By Alex Cranz, managing editor and co-host of The Vergecast. She oversaw consumer tech coverage at Gizmodo for five years. Her work has also appeared in the WSJ and Wired.
The 17 best Stardew Valley mods to shake up your playthrough
20.11.2023 - 15:19 / polygon.com / Best
Despite being released back in 2016, Stardew Valley is still going strong. But even the best-designed games can be tweaked to your liking using mods. New players might decide they prefer a recolored look, while those with hundreds of hours might be searching for an expanded experience. Either way, we’ve gathered some of the best Stardew Valley mods to give you tons of options for your next playthrough.
First, you’ll need to get set up for modding. These mods are predominantly for those playing on a PC, although the Steam Deck and Android versions of Stardew also support some mods. You’ll need an additional piece of software, called SMAPI, which can be downloaded from Nexus Mods. There is also a nice set of instructions for installing and using it available on the Stardew Valley Wiki.
For quite a few mods, you’ll also need to have Content Patcher, so it’s worth setting that up at the same time. Just unzip the folder inside the Mods folder that was created automatically by SMAPI.
Congratulations! You’re ready to dive into the wonderful world ofStardew modding.
The animals scattered around Pelican Town help it to feel alive and in tune with the nature around it. Elle’s Town Animals jazzes them up, with multiple options including dozens of new birds and 42 butterfly variants. You can also randomize which ones appear if, like me, that seems like an impossible decision to you.
Many Stardew Valley mods simply make small changes to how the game looks, and Seasonal Outfits is a popular example. Its subtitle is “Slightly Cuter Aesthetic,” so it’s not here to overhaul anything, but it does tweak NPC sprites so that they have different clothes depending on the weather, as well as giving them special looks for the Flower Dance and Spirit’s Eve festivals. It’s a great place to start if you want to give the game a bit more variety without changing it too much.
The bright colors of basic Stardew Valley are certainly cheerful, but recolor mods give players tons of other palettes and seasonal moods to choose from. DaisyNiko’s Earthy Recolour brings the whole game down into a more muted, grounded palette that’s easier on the eyes. It also replaces the dig spot so that it grows a clover instead of those weird worms from the base game, which is a nice touch.
For a slightly more intense aesthetic change, try this mod that swaps out all of the flora and fauna for beautifully pastel versions. I’m a huge fan of the spring look, with multiple shades of blossom trees — and the giant, house-sized mushrooms.
If the standard pixel faces of the bachelors and bachelorettes of Pelican Town aren’t quite your style, it’s anime portraits to the rescue. This mod by OhoDavi is the most popular, which makes Alex look like a sports anime
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pushsquare.com
06.12.2023 / 23:01
Stardew Valley Creator Confirms a 'Ton of Progress' Made on Update 1.6 | Push Square
Farmers eager for a reason to return to Stardew Valley will be glad to know creator Eric «ConcernedApe» Barone has confirmed a «ton of progress» has been made on the lifestyle sim's eagerly-anticipated 1.6 update. Taking to <a href=«https://twitter.com/ConcernedApe/status/1730673829083775387?ref_src=» https:>Twitter
screenrant.com
04.12.2023 / 20:39
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destructoid.com
04.12.2023 / 15:49
Stardew Valley update 1.6 undergoing a ‘ton of progress’
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gamesradar.com
04.12.2023 / 15:47
The creator of Terraria says the worst part of making one of the biggest indie games ever is that their wife likes Stardew Valley more
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ign.com
04.12.2023 / 15:39
Stardew Valley Creator Gives Fans a Progress Report on 1.6 Update
Stardew Valley creator Erik ‘Concerned Ape’ Barone has taken to X/Twitter to give fans a progress report on the RPG's highly anticipated 1.6 update, and to shed light on his motivation for continuing to work on the popular 2016 farming sim over seven years after it came out.
pcgamer.com
03.12.2023 / 21:31
Stardew Valley 1.6 is still chugging along, says creator, after a month of "self-imposed" crunch
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rockpapershotgun.com
03.12.2023 / 04:15
Stardew Valley's 1.6 update progressing as developer enters "(self-imposed) extreme crunch mode"
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eurogamer.net
02.12.2023 / 19:41
Stardew Valley creator confirms he's made "a ton of progress" on update 1.6
Stardew Valley creator Eric «ConcernedApe» Barone says he is in the midst of a «self-imposed crunch mode» as he gets Stardew Valley's 1.6 update ready for release.
gamesradar.com
02.12.2023 / 14:35
ConcernedApe says he's in "extreme crunch mode" for Stardew Valley's 1.6 update, and shows off a new storage solution
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polygon.com
01.12.2023 / 23:45
How I learned to love Stardew Valley’s terrible fishing
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pcgamer.com
30.11.2023 / 18:59
Super cute colony farm sim Echoes of the Plum Grove is inspired as much by Oregon Trail as Stardew Valley
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