Recommendations by Morgrim

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This list may end up becoming excessively long, so I'll try to split it up by category and give some reasonings. Mods will be listed in alphabetical order within each category unless otherwise stated.

Core Frameworks

Most mods need one or more of these frameworks. If you end up heavily modding your game, you'll end up installing these sooner or later.

  • Content Patcher If a mod modifies almost anything already in the game, or adds a new item or dialogue, it needs Content Patcher.
  • Custom Furniture Lets mods add new furniture. Usually this is just for decorating purposes, but some mods add items you can interact with.
  • Custom Music Lets mods add new sounds to the game. Several Expansion Mods require this, and some mods that add or change animals use it to give them sounds.
  • Expanded Preconditions Utility Does nothing on its own, but it's required to make several key frameworks work. Install it then ignore it.
  • Farm Type Manager (FTM) Lets mods spawn forage, gathering points and monsters. Despite the name, it does not let you change your farm type (but if you know what you're doing, you can use it to get the same benefits as a Forest or Hilltop farm on all the other farm types).
  • JSON Assets (JA) Lets mods add crops, weapons, clothes, machines, recipies... If a mod adds a new item you can pick up, it needs this mod.
  • Mail Framework Mod Lets mods send you letters in the post. This is a common way of sending you new recipes or items, or used for new NPC events.
  • PyTK This is another framework that makes other frameworks work.
  • Shop Tile Framework (STF) Lets mods add new shops or add new stuff to vanilla shops.
  • SpaceCore Yet another framework required to run other frameworks.
  • Stardew Hack The final framework to run other frameworks, although this one is more a framework to run other mods. It's the least likely to be required from this section.

Other Frameworks

These mods tend to have specific purposes, usually letting other mods interact with an existing game element in a new way. Add as required.

  • Anti-Social NPCs Lets mods add "shopkeeper" NPCs that you can't befriend, or add custom NPCs that don't show up on the social list until later in the game.
  • Better Farm Animal Variety (BFAV) Lets you add custom barn and coop animals.
  • Bus Locations Lets mods add new bus stops. Remember to install the Desert folder that comes with it, or you won't be able to go to the Desert.
  • Content Patcher Animations Lets you replace static sprites with animated ones. See below for a selection of animated sprite mods.
  • Custom Fixed Dialogue Lets modders adjust 'generic' hardcoded dialogue, like after catching the player rummaging in bins.
  • Custom NPC Exclusions Prevents custom NPCs from giving you delivery quests when you can't reach the NPC to deliver it, or getting them as your giftee at the Feast of the Winter Star when they don't attend the festival.
  • Custom NPC Fixes Fixes NPC pathing on custom maps.
  • DaisyNiko's Tilesheets A surprising number of expansion mods and NPC mods use these tilesheets, as well as a bunch of custom farm maps.
  • Event Repeater Lets mods reuse parts of events without having to make new copies. Needed for new festivals.
  • Train Station Makes the train station in the mountain functional and lets mods add destinations for it.

Quality of Life Mods

Mods that improve a particular limited area of the game. Most are reasonably balanced but some can be considered cheating.

  • AutoAnimalDoors Automatically opens and closes the animal doors on your barns and coops, You can configure what times you want them to open, and whether it only works for upgraded buildings.
  • Automatic Gates Fence gates will open for you automatically, which makes caring for your animals so much easier.
  • Better Hay Lets you collect hay even if you don't have a silo yet.
  • Better Quality Increased Seeds The higher quality crop added the Seed Maker, the more seeds you get back. There are also packs for most popular crop mods.
  • Better Ranching Adds a bubble over your animals' heads showing whether they've been milked or petted that day. This is vital when you have a dozen identical chickens running around.
  • Chests Anywhere Lets you rename chests and access them from a distance, which makes keeping stuff organised so much easier. I use the Balanced mode, so I can only access chests in the same area. The Unbalanced mod could be considered cheating.
  • Colored Seeds Adjusts the appearance of seed packets so you can tell at a glance what season they grow in.
  • Data Layers Togglable overlays that show passable tiles, warps, and how far things like bee houses and scarecrows extend.
  • Easy Prairie King Difficulty Changer Lets you customise the difficulty of the Prairie King game. Setting yourself to be permanently invincible so you can get the achievement is definitely cheating, but way more fun.
  • Experience Bars Togglable bars that show what level your skills are at and how close you are to levelling, without having to pause and check in your menu.
  • Generic Mod Config Menu (GMCM) Lets you adjust a mod's config file from the title screen, instead of having to close the game and open it in a text editor. Some modders add explanations of the choices which is REALLY helpful.
  • Horse Flute Anywhere Lets you summon your horse from anywhere. There is a balanced version that requires a late-game item; I prefer the cheatier setting that lets me summon the horse as soon as I get a stable.
  • Lookup Anything When you hit the hotkey, provides detailed information on whatever you're hovering over. This includes gift tastes, whether an item is used in cooking/crafting, or how long a crop has left to grow. Could be seen as cheating but mostly saves checking the wiki constantly.
  • MagicScepter Once you've built an obelisk on your farm, that destination is added as an option in your Return Scepter. I don't consider this cheating because it costs at least 2.5 million gold to replicate the functionality of a craftable totem.
  • Mobile Phone Gives the player a smart phone accessed by an icon. NPCs with 4 hearts (this is configurable) will give you their number, so you can ring them; this acts like talking directly to them. Sometimes they'll ring you! There's also the ability to rewatch cut scenes which is nice. Other mods can install apps on the phone to do various things.
  • NPC Map Locations NPCs show up on the map! This is so lovely when you're running around trying to finish a delivery and don't want to have to look up schedules in the wiki. If you feel it's unfair, it can be configured to only show them under certain circumstances.
  • Quality Artisan Products Putting higher quality items into a machine affects the quality of the product. Better fruit makes better wine, better milk makes better cheese, etc.
  • Skip Intro Skips the intro and goes straight to the select save screen. Saves so much time when you're trying to figure out why something isn't working.
  • Skull Cavern Elevator Adds an elevator to Skull Cavern, just like the Mines has. So you can get to level 100 over several days instead of one horrible marathon. This is cheating and I don't care, the top levels are boring and everyone skips them anyway.
  • To-Dew Customisable in-game to-do list. If you also have Mobile Phone installed, the two link together and it becomes an app on the phone screen.

Functionality Changes

Mods that adjust how the game does things, or expands on base game functions. Some of these have a lot of overlap with Quality of Life mods.

  • Luck Skill Adds a new skill, Luck, that interacts with the game's Luck value. You gain xp points by doing lucky things like fishing up treasure or cracking geodes, and also get some every day by checking your daily luck on the TV.
  • Skill Prestige (unofficial update) Once you max out a skill, you can reset that skill back to zero and get a Prestige Point in exchange. These points can be cashed in for permanently unlocked profession skills; with enough time and dedication you can have all six skills for every profession. However if you want a maxed Perfection rating or the achievement, you need all skills at level 10 at the same time. This mod is probably not compatible with any other mod that changes how professions work.
  • Wear More Rings Increases the number of rings you can wear. I'm currently using 6 rings. The mod defaults to 8 rings, but you can configure it for up to 20.

Expansion Mods

Expansion Mods add significant new areas to the game, with new stuff to do, people to meet, and items to collect.

  • Stardew Aquarium Adds a new fish-focused museum accessible via the train station. Donating fish unlocks perks, like more items for sale. It's compatible with most fish-related mods.

Aesthetics Mods

Mods that make things look pretty, without significantly affecting game function.

Animation Mods

Mods that make sprites move.

NPC Mods

Mods that either 1) drastically expand an existing NPC or 2) add custom NPCs, often with small house maps. These aren't as big as an expansion but sometimes the line gets blurry.

  • Mister Ginger Adds a cute cat NPC! In theory he belongs to Jas, in practice the town belongs to him. Very cat.

Fish Mods

Mods that add new fish or add new ways of interacting with current fish and fishing mechanics.

  • Everlasting Baits and Unbreakable Tackles Adds a questline to craft improved baits and tackles that don't run out. I don't consider these cheating because they're mid-to-late game items with steep crafting costs.

Shop Mods

Mods that add new shops to the game, or significantly adjust existing shops.

  • Joja Blackmarket Adds a slightly hidden salesperson who sells a random selection of items, like the Travelling Cart only more suspicious. This includes Jojamart exclusive items, even if you take the Community Centre route.
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