How to Use the Moonstone Island Community Chest

The Community Chest in Moonstone Island is a new feature added in the latest update. This offers a new way to obtain items, although it’s not always consistent. Villagers will leave random items in here occasionally for you to collect, but you don’t have much control over what you get from it.

Where is the Community Chest in Moonstone Island

The Community Chest can be found in Rowan’s shop in the Moonstone Island village. If you’re not sure where this is, it’s the building with a sign that shows a bag, sitting next door to the blacksmith next to the bridge.

Inside Rowan’s shop, the chest is now visible as long as the game is updated. It sits next to the counter, immediately ahead of the entrance. It’s a huge chest so it’s impossible to miss.

If somehow the chest is not there, check your mail. Rowan should have sent a letter to inform you the chest is there, although in my game I didn’t see the message until I manually checked the mail. If this letter is not there, you may be early into the game. If not, check that you have the latest update installed, as this could be the issue.

How to Use the Community Chest

Townsfolk in Moonstone Island will place items in the Community Chest as the game progresses. These items are entirely random, and don’t appear that often. You can spot when an item has been added to the chest because it will lightly shake from side to side to indicate it’s worth opening.

Sadly, I cannot figure out any way to increase the chances of items appearing in the chest. My only recommendation is to keep talking to your fellow villagers and build up your relationship with them all. It’s not clear how much of an effect this will have, but so far, the presence of items seems to be entirely RNG-based.

The Community Chest is also not a place that you can drop items yourself. It exists solely as a way for you to get random gifts, similar to how you can pray at the fountain and receive rewards. If you wish to gift items to NPCs, you’ll have to continue handing them over by talking to them. Similarly, if you wish to get rid of items, you’re better off selling them either at the Sell Crate or directly to any of the stores in town. There’s also the new Recycler machine if you’d like to get rid of crafted items and use their materials elsewhere.

The Community Chest is also where your rewards from each festival will go. So while the rewards will initially show up during the final scene of the festival, the actual items will need to be retrieved from the chest. At the end of a festival, the day will automatically end. When you leave your home the next morning, you’ll receive a message letting you know your items are in there now.

Moonstone Island is out now for PC and Switch.