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Stardew Valley gifts: every character’s favourite presents

Presents are always the way to a person's heart and with these Stardew Valley gifts, you'll build relationships quickly and efficiently

Stardew Valley Gifts: A farmer and Sebastian in a love cutscene

There’s a lot to do in Stardew Valley, including mingling with NPCs and making friends with them. One of the best ways to do that is by giving them their favourite gift. However, not all the Stardew Valley gifts are created equal and you’ll need to be smart if you plan on improving your friendship with all the Stardew Valley characters.

The gift system in Stardew Valley is a great way to increase your social status around town. If you want to eventually get married and have kids, you will need to know how gifting works in the game so that you can marry the NPC of your dreams. Similarly, if you want receive gifts from time to time, you’ll need to dig deep and be generous.

There are a variety of different Stardew Valley gifts, and having an understanding of how they work will be important. But what exactly is a Universal Love, and how do you know what is the best gift in Stardew Valley?

Stardew Valley gifts types

There are a total of five different gift types in Stardew Valley: Loved, Liked, Neutral, Disliked, and Hated. Each gift type will allow you to earn (or lose) friendship points with an NPC, based on how that character feels about the gift.

Below is a breakdown of all five gift types and how many points can be gained or lost:

Gift type Friendship points
Loved +80
Liked +45
Neutral +20
Disliked -20
Hated -40

If you want to grow your friendship with different characters in Stardew Valley, you’ll need to build up your friendship points and earn hearts. Each character has a total of ten hearts (unless they’re your spouse), and each heart requires 250 friendship points.

There are a couple of different ways to earn friendship points, like completing quests for a character which will earn you 150 points, and talking to them which will give you 20 points, among ways. However, the easiest way to quickly earn friendship points is by giving a character their favourite gift. However, if you give them a gift that they don’t like, you can lose up to 40 points, so be careful with what you give!

If you give a character their favourite gift on their birthday, you’ll receive 8x the friendship points. That means one gift could net you a total of 640 points and four hearts, so getting checking your calendar.

How to give Stardew Valley gifts

To give gifts in Stardew Valley, simply place the item you want to give in your hands and walk up to an NPC. Once you’re close enough, click on the character and they’ll receive your gift.

You can only give one gift a day to villagers in Stardew and two a week. However, if it’s their birthday and you’ve already given them two gifts, you can still give them a present. The only exception to the two a week rule is your spouse, as you can give them a gift every day of the week if you’d like.

Stardew Valley gifts: Players gather around a Christmas tree in Stardew Valley

Stardew Valley gifts for every character

There are a total of 34 NPCs in Stardew Valley that you can give gifts to. Each villager has different preferences, and will appreciate some gifts more than others. Below, you’ll find a list of all the best gifts for every character in Stardew Valley.

Villager Birthday Loves Likes Hates
Abigail Fall 13 Amethyst, Banana, Pudding, Blackberry, Cobbler, Chocolate Cake, Pufferfish, Pumpkin, Spicy Eel Quartz Clay, Holly
Alex Summer 13 Complete Breakfast, Salmon Dinner All eggs (except Void Egg) Holly, Quartz
Caroline Winter 7 Fish Taco, Green Tea, Summer Spangle, Tropical Curry Daffodil, Tea Leaves Quartz, Salmonberry
Clint Winter 26 Amethyst, Aquamarine, Artichoke Dip, Emerald, Fiddlehead Risotto, Gold Bar, Iridium Bar, Jade, Omni Geode, Ruby, Topaz Copper Bar, Iron Bar Holly
Dwarf Summer 22 Amethyst, Aquamarine, Emerald, Jade, Lemon Stone, Omni Geode, Ruby, Topaz All Artifacts, Cave Carrot, Quartz None
Elliot Fall 5 Crab Cakes, Duck Feather, Lobster, Pomegranate, Squid Ink, Tom Kha Soup All Fruit (except Salmonberry), Octopus, Squid Amaranth, Quartz, Salmonberry, Sea Cucumber
Emily Spring 27 Amethyst, Aquamarine, Cloth, Emerald, Jade, Ruby, Survival Burger, Topaz, Wool Daffodil, Quartz Fish Taco, Holly, Maki Roll, Salmon Dinner, Sashimi
Evelyn Winter 20 Beet, Chocolate Cake, Diamond, Fairy Rose, Stuffing, Tulip All Milk, Daffodil All fish, Clam, Clay, Coral, Friend Eel, Garlic, Holly, Maki Roll, Salmonberry, Sashimi, Spice Berry, Spicy Eel, Trout Soup
George Fall 24 Friend Mushroom, Leek Daffodil Clay, Dandelion, Holly, Quartz
Gus Summer 8 Diamond, Escargot, Fish Taco, Orange, Tropical Curry Daffodil Coleslaw, Holly, Quartz
Haley Spring 14 Coconut, Fruit Salad, Pink Cake, Sunflower Daffodil All Fish, Clay, Prismatic Shard, Wild Horseradish
Harvey Winter 14 Coffee, Pickles, Super Meal, Truffle Oil, Wine All Fruit (except Salmonberry and Spice Berry), all Mushrooms (except Red), Daffodil, Dandelion, Duck Egg, Duck Feather, Ginger, Goat Milk, Hazelnut, Holly, Large Goat Milk, Leek, Quartz, Snow Yam, Spring Onion, Wild Horseradish, Winter Root Coral, Nautilus Shell, Rainbow Shell, Salmonberry, and Spice Berry
Jas Summer 4 Fairy Rose, Pink Cake, Plum Pudding Coconut, Daffodil All Artisan goods (except Honey, Jelly, Oil) Clay, Triple Shot Expresso, Wild Horseradish
Jodi Fall 11 Chocolate Cake, Crispy Bass, Diamond, Eggplant, Parmesan, Friend Eel, Pancakes, Rhubarb Pie, Vegetable Medley All eggs (except Void Egg), all fruit (except Spice Berry), and all Milk Daffodil, Dandelion, Spice Berry
Kent Spring 4 Fiddlehead Risotto, Roasted Hazelnuts All eggs (except Void Egg), all fruit, Daffodil All Milk, Algae Soup, Holly, Sashimi, Tortilla
Krobus Winter 1 Diamond, Iridium Bar, Pumpkin, Void Egg, Void Mayonnaise, Wild Horseradish Gold Bar, Quartz, and Seafoam Pudding None
Leah Winter 23 Goat Cheese, Poppyseed Muffin, Salad, Stir Fry, Truffle, Vegetable Medley, Wine All eggs (except Void Egg), all Fruit, all Milk, all Mushrooms (except Red), Daffodil, Dandelion, Driftwood, Ginger, Hazelnut, Holly, Leek, Snow Yam, Spring Onion, Wild Horseradish, Winter Root Bread, Hashbrowns, Pancakes, Pizza, Void Egg
Leo Summer 26 Duck Feather, Mango, Ostrich Egg, Poi Dragon Tooth, Nautilus Shell, Quartz, Rainbow Shell, Sea Urchin,  Spice Berry Beer, Holly, Hops, Mead, Morel, Oil, Pale Ale, Pina Colada, Triple Shot Espresso, Unmilled Rice, Wine
Lewis Spring 7 Autumn’s Bounty, Glazed Yams, Green Tea, Hot Pepper, Vegetable Medley Blueberry, Cactus Fruit, Coconut Holly, Quartz
Linus Winter 4 Blueberry Tart, Cactus Fruit, Coconut, Dish O’ The Sea, Yarn All fruit (except Cactus Fruit and Coconut), all Mushrooms (except Red), Daffodil, Dandelion, Ginger, Hazelnut, Holly, Leek, Snow Yam, Spring Onion, Wild Horseradish, Winter Root None
Marnie Fall 18 Diamond, Farmer’s Lunch, Pink Cake, Pumpkin Pie All eggs (except Void Egg), all Milk, Quartz Clay, Holly
Maru Summer 10 Battery Pack, Cauliflower, Cheese Cauliflower, Diamond, Gold Bar, Iridium Bar, Miner’s Treat, Pepper Poppers, Radioactive Bar, Rhubarb Pie,  Strawberry Copper Bar, Iron Bar, Oak Resin, Pine Tar, Quartz, Radioactive Ore Holly, Honey, Pickles, Snow Yam, Truffle
Pam Spring 18 Beer, Cactus Fruit, Glazed Yams, Mead, Pale Ale, Parsnip, Parsnip Soup, Pina Colada All Fruit (except Cactus Fruit), all Milk, Daffodil Holly, Octopus, and Squid
Penny Fall 2 Diamond, Emerald, Melon, Poppy, Poppyseed Muffin, Red Plate, Roots Platter, Sandfish, Tom Kha Soup All Artifacts, all Milk, Dandelion, Leek Beer, Grape, Holly, Hops, Mead, Pale Ale, Pino Colada, Rabbit’s Foot, Wine
Pierre Spring 26 Fried Calamari All eggs (except Void Egg), all Milk, Daffodil, Dandelion All Fish, Corn, Garlic, Parsnip Soup, Tortilla
Robin Fall 21 Goat Cheese, Peach, Spaghetti All Milk, all Fruit (except Peach), Hardwood, Quartz Holly
Sam Summer 17 Cactus Fruit, Maple Bar, Pizza, Tigerseye All eggs (except Void Egg), Joja Cola Coal, Copper Bar, Duck Mayonnaise, Gold Bar, Gold Ore, Iridium Bar, Iridium Ore, Iron Bar, Mayonnaise, Pickles, Refined Quartz
Sandy Fall 15 Crocus, Daffodil, Mango Sticky Rice, Sweet Pea All Fruit, Goat Milk, Large Goat Milk, Quartz, Wool Holly
Sebastian Winter 10 Frozen Tear, Obsidian, Pumpkin Soup, Sashimi, Void Egg Flounder, Quartz All Artisan Goods (except Coffee, Green Tea, and Oil), all Eggs (except Void Egg), Clay, Complete Breakfast, Farmer’s Lunch, Omelette
Shane Spring 20 Beer, Hot Pepper, Pepper Poppers, Pizza All eggs (except Void Egg), all fruit (except Hot Pepper) Pickles, Quartz
Vincent Spring 10 Cranberry Candy, Ginger Ale, Grape, Pink Cake, Snail Coconut, Daffodil All Artisan Goods (except Honey, Jelly, Oil), Clay, Triple Shot Expresso, Wild Horseradish
Willy Summer 24 Catfish, Diamond, Iridium Bar, Mead, Octopus, Pumpkin, Sea Cucumber, Sturgeon Gold Bar, Lincod, Quartz, Seafoam Pudding, Tiger Trout None
Wizard Winter 17 Purple Mushroom, Solar Essence, Super Cucumber,  Void Essence All Geode Minerals, Quartz None

CAN YOU LOSE FRIENDSHIP POINTS IN STARDEW VALLEY?

There are two ways to lose friendship points in Stardew Valley: Giving Disliked and Hated gifts and not talking to the NPC every day.

As we mentioned above, giving a Disliked gift will cost you 20 friendship points and giving a Hated gift will cost you 40 points.

Further, if you don’t talk to the specific NPC every day, you will lose friendship points. For most, you will only lose two points every day that you don’t speak to them. Once you reach ten hearts, you will no longer lose friendship points.

However, there are a few exceptions to this rule. After you’ve given an NPC a bouquet, you will lose ten points every day that you don’t speak to them. Once you reach ten hearts with them, you won’t lose any more points. If you’re married, you will lose 20 points every day you don’t speak to your partner, regardless of how many hearts you have.

How does the heart meter work in Stardew Valley?

As we explained earlier, each NPC in Stardew Valley has a heart meter. All NPCs have a total of ten hearts, except for your spouse who has a total of 14 hearts.

Additionally, there are a total of eight characters that are eligible for marriage. Their heart meter will stop at eight, until you give them a bouquet. This indicates that you’re interested in a romantic relationship with them, and their heart meter will unlock to ten hearts.

The NPCs in Stardew Valley that are eligible for marriage are:

  • Abigail
  • Alex
  • Elliot
  • Emily
  • Haley
  • Harvey
  • Leah
  • Maru
  • Penny
  • Sam
  • Sebastian
  • Shane

If you are interested in pursuing marriage with one of these characters, or are just trying to build a good relationship with them, give them a bouquet after you reach eight hearts to unlock the last two in the heart meter.

So there you have it, a full Stardew Valley gifts guide. Make sure you study each character’s likes and dislikes carefully to get those relationships blossoming.