20 best mods for Stardew Valley

Stardew Valley is one of those heartwarming games created by just one person. This pixel sandbox has captivated players' hearts and drawn them into its enchanting, cozy world. Although the project does not yet have official mod support, millions of fans have already created numerous enhancements. In this article, we will list the top mods for Stardew Valley.

NPC Map Locations

Image: Nexusmods

Let's start with mods that make gameplay more comfortable. One of the biggest challenges is finding NPCs. These pixel characters follow their schedules and roam the map, turning the search into a quest. Yes, you can memorize their work schedules, but we come here to relax, not to train our memory.

NPC Map Locations shows the locations of NPCs on the map. In fact, it is one of the most downloaded mods. For convenience, players can display the residents' locations on the mini-map and always know where they are.

Gift Taste Helper

Image: Nexusmods

We found the NPCs on the map, but they don't live there just for decoration. The social aspect here is quite strong. Each resident has their own personality and preferences. To be a friendly neighbor, players need to give gifts. If you want to build closer relationships, these presents should be the best ones.

Abigail, for instance, is unlikely to appreciate receiving raw fish or seaweed. Gift Taste Helper ensures you don't end up in an awkward situation. Just hover the cursor over a character in the calendar, and you’ll immediately see all their gift preferences.

Tractor Mod

Image: mungfali.com

Many players have been waiting for this mod. Finally, a farming game will have a tractor! This feature significantly eases gameplay and makes farm maintenance much more enjoyable.

Tractor Mod adds a vital vehicle, a garage. Now the hero can forget about juggling shovels, pickaxes, scythes, watering cans, and other tools — all of these are included in the tractor's functionality. The tools are integrated into the machine, so you can confidently go and harvest your crops.

Lookup Anything

Image: Nexusmods

Although the project was created by one person, it turned out to be extensive. If players don't have a notebook handy, they can easily get confused. However, there is an extremely useful mod that we recommend installing for everyone. It doesn't break the game, isn't considered cheating, but it can be the most helpful.

Lookup Anything adds hints for all aspects of the sandbox. Hover the cursor over anything, press F1, and a tooltip will appear. Players will find out when exactly the crops will mature, when a character's birthday is, and what gift to give a resident. You’ll see the durability of structures, crafting descriptions, and much more.

Automate

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Stardew Valley mods Automate allows to automate the crafting process. When players unlock various furnaces, breweries, and other automated production, they inevitably encounter a pesky problem. All materials need to be loaded manually, and if the player gets distracted, production stops.

This mod adds an automatic chest. Place the item next to a crafting object, such as a furnace, and it’ll automatically take the material for processing. This way, you can create entire production chains!

Item Prices in Inventory

Image: Nexusmods

No matter what backpack you have, inventory space will always be a problem. The character will carry around all the junk collected throughout the game day. Naturally, the player can and should sell these items. Here’s where the quest begins. Some items will get the user a few coins, while others will fetch a solid sum. However, to find out the value of items, the character has to run around to different shops.

The CJB Show Item Sell Price mod adds information about the value of each item in inventory. It’s an indispensable tool that we highly recommend installing.

Expanded Cooking

Image: vrecipes.net

The Love of Cooking mod doesn’t make gameplay easier, but it makes it much more enjoyable. Stardew Valley is a farming game with plenty of edible resources at your disposal. However, cooking doesn’t get as much attention as one might hope.

This mod overhauls the cooking system + adds new recipes. With it, players can create new culinary masterpieces and undertake new cooking missions. Additionally, the healing mechanics of food have been revamped. Now, food restores HP gradually, and each dish has its own effects.

Anime Style Portraits

Image: Nexusmods

We’ve expanded and made the gameplay more comfortable. Now it’s time to visually change the simulator and fill it with new content. Stardew Valley features pixel art, and all characters are fully visible in their portraits. They are quite colorful, and some NPCs are pretty cute, charming. Changing the portraits will make you see the pixel characters differently, even though they won’t change.

The Stardew Valley anime mods have nearly a million downloads. The mod changes the style of the character portraits to anime. The faces look stunning, match the pixel figures.

NPC Seasonal Outfits

Image: Nexusmods

Seasons change here not just for decoration — they are an important mechanic. Cozy winter, where the character can rest, gives way to blooming spring. Productive summer transitions to autumn, when the hero harvests a bountiful crop. Each season brings its own festivals and events in the town. Each month, someone celebrates their birthday.

However, NPC appearances don’t reflect the change in seasons. The Seasonal Outfits - Slightly Cuter Aesthetic mod adds seasonal clothing to the characters, greatly enhancing the immersion in this pixel world. The character's portrait also changes depending on the season.

Farmer Style

Image: Nexusmods

We’ve dressed up the characters, and now it’s time for the player to take care of their farmer. The Customize Anywhere mod will help with this. This mod allows players to change their character’s appearance at any time. Now players can change along with the world of Stardew Valley, depending on the season.

You are able to choose from the vanilla version costumes, which you can combine using keyboard commands. All commands are listed in the mod’s description.

Cats

Image: Nexusmods

Cats have long captivated human consciousness. As time goes on, they increasingly control us, becoming true objects of worship. Seriously, major projects in recent years deliberately include furry friends so everyone can pet them.

Stardew Valley is no exception. Elle's Cat Replacements is entirely dedicated to cats. This mod adds 51 textures for cats + 20 collars for them.

New Foliage Textures

Image: Nexusmods

Stardew Valley is a beautiful sandbox with a charming atmosphere. However, there are numerous mods that change the appearance of the environment, transforming the look of farms and the town as a whole. One of these is Foliage Only.

This modification focuses on recoloring all the vegetation. The color palette of the plants will be significantly expanded, making the entire surrounding world burst with new colors. Without changing the sprites, the mod greatly enhances the visual aspect of the game, making the project even more pleasing to the eye.

Medieval Buildings and Decorations

Image: Nexusmods

These two mods constitute a comprehensive overhaul of the game's visual style. The author has done tremendous work, allowing you to turn Stardew Valley into a medieval-themed project. Medieval buildings change all structures to resemble a small medieval town. It looks truly stunning, fits seamlessly into the overall vision of the game.

Gwen's Medieval Craftables not only introduces medieval buildings but also adds decorations. They replace the standard decor on the map, in the crafting menu. Now, players can build a cozy Victorian-style farm filled with charming, beautiful details.

Global Expansion

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It’s time to talk about a global modification that significantly expands the title. If you plan to immerse yourself in this project for the next year or more, this enhancement is a must. Stardew Valley Expanded is a full fan-made expansion with a ton of content.

Players will encounter two new farm maps, significant changes to "vanilla" locations. These changes don't break the game, blend seamlessly into the world. Why alter the beloved town? It’s simple — the existing town can't accommodate all the new content.

The expansion introduces 27 new characters + 50 locations. All characters are well-written, with their own personalities + quest lines. The new world also adds 260 events! Additionally, the mod includes new crafting recipes, crops, fish types, buildings, decorations, and other cool features. They even added new music.

Ultimate Cheat

Image: Nexusmods

Of course, we couldn't leave readers without cheats. The CJB Cheats Menu adds a menu with all available codes. With it, the player becomes a god in this pixelated world, adjusting all aspects of gameplay as they see fit. In short — limitless power.

Elevator in the Desert Mine

Image: Nexusmods

The character progresses level by level, defeats numerous tough monsters, snacks on cheese and milk, only to… lose all progress. Unfair! However, this mod rectifies this issue. Now you can venture into the desert mine, which has over two billion levels, without worrying about starting from scratch.

Birthday

Image: Nexusmods

Finally, the townsfolk will start celebrating your character's birthday. It’s disheartening to go through forests, mountains to find a specific person to give them a bottle of wine or their favorite dish, and yet no one puts in the same effort for the hero. Another nice bonus of this mod is gifts from parents + friends.

Love Letters

Image: Nexusmods

It’s delightful to receive a message with loving content. A character who loves you’ll surely pour their feelings onto paper + send it by mail along with a small gift. This brings the game to life and makes it even more interesting. These letters can also be useful, as they might contain hints on how to activate a heart event with that character.

Easier Fishing

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Sometimes you just want to relax while fishing, but Stardew Valley doesn't allow it because some fish move at lightning speed. They break free, and so do the player's nerves. Enough of this! It’s time to make fishing easier, so it brings the pleasure and calm it should with this mod.

This reduces the speed of the green bar when the fish tries to escape the hook, significantly easing the capture of sea creatures.

Better Sprinklers

Image: Nexusmods

We understand that the sprinklers in the game are well-made, but the player can make them even better with this modification. Better Sprinklers allows the player to customize the shape of the sprayed squares and gradually improve them by spending resources.

The mod also shows the user the area covered by both sprinklers, scarecrows when placing them, which is quite a useful feature.

In this list, we’ve outlined the best mods for Stardew Valley that touch on all aspects of the game. With their help, players can not only make gameplay more convenient but also completely change the sandbox in terms of mechanics or visuals.

Main image: deviantart.com/kokiricraigart