Stardew Valley is more than just a farming simulator. It is also a life simulator, as it allows players to befriend and even romance some of the villagers in Pelican Town.
As you increase your relationship with the NPCs in the game, you will slowly unlock new recipes, cutscenes, and even receive items for free from time to time.
Recommended Read: How to Build and Upgrade a Coop in Stardew Valley
There are many reasons to befriend the villagers of Pelican Town, and the best way to do it is by giving them gifts. NPCs have a lot of preferences when it comes to gifts, but what matters most at the start for a new Stardew Valley player is how to actually give them something.
To give gifts to NPCs in Stardew Valley, you need to hold the item in your hands (select it in the hotbar below) and press the Do Action button (right-click on PC).
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How to Give Gifts to NPCs in Stardew Valley
To give gifts to NPCs in Stardew Valley, you will need to hold the item you want to give over your head by selecting it in the hotbar.
The hotbar is the inventory slot that appears on the lower side of the screen that you can access while walking around and working.
Then, approach the person you want to give the gift to and press the Do Action button. The button is different depending on which platform you play on:
- PC Do Action button – Right Click or X
- Nintendo Switch Do Action button – A
- Xbox Do Action button – A
- PlayStation Do Action button – X
Depending on the item you gift, the NPCs can have 5 different reactions:
- Love
- Like
- Neutral
- Dislike
- Hate
If you give them a liked, loved, or neutral gift, you will increase your relationship with the NPC and slowly gain hearts with them.
Disliked and hated gifts will lower your friendship points with that villager.
Though there are some universally liked and disliked items in the game, gift preference is different from NPC to NPC.
You can’t be sure what everyone likes just by knowing what one person likes.
This is why you will likely need the help of guides to find out what gifts most NPCs like in Stardew Valley.
Universally Loved or Liked Gifts in Stardew Valley
To help you out in your quest to give a romanceable character in Stardew Valley gifts, here is a list of all the universally loved items in the game.
These are gifts that most villagers will likely love. Only a small part of them can hate these items:
- Golden Pumpkin
- Magic Rock Candy
- Pearl
- Prismatic Shard
- Rabbit’s Foot
The only NPCs that dislike some specific universally loved gifts are Penny and Haley. Penny hates the Rabbit’s Foot, and Haley hates the Prismatic Shard.
When it comes to universally liked gifts, the list is a bit too long to give out, item by item.
However, here is a simplified version that should help you out:
- All Artisan Goods – except Oil and Void Mayonnaise
- All Cooked Dishes – except Bread, Fried Egg, Seafoam Pudding, and Strange Bun
- All Flowers – except Poppy
- All Fruits – except Banana and Mango
- All Gems
- All Minerals – except Quartz
- All Vegetables – except Hops, Tea Leaves, Wheat, and Unmilled Rice
- Life Elixir
- Maple Syrup
- Pina Colada
That’s everything you need to know about how to give gifts to NPCs in Stardew Valley!
Have any input or suggestions for this guide? Let us know in the comment section below.
