Recommendations by Skellady
After modding the game for over a year, I've finally come to a stable mod list (that keeps growing as more mods get released). Keep in mind that these are my personal recommendations and what I enjoy, your taste in mods might differǃ
Expansions
East Scarpː An expansion adding new NPCs; new locations; new fish; shops; special orders - and secrets. In a picturesque location by the sea.
Lunna - Astray in Stardew Valleyː The main focus of this mod is Lunna, a girl with a secret past who claims to not come originally from our land, but instead from a place called Umuwi. She is also under the care and supervision of the Wizard.
Ridgeside Villageː Ridgeside Village adds over 50 new NPCs, a new location, new items, new shops, new festivals, custom music, custom quests, and more!
Stardew Aquariumː Stardew Aquarium adds an Aquarium to Stardew Valley. Here you can donate your fish to animated tanks for rewards. Includes a large new beach location with new custom shops.
NPCs
Alectoː Zoedoll's version of the wizard's ex wife. Full NPC with events, dialogue and out-of-hut schedule!
Always Raining in the Valleyː A heart-warming Custom NPC mini expanson that adds Sterling, Mia and Henry, 13 new recipes, events and over 1000+ lines of dialogue. Does not add more rain to the valley. For East Scarp!
Eugeneː Befriend a warm-hearted but lonely gardener living in the forest. Original mod was made by Leroy (irias0701).
Ginger Island NPC Overhaulː Changes and expanded content for the Ginger Island NPCs (including full NPC Professor Snail and a de-Gungan-ed Gourmand).
Jorts and Jeanː Jean demands full rights for Joja workers! Jorts is stuck in a trashcan. Classic Jorts! They're cats, they talk, and now they're new custom NPCs in your game.
Juliet & Jessieː Juliet is a troubled young woman exiled to Pelican Town for reasons unknown, but possibly linked to her sharp-tongue and flirty, irrepressible nature. Her co-worker, housemate, and friend, Jessie is matronly, empathic, and a keen gardener and herbalist.
Juna - Roommate NPCː Juna is an adult (?), aromantic, chaotic woman with a strange past and a penchant for dramatics. She abhors the beach, loves ballet, considers Robin the light of her life, rarely wears shoes, doesn't really get fishing or sincerity or picnics, and takes an inordinate amount of pleasure in tormenting the Wizard.
Juneː June is a new marriage candidate who lives in Ridgeside Village, an expansion area created by Rafseazz. He's inspired by Mikhail from Harvest Moon: The Tale of Two Towns.
Lavrilː Adds Lavril to East Scarp. A mysterious young girl and her haunted toy rabbit wake up in total darkness, where evil monsters and specters of the past haunt the realm of the living... Vincent also happens to wander in by mistake. A cute Indie horror RPG.
Leilaniː Adds Pika's wife and Keahi's mother from Ridgeside Village!
Lucikielː Adds Lucikiel to the game. A self-indulgent megalomaniac is summoned to the valley through JojaMart's evil scheme. Lucikiel offers his services to Clint in exchange for a place to recuperate. Can you reach his heart? Or will he lose himself in his revenge?
Mandalorian and Baby Yodaː Adds everyone's favorite space dad and son, along with the Razor Crest parked somewhere in town.
Mr. Gingerː Jas is a lonely child, with only Vincent to play with, and the two adults in her life having little time with her, so what she needs is an animal friend. Introducing, Mister Ginger!
Professor Jasperː After becoming the laughing stock of his peers for his 'outrageous' theories regarding the dwarves, geologist Professor Jasper Thomas has returned to Pelican Town. Can you help him overcome his embarrassment? Or will he fall prey to his obsession?
Rileyː Adds a new datable NPC named Riley to Pelican Town. Complete with seasonal outfits, a custom house, festival locations, a spouse room, hundreds of lines of dialogue, and more.
Toshinoriː This mod adds a complex, fully featured new NPC to Pelican Town: a gentle, older man from the Far East with a severe chronic illness. Inspired by Toshinori Yagi / All Might from My Hero Academia.
Aesthetic Mods
I tend to mix and match and change things so these are the recolors and retextures I switch between.
Adorable Cottage Bathroomː Bathroom set including furniture and walls and flooring for AT and DGA.
All of Yri's Project Yellog Modsː Adds visual overhauls to the town and other NPCs and expansions in Yellog's style.
Aster's AT Tools Retextureː Changes the way the tools used in the Alternatives Textures framework look.
Aster's Big Farmhouse Interior Modː Fully customizable with lots of options! Change your kitchen, beams, log panels and much more. Good for multiplayer as it lets people have a different kitchen in cabins and the farmhouse.
Cuter Coops and Better Barnsː Slightly bigger, cuter coops and the same size but also cuter barns.
DaisyNiko's Earthy Recolorː A warm, earth-toned recolor that's easy on the eyes.
Gwen's Medieval Buildingsː Full set of farm buildings. Seasonal, multiple options.
Hideaway Cellarː A cellar map with outside foraging, fishing, and a farming area, and mine area! And, of course, more space for your big-craftable (ageing) needs!
Industrial Furnitureː Industrial Style furniture set. Including 170+ pieces. With matching double bed and crib.
IYAHO's Item Retextureː Retextures the items in-game.
Peachy Objectsː A redo/recolor of various objects, including crops and tools. now with weapons!
Qute Animalsː Retextures the farm animalsǃ
Rainbow Rainː Adds some colour to your rainy days in Stardew Valley, making for some very pretty photo - ops.
Rolling Hills Farmː A decent-sized foresty meadowy farm map
Rustic Country Town Interiorsː Rustic country style is trending in Stardew Valley. The new interior designer was hired to do a home makeover for all the townsfolk.
Rustic Country Town Walls and Floorsː Rustic country style walls and floors.
Seasonal Flooringsː New colours and designs for all the floorings and paths, with a little bit of seasonal touch. Including matching thumbnails and the new path from 1.4, for content patcher.
Simple Foliageː A mod to replace most trees in Stardew Valley with a more stylized version.
Stardew Foliage Redone - Foliage Onlyː Redesign all the trees, bushes and grasses, with config options to toggle each element. Made to be compatible with all existing map recolours.
Vanilla Tweaksː Vanilla Tweaks, a massive texture pack to enhance your gameplay. Change the look of your crops, forage, seeds and more!
Vibrant Pastoralː A vanilla-based map recolor with a green fall option, plus bonus features like terrain flower replacements and seasonal holiday decor. Recolors lots: indoor & outdoor tilesheets, building exteriors, mine levels, trees, big craftables, decor, etc.
Yellog's Buildingsː Yellog's farm building retexture.
Portraits and Sprites
Axell's Alternate Mr. Ginger Portraitsː Alternate portraits for Lemurkat's NPC Mister Ginger.
Diverse Stardew Valleyː DSV adds ethnic, cultural, gender identity and body type diversity to Pelican Town, as well as including a full set of seasonal & festival outfits for the vanilla design or the DSV design for every character.
(Daisy's Redux) Jas Editionː A portrait mod for Jas!
OrangePie's DC Burger Style Portraitsː Adds high-res portraits for many NPCsǃ
Farmer's Wardrobe
All of the below are Fashion Sense packsː
Backpacks and Baublesː A Fashion Sense pack which adds several backpack accessories, many of which give off light and are recolorable. Includes some small baubles such as floating books!
Cozy Scarvesː A Fashion Sense pack which adds 15+ scarf accessories, many of which are recolorable. Some scarves even come with special animations!
Fairy Wingsː Adds fairy wings for the player character as an accessory!
Kisekaes Skirtsː A conversion of Kisekaes skirts to Fashion Sense.
Le Haloː FS mini pack that adds a cute animated halo to your farmer!
Rural Outfittersː Bring trend to the country! Adds hats, shirts, skirts, accessories and makeup via Fashion Sense! All items are completely color customizable.
Simple Farmer Dressesː Adds a small set of dresses in the form of shirts and a skirt.
Skell's Wingsː Fashion Sense pack that adds 4 styles of wings in many colors!
Traveler's Attireː A small Fashion Sense pack containing various cloaks, hoods and a raincoat. Includes some animated glowing eyes, which pair nicely with the dark hood!
Wabi's Wardrobeː A clothing mod with items for males and females. Includes layerable jackets, custom pants, dresses etc.
Winter Solstice Hatsː A collection of winter and Christmas themed hats with some animation.
New Items/Crops
Ancient Cropsː Since you've had luck growing an ancient seed, let's see how your green thumb treats these ancient crops.
Artisan Valleyː Adds 20 New Machines and 150+ New Items!
Farmer to Floristː Adds flowers, recipes, machines and more.
Fruits and Veggiesː Adds various fruits, vegetables and herbs.
Host Treesː Some of Stardew Valley's trees now produce plants of their own. Includes unique Artisan Goods, machine interactions, and NPC gift tastes.
Joja Seedsː Thanks to JojaCo, you can now spend less on seeds and make MORE profit! Our revolutionary new seeds are bioengineered for the ultimate in customer satisfaction, including increased planting seasons, higher yields, shorter growth times, and more!
Korea Blossomː Adds flowers that grow in Korea and neighboring countriesǃ
Lumisteria Flowers and Cropsː This packs adds 17 flowers and 2 crops, in various seasons, including some winter flowers, and the ability to discover seeds or flowers in the wild.
Magic Tree Rootsː Adds trees for decoration purposes!
Magical Cropsː This mods adds 7 new, magical crops! It also adds quests, mail and 4 events.
Mineral Mageː You get a visit from the mysterious Mineral Guild to improve your mining skills with : 9 new machines (with their recipes to buy), new area, some new faces and shops, a variety of tips and instructions!
Mizu's Flowersː Adds new flowers to the game!
More Gemː Adds new gems you can acquire from the Mines.
More Treesː Adds more trees to the game.
Raffadax Teas and Treesː Meet the four "Nature Spirits." As you leave them "offerings" (increase friendship) they will sell you a wider variety of items. Produce hard-to-make "Divine Wines" which become powerful weapons in the Volcano Forge.
Strange Machinesː An industrial expansion that adds some more new content to your game.
Misc. Mods (Events, Dialogue, Special Orders and More)
Better Farm Cave Forageː Increases spawn and frequency of fruits in Farm Cave.
Forest Junimosː Forest Junimos is a mod that adds junimos to the forest, to the place they keep. They’ll dance, meep and wave hand to you!
Gift Taste Redoneː Tweaks the gift tastes for many NPCs. Artifact likes and dislikes, new dialogue for certain items, and more.
Holiday Special Ordersː Do you love special orders and wish there were more of them? Do you also love the holidays? This mod adds nine new special orders to your game for maximum Christmas/Hanukkah/Solstice fun. Eight of the orders are available in winter and one in fall.
Immersive Locational Artifact Digspotsː This mod changes the vanilla ‘worms’ artifact digspot into a number of different things depending on the location.
Jeric and Alex Rival Heartsː Jeric and Alex rival hearts events complete with wedding and a puppy!
Joja Blackmarketː The community center has been restored, but Joja goods are still flowing into town from a suspicious source...
Joja Clearance Binː Joja now has a mystery bin with random out-of-season seeds and produce for sale. If the Community Center is complete, Shane takes over the stock.
Less Corrupt Lewis - No More Statueː A simple little mod that changes the Solid Gold Lewis statue to a plaster sculpture of Marnie and changes Lewis’s letter so that he doesn’t try to bribe you in order to keep it quiet.
Lumisteria Special Ordersː This mod adds several quests to the Special Board. Includes some warm quests for the SDV discord winter contest.
More Questː Adds over 70 new quests to the game.
Pelican Town Potluckː This mod changes references to the Luau in mail, calendar, and dialog to say Potluck instead.
Abigail and Juliet Prank the JojaMartː Abigail wants to sabotage the JojaMart, but she can't do it alone... 4 events for Abigail and Juliet (custom NPC).
The Ranch Expansionː Expands the characters of Marnie and Jas, with additional dialogue, new heart events, and an actual story arc!
Sam & Vincent's Cola Shopː Inspired by his big brother's part-time job, Vincent has opened up his very own shop! Won't you stop by?
SH's Wild Animalsː Adds some wild animals to the game.
Solstice Winter Starː This mod changes many elements so that Winter Star is a more unique and lore-friendly festival themed around the Winter Star and the mysterious stardrop!
Townies Need Artisan Goodsː With Townies Need Artisan Goods (TNAG), villagers will ask for artisan goods, and reward you with gold, friendship, dialog, and special events.
SMAPI Mods
Almanacː Almanac provides an in-game book with useful information about different subjects, including a long term weather forecast and when to plant crops.
Automatic Gatesː Opens and closes gates automatically.
Chests Anywhereː Access your chests, dressers, fridge, shipping bin, and Junimo huts from anywhere and organise them your way.
Better Beach Forageː Improves the spawn rate of beach forage and adds crabs to the Beach!
Better Garbage Cansː Changes the way the town garbage cans work.
Better Panningː How many of you finish the fish tank and then place the copper pan into a chest to never be seen again? If you want the pan to be useful, then this is the mod for you.
Better Mixed Seedsː A mod that allows every seed to be found in mixed seeds. Compatible with every Json Assets crop mod and highly configurable.
Crop Transplant Modː Adds a way to transplant your crops. Adds a way to transplant trees and fruit trees. Adds a way to transplant tea bushes.
Free Loveː Framework for allowing complex romantic relationships, including multiple spouses and roommate with spouse.
Happy Birthdayː A mod that adds in the player's birthday to Stardew Valley.
Hold To Break Geodesː This mod lets you hold your mouse/controller down to continuously break open geodes - you don't have to click every time!
Instant Tool Upgradesː This mod makes Clint give you your upgraded tools immediately. No more waiting two days for your important tools!
Item Bagsː Adds several new "Bag" items that can hold other items inside of them, while still only taking up a single inventory slot. Unlike chests, the bags will hold items while they are in your inventory, effectively increasing inventory size and organization.
Lookup Anythingː See live info about whatever's under your cursor when you press F1. Learn a villager's favourite gifts, when a crop will be ready to harvest, how long a fence will last, why your farm animals are unhappy, and more.
Machine Statusː Machine ready/waiting/busy status at a glance.
NPC Map Locationsː See NPC and players on the map, with an optional minimap.
Passive Friendshipː A mod that lets you passively gain friendship with villagers by hanging out with them.
Raised Garden Bedsː Craft garden beds in a variety of styles to let you grow crops on top of grass and hard soil!
Show Birthdaysː A small mod that allows the calendar to show multiple birthdays at once. The hover text lists the NPCs and the calendar cycles through their sprites.
Skull Cavern Elevatorː Adds an elevator to the Skull Cavern.
Smart Buildingː This mod will make placing fences, floors, furnaces, etc. a much more streamlined experience.
Sit For Staminaː Lets you passively regen stamina while sitting.
To-Dewː An in-game to-do list.
Tractor Modː Buy a tractor to more efficiently work with crops, clear twigs and rocks, etc.
Train Tracksː Adds buildable train tracks and a train to ride them.
UI Info Suite 2ː UI Info Suite provides helpful information about things around you designed to help you be aware of what's going on without feeling like you're cheating.
Visible Fishː This mod shows fish that are currently catchable in the water. Works with modded locations + fish!
Wear More Ringsː Configure the amount of ring slots in your inventory. By default adds 6 additional ring slots.