Getting married and having kids is a big draw for many farming simulators, such as the Story of Seasons series and the old Harvest Moon games. Players can work towards courting a villager in Stardew Valley a similar way: by gifting liked and loved items of characters they’re interested in marrying. And nowadays, most farming simulators support same-sex marriage as well, and players can even raise kids with partners of the same gender as well. In Stardew Valley, players hoping to have children will first need to reach a 10-heart relationship with the chosen spouse.
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Getting to a 10-heart relationship with a villager in Stardew Valley requires first giving them a bouquet, which can be purchased at Pierre’s shop. After reaching 10 hearts, give the villager a Mermaid’s Pendant, purchasable from the Old Mariner on rainy days at the beach, to propose. This also requires having upgraded the farmhouse at least once and repairing the small bridge on the eastern side of the beach.
After getting married, maintaining that 10-heart relationship and building the nursery are vital steps to having a chance at raising children in Stardew Valley. Note that same-gendered couples can only adopt children while opposite-gendered couples can have biological children.
Having Biological Children
After being married for at least 7 days, each day, there is a 5% chance that the player’s partner will ask if they want to have a child. The player can respond “not now” without consequence if they aren’t ready yet; each night the spouse will continue to have a 5% chance of asking the player if they want to have a child in Stardew Valley, as long as the player continues to maintain at least a 10-hearts relationship.
If the player agrees, after 14 Stardew Valley days, a baby will be born and appear in the crib in the nursery.
Adopting Children
Adopting children in Stardew Valley is very similar to having biological children. The Stardew Valley bachelor or bachelorette will have a 5% chance of asking the player if they want children each night they maintain at least 10 hearts in their relationship. Similar to biological children, after agreeing, adoption will occur after 14 days. The child will appear in the middle of the night after being dropped off by the adoption agency.
In Stardew Valley, players can have a maximum of 2 children at a time and the children can only grow to toddler age. After 2 children, the spouse will stop asking the player if they want to have a child.
Stardew Valley is available now on mobile devices, PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.
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