The mod follows the exact same story of the original game, but it overhauls it in several aspects: It expands the size of Pelican Town, introducing new residents and other characters with their own storylines, adds new crops, fish, forageables, locations, as well as expanding the roles of some of the existing characters and adding to them new events and storylines.
This unofficial expansion can be downloaded here
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The mod has also a few add-on features that can be downloaded separately:
- "Immersive Farm" and "Grandpa's Farm": New unique farm layouts with quests and secrets to discover; they're mutually exclusive.
- "Grampleton Fields": This adds a vast open field area to the east of Pelican Town.
Stardew Valley Expanded provides examples of:
- Adaptational Angst Upgrade:
- In this mod, Haley gets an 8 heart event in which she expresses sadness and frustration over her and Emily's parents being away for so long.
- There are also the optional "Mature Events". These are Heart Events that cover more sensitive topics, such as Gus recounting the day Sophia's parents died, Jodi trying to deal with how to handle Kent's PTSD, or Pierre finding out he's not Abigail's biological father in this mod's storyline. They're disabled by default in the game's config, requiring the player to manually activate them.
- George, while having already a considerable amount of angst in the vanilla game, expanded adds an event where he tells the farmer that Harvey found out that he has cancer.
- Adaptational Attractiveness:
- More of an Adaptational Cuteness: Dusty is much cuter and friendlier in this mod, contrasting his appearance in the original game in which he's described as scary-looking but too lazy to do anything.
- The summit is also re-imagined, having a large tree planted on it and vegetation growing, making it more gorgeous.
- Adaptational Backstory Change: In a new event, Linus reveals his past to the Farmer, telling them that he was once a very wealthy man who decided to donate all his money to charity and choose his current lifestyle.
- Adaptational Badass: In the original game, the "Adventurer's Guild" is merely a pair of lonely old has-been hermits, clearly a parody of such guilds in other media. In this mod they're portrayed as genuine heroes, with the Stardew Valley "branch" of the Guild being part of a much larger organization tasked with defending humanity.
- Adaptational Early Appearance:
- The summit, which in the original game doesn't become accessible until the player achieves 100% Completion, becomes accessible much earlier in this mod thanks to Clint blowing up the blocking boulder in a new quest.
- The Wizard's basement, which in the original game was unlocked after completing the magic ink quest for the Wizard, is open from the get-go in this mod. But the Farmer can't use the Shrine of Illusions until they raise their trustworthiness with the Wizard by completing said quest.
- Additionally, a Junimo chest can be seen inside the Wizard's Tower, way earlier than when they're introduced in Mr. Qi's Walnut Room on Ginger Island.
- Adaptational Gender Identity: In the original game, Krobus is male. Here, Krobus is referred to with gender-neutral pronouns.
- Adaptational Nice Guy:
- Downplayed with Morris, who in this mod gets a more Affably Evil-leaning personality, but he is still a Jerkass and a Bad Boss to boot. Siding with Joja and taking the effort to befriend him has him open up more, showing he's not actually a bad guy on a personal level; the farmer makes him aware that he's being Obliviously Evil and he makes efforts to improve and get more in touch with people.
- Also downplayed with the Wizard. While he's on your side and fundamental to the Community Center route in the canon game, he also keeps being a cold Insufferable Genius towards you even after you max out your friendship with him. In this mod, Magnus (a.k.a The Wizard) warms up to you as you build your friendship with him and even more so if you marry him.
- Adaptational Villainy: In the original game, Mr. Qi is a mysterious, somewhat creepy, yet ultimately benign character who pushes the Farmer to strive for Perfection. In this mod, he is given much more Ambiguously Evil and shadier motivations, implying that he has something to do with the monster mutations in the Crimson Badlands and opposing the Wizard Rasmodius. In one new event, he casts a "spell of silence" on the Farmer, forbidding them from speaking to anyone about him.
- Adaptation Expansion: As the title indicates, this mod is focused on expanding the story of the main game; also many places that only got passing references in the base game, like Grampleton and Castle Village, get more prominent appearances here.
- Adaptational Explanation:
- In the vanilla game, the fact that Pierre sells a infinite stock of seeds never made much sense since you are the only farmer in town (and, before you, apparently there was none). The mod fixes this by adding other farmers in Pelican Town such as Andy, Susan and Sophia, as well as changing Marnie's ranch to feature a small plantation as well.
- Also, the fact that you have to use swords and melee weapons against monsters in a world in which firearms are known to exist (as shown in one of Kent's heart events and the "Journey of the Prairie King" game), is explained by Marlon as conventional weapons being useless against monsters, and that the melee weapons of the game are imbued with magic.
- In a new event, Demetrius explains that the reason Stardew Valley got its name was because, in ancient times, there was a meteor shower in the valley; as such, the soil became enriched with minerals, which is why it's so fertile. It also explains why the valley is relatively rich in iridium deposits, as it's abundant in meteors.
- Anti-Frustration Features: The Void Seeds needed to grow Void Roots for the Monster Crops quest are obtained by defeating the Shadow People in the Highland Caves. However, should you complete the Krobus quest that makes the Shadow People non-hostile, they will become unkillable, thus permanently locking you out of getting Void Seeds. To prevent this from making the Monster Crops quest unfinishable, Void Roots will become a forageable item in the Highland Caves once this happens.
- Ascended Extra:
- Characters like Gunther, Marlon, and Morris, who had very small roles and characterization in the original game, get expanded storylines and become fully friendable in this mod.
- The cashier at JojaMart, named Claire in this mod, is now a fully realized villager and a possible love interest.
- Awesome, but Impractical: Monster Fruit usurps Starfruit as the second most valuable crop in the game, with the former selling for over twice as much as the latter. Iridium Monster Fruit wine in particular sells for nearly 13,000 gold with the Artisan profession, making it the single most lucrative item in the entire game (the only thing that even comes close is an iridium Legend, which requires you to have mastered the
notoriously finnicky fishing minigame to have even a slight hope of catching). There are only two problems with this. The first is that they take nearly an entire season to grow, clocking in at a whopping 25 days, one day longer than Sweet Gem Berries which are more valuable (though they can't be turned into wine). The second - and arguably most major - issue is that the only source of seeds is from killing Wilderness Golems in the Highlands, which you don't even get access to until fairly late in the game. Even then, they're an incredibly rare drop, meaning you'll need to set aside entire days doing nothing but farming golems just to get a few dozen seeds if you're lucky. Because of this, while Monster Fruit is always very much worth going for if you can get it, Starfruit remains the more reliable cash cow crop. - Blessed with Suck: A weird variant - Gemfish, when placed into a fish pond, tend to produce gemstones instead of roe. Sounds awesome, right? Well, it just so happens that said roe, when aged in a preserves jar, is more valuable than any of the gems the fish produces, the sole exception being the Prismatic Shard (which also just so happens to be the only Gemfish product that's rarer than roe). As it turns out, in a cruel twist of irony, the one fish that you want to produce roe is also the one fish that only does so once in a blue moon.
- Boss Battle: The mod adds two of these, although due to how the base game's combat works, they're basically just damage sponges that hit harder than normal mooks.
- Apophis in the Crimson Badlands is a giant corrupted serpent that drops a rare item known as a Void Shard upon death.
- Bully Rex in the Highlands is a large Pepper Rex that has a penchant for eating treasure. It drops an Ornate Treasure Chest and the key to the Highland Dwarf's cage upon death.
- Bragging Rights Award:
- The Galaxy Slingshot. If you can get to it through the whole Crimson Badlands, defeating Apophis and the literal wall of Corrupt Mummies in front of its cave while carrying a Prismatic Shard, then you absolutely do not need it.
- The Piggy Bank, which you receive from Mr. Qi after earning a grand total of ten-million coins. You're able to place money in it, but you can't take it back out, essentially making it a trash can for any spare cash you want to get rid of.
- Bland-Name Product: In-Universe example: In Claire's movie "The Thief of Justice", the antagonists are an evil MegaCorp named Jajo Corp whose nefarious plan involves putting a brain-control chemical in their soda product.
- Company Town: If you follow the Joja route in this mod, Joja greatly expands their activities; ultimately turning Pelican Town into one of these for JojaCorp.
- Disc-One Nuke: Maxing out your friendship with Andy, which isn't too hard to do since a few of his loved gifts (such as Beer or Farmer's Lunch) are pretty easy to obtain, will result in him giving you the Ancient Seed artifact, an item that is pretty hard to find otherwise and that you can turn into the seed of the second most profitable crop in the vanilla game. Even before that, he give you 3 strawberry seeds early on in the first season, giving you a bit of a breather both in money and in procuring more seeds.
- Difficult, but Awesome: Reaching the iridium quarry requires you to cross the entirety of the Crimson Badlands, encountering dozens of high-level monsters and possibly even running into Apophis along the way, and then having to fight even stronger monsters within the quarry proper. However, once you become strong enough to be able to accomplish this on a regular basis, you will find the single most reliable source of iridium ore in the entire game, since the nodes and meteors within respawn every day and, unlike the Skull Caverns, they aren't affected by daily luck. A diligent player will be able to farm around 70-80 iridium ore and possibly even a Prismatic Shard or two every single day once they're able to reach the quarry regularly, not to mention all of the valuable loot the monsters drop.
- Escort Mission: Gunther's 6-Heart event is one of these. The player must guide him so he can research some artifacts in the mines.
- Flaw Exploitation: The Castle Village Outpost is on the right side of the Crimson Badlands. The corruption they're looking for is happening on the left side. Bring Magnus a Void Shard by defeating Apophis and he determines an intelligent force is responsible for the mutations, making this entirely intentional.
- Forbidden Zone: The Crimson Badlands on the Galdoran continent, a scorching wasteland in which a magical battle once took place and scarred the land. It acts as an expert-level dungeon with the most valuable loot.
- Gameplay and Story Integration: Sophia is described as being shy and reclusive and that it will take a lot of time and work to befriend her. That description is accurate - even playing optimally she's likely to be one of the last villagers you befriend unless you really try.Why?
- Gem-Encrusted: The newly added Gemfish which spawns in the Highland Cavern is absolutely covered in gemstones. If placed into a Fish Pond, they will typically produce gemstones rather than roe.
- Guns Are Worthless: According to Marlon in this mod, conventional weapons are useless against monsters, which is why the Farmer has to use swords and other melee weapons which according to him are imbued with magic.
- Irony: Morris hates or dislikes everything Joja-related when it comes to gifts.
- I Thought Everyone Could Do That: In one new event, the Wizard and Morgan are both surprised and impressed that the Farmer can transmute metals, as the former says that it's very advanced alchemy.
- Just Friends:
- There's a new event for Clint in which he confesses his feelings to Emily, but she says to him that she only thinks of him as a friend.
- Claire also says this to Martin in one of his heart events after he confesses to her.
- Late Character Syndrome: A variation with Lance. He's a bachelor, so you can romance and marry him, but he doesn't even appear in the game until a certain milestone you probably won't reach until the middle of Year 2 at the earliest and by then you've already probably set your eye on someone else unless you know he's in the game already and specifically intend to romance him. Being very hard to befriend certainly doesn't help either. For reference, his loved gifts are even harder to obtain than Sophia's, who is rather infamous for her gift preferences.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: In one of the events added by the mod, Mr. Qi tells you that you build relationships as if people were a game.
- Mama's Baby, Papa's Maybe: While the original game had many hints about the possibility of the Wizard being Abigail's biological father, this mod outright confirms itnote .
- Mental Health Recovery Arc:
- Unlike in the core game, Kent learns to cope with his PTSD, and rebuilds his life by joining the Adventurer's Guild.
- Sophia's arc is about managing her depression and making peace with the death of her parents.
- Shane's 14 heart event has him quit drinking for good. From then on, his room is clean, he no longer mentions getting alcohol from the fridge, and beer is a disliked gift.
- Mix-and-Match Critters: Some of the new fish added by the mod include the Puppyfish and Kittyfish, which are fish with the heads of puppies and kittens respectively, as well as the Water Grub, a fish with the head of an insect.
- Morton's Fork:
- For Pierre, either option for restoring the Community Center has a downside:
- Going by the Joja route will seal the fate of Pierre's shop, as Joja Corp greatly expands their activities in Pelican Town, driving him out of business, and Caroline is forced to take a day job to cover for her family's expenses.
- Restoring the Community Center with the Junimo route will make Abigail meet and befriend Apples, which starts a chain of events that ends with the reveal that she is not actually Pierre's biological daughter.
- Andy represents one for Lewis. Andy is the least financially successful farmer remaining in the Valley, so anything that makes his farm less profitable might cause him to lose his farm. Andy is also fiercely independent, which means he turns down any sort of attempt Lewis makes to help him, like letting him farm the old community garden. No matter what happens, Andy yells at Lewis.
- For Pierre, either option for restoring the Community Center has a downside:
- Named by the Adaptation: The mod adds the names of a few characters and places that are unnamed in the base game, as well as several characters' first and last names:
- The Wizard, in the original game was known only as "M. Rasmodius"; in this mod the "M" stands for "Magnus."
- The nameless redhead cashier at JojaMart in the original game, later implied to be the same one attending the concessions stand in the movie theater, is named Claire Whitley.
- The Travelling Cart merchant is named Suki.
- The run-down house that Hat Mouse now occupies is (or more accurately was) named Stardust Farm.
- According to Lance, the volcano on Ginger Island is named Mount Kohldur.
- The crop fairy is named Angelica, according to Magnus.
- Morris' last name is Tod.
- Gunther's last name is Silvian.
- Marlon's last name is Fay.
- The mountains that surround the valley and in which the mines are located are named Corneal Mountains.
- No Campaign for the Wicked: Averted; as in the original game, it's possible to side with Joja Corp, but the option there was treated as the cheap and lazy one, and it didn't have any significant impact. Here it opens up an entire new storyline that culminates with Morris becoming the new mayor of Pelican Town, though he does get better.
- Non-Human Undead: In the Crimson Badlands, you can fish up Undeadfish and Bone Fish.
- Nuclear Mutant: The Radioactive Bass that you can catch in the sewer are notoriously difficult to catch, and can produce Radioactive Ore if placed in a Fish Pond.
- One Side of the Story: In Victor's 8-heart event, Olivia peeks at his diary while cleaning his room, and is furious when she discovers that he's been turning down job offers. When she confronts him about it, she refuses to let him get a word in edgewise, and comes extremely close to sending him to the city and cutting him off from her funds. The sudden appearance of the farmer distracts the two enough to allow Victor to tell his side of the story (assuming the farmer doesn't agree with Olivia without hearing Victor out). As it turns out, Victor managed to score an apprenticeship with an experienced bridge builder, and wanted to wait to tell Olivia until it was official. Olivia is excited for her son's accomplishment, and apologizes for her previous behavior.
- Only One Who Likes Spam: Grampleton Orange Chicken, a food item added by the mod, is loved by Sophia and her best friend, Scarlett, but is hated by everyone else, with the exception of Marnie, who merely dislikes it. Even Gus hates it, and he's the only person you can get it from.
- Original Character: This mod introduces over 17 new original characters, including new villagers, members of the Adventurer's Guild, and magical creatures.
- Painting the Medium: Mr. Qi says this in a new event:The commoner who arrived in Stardew Valley with nothing, but now has everything. The one capable of crafting anything they please. The one with the ability to forge relationships, shaping them over time as though people are a game.
- Permanently Missable Content: There's a bit of this depending on which route you take in fixing the Community Center.
- By completing the Junimo route, Morris is removed from the game which precludes the player from his high-hearts friendship events, and you lose out on a new fish and two new crops. These aren't required for 100% Completion, though.
- By completing the Joja route, Apples (who is also tied to the reveal of Abigail's real parentage) will not appear, and you lose access to the Junimo Woods and 2 warp points for your nexus.
- Poison Mushroom: The mod adds a few new consumables that decrease your stamina.
- A literal version appears as forage in the Secret Woods during the summer. Eating it will wipe out a ton of energy - in fact, at higher qualities, it can be enough to make you pass out on the spot.
- The mod also adds a new forage item called Red Baneberries, which similarly cause the player to lose energy if ingested.
- Both of these items are used in a recipe that decreases your maximum stamina, but gives you significant buffs to attack, defense, mining, and magnetism.
- Portal Crossroad World: The Nexus acts like this; once the Wizard teaches the Farmer how to warp and establish their own Portal Network, he will set up the Farmer's Nexus on the Enchanted Grove to connect all their warp points.
- Prized Possession Giveaway: After you've donated every mineral and artifact to the museum and reached 8 hearts with Gunther, the public's renewed interest in the museum prompts Gunther to give the player his most valuable possession: A rare Galdoran Gem, which is the best possible mineral to place into a crystalarium.
- Promoted to Love Interest: The Wizard gets promoted as a romanceable bachelor.
- Power Up Letdown: You've slogged your way through the Highlands, got the golden key from the Bully Rex at the top of the winding mountain path, fought tooth and nail past hordes of ultra-powerful Shadow People in the Highland Caves, and freed the dwarf imprisoned within. Your reward for this Herculean feat is... a shop that sells cosmetic items. "Not worth the trouble" doesn't even begin to describe it.
- Reconcile the Bitter Foes: There's a new event in which Krobus serves as a liaison between the Farmer and the Shadow People and they reveal that Shadow People want peace; once the event is complete, all Shadow People in the game become non-hostile.
- Rewrite: A minor example: In the original game the player would get the sewer key from Gunther, in this mod they get it from Marlon, and it's also revealed that the latter is aware of Krobus' existence and that he's under the protection of the Adventurer's Guild.
- Riches to Rags: Linus's new 10 heart event has him tell the Farmer about how he was the inheritor of a fabulously wealthy estate but donated most of it to charity when he chose to live as he currently does. He doesn't regret any of it.
- Secret Shop:
- The Junimo Woods, which become accessible once the Farmer completes all the bundles required to restore the Community Center.
- The Bear has also a shop that becomes accessible once the Farmer completes its secret note quest.
- After rescuing it from the Void Spirits in the Highland Cave, the Highland Dwarf opens up a shop near Lance's outpost where he sells various decorations.
- Shining City: Castle Village, in the original game it was only mentioned in passing in an item description, in this mod it's described as world's greatest hub for adventurers and magic guilds, and the home of many skilled craftsmen and artisans, it is also mentioned that it's the place where Sandy lives in. The city is located on Galdora and the Farmer can reach its gates at the northernmost part of the Crimson Badlands, but there's a magical barrier that prevents their entry. As of this mod's version 1.14 it remains inaccessible, but it will become a proper location in the mod's upcoming version 2.0.
- Shout-Out:
- To Harry Potter:
- Rasmodius frequently mentions his work with the "Ministry of Magic" of the Ferngill Republic.
- During Olivia and the Farmer's romantic getaway trip in her 14 heart event, they arrive at a train station that looks remarkably like Platform 9¾, and there's even an NPC in the background that looks a lot like Harry Potter.
- In one of her high-hearts events, Sophia invites the Farmer to watch Your Name.
- In a weird self-reference, the scenery at the northernmost part of The Highlands is very similar to one seen in the teaser for ConcernedApe's next upcoming game Haunted Chocolatier. FlashShifter in an interview confirmed the inspiration for it.
- There's a green mushroom whose description says "Makes one feel as if they've gained another life".
- The item Marlon gives you to set up a warp point to the Adventurer's Guild is a green rupee.
- You're able to catch Moonlight Jellies (called Lunaloos by the mod, after the Wizard's dialogue from the vanilla game), including the strangely-shaped one that appears before the player during the Dance of the Moonlight Jellies. It's called a Shiny Lunaloo, and its description notes how "it has a different color and shape".
- To Harry Potter:
- Stealing the Credit: Should you choose to restore the Community Center with the Joja route, Morris will take sole credit for the town's improvements, even though you're the one actually bankrolling them.
- Subliminal Advertising: If you complete the Joja route, a new fish known as the Razor Trout will start appearing in the town river. It's stated to be an invasive species, and its scale pattern resembles the letter "J".
- The One That Got Away: If he's been romanced, the Wizard's dialogue hints of Caroline being this to him.
- This Cannot Be!: In this mod, Morris says this when Pierre rallies the entire town against JojaMart.Morris: No... NO! This wasn't supposed to happen!
- Trademark Favorite Food: Several characters that were non-friendable in the vanilla game have these as loved gifts in the mod.
- Gunther enjoys Bean Hotpot and Salmon Dinner.
- Marlon enjoys Roots Platter and Void Delight, a new dish added by the mod made with the newly-added Void Eel.
- Morris enjoys Lobster Bisque and Chowder.
- Too Awesome to Use: Once you've opened up the Warp Nexus, you also gain access to Dewdrop Berries. This is the single best food item in the game for excursions to the various mines and dungeons. It grants a +2 buff to Mining skill, Speed, and Luck along with a decent magnetism boost, and these buffs last the entire day. The catch is that you only get two* per season, making them exceedingly rare. Players who are only looking for the Speed and Luck buffs are better off baking Flower Cookies instead, since their ingredients are much more plentiful as long as you remember to visit the Summit regularly.
- Under the Sea: In the Wizard's 14 heart event, he brings the Farmer to the sunken city of Atlantis, where they meet the Mermaid who gives the Farmer a Mermaid's Bracelet.
- Vagueness Is Coming: There's a "mature" event in which Mr. Qi tells the Farmer that they may be the one they've been waiting for and that "When the time is right... it will happen."
- Voodoo Shark: The mod attempts to justify why the Farmer uses only melee weapons against the monsters when firearms are known to exist in the setting by having Marlon explain that monsters cannot be harmed by conventional weapons and the melee weapons are imbued with magic. This then raises the question of how nonmagical slingshot projectiles like rocks and chunks of ore and more tellingly, bombs are able to harm the monsters. It also doesn't explain why bullets can't be imbued with magic then. Apparently, the developers felt the same way and this justification was removed in the latest updates of the mod.
- War Is Hell: While in the original game had only a few passing references to the Great Offscreen War with the Gotoro Empire (most of them related to Kent), this fan-made mod adds more elements that directly affect the characters:
- Olivia is originally from the Gotoro Empire; she mentions being worried about the news coming out, since her relatives are still there.
- The Travelling Cart merchant, named Suki, in this mod is explicitly from the Gotoro Empire; there's a "mature" event in which Jas feels conflicted by her friendship with her. There's also dialogue that mentions that, because she smuggles her goods directly from there, she sees and hears things that are never mentioned in the news.
- There's an event
that was cut in later versions, but can still be found in the data files, in which Kent reveals that he was forced to kill defenseless Gotoro Empire civilians. And that he believes that there's not much difference between the Ferngill Republic and the Gotoro Empire.
- What the Hell, Hero?: There's a new event that happens if you marry Emily after you encouraged Clint to ask her on a date with him, in which Clint will call you out on this.
- Wild Wilderness: The Highlands, which are unlocked after reaching two hearts with Lance and collecting a bunch of monster loot for Marlon. It's a large area to the North of the valley comprised of untamed wilderness that's home to a number of strong monsters and many unclaimed treasures.
