Check out all the essential Stardew Valley mods you can try in 2023.
Stardew Valley is a farming sim and role-playing game by Eric Barone, mostly known as ConcernedApe. With its immersive gameplay, rich storyline, memorable characters, and therapeutic pixel art style, it’s no surprise it’s considered one of the most cherished indie games ever. The game gets new updates and content even seven years after its release.
The developer recently announced that the Stardew Valley 1.6 update will feature new items, dialogues, festivals, and possibly many more. Modding will also go through significant changes. This will make it much easier for players to access and use mods.
Modding allows you to customize the gameplay mechanics and add new elements to enhance the gaming experience. Created by the passionate Stardew Valley community, these mods range from simple tweaks to more complex adjustments that introduce new features to the game.
Best Stardew Valley Mods to Try in 2023
Some mods may focus on changing the visuals or graphics, while others may add quality-of-life enhancements or make the world more expansive and immersive. Below, we listed several of the best Stardew Valley mods you can download online for free.
Tractor Mod
If you want to do farming on a large, industrial scale, the tractor can do the work for you. Just hop on the vehicle, and you can speed through all the farming activities like sowing, watering, and harvesting. But like any other farming equipment, you will need materials to make this mod functional.
Players must have 150,000 Gold, 20 Iron Bars, 5 Iridium Bars, and 5 Battery Packs to own a Tractor Garage. The tractor is certainly costly, but an extremely useful mod as it allows you to do all your farming chores without consuming energy.
Download Tractor here: https://www.nexusmods.com/stardewvalley/mods/1401
Better Ranching
Better Ranching is the mod you need if you love farm animals. This quality-of-life mod adds a thought bubble above the animals to show if they need to be sheared, milked, or petted. Better Ranching also lets you know if your goats have milk to produce for the day. With this, ranching becomes much easier and more enjoyable, especially if you have a flock of farm animals to raise.
Download Better Ranching here: https://www.nexusmods.com/stardewvalley/mods/859.
Automate
Automate is another staple mod for a lot of players. This mod lets you automatically process items in a machine and add them to a chest once they are ready. Place an artisan machine or refining equipment next to a chest, and it will collect the products for you.
This mod is suited for seasoned players looking for a way to streamline and simplify producing artisan goods so they can manage large-scale production better and focus more on other tasks like mining or fishing.
Download Automate here: https://www.nexusmods.com/stardewvalley/mods/1063
Fishing Info Overlay
Most mods adjust and lower the difficulty of fishing to a great degree. To some, this makes the activity less fun and engaging. If you’d like a simple but useful mod that does not change the core mechanics of fishing, here’s the Fishing Info Overlay mod.
This mod adds an overlay on top of the screen, providing players with information like which fish they can catch in the area. Not only that, but the mod also displays the number of bait you have and the spawn percentage of fish. Such modifications can help you catch a specific type of aquatic creature without taking the fun out of fishing.
Download Fishing Info Overlay here: https://www.nexusmods.com/stardewvalley/mods/8970.
Lookup Anything
Different NPCs have different preferences for gifts. Giving them the items they love is one way to increase your friendship points. Keeping track of all the villager’s favorite items and birthdays can be overwhelming. This is why Pathoschild made a mod that lets you easily find information about the NPCs in the game. Whatever tickles their fancy, you can search for it while in-game.
Aside from the NPCs, objects like crops, trees, forageables, and farm animals can also be examined on the UI info pop-up screen. You can bring up the pop-up screen by pointing the cursor at a villager’s sprite and pressing F1.
Download Lookup Anything here: https://www.nexusmods.com/stardewvalley/mods/541.
Part Of The Community
What Stardew Valley lacks in the socialization department is giving you a sense of belonging in a community. A good community is built on strong connections among its members. It would be more realistic if you could improve your reputation when the townies see you being nice to their loved ones. Thankfully, this mod just does all that!
For instance, you can passively rack up friendship points with the villagers by attending festivals or events, entering stores, and chatting up villagers when their friends and family are nearby. This mod works well for those with plenty of extra NPC mods but without time to socialize with them all.
Download Part Of The Community here: https://www.nexusmods.com/stardewvalley/mods/923.
Better Beach Forage
Coastal foraging can be tedious work in the game. Sometimes, you’ll only find a few clams and mussels, which does not make the long trip to the beach worthwhile. If you wish to get more beach forage items, worry no more. The Better Beach Forage mod has got you covered.
Better Forage can improve the spawn rate of washed-up items at the beach. Crabs will also spawn here occasionally. Rainbow and nautical shells will also appear in large numbers that can be sold for a good price.
Download Better Beach Forage here: https://www.nexusmods.com/stardewvalley/mods/5192.
Crop Transplant
We all know that planted crops and trees are two of the most vital resources in the game. Crops grow from seeds and are sold to earn money. But sometimes, we make farming mistakes, such as planting seeds on the wrong tile.
Meanwhile, trees provide you with essential items and can be used to beautify your farm. Regular trees can spread anywhere and ruin your farm layout if left unregulated. Don’t you wish there was an easier way to move trees and crops without destroying and replanting them?
The Crop Transplant mod allows you to relocate crops and trees on your farm. Just click any planted crop while holding a Garden Pot, drag it, and place it wherever you want. This mod can also work on all types of trees, including fruit, mushroom, and tea bushes.
Download Crop Transplant here: https://www.nexusmods.com/stardewvalley/mods/2594.
Skull Cavern Elevator
Have you ever wondered what it’s like to reach the bottom of Skull Cavern? The monster-infested dungeon located in the Calico Desert is said to be theoretically infinite. Even if you were to use tons of staircases to descend quickly in the caverns, reaching the bottom is not possible due to time constraints. Unfortunately, the floors reset and will take you back to the top once you exit.
The fastest way you can go down to the deepest levels is to use cheats. The Skull Cavern Elevator mod adds an elevator every ten floors, much like in the Mines. Although this makes traversing the Skull Caverns incredibly easy, you can finally explore the depths without too much hassle and preparation.
Download Skull Cavern Elevator here: https://www.nexusmods.com/stardewvalley/mods/963.
Enhanced Slingshots
Weapons are a good thing to have to defend ourselves from monsters. Ranged weapons are excellent for surprising enemies at a distance. Sadly, the only ranged weapon available is the Slingshot. You can’t get a Galaxy Slingshot as well as an Infinity Slingshot. And unlike most melee weapons, you also can’t enchant them.
The Enhanced Slingshots mod turns your underwhelming slingshot into a powerful tool and weapon. It adds the Galaxy and Infinity Slingshots, which can be enchanted at the Forge. The mod also allows you to use cool-looking ammunition for Slingshots like Radioactive Ore, Void Essence, or Solar Energy. Using enhanced slingshots can make exploring dungeons and fighting monsters more manageable.
Download Enhanced Slingshots here: https://www.nexusmods.com/stardewvalley/mods/12763.
Dynamic Reflections
Stardew Valley’s simple pixel graphics are part of its beauty. But if you want to bring realism into the game, you’ll need the Dynamic Reflections mod. As the name suggests, it adds water and mirror reflections. Puddles are also formed on the ground on rainy days and the day after.
Seeing your character’s reflection in the water and rain puddles around town makes exploration a more enjoyable experience. The best part about this mod is that it reflects the sky on clear sunny days. The countryside’s starry skies become more apparent when they reflect in the water, making special events like the Dance of the Moonlight Jellies more dramatic and memorable.
Download Dynamic Reflections here: https://www.nexusmods.com/stardewvalley/mods/12831.
Wind Effects
Wind Effects is another modification to turn your game a bit realistic. It allows the trees, crops, bushes, and grass to sway periodically, making it seem like the wind blows them.
Natural resources in this world are usually affected by the weather. On cloudy days in Spring, pollen gets spread all over the valley. Weeds and grass also multiply as a result. Visually, we only see pink petals flying around in this weather. With Wind Effects, you’ll see how your trees and crops sway in the breeze. It may be a small detail, but it makes the environment more animated.
Download Wind Effects here: https://www.nexusmods.com/stardewvalley/mods/6647.
Wildflower Grass Field
Grass has practical and decorative uses. Apart from turning them into hay, you can use grass to bring some life and color to your farm’s surroundings. Players who like incorporating grass in their farm beautification but wish there were more variations to the grass may want to try Dustbeauty’s Wildflower Grass Field mod. This recolor mod provides 52 grass and flowers in soft, pastel colors. If you have plans to make a cottage-core, fairy-themed farmland, this mod will fit well with the visuals like a glove.
Download Wildflower Grass Field here: https://www.nexusmods.com/stardewvalley/mods/5407.
Visible Fish
Visible Fish lets you see all the fish inhabiting Stardew Valley’s bodies of water. Whichever fish are available to catch, you can easily spot them swimming around in the lakes, rivers, ocean, etc. It’s not as extravagant or game-changing as other mods on this list, but Visible Fish combines utility and visual enhancement in the best possible way.
With this mod, fishing spots get filled with different kinds of fish, which can be a relaxing scene for most players. This mod improves your fishing experience by taking all the guesswork out of the mini-game but still retaining the challenge.
Download Visible Fish here: https://www.nexusmods.com/stardewvalley/mods/8897.
Seasonal Outfits – Slightly Cuter Aesthetic
Stardew Valley may be one of the best farming sims, but it’s not a perfect game. There’s still some room for improvement in the visual aspect of things. Some characters have sprites that don’t match their portraits. Some bachelorettes like Abigail or Maru look awkward with their bow legs when standing still. And what’s more, you don’t see them in their summer or winter outfits despite the changing seasons.
Poltergeister fixes all these issues with one of Stardew Valley’s best mods, Seasonal Outfits – Slightly Cuter Aesthetic. This mod corrects the inconsistencies in the character sprites and portraits. The main draw here is that it allows the townspeople to dress for every season, meaning you can see them change clothes, not just at town festivals. The mod gives you plenty more customization options, including letting you choose if you want to remove or keep Harvey’s glasses or if you want villagers’ sprites to have noses.
Download Seasonal Outfits – Slightly Cuter Aesthetic here: https://www.nexusmods.com/stardewvalley/mods/5450.
Baechu’s Portrait
There are a ton of anime-inspired mods created for fans of the genre. Anime portrait mods are trendy because they enable you to change the appearance of your villagers, turning them into characters with large, expressive anime eyes and vibrant hairstyles.
Baechu’s Portait is one of those mods, but it is more inclined towards giving the NPCs the Manhwa or South Korean comics (webcomics) look. Those who read a lot of Manhwa and enjoy its unique art style can try this lovely portrait mod.
Download Baechu’s Portrait here: https://www.nexusmods.com/stardewvalley/mods/3218.
Rei’s Enhanced Portraits
Rei’s Enhanced Portraits might be up your alley if you already like how the bachelors and bachelorettes looked and only want minor changes to their portraits. It can get pretty tiring to constantly stare at a character’s portrait, especially if you are married and live with them.
This portrait mod glams up your beloved’s design by adding more details to their hair and face. Although it only changes all the marriageable NPCs’ portraits, it makes them look more attractive without drastically changing their design.
Download Rei’s Enhanced Portraits here: https://www.nexusmods.com/stardewvalley/mods/8244.
Elle’s Seasonal Buildings
Characters are not the only ones receiving makeovers in the modding scene. Buildings get a lot of love from the community, too. A mod creator that goes by Elle has done plenty of incredible graphics modifications over the years, and Elle’s Seasonal Buildings are among the best ones they created.
Read: 8 Best Ways To Make Money Early In Stardew Valley
Elle’s Seasonal Buildings overhauls all your farm buildings with seasonal variations. It includes several options for building styles, themes, and colors compatible with most recolor mods like DaisyNiko’s Earthy Recolor or Starblue Valley. Elle’s Seasonal Buildings is a customizable mod that retextures the buildings’ exterior without straying too far from their vanilla design.
Download Elle’s Seasonal Buildings here: https://www.nexusmods.com/stardewvalley/mods/1993
Industrial Furniture Set
Having the complete freedom to create your desired farm layout and design is one of the best things this game could offer. You can place objects like paths, fences, decorations, and furniture wherever possible. But when it comes to furniture selections, some may agree that what we get is kind of limited.
The Dustbeauty’s Industrial Furniture Set adds 170 pieces of furniture and decorations to the game. From rugs to table lamps, it has all the dark-colored, vintage objects that any cottagecore fan would love. It adds character to your farmhouse and allows you to create a more homely and nostalgic feel.
The mod creator also made Industrial Kitchen and Interior, Rustic Walls and Floors, and Rustic Country Town Interior that revamp the interior design of your farmhouse and every building in Pelican Town. These mods can be added to your mod list as they work well with the Industrial Furniture Set.
Download Industrial Furniture Set here: https://www.nexusmods.com/stardewvalley/mods/5444.
Flower Valley
Flower Valley is a recolor mod that improves the game’s visuals by covering the in-game world with vibrant flowers. With it, the trees and foliage become more colorful and breathtakingly beautiful. The mod also redesigns farm and town buildings, changing the color of rooftops to earthy brown that contrasts with the bright flower vines on top of them. Flower Valley’s aesthetics go well with mods like Blooming Trees in Spring with Flowers or Lumisteria Flowers and Crops. But it’s currently not compatible with expansion mods like Stardew Valley Expanded.
Download Flower Valley here: https://kayainsdv.postype.com/post/10220280
Stardew Valley Expanded
Created by Flashshifter, Stardew Valley Expanded (SVE) is one of the best Stardew Valley mods that enriches and improves various aspects of the game. It introduces new locations, characters, quality-of-life enhancements, and more.
What makes SVE top-tier is that it doesn’t feel like a mod. All the fan-made NPCs, items, quests, dialogues, and events seem to fit right in on the original game. If you’re looking for something fresh and exciting, SVE offers plenty of new content to immerse you deeply.
Flashshifter also continues to update the expansion mod. One notable feature coming soon to SVE is the Castle Village, a place currently out of reach due to a magical barrier. Soon, you’ll be able to enter this village where new adventures await you.
Download SVE here: https://www.nexusmods.com/stardewvalley/mods/3753
Ridgeside Village
Ridgeside Village is another huge fan-made modification that gives you a whole village to explore! This mod made by Rafseazz and Mamaesh allows you to know unique characters and discover new Ferngill Republic lore.
The village can be accessed via the cable car north of the Bus Stop. Resources like fish, foreagables, and crops are also added here and are only found in this location.
In Ridgeside Village, you will encounter 50 characters with their questline and events. There are 22 villagers you can date and marry, and some can only become available for romance after finishing specific quests. For instance, Jio the Ninja Elf will only become romantically invested in you after completing the main storyline.
Apart from the area expansion and additional NPCs, it boasts fresh, exciting game mechanics you won’t experience in the original Stardew Valley. Cooking, monster hunting, and even grocery shopping have some new elements added to them, so check this mod out if you want more to enhance your overall experience in the game.
Download RSV here: https://www.nexusmods.com/stardewvalley/mods/7286
East Scarp
Like Stardew Valley Expanded and Ridgeside Village, Lemurkat’s East Scarp adds significant new content. East Scarp is not as expansive, but what sets it apart from the big two is it’s highly customizable.
By installing the mod files, you can add custom characters and let them live in East Scarp. The mod’s purpose is to give custom NPCs (made by other creators) a home without the hassle of adding map patches that may sometimes cause bugs or complications.
East Scarp is located on the far right side of Pelican Town. Surrounded mostly by the ocean, this part of the valley used to be a home for miners, but now it’s a little underpopulated. It’s up to the player to invite more people to live in East Scarp to make it a much livelier and thriving town.
Download East Scarp here: https://www.nexusmods.com/stardewvalley/mods/5787.
Durin’s Rest
Durin’s Rest is a fantasy-themed expansion mod developed by NoFogBob and PaulDunstan. Modders who love integrating magic and fantasy into their game can find this a worthy addition to their playthrough. New items, fun quests, romanceable magical beings, and an intricate brewing system are all the key features of this mod.
Durin’s Rest is a small farming community administered by a dwarf named Durin. Dwarves already exist in the vanilla game, but the ones in Durin’s Rest come from another world. The more you play, the more you’ll learn about the town’s story and the residents’ way of life.
One of its best features is the brewing mechanic that allows you to make beer, mead, pale ale, etc., differently. Instead of just popping an item inside an artisan machine and waiting for it to process, there’s a system you’ll need to follow to make these beverages, just like in real life!
Download Durin’s Rest here: https://www.nexusmods.com/stardewvalley/mods/12345.
Hot Spring Farm Cave
After a hard day’s work, a rejuvenating dip in the hot spring is just what every farmer needs. The original version has a mountain bathhouse that players can use to restore their health and energy. However, getting there takes a long walk. Luckily, you won’t have to worry about distance when you’ve got the Hot Spring Farm Cave mod.
The mod redesigns the farm cave and takes the aesthetics to new heights. It provides an underground hot spring that can heal you when your energy is low and a relaxing atmosphere perfect for unwinding. Players feeling burned out from grinding all day on their farm or in the mines can take a breather and immerse themselves in their hot spring farm cave.
Download Hot Spring Farm Cave here: https://www.nexusmods.com/stardewvalley/mods/5849.
Ginger Island Extra Locations
Image source: Nexusmods
Despite being an important aspect of the 1.5 update, Ginger Island does not get much attention in the modding community. Perhaps because many think Ginger Island is already fine as it is. But if you feel like the tropical paradise could use some expansion, look no further than Ginger Island Extra Locations.
Ginger Island Extra Locations gives you more areas to explore, meaning you’ll have more monsters to kill, loot to acquire, and secrets to unravel. We recommend players finish exploring and completing the quests in the original first before loading up this mod. Otherwise, those who have reached this part of the game multiple times can try this mod to get more content and extend their time on Ginger Island.
The mod is being updated and will be available after the 1.6 update.
Download Ginger Island Extra Locations here: https://www.nexusmods.com/stardewvalley/mods/12195.
Fishing Trawler
The Fishing Trawler mod is one of the best mods in Stardew Valley. It allows players to access a boat that can be used to catch fish in the ocean. Become a deckhand that assists the boat’s captain, Murphy, to get plenty of sea creatures you can sell, cook, or give to villagers. You aim to be an efficient deckhand that helps the captain keep the boat running smoothly.
The captain will only appear in Pelican Town once a week. You can join him in his fishing expedition while ensuring no leaks, ripped nets, or broken engines are on the boat to produce a good haul. Aquatic creatures aside, a successful run may yield rare items like the Trident, a tool you can use for spearfishing.
The Fishing Trawler mod lets you play a fast-paced mini-game with nice rewards. It’s a fun little addition to the gameplay if you want an alternative way to obtain heaps of fish without cheating.
Download Fishing Trawler here: https://www.nexusmods.com/stardewvalley/mods/15941.
Stardew Valley – Roguelike
In Stardew Valley, monsters often spawn in waves in dungeons. They appear in any direction, always ready to ambush and obstruct your progress. If you enjoy this aspect of the game, Tyler and TheHaboo’s Stardew Valley – Roguelike may be the perfect mod for you.
This mod takes all the combat elements of Stardew Valley and turns it into a roguelike game. With this, there will be no farming no socializing—it’s all about fighting monsters in a randomly generated dungeon. In true roguelike genre fashion, survival is of utmost importance.
The levels get progressively harder as you get deeper. And if you die, you’ll go back to floor one. Of course, you can get perks, buff and recovery items, and weapons on safe floors to prevent this from happening.
Unlike the vanilla game, Stardew Valley – Roguelike is the opposite of relaxing. But it provides a challenging and unique gameplay experience for those looking for a different way to play Stardew Valley.
Download SDV – Roguelike here: https://www.nexusmods.com/stardewvalley/mods/13614.
Conclusion
Many players enjoy mods because they extend the enjoyment and replayability of Stardew Valley. You can personalize the game and explore different possibilities beyond the original content provided by ConcernedApe. Thanks to mods, players can also share their experiences and creations with others, fostering a sturdy community built around the game.
Remember that you can tailor the game to your preferences, as most Stardew Valley mods are highly customizable. Check out the page where you downloaded your mod files for some author’s notes to learn how to configure them.
