The Magnifying Glass
The Magnifying Glass can be found as one of the special items in your wallet, alongside items such as the Rusty Key that unlocks the Sewers or the Skull Key that unlocks Skull Cavern. Once you have the Magnifying Glass, you will be able to find Secret Notes all across the Valley (and on Ginger Island).
You will not obtain any Secret Notes prior to getting the Magnifying Glass, regardless if you do the activities below or not.
Secret Notes divulge helpful information about the game such as loved gifts, the locations of hidden items, and lore about characters in the game. There are 25 Secret Notes in total, which can be found in a variety of ways, shown below.
Action | Chance To Find Note |
|---|---|
Chopping Weeds | 0.9% |
Defeating Monsters | 3.3% |
Chopping Trees | 0.5% (with each axe hit) |
Fishing | 8% (chance to replace trash) |
Digging Artifact Spots | 11% |
Mining Stone | 0.75% |
Resource Clumps (stumps, logs, boulders, meteorites) | 5% |
Giant Crops | 100% |
Secret Notes do not take up an inventory spot. Instead, they have their own special tab in the menu, allowing you to reference previously obtained notes whenever you want.
There are plenty of ways to collect Secret Notes, so just going about your daily Stardew Valley life should result in some turning up. Happy hunting!