Mods to make Stardew Valley feel fresh again

Spice up your next trip to Pelican Town

Stardew Valley is one of my most-played games of all time, with hundreds of hours across four different platforms, but eventually, I reached a point where I was burned out on the vanilla experience. Thankfully, Stardew has one of the most robust modding communities out there, with well over 400 pages on Nexus Mods alone.

There are tons of mods that can help with quality-of-life stuff, or just help you straight-up cheat, like the Item Spawner or NPC Map Locations mods, but if you really want to make Stardew Valley feel brand new in look or feel, we’ve compiled a list of some of the best content and reskin mods for the game out there.

Stardew Valley Expanded

As one of the most popular Stardew mods to date, Stardew Valley Expanded is a must for anyone who’s looking to give the game a new life. This massive mod includes 27 new NPCs, 50 new locations, 260 character events, 27 fish, reimagined areas from the base game, new farm maps, as well as new music, questlines, objects, crops, festivals, and more. This one could keep you busy for another few hundred hours at least.

Ridgeside Village

Ridgeside Village is yet another huge story expansion mod that lets you explore a whole other town. There are over 50 new NPCs to get to know, new items, shops, festivals, music, quests — you name it. Similar to Stardew Valley Expanded, Ridgeside Village makes the game feel brand new again, and I know I for one love the idea of getting to romance some fresh new NPCs.

Aesthetic Valley – Cottagecore

Part of why so many of us love Stardew Valley is because it delivers on the small-town, cozy lifestyle that many of us are craving. To make your time in Pelican Town feel even more whimsical, you can download this reskin mod that makes everything look like an adorable cottagecore dream.

Pelican Fiber

If you’re feeling a little bit lazier, you can always download the Pelican Fiber mod. The idea is that Joja has installed high-speed internet in the town, so you can do everything you could possibly want from the comfort of your own home. Thanks to Pelican Fiber, you can upgrade your tools, request buildings from Robin, buy hats, and so much more, all without having to step foot out your front door.

Starblue Valley

If you like the idea of a recolor but want something that looks a little more natural, Starblue Valley is probably more your speed. It keeps with the original color scheme of the base game, but mostly just turns down the saturation to make the colors look a little more like real life. Not quite as much fun if you ask me, but it’s perfect for the realists out there.

Pelican Postal Service

Stardew is known for being pretty similar to Animal Crossing because of its pacing and community simulator gameplay, so why not install a mod that makes it a little more like Animal Crossing? The Pelican Postal Service mod allows you to send mail to your friends, and of course, you can mail them presents if you want.

Canon-friendly Dialogue Expansion

Establishing relationships with the townsfolk is one of the most fun and wholesome parts of Stardew Valley, but after you play for a while, the dialogue can start to feel a bit stale. Thanks to this dialogue expansion mod, there’s a whole lot more to talk about, and it even promises to be canon-friendly.

Fantasy Crops

Once you’ve played through Stardew a few times, having to go to the mines to gather resources — or God forbid Skull Cavern — can feel like a bit of a hassle. Thanks to the Fantasy Crops mod, you’ll be able to grow your very own resources at home as crops, including coal, gold, and yes, even iridium.

Deep Woods

Stardew players know the map like the back of their hand, but if you’re someone who’s looking to add a little bit more mystery and exploration into their playthrough, the Deep Woods mod might be for you. It adds a procedurally generated forest where the Secret Woods usually are, turning them into basically what mines are, but like, a forest. The mod’s creator warns that the Deep Woods are pretty challenging, meant to add to the late game, so don’t go wandering in too soon!

Blue Grass Recolor

Don’t get me wrong, I think Stardew Valley is a beautiful game, but sometimes I just really don’t vibe with the color scheme it has going on — especially that bright yellow color of the dirt. There are plenty of recolor mods out there to remedy this situation, and Blue Grass Recolor happens to be one of my favorites. It washes the world in beautiful pastels, including turning the grass blue in the summer.

Medieval Buildings

The buildings in Stardew have a quaint, cozy feeling to them, but after your second or third playthrough, they can start to feel a bit boring. If you want to add a whimsical, timeless feeling to the structures around your farm, the Medieval Buildings mod is a great option.

Better Toddler Mod

I never really thought about it, but now that someone brings it up, it is pretty weird that your kids in the game never really look like you or your spouse. Thanks to the Better Toddler mod, now your little tikes will look just like the NPC you chose to wed, or you can just customize them to look like whatever you want.

Multiple Spouses

Hate having to choose which NPC you want to romance on any given playthrough? Now you don’t have to! With the Multiple Spouses mod, you can not only marry multiple NPCs, but you can date while you’re married, date previously non-dateable NPCs, and even have amicable relationships with your ex-spouses.

Anime Character Portraits

Don’t get me wrong, ConcernedApe is a fantastic artist, but I’ve seen some character portrait mods out there that completely revamp the look of the game. One option you can go for is the anime reskin, which makes all of the NPCs look like they’re fresh out of your favorite shounen. The dream boats of Pelican Town just got even dreamier.

Expanded Climates

If you’re looking for a little bit more variation in the weather you can experience in Pelican Town, look no further than the expanded climates mod. This Stardew Valley mod adds fog, dry lightning, blizzards, and even whiteouts, which can even add a new degree of difficulty to the game — you know, because you can’t see. This could be a fun way to bring out your inner survivalist on your next playthrough.

Rustic Country Town Interiors

If you’re one to want to alter how your buildings look on the exterior, don’t forget the interiors as well! This Rustic Country Town Interiors mod mellows out the colors on the inside of buildings, making for a nice aesthetic that ties in well with other recolor and visual mods. The Saloon’s new look is my personal favorite, complete with ornate bar stools and a longhorn skull hanging on the wall by the jukebox.

Hotspring Farm Cave

I’ll be honest, a lot of the time I forget that the cave on my farm even exists, and I end up getting mushrooms or fruit elsewhere so I don’t use it all that much when I do remember it. If you find yourself in the same boat, why not turn that dark, dank cave into a relaxing hot spring experience? With the Hot Spring Farm Cave mod, you have your own private spot to take a dip, and you can even plant some crops down there.