Short answer: Stardew Valley has 34 villagers you can befriend with gifts, 12 of them marriage candidates. Almost all of them love Golden Pumpkin, Magic Rock Candy, Pearl, Prismatic Shard, Rabbit's Foot, Stardrop Tea, so those are the safest loved gifts; the table below adds each villager's own loved items and birthday. A loved gift is +80 friendship points, and × 8 on a birthday.
Birthdays and loved gifts, in calendar order
| Villager | Birthday | Loves (own list) | Marriage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kent | Spring 4 | Fiddlehead Risotto, Roasted Hazelnuts | No |
| Lewis | Spring 7 | Autumn's Bounty, Glazed Yams, Green Tea, Hot Pepper, Vegetable Medley | No |
| Vincent | Spring 10 | Cranberry Candy, Frog Egg, Ginger Ale, Grape, Pink Cake, Snail | No |
| Haley | Spring 14 | Coconut, Fruit Salad, Pink Cake, Sunflower | Yes |
| Pam | Spring 18 | Beer, Cactus Fruit, Glazed Yams, Mead, Pale Ale, Parsnip, Parsnip Soup, Piña Colada | No |
| Shane | Spring 20 | Beer, Hot Pepper, Pepper Poppers, Pizza | Yes |
| Pierre | Spring 26 | Fried Calamari, Price Catalogue | No |
| Emily | Spring 27 | Amethyst, Aquamarine, Cloth, Emerald, Jade, Parrot Egg, Ruby, Survival Burger, Topaz, Wool | Yes |
| Jas | Summer 4 | Ancient Doll, Fairy Box, Fairy Rose, Pink Cake, Plum Pudding, Strange Doll (green), Strange Doll (yellow) | No |
| Gus | Summer 8 | Diamond, Escargot, Fish Taco, Orange, Tropical Curry | No |
| Maru | Summer 10 | Battery Pack, Cauliflower, Cheese Cauliflower, Diamond, Dwarf Gadget, Gold Bar, Iridium Bar, Miner's Treat, Pepper Poppers, Radioactive Bar, Rhubarb Pie, Strawberry | Yes |
| Alex | Summer 13 | Complete Breakfast, Jack Be Nimble, Jack Be Thick, Salmon Dinner | Yes |
| Sam | Summer 17 | Cactus Fruit, Maple Bar, Pizza, Tigerseye | Yes |
| Demetrius | Summer 19 | Bean Hotpot, Ice Cream, Rice Pudding, Strawberry | No |
| Dwarf | Summer 22 | Amethyst, Aquamarine, Emerald, Jade, Lava Eel, Lemon Stone, Omni Geode, Ruby, Topaz | No |
| Willy | Summer 24 | Catfish, Diamond, Gold Bar, Iridium Bar, Jewels Of The Sea, Mead, Octopus, Pumpkin, Sea Cucumber, Sturgeon, The Art O' Crabbing | No |
| Leo | Summer 26 | Duck Feather, Mango, Ostrich Egg, Parrot Egg, Poi | No |
| Penny | Fall 2 | Diamond, Emerald, Melon, Poppy, Poppyseed Muffin, Red Plate, Roots Platter, Sandfish, Tom Kha Soup, All Books | Yes |
| Elliott | Fall 5 | Crab Cakes, Duck Feather, Lobster, Pomegranate, Squid Ink, Tom Kha Soup | Yes |
| Jodi | Fall 11 | Chocolate Cake, Crispy Bass, Diamond, Eggplant Parmesan, Fried Eel, Pancakes, Rhubarb Pie, Vegetable Medley | No |
| Abigail | Fall 13 | Amethyst, Banana Pudding, Blackberry Cobbler, Chocolate Cake, Monster Compendium, Pufferfish, Pumpkin, Spicy Eel | Yes |
| Sandy | Fall 15 | Crocus, Daffodil, Mango Sticky Rice, Sweet Pea | No |
| Marnie | Fall 18 | Diamond, Farmer's Lunch, Pink Cake, Pumpkin Pie | No |
| Robin | Fall 21 | Goat Cheese, Peach, Spaghetti, Woody's Secret | No |
| George | Fall 24 | Fried Mushroom, Leek | No |
| Krobus | Winter 1 | Diamond, Iridium Bar, Monster Compendium, Monster Musk, Pumpkin, Void Egg, Void Mayonnaise, Wild Horseradish | No |
| Linus | Winter 3 | Blueberry Tart, Cactus Fruit, Coconut, Dish O' The Sea, The Alleyway Buffet, Yam | No |
| Caroline | Winter 7 | Fish Taco, Green Tea, Summer Spangle, Tropical Curry | No |
| Sebastian | Winter 10 | Frog Egg, Frozen Tear, Obsidian, Pumpkin Soup, Sashimi, Void Egg | Yes |
| Harvey | Winter 14 | Coffee, Pickles, Super Meal, Truffle Oil, Wine | Yes |
| Wizard | Winter 17 | Book of Mysteries, Purple Mushroom, Solar Essence, Super Cucumber, Void Essence | No |
| Evelyn | Winter 20 | Beet, Chocolate Cake, Diamond, Fairy Rose, Raisins, Stuffing, Tulip | No |
| Leah | Winter 23 | Goat Cheese, Poppyseed Muffin, Salad, Stir Fry, Truffle, Vegetable Medley, Wine | Yes |
| Clint | Winter 26 | Amethyst, Aquamarine, Artichoke Dip, Emerald, Fiddlehead Risotto, Gold Bar, Iridium Bar, Jade, Omni Geode, Ruby, Topaz | No |
How to use this list
To keep the whole list next to the game, the Gift Chart puts every villager's loves, hates and a cheap Year 1 birthday crop on one printable page.
Check the calendar at the start of each season and note the birthdays. A loved gift on a birthday is worth 640 points, which is more than two hearts at once, so a birthday is the best day to catch up with someone. On other days you can give each villager two gifts a week.
The own-list items are often cooked dishes or gems, which are hard early on. When you have nothing they love, a liked gift (+45) is worth more than half as much and is usually easy: each villager's page lists them, plus the crops they love or like that you can grow on the farm. Gifts that are hated cost 40 points, so check the page before giving anything unusual.
Universal loves are not quite universal. A few villagers have exceptions (for example, someone who hates a Prismatic Shard), and the villager pages call these out. To look up one item instead of one person, use the Gift Finder.
Gift rules that apply to every villager
Each villager page lists only that person's own tastes and where they break the rules below. Everything here is the same for everyone unless a villager page says otherwise.
| Taste | Normal day | Birthday (× 8) | Winter Star (× 5) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Loved | +80 | +640 | +400 |
| Liked | +45 | +360 | +225 |
| Neutral | +20 | +160 | +100 |
| Disliked | -20 | -160 | -100 |
| Hated | -40 | -320 | -200 |
Winter Star counts only for the villager you drew as your secret friend. Quality multiplies loved and liked gifts: silver × 1.1, gold × 1.25, iridium × 1.5.
One heart is 250 points, so 10 hearts is 2,500: 32 loved gifts on normal days. You can give each villager two gifts a week plus one on the birthday, so the birthday gift (640 points) is the biggest single jump. Talking every day adds a little, and points slowly drop if you ignore someone. Marriage candidates stop at 8 hearts until you give a Bouquet.
Universal loves: Golden Pumpkin, Magic Rock Candy, Pearl, Prismatic Shard, Rabbit's Foot, Stardrop Tea.
Universal likes: All Artisan Goods, All Cooking, All Flowers, All Foraged Minerals, All Fruit Tree Fruits, All Gems, All Vegetables, Life Elixir, Maple Syrup, Piña Colada, Rainbow Shell, Treasure Chest.
Universal neutral: All Books, Bread, Coral, Duck Feather, Fried Egg, Hops, Mystic Syrup, Nautilus Shell, Roe, Squid Ink, Sweet Gem Berry, Tea Leaves, Truffle, Wheat, Wool.
Universal dislikes: All Artifacts, All Bombs, All Building Materials, All Crafted Floors & Paths, All Fences, All Fertilizer, All Fish, All Geode Minerals, All Geodes, All Seeds, All Sprinklers, All Tackle, All Trinkets, Fireworks, Misc. Mined/Metal Goods, Cave Carrot, Driftwood, Field Snack, Jack-O-Lantern, Oak Resin, Oil, Pine Tar, Price Catalogue, Qi Fruit, Rice, Solar Essence, Spring Onion, Tea Set, Unmilled Rice, Vinegar, Void Egg, Void Essence, Wheat Flour.
Universal hates: All Bait, All Fossils, All Monster Loot, All Trash, Artifact Trove, Blue Grass Starter, Bug Steak, Butterfly Powder, Carp, Cookout Kit, Copper Ore, Crab Pot, Dragon Tooth, Drum Block, Energy Tonic, Error Item, Explosive Ammo, Fairy Dust, Flute Block, Golden Bobber, Golden Coconut, Golden Mystery Box, Golden Tag, Grass Starter, Green Algae, Green Slime Egg, Hay, Iron Ore, Journal Scrap, Monster Musk, Muscle Remedy, Mystery Box, Oil of Garlic, Poppy, Qi Seasoning, Radioactive Bar, Radioactive Ore, Rain Totem, Red Mushroom, Sap, Sea Urchin, Seafoam Pudding, Seaweed, Secret Note, Snail, Strange Bun, Sugar, Tent Kit, Torch, Void Mayonnaise, Warp Totem Beach, Warp Totem Desert, Warp Totem Farm, Warp Totem Island, Warp Totem Mountains, White Algae.