The best way for you to change up your experience in a not modded version of Stardew Valley is to change the farm type you’re playing on. The experience you have on a standard farm is extremely different to the experience that you may have on a beach farm or a forest farm and that’s how to keep the game interesting.
If you really want to take that to a completely different level you can actually download farm type mods that will entirely change the game to versions that even Concerned Ape couldn’t dream up. These include entirely different modded farms like the volcano farms or farms with simple changes like making them bigger or smaller or adding small details like more water or more farming area.
1. Volcano Farms
Our first farm type on this list is the Volcano Farm that is entirely inspired by the volcano on Ginger Island. This mod actually goes ahead and changes all of the vanilla farm types into volcano farms, meaning you could have a volcano-beach farm or a volcano-forest farm so you can really enjoy whatever type you love as a volcano farm.
The only downside to a volcano farm is that no crops can grow on this land so you can’t make a whole bunch of money with crops until you unlock the Ginger Island Farm. Thankfully, the modder decided to change the way the community centre works since you can’t get any of the crops to finish it.
2. Sea Breeze Farm
The Sea Breeze Farm takes the traditional beach farm concept and makes it so much more beautiful and dynamic. This modded farm adds a cute area at the bottom with towels and umbrellas for hanging out and self care, a bunch of interesting water areas that even include water falls and so much more.
With the vanilla Stardew beach map you can’t use sprinklers on any area that is sand, but this modder decided to change it up and allow you to use sprinklers on the sand. This is awesome because they’ve eliminated the area that allowed for sprinkler use before.
3. Cottage Farm
Our next farm type is the Cottage Farm which has a lot of green space but leaves a designated area in the bottom right corner for you to keep your crops. The bottom left section leaves awesome space for fish ponds, animal barns and coops and as many sheds as you’d like to have.
The best part about this farm is that the area for crops is limited to the one section making you have to diversify your income and find other ways to earn lots of money in the game. There is even an adorable dog house hanging out right near the water bowl for your pets!
4. Mini Farm
If you’re looking for a brand new challenge in the game you should try out the Mini Farm Layout. This is very similar to the standard farm layout but is very small and has no water features. This is definitely not meant for a beginner player and is much better for a player who is experienced in the best ways to earn income without wasting space.
Thankfully, the mini farm creator added a trough of water in the top right hand corner of the farm so you don’t lose the ability to fill your watering can just because there are no bodies of water on the farm.
5. Tiny Farm
If the mini-farm was too big for you, you may want to try out the Tiny Farm Layout. This one is actually wild and will make it so hard for you to get much done in the game. The tiny farm has the cave entrance, the warp area, a very tiny pond to keep your watering can full and your farm house and nothing else. Very limited space so you won’t earn a whole bunch of income here.
The absolute hardest part about this farm? There is no greenhouse which means you can’t grow crops in the winter, can’t hoard ancient fruit to make wine and will generally just struggle to have fruit trees.
6. Cozy Hilltop Farm
One of my favourite farm types to play on is the Hilltop Farm, however, this farm type isn’t the most aesthetically pleasing and features a lot of ugly bridges and boring design. The Cozy Hilltop Farm is awesome because it adds a bunch of adorable details to make it more beautiful.
The design features you’ll see on this farm include things like a beautiful waterfall to the right of Grandpa’s shrine, a different type of bridge to replace those boring wood planks and replaces the dirt all over the farm with grass that can be tilled for you to plant crops.
7. Cozy Desert Farm
It’s surprising that there isn’t a desert farm type for your character to live on since there’s an entire desert in the game. Thankfully, the Cozy Desert Farm is a great option for a different type of farm. This farm takes the beautiful of the Calico Desert and brings it right outside your farm house.
In this farm you’ll not be able to put sprinklers on any of the areas that are desert sand but there are unlock-able areas with regular tillable dirt for you to plant tons of crops to grow. Thankfully, there are small ponds to keep your watering cans full and a ton of area for sheds and other resource buildings.
8. Pasture Woods Farm
Our next farm is a replacement for the Standard Farm and gives it a very cutesy aesthetic. This farm features tillable grass for you to plant crops on, pond areas that are gorgeous and just a very adorable aesthetic for your player to enjoy. It’s really fun to have woods around too!
One of my favourite details on this farm is the cute dog or cat house that is right behind where the pet water bowl is, making it feel a bit more like you love your pet. The creator even uses the useless area right behind the farm house as a water source that doesn’t take up area that would be great for farming.
9. Old Town River Farm
Out of all of the vanilla farm layouts, the River farm is the hardest to design and is just generally not the best for productivity. This Old Town River Farm is awesome because it adds a bunch of more useable areas that are designed with specific sizes of items in mind.
For example, there is a section at the very bottom that will fit your Obelisks perfectly, a small area in the middle that would fit a shed, and a very small area above a hill that will fit a mill perfectly. Modders are able to really think through these layouts and make them perfect for how they play and often that helps with how we play too.
10. Bumbleebee Farm
Our next farm layout is the Bumbleebee Farm Layout which is absolutely gorgeous. This farm layout is positioned deep in the woods and all of the green grass is completely plantable so you can use it just like regular land, or just enjoy how lush and beautiful it looks.
This is just a different version of the forest farm but is much more aesthetically pleasing and can really make you love decorating your farm more than a standard farm.
11. Improved Standard Farm
With the vanilla standard farm layout there is a bunch of completely wasted space that is just annoying to some players. This Improved Standard Farm is wonderful because it removes the lake at the bottom of the farm for more planting area but leaves the smaller one for a water source.
This farm layout mod also goes ahead and gets rid of the protruding cliff that is at the left side of the farm that makes it less simple to decorate your farm. A simple farm that will make it so much easier to decorate your simple, standard farm.
12. Everfarm
There are often times when I’m starting up a new save in Stardew Valley where I just can’t decide which type of farm layout I want to go with. Each layout really has its own benefits and sometimes you just want the best of all worlds.
The Everfarm Layout is great because it replaces the regular four corners farm with a large farm that takes the best parts of every farm type. This means that you have forest forage, respawning stumps, a beach area with beach forage and supply crates, and much more. It makes it so much easier to have the best of all types!
13. Blossom Cliff Farm
The next farm is the Blossom Cliff Farm and is a great option for making a beautiful layout with a gorgeous water area right at the bottom. This farm features a ton of beautiful flowers adding some gorgeous feminine energy to the farm to really give it a cozy vibe.
One cute detail on this farm is the adorable dog house for your dog or cat to make them feel more loved than normal, and the gorgeous flowers around Grandpa’s Shrine which look awesome after you’ve completed year two and the candles are lit.
14. The Shallows Farm
The next farm you can enjoy is The Shallows Farm this is a great replacement for the traditional riverland farm type. This mod adds awesome things to this like a swimming hole, a fishing dock, a large shed and so much beauty.
This layout makes it really easy to plan your farm because its preplanned for you so you know exactly where you should put things for maximum gorgeous!
15. Three Creek Farm
It seems like most modders really like to replace the Riverland Farm and this Three Creek Farm does just that. This farm layout includes a nice river through the middle wihile still having a whole bunch of area for you to have your crops and animals living their best lives.
Another awesome feature is that there are configuration options for you to have waterfalls on your farm which makes it even more beautiful than before. This one is really great and leaves tons of space for you to decorate your farm.
16. Beach Farm
When the beach farm was released with the 1.5 update a lot of players pretty much instantly decided they would never use it because you can’t actually put sprinklers on 90% of this farm type which is a huge annoyance. This Reimagined Beach Farm Layout is wonderful and changes out the sand for sprinkler-friendly dirt.
Using the regular beach farm is just too hard to really earn a bunch of income or really farm things like ancient fruit so changing it up for a more standard-beach farm mashup makes it so much better.
17. Multi-Biome Farm
Our next farm type is the Multi-Biome Farm which is a farm that puts multiple farm types all in a single farm for you to enjoy. One awesome thing is that the multi-biome farm is way bigger than the traditional standard farm and features different types of spawn-able forage.
An awesome detail you’d never get from a vanilla farm layout is the minecart that the creator added for you to use to go to places like the mines or town right from your farm but this is only available once you’ve unlocked the boiler room.
18. Raccoon Meadows Farm
If you’re looking for a large lake area right in the middle of your farm, then the Raccoon Meadows Farm is meant for you. This farm is really beautiful and has not just the one water feature but a small pond on the right side and a small water area with a cliff and a waterfall on the left hand side.
In addition to the just general beauty of this farm this farm has a bunch of tillable grass so you can plant stuff pretty much anywhere you’d like. I’ve always found that green grass looks way more cozy and happy than the orange dirt of traditional Stardew farms.
19. Meandering Farm
If you’re looking for an absolutely giant farm layout, you are looking for the Meandering Farm Layout. This one has so much useable space and so many features that you’d be looking for. This farm is way larger than any of the regular farm types and even has a quarry area for you to mine rocks!
There are 4 small ponds instead of one large water area which definitely separates the farm into adorable sections and there’s tons of non-usable forest area to really mix up your areas.
20. Plantopia Farm
The Plantopia Farm is a great option if all you want in your gameplay is space. This one changes out all of the orange dirt for tillable grass for a more cozy and cutesy farm layout. On this layout you’ll find the house in the top right corner tucked away and the greenhouse right where it normally is to the left of the cave entrance.
You’ll find some nice water at the top of the screen and a whole bunch of useable area for farming and animals to be put in their coops and barns. You could really maximize your output on a farm like this.
21. Forest Alcove
This Forest Alcove Farm is a fun option that resembles the four corners farm by splitting the area into a bunch of sections instead of just having one huge area for farming. There is a specific section of the farm that is perfect for your animals in the bottom left hand corner and a perfect area for crops in the bottom right corner.
They even thought so well into making it so that animals can’t escape from the animal area so you don’t even need to use fences. This farm type is going to replace the wilderness farm for you which we all know is the worst farm.
22. Hippo’s Cliffside Falls Farm
Our next farm is separated into different areas which really allows for some beautiful decorating and has so many flowers all over it. Having this many flowers on the Hippo’s Cliffside Falls Farm makes the farm feel so beautiful even before you start planting and decorating with items.
This is a great farm if you’re looking for a cozy play through and not entirely looking just for maximizing your profits and making as much money as possible. The best thing since the 1.5 update is that you can have this kind of farm for your day to day and then use the beach farm on Ginger Island to plant tons of ancient fruit and maximize profits more there.
23. Pastel Valley
There are so many players out there who just want to make Stardew Valley feel a bit less realistic and more fun to play. The Pastel Valley Mod is going to change the look of the farm and the world to be more colourful in beautiful pastel colours.
These pastel colours are really beautiful and change with the seasons, with options for pink, orange, blue and the typical winter look. Having colours like this on your farm will help steer you in a more interesting design direction instead of having it be the same each time you play.
24. Green Haven Farm
Our next farm is a really beautiful option that is sectioned off wonderfully for design and that is the Green Haven Farm. This farm has different sections that are separated by stairs, bridges, and forest areas so you can have areas for farming crops, areas for sheds and areas for animals.
Some of the cuter details in this farm include random water troughs and hay bales that are great for design purposes. You’ll also find a super cute dog house right behind the water bowl so your animals feel more loved, and the creator even moved the mailbox so its closer to the entrance for a more authentic feel.
25. More Farm
Our final farm on this list is the More Farm Mod that gives you a whole new area that is filled with stuff like tree stumps, regular trees, bushes and rocks for you to collect resources from. You can access this in a wrap at the top right corner of your farm.
This is awesome for mid-game when you don’t want to spend all of your money on resources but you also don’t have a ton of rocks or trees on your farm any longer to get that stuff easily. Just a great area for resource collection to change up your gameplay!
Final Thoughts
Choosing a farm layout that works for you is key to make sure that you have fun when playing Stardew Valley. Some farms are harder to manage and are only good for serious players and more casual players will be excited to play more simple farm types. It really all comes down to how you play and what kinds of things you value in the game. Happy Playing!
