Stardew Valley released in 2016 and quickly became the hottest farming simulator on the indie market, possibly surpassing the Harvest Moon series as the genre standard. Developer Eric Barone, also known as ConcernedApe, designed the game with the option to continue one's save file long after the main quest, the Community Center, has been completed. Most recently, this late-game content came in the form of Ginger Island and the Version 1.5 update.
Even so, some players want to go beyond what the vanilla game is capable of. Stardew Valley mods are an excellent way to add some spice to the game, but the Stardew Valley Expanded mod, also known as SVE, is possibly the most expansive mod that stays true to Barone's original vision and source code, aiming to deliver that same Stardew Valley experience.
What is the Stardew Valley Expanded Mod?
The SVE mod does exactly what it promises: expanding the world of Stardew Valley, building on the foundation already set in place. It's currently on Version 1.13, and comes with a slew of new content by way of locations, NPCs, and items. Starting off in character creation, the mod adds a new layout, Grandpa's Farm, which is a modestly sized farmland with new landmark locations, shortcuts to the surrounding map locations, and more secrets. Shortly after starting, players should notice a complete overhaul of Pelican Town, including adjustments to its layout, changed colors, and new map areas.
The mod, created by Nexus Mods user FlashShifter, adds 25 new NPCs, 32 locations, 220 character events, reimagined vanilla locations, a world map that reflects these changes, music, questlines, and much more. Some fan-favorite additions are the new NPCs, with possibly the most popular new marriage candidate being Sophia from Blue Moon Vineyard - a location west of the beach. Stardew Valley Expanded also allows players to marry the Wizard, and it assigns him the first name "Magnus."
Another location that offers the player brand-new content is Aurora Vineyard, an abandoned vineyard that players can revitalize in the same way as the Community Center by completing quests with Junimos. Here, players can also meet Apples, a named green Junimo who helps with remodeling Aurora Vineyard. Apples is like any other NPC, and players can gift him items like Starfruit to experience heart events, adding a unique storyline centered around the vineyard alongside the many other storylines introduced with SVE.
But with Version 1.13 of Stardew Valley Expanded, FlashShifter added another character, a "magical questline" in the late-game, and moved the Crimson Badlands to the continent of Galdora, which is only unlocked by completing the Enchanted Grove questline created by the modder. This is only a small fraction of what players can find in SVE.
Why Download Stardew Valley Expanded?
While some players might be new to Stardew Valley or getting their fill of the Beach Farm and Ginger Island thanks to its 1.5 update, others may have completed several playthroughs of Stardew Valley and are turning to things like player-made challenges to make the game more interesting. The Stardew Valley Expanded mod is so massive and well put together that it operates more like an unofficial patch.
It's difficult to cover all of the content within the Stardew Valley Expanded mod because it adds new gameplay in every corner of the vanilla game. Pelican Town has doubled in size, as has its activities and quests. Wondering beyond the town itself, there's much new fan-made lore to be discovered, from new enemies in the Crimson Badlands to the small changes made to already-existing Stardew Valley NPCs.
Much like Stardew Valley itself, SVE is ongoing, constantly being worked on by its creator. There are already many new additions to keep the players busy for dozens of hours, but it doesn't look like FlashShifter plans to stop anytime soon, keeping up with new content as long as players want more Stardew Valley.
Stardew Valley is available on Mobile, PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.