Dating the Entire Town: The Consequences of Poly-Romance in Stardew Valley
So, you’ve got your eye on every eligible bachelor and bachelorette in Pelican Town? Maybe you’re a completionist, maybe you’re a romantic at heart, or maybe you just like to see what happens. Whatever your reasons, dating everyone in Stardew Valley is a completely viable, albeit potentially messy, path. The direct answer is this: you can date every single marriageable NPC at the same time until you propose to someone. However, there are consequences for your ambitious romantic pursuits. While you can freely shower bouquets and affection on everyone, reaching a certain point will trigger a confrontation that will negatively impact your relationships with everyone you are dating. Let’s delve into the details of what happens when you become the town’s notorious heartbreaker.
The Path to Poly-Romance
In Stardew Valley, you can begin a romantic relationship with a marriageable villager by giving them a bouquet once you reach eight hearts of friendship. This action signifies that you are “dating” them. Until you give someone a Mermaid’s Pendant to propose marriage, there is no limit to the number of bouquets you can give, meaning you could potentially date everyone simultaneously. This often leads players to max out the hearts of each potential partner without committing to any one specific person.
Reaching 10 Hearts
You can raise your friendship level with each marriage candidate up to 10 hearts. This allows you to experience their individual 10-heart events, which are special scenes that often reveal more about their personality and backstory. These events are often the major source of deepening a player’s understanding of each character and help with the decision of choosing who to marry, or not to marry. So, you are able to have all of the heart event scenes at 10 hearts if you so choose before marrying someone.
The Dreaded Confrontation
Once you have given a bouquet to all available bachelorettes or bachelors (depending on your player’s gender), have raised their friendship to 10 hearts, and witnessed each of their 10-heart events, your romantic juggling act will catch up to you. If you then enter either Emily’s house or Haley’s house, it will trigger the infamous “group confrontation”.
The Stardrop Saloon Showdown
The cutscene that unfolds is hardly a celebratory one. Your romantic partners will all gather at the Stardrop Saloon, where they will collectively confront you about your dating escapades. This scene is a direct consequence of your many relationships and is essentially an exposure of your polyamorous endeavors.
The Fallout
After the confrontation, everyone’s relationship with you will significantly drop. While the exact amount of heart loss varies, the impact is undeniable. It serves as a hefty penalty for your attempts at a multiple dating game. The good news is that you can recover from it, if you are up for the grind. You will need to build up friendship with each person again, if you wish to proceed with a single romantic partner later on.
Avoiding the Confrontation
Is it possible to date everyone in Stardew Valley and not face the consequences? While you can date them all at the same time, the confrontation is based on having 10 hearts with each of them and having witnessed their 10 heart scene before the encounter at Haley or Emily’s house. There is a way to avoid the massive friendship loss if you don’t want to deal with the aftermath. The key is to not trigger the event if you don’t wish to be confronted. You can date all of the bachelors/ettes, get them to 10 hearts, and see their 10 heart event scenes. All you need to do to avoid the confrontation is to choose one person to marry (give the Mermaid’s Pendant) before walking into either Haley or Emily’s house with everyone at 10 hearts. You can still have a fun experience of seeing all of the dating scenes, but without suffering the social punishment.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Here are some of the most frequently asked questions about dating and relationships in Stardew Valley, providing even more insight into the game’s intricate romantic mechanics:
1. What are Grey Hearts?
Grey hearts appear in the relationship panel for marriageable characters before you give them a bouquet. They simply mean that you cannot fill them until you begin a romantic relationship. Giving them a bouquet turns those grey hearts into empty ones that you can fill with friendship points.
2. Can I have multiple boyfriends/girlfriends at once?
Yes! You can date multiple people simultaneously in Stardew Valley until you are married to someone, or until you trigger the group confrontation scene after seeing everyone’s 10 heart scenes. The game allows you to explore relationships with any and all marriageable characters.
3. What happens if I give everyone a bouquet?
Giving a bouquet to all the eligible bachelors/bachelorettes means that you are romantically involved with all of them. This can lead to the aforementioned group confrontation scene if you reach 10 hearts and see each of their 10 heart event scenes before proposing to anyone.
4. Can I get 10 hearts with everyone without consequences?
Yes, you can! You can give a bouquet to all the candidates, reach 10 hearts with each, and see their 10 heart event scenes without triggering the group confrontation, so long as you propose to someone before triggering the cutscene by walking into either Haley or Emily’s house after maxing out everyone’s hearts and seeing all the 10 heart scenes.
5. What does a Rabbits Foot have to do with dating?
The Rabbit’s Foot only has to do with dating in one specific way. If you have a Rabbit’s Foot in your inventory when you trigger the group confrontation scene at Haley/Emily’s house, you will avoid the big friendship loss with everyone you were dating.
6. What happens if I date someone while married?
You can date someone while married, but you will not be able to give them another bouquet. If that person is the same gender as your spouse, your spouse might get jealous if you gift that other person, leading to a decrease in your relationship with your spouse.
7. Can my spouse get jealous?
Yes, your spouse can get jealous, though it is dependent on luck. If you give a gift to someone of the same gender as your spouse, there’s a chance they will become jealous. This results in a friendship penalty with your spouse and an angry message from them.
8. What happens if I give a wilted bouquet?
Giving a wilted bouquet ends the romantic relationship, reduces the friendship with the former partner to five hearts, but does not end your ability to talk or give them gifts. This is the game’s version of breaking up with someone.
9. What happens if I give someone a ring?
Giving a ring to a villager is the act of proposing marriage. This must be the Mermaid’s Pendant for a villager and the Wedding Ring if you want to propose to another player. This will initiate the wedding ceremony in 3 days if accepted.
10. How many kids can I have?
You can have a maximum of 2 children in Stardew Valley. They can only grow to the toddler stage, and your spouse will stop asking you to have more children after that.
11. Who is the best spouse in Stardew Valley?
This is subjective, but Maru is often considered one of the best spouses due to her gifts of rare materials and cooked dishes. Who you find to be the best partner will often be based on your preference.
12. Can I marry another player in multiplayer mode?
Yes, in multiplayer mode, you can marry another player by giving them a Wedding Ring, not a bouquet.
13. Who is the hardest/easiest to romance?
Haley is often considered one of the most challenging to romance due to her initially standoffish attitude. Shane is often considered one of the easiest to romance, due to his love for beer that can be gifted to him at the Saloon.
14. Who is the most popular/romanced character?
Abigail is consistently considered one of the most popular characters. She also has an added bonus of joining you in the mines if you get married to her.
15. Is the Wizard Abigail’s father?
Many believe that the Wizard is Abigail’s biological father due to in-game hints and dialogue, although it’s never explicitly confirmed.
By exploring the depths of dating in Stardew Valley, you can experience the game’s rich tapestry of social interactions and character development. Whether you choose to pursue a life of romance with multiple partners, or settle down with that one special someone, your journey is unique and memorable.