Stardew's Social Scoring System Demystified

Stardew Valley Friendship Guide: Maximize Your Relationships

Building strong relationships is key to thriving in Stardew Valley's charming Pelican Town. This guide details how to boost your friendship levels with villagers, whether you're aiming for friendship or romance. While talking and gifting are essential, understanding the point system is crucial for maximizing your progress.

The Heart System

The heart scale (accessed via the in-game menu) displays your friendship level with each NPC. Each heart represents 250 friendship points. Reaching certain heart levels unlocks special events, mail, and dialogue options.

Friendship Point Values

Several actions influence friendship points:

• Daily Interactions: Talking to a villager usually grants +20 points. If they're busy, it's +10. Ignoring them results in a -2 point penalty daily (-10 with a gifted bouquet, -20 for your spouse). A daily checkmark in the Social menu confirms you've spoken to them.
• Bulletin Board Deliveries: Completing a delivery earns +150 points with the recipient.
• Gifting: Gift preferences vary widely.
  • Loved: +80 points
  • Liked: +45 points
  • Neutral: +20 points
  • Disliked: -20 points
  • Hated: -40 points
  • Feast of the Winter Star gifts: 5x points
  • Birthday gifts: 8x points

Boosting Friendship Gain

The "Friendship 101" book (available as a Prize Machine reward or from the Bookseller in Year 3) provides a permanent 10% boost to friendship gains.

Special Friendship Boosters

• Stardrop Tea: This rare item grants +250 points (+750 on birthdays/Winter Star). It can be obtained from the Prize Machine, Golden Fishing Chests, the Helper's Bundle, or from the Raccoon.
• Movie Theater: Invite villagers with a Movie Ticket (1000g). Movie and snack choices affect points earned.
• Conversations: Choosing appropriate dialogue options yields +10 to +50 points.
• Heart Events: These events offer dialogue choices impacting friendship significantly (up to +200 points).
• Flower Dance: Dancing with a villager (4 hearts or higher) grants +250 points.
• Luau: Contributing to the community soup can earn or lose points depending on the ingredients.
• Community Center Bulletin Board: Completing all bundles rewards +500 points with every non-dateable villager.

By strategically using these methods, you can cultivate strong relationships and fully experience Stardew Valley's rich social interactions. Remember that the 1.6 update hasn't significantly altered the friendship system, but awareness of these points is key to success.