One of the kindest characters in Stardew Valley is undoubtedly Penny. A humble young woman who lives with her mother in a trailer west of the river, she spends most of her days tutoring local children at the library. She also harbors a crush on a skateboarding musician in town, but if you give her enough gifts, she might change her mind and turn her attention to you. Here’s how a Stardew Valley player can befriend Penny with her favorite gifts.
What Does Penny Like? A Gift Guide for Stardew Valley
Penny is very straight-laced and despises all forms of alcohol, so keep that in mind as you develop your friendship.
The following is a rundown of Penny's various preferences in terms of gifts.
Gifts Penny Loves
- Diamond
- Emerald
- Melon
- Poppy
- Poppyseed Muffin
- Red Plate
- Roots Platter
- Sandfish
- Tom Kha Soup
- All Universal Loves (except Rabbit's Foot)
Gifts Penny Likes
- Dandelion
- Leek
- All Artifacts
- All Milk
- All Universal Likes except...
- Algae Soup, Beer, Mead, Pale Ale, Pale Broth, Pina Colada, Tom Kha Soup, Wine
Gifts Penny Tolerates (Neutral)
- Chanterelle
- Common Mushroom
- Daffodil
- Ginger
- Hazelnut
- Magma Cap
- Morel
- Snow Yam
- Wild Horseradish
- Winter Root
- All Eggs (except Void Egg)
- All Fruit (except Fruit Tree Fruit, Grape, Melon, Salmonberry)
- All Universal Neutrals (except Duck Feather, Hops, Wool)
Gifts Penny Dislikes
- Algae Soup
- Duck Feather
- Pale Broth
- Purple Mushroom
- Quartz
- Red Mushroom
- Salmonberry
- Wool
- All Universal Dislikes (Except Artifacts and Sandfish)
Gifts Penny Hates
- Beer
- Grape
- Holly
- Hops
- Mead
- Pale Ale
- Pina Colada
- Rabbit's Foot
- Wine
- All Universal Hates (except Poppy, Red Mushroom)
For more Stardew Valley tips, check out our dedicated page.
How Friendship Works in Stardew Valley
Befriending characters in Stardew Valley is a deceptively complex process. Each character’s affection for you is measured in up to 10 Hearts (14 for a spouse), which can be tracked on the Social tab of your inventory screen. Make certain choices or say certain things, and it'll impact your affections. At certain heart levels, you trigger special events with that character that offer even more opportunities to invest in the relationship or gain different items.
Each visible heart is worth 250 invisible “friendship points,” for want of a better term, and there are a few different ways to earn those points. You can befriend a villager by simply talking to them once a day (20 pts.), completing their random item delivery quests (150 pts.), or going to see a movie with them (200/100 pts. if they enjoy the flick). Every day you don't interact with a villager, their friendship points decrease by 2.
Giving a villager gifts is the most efficient way to grind hearts as long as you’ve got a reliable source for something that the villager loves, but in some extreme cases, you can totally ruin a relationship with the wrong response. Penny, for instance, adores kids. If you tell her that you can't stand kids during her 8-heart event, you lose a whopping 1500 friendship. You lose the same amount if you reject her when she confesses feelings for you.
Stardew Valley Gift-Giving Table
- Loves: +80
- Likes: +45
- Neutral: +20
- Dislikes: -20
- Hate: -40
These gains are multiplied by 5 during the Feast of the Winter Star event and multiplied by 8 on a villager’s birthday. For Penny, that's Fall 2. You also gain an additive 10%/25%/50% bonus for giving higher-quality versions of an item when they’re available.
Penny can be tricky to foster a relationship with. She loves Diamonds and Emeralds which you can mine for, but you need to be higher-leveled to get them reliably. She also loves Melons and Poppies that only grow in the Summer. Since you have a limited number of gifts you can give each week, you can stock up on these during Summer and save them for the rest of the year. Always be generous with Penny in terms of gifts but also when it comes to encouragement, assistance, and compliments. During some of her events, you can help her clean up or tell her that her bad cooking is actually good.
