Stardew Valley is one of the most popular farming sims out there, but it's missing some important quality-of-life features. Not only that, but it's also missing some fun mechanics. These features and customizations should have been in Stardew from the beginning. Yet, even with the updates and new content over the years, they're still missing.

Fortunately, the Stardew Valley modding community has stepped in, creating incredible mods that have improved the Stardew ​​​​​​experience in ways that feel like they should have been official features. Some improve convenience, others expand customization, and a few just add in fun surprises. Here are 10 mods that shouldn’t be mods but actual gameplay features and should have been included from the start.

10 Romance The Mysterious Wizard M. Rasmodius

Find Love With Stardew's Most Mysterious Bachelor

Have you ever wanted to romanceable marriage candidate characters, it feels a bit odd that he's been omitted. That all changes with this mod, allowing players to build relationships with the wizard and even get married.

The Wizard, M. Rasmodius, is one of Stardew Valley’s most mysterious characters. He lives alone in his tower, studies magic, and speaks in riddles. His mystery has made him a very compelling character that many, myself included, have wanted to get to know on a deeper level. The Romanceable Rasmodius mod doesn't just add romance, but also expands on the Wizard's story.

9 Build A Friendship Or More With Mr. Qi

Unlock A Relationship With Mr. Qi With Additional Content

Another overlooked character in the romance options, and even relationships as a whole, is Mr. Qi. Alongside M. Rasmodius, Mr. Qi has always been one of Stardew Valley’s most mysterious characters. Mr. Qi plays a big role in the game’s later stages but stays distant and hard to approach. The making him a fully interactable NPC with lots of new content.

Mr. Qi lives in The Calico Desert, so you won't encounter him until you unlock that area.

The mod adds over 800 dialogue lines, 22 heart events, and even an option for marriage. Players who build relationships with him will experience alternate heart events, unique reactions to player death if married, and interactions that make him feel like a true part of the town. The mod also adds new items, including cooking and crafting recipes, three new crops, a scarecrow, and a set of late-game weapons. It even introduces 10 quests, six special orders, two new locations, and a small shop.

8 Reach Max Hearts With Platonic Relationships

Enjoy All The Max Heart Events Without Romance

Relationships aren't for everyone, and even if you decide to get married to an NPC, you have to forfeit maxing out hearts with the other eligible NPCs. That changes with the Platonic Partners and Friendships mod by Amaranthacyan. With this mod, you can have a close, platonic friendship with any of the 12 vanilla marriage candidates. This means you can max out their hearts and experience all their heart events without romantic undertones or commitment.

Being able to max hearts on NPCs will give you more content to enjoy throughout the game.

The Platonic Partners and Friendships mod even alters the 8-10 heart dialogue and events to reflect a strong friendship rather than a romantic bond. This feature is a huge bonus for players who want to avoid jealousy and the pressure of romantic relationships. The platonic partnership includes a ceremony like a wedding, but without the romantic aspects. It also adds a Friendship Bracelet to propose the partnership casually. NPCs will treat this bond seriously, with special dialogues and events.

7 Locate NPCs Easily On The Stardew Valley Map

Find Whoever You Need To Quickly On The Map Or Mini Map

The NPC Map Locations mod by Bouhm and Pathoschild for Stardew Valley adds a useful feature that makes it easier to find both NPCs and other players in the game. This mod shows the locations of all the villagers on the map, which can be especially helpful when you’re trying to track down a specific person for a quest, gift, or heart event. Personally, I've always gotten frustrated by not knowing where someone was, so this mod is extremely useful in helping me figure that out and save time.

One of the best things about this mod is the optional minimap. This feature adds a smaller map to the corner of your screen, so you can easily track where you are and where everyone else is in the game. It’s perfect for players who want a more convenient way to explore without constantly opening the full map.

6 Switch Between Tools Without Actually Switching

Auto Switch Between Tools During Interactions

The Tool Smart Switch mod by aedenthorn in Stardew Valley makes using your tools easier by automatically switching to the right one when interacting with objects. For example, if you’re trying to chop a tree but are holding the wrong tool, the mod will automatically switch to your axe if it is available. It works with various interactions, such as using your pickaxe on stones, your scythe on weeds, or your watering can on dry-tilled soil. It also switches tools for tasks like using a milk pail or shears on farm animals, a pickaxe on boulders, or a hoe on tillable soil.

This mod works by detecting what you’re trying to interact with. The mod also switches between actions like panning for ore, watering specific spots, and fighting monsters. If you're facing a monster within a set range, the mod will automatically switch to a melee weapon for combat. You can adjust the mod to your liking, including the option to turn it off with a toggle key. It’s a great tool for smoother gameplay, letting you focus on farming, exploring, and caring for animals without manually switching tools.

5 Keep Better Track Of Which Farm Animals Need Attention

Don't Guess Which Animals Still Need TLC

Taking care of animals in Stardew Valley is key to getting quality products and making more profit, but it can be hard to keep track of which animals need attention on large farms. The Loved Labels mod by Advize and Jinxiewinxie solves this by adding labels to show which animals have been petted and which still need affection, even including the farm pet.

This mod helps reduce frustration and saves time, allowing players to focus on farming or other activities. With Loved Labels, managing animals becomes more efficient and stress-free and would have been useful in the base game.

4 Keep Tabs On Your Experience Levels

View Your Experience Levels Easily

In Stardew Valley, leveling up your skills is the way to becoming a successful farmer, but tracking your profession progress can be a little tricky without a clear visual indicator. The Experience Bars mod by spacechase0 adds experience bars to your skill levels, allowing you to easily see how far you are from leveling up.

Instead of guessing or constantly checking the menu, you can now get a quick visual cue of your progress in farming, fishing, mining, combat, and foraging. The experience bars appear directly on the skill screen, showing the exact completion percentage for each skill. This makes it easier to plan your day and focus on activities that will help you level up faster.

While Experience Bars is a simple mod, it greatly affects gameplay efficiency. Instead of the guesswork and occasional frustration of wondering how close you are to leveling up, this mod streamlines the process and lets you focus on your goals.

3 Don't Guess About Who Likes What In Of Gifts

No More Wikipedia-ing Who Likes What Gift

Building relationships in Stardew Valley is all about giving the right gifts, but keeping track of every NPC’s favorites can be a hassle. The Gift Taste Helper mod by JoXW simplifies this by showing a tooltip with an NPC’s loved gifts when hovering over their birthday on the calendar.

One of the best features of this mod is its Progression Mode. Instead of revealing every loved gift immediately, it only displays the ones the player has already given. This adds a more natural discovery element, encouraging players to learn favorites over time while still keeping track of what they’ve found.

For those who enjoy the social aspect of Stardew Valley, this mod is a must-have. It removes the guesswork from gift-giving, helping players maintain friendships and maximize their relationship progress without frustration or having to turn to the wiki to figure out what gifts NPCs like Shane like.

2 Access Your Chests From Anywhere

Skip Having To Run Back And Forth To Your Farm

Managing your inventory in Stardew Valley can become a bit overwhelming, especially as your farm grows, and you acquire more and more items. The Chests Anywhere mod from Pathoschild offers a huge quality-of-life improvement by allowing players to access their chests, dressers, fridge, shipping bin, and even Junimo huts from anywhere on the map. Everything is at your fingertips, wherever you are.

Players can transfer items, organize their inventory, and keep everything in order without constantly running around. This saves a lot of time and effort, making the game feel more fluid and less focused on tedious back-and-forth trips. I especially like to use it during my fishing trips, when my inventory can easily become overloaded with my catches of the day.

1 Skip The Lower Skull Cavern Levels And Ride An Elevator

Enjoy Taking The Elevator Up And Down In The Skull Cavern

The normal Stardew Valley mines have an elevator that activates after every few floors, so it is a bit disappointing and overwhelming to find that the Skull Cavern caves do not afford players the same perk. That's why the Skull Caverns are notorious for being difficult, because you always have to start from the first floor and work your way down. It's not just difficult; it's also tedious.

When venturing into the Skull Caverns, make sure to take plenty of coffee with you for those speed boosts.

The Skull Cavern Elevator mod by Lestoph introduces a much-needed convenience to the notoriously challenging Skull Cavern. Much like the elevator in the regular mine, this mod adds an elevator that allows players to skip ahead to certain floors in the Skull Cavern. The elevator is placed just to the right of the ladder, and it updates every fifth floor by default. This means that after you’ve cleared a few levels, you can jump right back to where you left off without the grind of clearing every floor again.

Most of these mods improve certain quality-of-life features in Stardew Valley and should have honestly been included in the base game. Others, like the romanceable options, just add more fun and diversity to the cast of romanceable NPCs, but it still feels odd that they're missing from the actual game. While Stardew Valley lacks these features, thankfully, modders have made these improvements so players can still enjoy a more personalized and improved game experience.

Source: Nexus Mods (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)