Stardew Valley: Making Friends

Gifts to Build Hearts and Make Relationships

Looking to make new friends in Stardew Valley?

The process is quite easy. All you will need to do is talk to and offer gifts to characters in Pelican town or other locations of the game world. You will benefit from your Stardew Valley relationships because your friends will teach you new recipes and even send gifts to your mail as your friendship advances. You can also take things to the next level by getting married to one of the characters. Stardew Valley doesn’t discriminate and allows you to marry a character of the same sex if you want.

The Heart Meter

Simply view the number of hearts you’ve built with a character by hovering the mouse pointer over the icon located at the bottom right corner. It takes time to build hearts so you will need to be patient. These delays are due to the limit to the number of Stardew gifts you can give per week and the fact that you lose some hearts each day you fail to find or talk to them. A villager will not need that much attention if you can reach 10 stars with them.

Accomplish that and they become your best friends.

There is a slight twist to growing heart amounts with bachelors and bachelorettes who are due for marriage. The heart meter freezes at eight, and you can only get it to 10 by giving them a bouquet. A bouquet is the game’s equivalent of an engagement ring.

Making Friends in Stardew Valley: Conversations and Gifts

Gift offerings are limited to one per day and two per week per character except on special occasions like a character’s birthday. To give gifts, simply put the gift on the bar and use the item as you hover around the character you intend to give it to. You gain a portion of a heart if they love the gift. The heart signifies how much a character likes you.

You lose hearts for offering a villager gifts he or she dislikes. Another way you lose hearts is not talking to a friend for long periods. Ensure you talk to a friend(s) at least once every ten days to prevent this heart decay.

To keep friends interested in your character, try to interact with them frequently.

All non-player characters in the game have things they like and others they don’t. You have a dialogue with characters each time you give them gifts. Gifts offered fall in one of five categories; great, good, neutral, bad and horrible. Good and great gifts are equivalent to visiting your friend for 2 and 4 days respectively while a neutral gift is worth a day’s visit.

Whatever you do, don’t offer characters gifts they dislike.

As you will expect, gifts differ in their value, try to give good or great gifts to make your friendship with the characters grow and blossom. It takes the same amount of effort to build every heart, so this quite different from leveling a skill.

You will make more progress building stars by taking on quests from Pierre’s job board, giving gifts on birthdays and on holidays such as the Feast of Winter Star. On the latter occasion, you act as a secret Santa. Don’t fail to look out for these days and make sure you seize the opportunities they present. You can discover a non-player character’s birthday by looking at the calendar next to Pierre’s. Look out for a list of the best gifts at the end of this Stardew Valley gift guide.

The Social Tab

To view the inventory screen simply press the ESC button. Click on the social tab represented by a heart to view the list of characters you have given gifts to each day/week. The list automatically resets every Sunday. You can keep tabs on your gifting activity by checking up to two boxes. You can also view the amounts of hearts you’ve built with a character from here.

The social tab makes befriending multiple characters a lot easier and it also comes in handy during Grandpa’s evaluation which is slated for the start of the 3rd year.

Marriage in Stardew Valley

When you build ten hearts with a Stardew Valley bachelor or bachelorette, you get married to the character. As explained earlier, after reaching 8 hearts, you’ll need to offer them a bouquet to get to 10. This is the only way to unlock a bachelor’s or bachelorettes 9th and 10th heart. As long as you are yet to be married, you can give bouquets to multiple villagers.

To get engaged in Stardew Valley, you will need to buy and give a Mermaid’s Pendant (5,000G) to an NPC you’ve built ten hearts with. The Pendant can be bought only on rainy days at the beach for 5000G from the old Mariner.

It’s compulsory to repair the bridge at a cost of 500 kinds of wood to access the area.

The old mariner can only be seen on rainy days so don’t bother trying on snowy days. You can only buy the pendant when eligible to get engaged so it is impossible to acquire it for use on a later date. Another requirement before you propose is a double bed so you will need to upgrade your house.

You get married to a character 3 days after presenting them a pendant. You can decide to have kids with your spouse but you will need to keep building your relationship and also carry out the final home upgrade. Spouses offer players an extra pair of helping hands on the farm.

When players build more than 12 stars with their spouses, the spouses occasionally help to increase maximum energy by providing random Stardrops. Increasing the number of hearts with your spouse is quite easy since you can offer him or her a gift every day rather than just twice in a week.

Marriage Candidates

Want to get married in Stardew Valley?

Male Villagers you can Marry	Females You Can Marry
Alex	Abigail
Elliott	Haley
Harvey	Leah
Sam	Maru
Sebastian	Penny

Then see the list of Non-Player Character’s likes and dislikes to help you meet the marriage heart requirement.

Conclusion; consistency is the key

Due to the rather demanding marriage requirements, it’s advisable to get started sooner rather than later. Same applies to players who wish to have lots of friends to learn new recipes from. It takes a significant amount of time and effort to build ten stars with a character, but that will eventually be achieved if you’re patient. You will need to interact and have conversations regularly with them whether or not you have gifts for them.

It’s also a wise move to master the character’s location; regardless of their schedule, there is a spot you’ll usually find each character most of the time. Try catching the character early once you find out where he/she lives. Remember to grow the products your friend(s) love so you have enough to give twice each week. You have only 16 weeks in a year, try to produce 32 units of gift items characters love so you can give them gifts regularly. Again, don’t forget to take advantage of birthdays.

List of Gifts Most NPCs Like

The items below are usually liked by the NPCs and they shouldn’t hate them. A more detailed table showing which item(s) each character loves will be provided in due course. While the list is not perfect, it will be of great help. Hit control + F to find the character you want to befriend and view their preferences of the generally loved gift items below.

Don’t forget to check the specifics in the more detailed list at the end of this piece.

• Artisan Goods – the majority appreciate these goods. There are a few dislikes though. Specific kinds: Penny and Sebastian dislike Pale Ale/Wine (Beer man), some characters dislike Mayo, Jas and Vincent dislike all types of Artisan Goods.
• Coffee – All NPCs seem to love it!
• Cooked Items – With the exception of Bread, Hops, Fried Eggs, Sashimi, and Wheat, these items tend to be generally loved. Kobus hates cooking while Willy only likes fish dishes. Some characters (Emily, Kent, Evelyn) don’t like Sashimi
• Flowers – Most villagers love flowers. However, George hates all flowers while some others dislike specific flowers (Elliot hates Poppies, Jody, Sebastian, and Maru don’t like Daffodil, and Sebastian hates Dandelion)
• Minerals and Gems – Mostly loved except Quartz. Leah hates all Gems. Elliot dislikes Limestone or Tigerseye.
• Fruit Tree Produce – Generally loved though Pierre hates Apples.

List of Gifts That Everyone Loves and Likes in the Village

Villager:

• Abigail

Birthday: Fal 13

Good Gifts: Likes Blueberry, Crocus, Sweet Pea, Tulip

Best Gifts: Loves Amethyst, Blackberry Cobbler, Chocolate Cake, Pufferfish, Pumpkin, Prismatic Shard, Rabbit’s Foot, Spicy Eel

• Alex

Birthday: Sum 13

Good Gifts: Likes Corn, Crocus, Eggs (not Void Egg) Green Bean, Kale, Sweet Pea, Parsnip, Potato, Tulip

Best Gifts: Loves Complete Breakfast, Prismatic Shard, Rabbit’s Foot, Salmon Dinner

• Caroline

Birthday: Win 7

Good Gifts: Likes Blue Jazz, Corn, Crocus, Eggplant, Fairy Rose, Parsnip, Radish, Tomato

Best Gifts: Loves Fish Taco, Prismatic Shard, Rabbit’s Foot, Summer Spangle

• Clint

Birthday: Win 26

Good Gifts: Likes Copper Bar, Iron Bar, Parsnip, Tomato

Best Gifts: Loves Aquamarine, Artichoke Dip, Emerald, Fiddlehead Risotto, Gold Bar, Iridium Bar, Omni Geode, Prismatic Shard, Rabbit’s Foot, Ruby

• Demetrius

Birthday: Sum 19

Good Gifts: Likes Corn, Hot Pepper, Parsnip, Purple Mushroom

Best Gifts: Loves Bean Hotpot, Ice Cream, Prismatic Shard, Rabbit’s Foot, Rice Pudding, Strawberry

• Dwarf

Birthday: Sum 22

Good Gifts: Likes Dwarf Scroll I-IV, Dwarvish Helm, Dwarf Gadget

Best Gifts: Loves Amethyst, Aquamarine, Emerald, Jade, Omni Geode, Prismatic Shard, Rabbit’s Foot, Ruby, Topaz

• Elliott

Birthday: Fal 5

Good Gifts: Likes Octopus, Parsnip, Squid, Tulip

Best Gifts: Loves Crab Cakes, Duck Feather, Lobster, Pomegranate, Prismatic Shard, Rabbit’s Foot, Tom Kha Soup

• Emily

Birthday: Spr 27

Good Gifts: Likes Crocus, Daffodil, Parsnip

Best Gifts: Loves Amethyst, Aquamarine, Cloth, Emerald, Jade, Prismatic Shard, Rabbit’s Foot, Ruby, Survival Burger, Wool

• Evelyn

Birthday: Win 20

Good Gifts: Likes Baked Fish, Crocus, Daffodil, Summer Spangle, Sweet Pea

Best Gifts: Loves Beets, Chocolate Cake, Diamond, Fairy Rose, Prismatic Shard, Rabbit’s Foot, Stuffing, Tulip

• George

Birthday: Fal 24

Good Gifts: Likes Daffodil

Best Gifts: Loves Fried Mushroom, Lee, Rabbit’s Foot

• Gus

Birthday: Sum 8

Good Gifts: Likes Cauliflower, Kale, Parsnip, Potato, Tulip

Best Gifts: Loves Diamond, Escargot, Fish Taco, Orange, Rabbit’s Foot

• Haley

Birthday: Spr 14

Good Gifts: Likes Crocus, Daffodil, Sweet Pea, Tulip

Best Gifts: Loves Coconut, Fruit Salad, Pink Cake, Rabbit’s Foot, Sunflower

• Harvey

Birthday: Win 14

Good Gifts: Likes Blackberry, Blueberry, Bok Choy, Corn, Daffodil, Duck Egg, Duck Feather, Goat Milk, Grape, Melon, Parsnip, Potato, Purple Mushroom, Strawberry, Wild Plum

Best Gifts: Loves Coffee, Lobster Bisque, Pickles, Prismatic Shard, Rabbit’s Foot, Super Meal, Truffle Oil, Wine

• Jas

Birthday: Sum 4

Good Gifts: Likes Coconut, Crocus, Daffodil, Sweet Pea, Tulip

Best Gifts: Loves Fairy Rose, Pink Cake, Plum Pudding, Rabbit’s Foot

• Jodi

Birthday: Fal 11

Good Gifts: Likes Eggs, Milk, Fruits (not Spice Berry), Parsnip, Sweet Pea

Best Gifts: Loves Chocolate Cake, Crispy Bass, Diamond, Eggplant Parmesan, Fried Eel, Pancakes, Prismatic Shard, Rabbit’s Foot, Vegetable Medley

• Kent

Birthday: Spr 4

Good Gifts: Likes Daffodil, Eggs (not void), Fruits, Parsnip, Sweet Pea

Best Gifts: Loves Fiddlehead Risotto, Prismatic Shard, Rabbit’s Foot, Roasted Hazelnuts

• Krobus

Birthday: Win 1

Good Gifts: Likes Gold Bars (never cooked foods)

Best Gifts: Loves Diamond, Iridium Bars, Pumpkin, Prismatic Shard, Rabbit’s Foot, Void Eggs, Wild Horseradish

• Leah

Birthday: Win 23

Good Gifts: Likes Chanterelle, Cheese, Common Mushroom, Crocus, Holly, Morel

Best Gifts: Loves Goat Cheese, Poppyseed Muffin, Prismatic Shard, Rabbit’s Foot, Salad, Stir Fry, Vegetable Medley, Wine

• Lewis

Birthday: Spr 7

Good Gifts: Likes Blueberry, Cactus Fruit, Coconut, Corn, Parsnip

Best Gifts: Loves Autumn’s Bounty, Glazed Yams, Hot Pepper, Rabbit’s Foot

• Linus

Birthday: Win 3

Good Gifts: Likes Chanterelle, Common Mushroom, Corn, Eggs, Fruits, Milk, Vegetables

Best Gifts: Loves Blueberry Tart, Cactus Fruit, Coconut, Dish of the Sea, Prismatic Shard, Rabbit’s Foot, Yam

• Marnie

Birthday: Fal 18

Good Gifts: Likes Blue Jazz, Eggs (not Void), Corn, Garlic, Milk, Parsnip, Sweet Pea

Best Gifts: Loves Diamond, Farmer’s Lunch, Pink Cake, Pumpkin Pie, Rabbit’s Foot

• Maru

Birthday: Sum 10

Good Gifts: Likes Amaranth, Copper Bar, Crocus, Eggplant, Iron Bar, Parsnip, Sweet Pea, Yam

Best Gifts: Loves Battery Pack, Cauliflower, Cheese Cauliflower, Diamond, Gold Bar, Iridium Bar, Miner’s Treat, Prismatic Shard, Rabbit’s Foot, Rhubarb Pie, Strawberry

• Pam

Birthday: Spr 18

Good Gifts: Likes Blackberry, Crocus, Milk, Sweet Pea

Best Gifts: Loves Beer, Cactus Fruit, Glazed Yams, Pale Ale, Parsnip Soup, Parsnip, Rabbit’s Foot

• Penny

Birthday: Fal 2

Good Gifts: Likes Corn, Dandelion, Leek, Parsnip, Sweet Pea, Sunflower, Sweet Pea, Tulip

Best Gifts: Loves Diamond, Emerald, Melon, Poppy, Red Plate, Roots Platter, Sandfish, Tom Kha Soup

• Pierre

Birthday: Spr 26

Good Gifts: Likes Blue Jazz, Cauliflower, Eggs, Eggplant, Green Beans, Parsnip, Potato, Sweet Pea, Tulip

Best Gifts: Loves Fried Calamari, Rabbit’s Foot

• Robin

Birthday: Fal 21

Good Gifts: Likes Blue Jazz, Crocus, Sweet Pea, Tulip

Best Gifts: Loves Goat Cheese, Peach, Prismatic Shard, Rabbit’s Foot, Spaghetti

• Sam

Birthday: Sum 17

Good Gifts: Likes Joja Cola, Egg

Best Gifts: Loves Cactus Fruit, Maple Bar, Pizza, Prismatic Shard, Rabbit’s Foot, Tigerseye

• Sandy

Birthday: Fal 15

Good Gifts: Fruit

Best Gifts: Loves Crocus, Daffodil, Prismatic Shard, Rabbit’s Foot, Sweet Pea

• Sebastian

Birthday: Win 10

Good Gifts: Likes Cauliflower, Parsnip, Potato, Pumpkin, Tomato

Best Gifts: Loves Frozen Tear, Obsidian, Pumpkin Soup, Prismatic Shard, Rabbit’s Foot, Sashimi, Void Eggs

• Shane

Birthday: Spr 20

Good Gifts: Likes Blue Jazz, Corn, Eggs, Fairy Rose, Fruit, Green Bean, Sweet Pea

Best Gifts: Loves Beer, Hot Pepper, Pepper Poppers, Pizza, Rabbit’s Foot

• Vincent

Birthday: Spr 10

Good Gifts: Likes Clam, Coconut, Crocus, Daffodil

Best Gifts: Loves Cranberry Candy, Grape, Pink Cake, Rabbit’s Foot

• Willy

Birthday: Sum 24

Good Gifts: Likes Gold Bar, Green Bean, Kale, Lingcod, Parsnip, Potato, Sweet Pea, Tiger Trout, Tulip

Best Gifts: Loves Catfish, Diamond, Iridium Bar, Octopus, Pumpkin, Prismatic Shard, Rabbit’s Foot, Sea Cucumber, Sturgeon

• Wizard

Birthday: Win 17

Good Gifts: Likes Amaranth, Blue Jazz, Esperite, Parsnip, Thunder Egg

Best Gifts: Loves Purple Mushroom, Prismatic Shard, Rabbit’s Foot, Solar Essence, Void Essence.