Stardew Valley is a relaxing farm sim game where you enjoy your leisurely life in a new town, making new friends and maybe finding love. It can also be a hardcore grind where you race to your first million, optimizing your farm as much as possible to get through all your tasks as fast as possible before running to the mines.
No matter how you play the game, you can't argue that there are tools you wish existed. Something to make your life just a little easier when taking on repetitive tasks. Luckily, modders have you covered.
10 Tractor Mod By Pathoschild
As far as tools go, the Tractor Mod has everything else beat. The tractor is every tool in one, plus the ability to put down fertilizer and grass starters, milk cows, and plant seeds. You'll save time at the beginning of each season to clear out any debris and plant your new seeds. You can even take it to the mines to fight monsters! This is, admittedly, an extremely overpowered feature that is disabled by default, but if you've ever wanted to try a different melee tactic, get yourself a tractor and take it for a spin.
9 Fishing Trawler - New Horizons By PeacefulEnd
Fishing is a big moneymaker, but having to catch the fish one at a time can be a pain sometimes. Fishing Trawler - New Horizons introduces Murphy, the captain of a fishing trawler, who will bring you out to sea once a week to haul in fish by the netload. The trade-off for more fish is more work and the possibility of sinking.
But sinking is completely preventable with the bailing bucket Murphy gives you at the beginning of each trip. You'll be responsible for basic maintenance on the trawler (fixing the nets, feeding the engine, emptying out the hull, etc.), but don't worry - Murphy provides coffee and music to keep you going.
8 Immersive Sprinklers By aedenthorn
Sprinklers are great, but they take up valuable crop space. Immersive Sprinklers will give you that space back by placing the sprinklers between plants instead of taking up a full tile. You'll also be able to walk through them instead of running into them and being stopped.
You'll be able to view the range by pressing Left Control and hovering over them, with ranges varying from four to thirty-six tiles. You can also add fertilizer for the sprinklers to disperse.
7 Tool Smart Switch By aedenthorn
One big advantage that the mobile version of Stardew Valley has is the ability to automatically switch tools. Tool Smart Switch brings this ability to the desktop game, allowing you to move seamlessly between tasks without having to stop and switch tools. It may seem small, but you'll find your tasks take a little less time when you don't have to fumble to remember where your pickaxe is. And your sanity will thank you when the mod stops you from accidentally taking out a crop with your axe – again.
6 Tool-Upgrade Delivery Service By Felix-Dev
Tool-Upgrade Delivery Service doesn't add a new tool, but it brings in something equally valuable – your upgraded tools are sent to your home the morning they're finished. No longer will you have to wait for Clint to open to retrieve your precious tool. Simply check the mail and get to work. It's another minor thing that adds slightly to your quality of life in-game. You'll get things done faster and earlier and have more time to do something else, expanding your gameplay. Seconds really do add up.
5 Animal Husbandry By Digus
Farming is really the main point of Stardew Valley. The animals are important but largely secondary. Animal Husbandry changes that balance, putting more focus on the animals. It introduces a meat cleaver, meat wand, and insemination syringe, allowing you to control when they get pregnant or harvest them for meat.
It also gives you a feeding basket, allowing you to give the animals treats, and introduces fifteen new recipes you can get through the Queen of Sauce or a new TV channel. Finally, it adds an animal contest in town where you can show off your prized babies - if you haven't turned them into meat.
4 To-Dew By Jamie Taylor
How often have you thought, "I need to remember to do this tomorrow," and then immediately forgotten what you need to do? To-Dew is the answer to your memory problems. Make a list of one-time or reoccurring events, set what days and weeks they need to be done, and toggle when you do or don't want it to show on the overlay. A list is the most powerful tool you can have, and you'll thank yourself when you never forget to gift someone something or buy something. You can even add real-life reminders to it, like a reminder to stop playing and stretch.
3 Chests And Pouches By AmazingAlek furyx639 and Jearen
Inventory and pocket space are invaluable, and it seems like there's never enough. Chests and Pouches gives you new chest styles and pouches for holding certain inventory items, like fish and gems, so you can save space in your inventory while still keeping everything you find. The new chests also come with more storage space, each upgrade adding a new row, and the final upgrade will allow you to access all of your chests from anywhere. Never again will you worry about leaving something vital behind when you head for Calico Desert or Ginger Island.
2 Grandpa's Tools By Gwen and Stashek
Your grandfather is a mysterious figure in Stardew Valley. He's only seen for a few seconds at the beginning of the game and then again at the beginning of the third year when he appears to judge your farm. You've obviously inherited a legacy from him in the form of the farm, but where are all his tools? Grandpa's Tools adds in old, worn tools that could've been Grandpa's many years ago and re-textures the upgrades so they're always wood and metal, even with the advancements.
If you're someone who likes to add roleplay to your gaming experience, it can be very immersive to look at a tool and think, "My grandfather used this before me. It's been working these grounds longer than I've been alive."
1 Prismatic Tools By stokastic
Prismatic Shards can be an amazing, wonderful find at the beginning of your Skull Cavern exploration. They're rare, you can make a Galaxy Sword with them, and they sell for about 2,000 gold. They're not much good for anything else, though, and eventually, you'll find yourself just tossing them into the bin to sell. Or you can download Primsatic Tools and upgrade your tools one more time.
The prismatic watering can and hoe will have an extended range, the axe and pickaxe will take out every rock and tree in one hit, and the sprinklers will have an extended range plus act as a light source. And it only takes one shard to get five bars. What a steal.