Just because there's no overarching story in Stardew Valley itself doesn't mean that the players can't add and/or fill it in with their own stories.
Game Mods:
Stardew Valley Expanded- Status: Active, as of March 2024
- Synopsis: Unofficial expansion pack that adds new locations, vastly widening the selection of crops, fish, overhauls the Joja route, completely changing the course of the story should you decide to side with them, and introduces several Original Characters, including new bachelors and bachelorettes to romance.
- Status: Active, as of March 2024
- Synopsis: Unofficial expansion pack that adds the neighbouring town of Ridgeside Village with its own inhabitants, including over 22 new bachelors and bachelorettes to romance, new locations to explore, new quests, and storylines to follow.
Lunna Astray in Stardew Valley
- Status: Active, as of April 2024
- Synopsis: Unofficial mini-expansion mod. One day, a mysterious young woman named Lunna suddenly appears near Cindersap Forest's lake, she has no memory of how she came to the valley, claims to be from a place called "Umuwi", and immediately falls under the protection of the Wizard. What secrets does she hold?
- Status: Active, as of March 2024
- Synopsis: Unofficial expansion pack that adds the East Scarp region located east of Pelican Town, the place consists of a quaint little village by the seaside with a lighthouse and many new NPCs with their own storylines. There are also several add-on packs that add more NPCs.
- Status: Active, as of April 2024
- Synopsis: Unofficial expansion pack that allows the player to visit Zuzu City, with the ability to buy an apartment downtown, go to nightclubs and visit places seen in the base game cutscenes.
Fanfics:
Starting Over
by Slywyn- Recommended by: ruff1298
- Status: Dead (last updated July 2017)
- Synopsis: Victoria works a dead-end job in The City, a desk clerk for Joja Corp. One day she reaches into a drawer and finds an old folder- the deed to a farm in a place called Stardew Valley, and a letter from dear departed Grandpa. She decides to leave her life behind and start anew, just like he did so long ago.
- Pairing(s): Eventual Female!PC/Abigail
- Recommended by: ruff1298
- Status: Complete
- Synopsis: The Farmer is a Noir Detective trying to escape what he's done for Joja Corp.
- Pairings: Male!PC/Abigail
- Tags: Dark Fic, Graphic Violence, Major Character Death
- Recommended by: Migani
- Status: Completed
- Synopsis: You invite Shane to check out your newly built chicken coop, and the adorable fuzzy friends that came with it.
- Pairings: Shane/Gender-Neutral!PC
- Recommended by: Migani
- Status: Dead (last updated April 2016)
- Synopsis: In which you just GOTTA befriend the grump who drinks beer by himself in the corner of the Saloon.
- Pairings: Shane/Gender-Neutral!PC
Sweet Silence by SjelThief* Recommended by: Migani
- Status: Dead (last updated May 2016)
- Synopsis: Some people would call him 'goth'. Those people were also known as idiots, no offence. He had always thought labels like that were moronic. He just happened to dress in black, evade the burning sun like the plague, and decorate his dark bedroom with fake skulls. As for her, she was odd. And he couldn't throw her out of his mind.
- Pairings: Eventual Sebastian/Female!OC, background Sam/Penny
- Recommended by: Anonymous
- Status: Complete
- Synopsis: Starting a new life in Stardew Valley has its ups and downs. Follow the life of a new resident as she meets new friends and develops more than just the produce on her farm. Loosely follows the game, but with more depth and interaction between characters.
- Pairings: Leah/Female!Farmer/Abigail love triangle
- Opinion: Realistic flow in the way the relationships (romantic and friendships) are handled. Varying sexualities (pansexual Farmer, bisexual Abby, etc). Farmer doesn't immediately become everyone's friend. Give it a try.
- Recommended by: Mooncalf, Starabelle, Kylasedai
- Status: Complete
- Synopsis: Shane's not too keen on any resident of Pelican Town, but the new farmer in town deserves special credit for drawing his ire in a new way. But as the months progress, an unlikely friendship grows between them, and Shane will eventually have to decide whether or not he can really open up to her.
- Pairings: Shane/Female!Farmer
- Opinion: Manages to balance realism with the more fantastic elements of Stardew Valley without sacrificing either, thanks to Shane being the POV character. Also shows Shane's changing opinion of the farmer in a very natural and believable way. An excellent read.
Sweet Mistakes verse by foxtrotblues
- Recommended by: Starabelle
- Status: Sweet Mistakes is complete, series overall is dead
- Synopsis: Fern, dumped by her boyfriend, moves to Stardew Valley as a last resort hoping to fix up her grandfather's farm and sell it. Things don't turn out to plan when she becomes friends with the awkward town doctor and ends up falling for him.
- Opinion: Harvey gets a bit OOC at times (more so in the sequel). The grammar and editing could be better and could use a beta read but overall a compelling sweet story.
- Pairing(s): Harvey/Female Farmer
Miss Penny by by Sallychan-Stories
- Recommended by: Starabelle
- Status: Dead (last updated March 2017)
- Synopsis: Alex gets tutoring from Penny and ends up bonding over their rocky past. Romance ensues.
- Pairing(s): Penny/Alex
Stardon't Valley by Obsequious_Numina
- Recommended by: Zarina
- Status: Complete
- Synopsis: A series of slice of life scenes set in Stardew Valley highlighting the gameplay quirks that make the game and characters so lovable. Starring: gender-neutral Farmer/Player character and eventually all of the villagers/NPCs.
- Opinion: A silly, cute, and at times dramatic series of vignettes that cheerfully points out the oddities of life in Stardew Valley. A fun, funny, and enjoyable read with the farmer (and sometimes Harvey) as the Only Sane Man in Pelican Town.
- Pairing(s): Farmer/Harvey, implied Sebastian/Sam
Heart Events by Primaverascript
- Recommended by: Lilybot
- Status: Complete
- Synopsis: Stardew Valley's newest resident has accomplished a lot in the two years since she moved there, including marrying the romantic, poetry writing Elliot. Only it all happened too quickly and now she's realizing she needs something more in her life than beautiful words. Spending more and more of her time finally getting to know the rest of the villagers, she soon finds herself enjoying her time with a certain introverted nerd more than she probably should.
- Opinion: A REALLY good take on what it feels like to romance a character far too quickly to the point you find another bachelor(ette) more appealing once you take the effort to get to know them. Really good character introspection while keeping everything in-character and very good at incorporating Sebastian and Shane’s heart events as well.
- Pairings: Endgame Sebastian/Female Farmer, minor Elliot/Female Farmer
