How to tell if an item belongs in the museum
Short answer: Community testing reports a small museum-building icon on eligible inventory items. After that item is donated, the icon disappears.
Use that icon before selling a new fish, critter, artifact or unusual drop. It is safer than relying on an incomplete launch-week checklist.
How to donate
- Enter the museum after its story opening.
- Go to the floor that matches the collection category.
- Find the exhibit sign with the yellow exclamation point.
- Interact with that sign and choose eligible items from your bag.
No universal drop-off: Player reports say each exhibit uses its own sign, so walking only around the lobby can make the museum look inactive.
Launch-week collection advice
- Keep one copy of every unfamiliar item until its museum icon is checked.
- Revisit spiral dig spots; players report several family-collection artifacts there.
- Treat current item lists as works in progress. Fish and critter locations were still incomplete when checked.
- Do not sell a rare item merely because a guide omits it.
Open the player-tested museum marker discussion.
Source boundary: Donation mechanics are community findings checked July 18, 2026. The official Steam achievement list confirms that opening and completing the museum are game milestones, but it does not publish a full item checklist.