I don't understand how the gift system works.

[blueandwhite87]

I had 1 heart for penny, I gave her a gift, nice gift she says, I loose a heart? I don't want to to read a guide to find out what they like but is that the only way to give them exactly what they like?

[Zef]

http://www.gameskinny.com/ci7ob/stardew-valley-marriage-guide-how-to-woo-and-marry

[Pythios]

If you don't want to look up lists of likes/dislikes for people, it will take some time to figure out by yourself. You either gotta go with trial and error or wait for townsfolk to say something like "this person really likes/hates ______" and go from there.

You can also find a general liked gift for that person, like if that person likes wild flowers (daffodil for example), you can give them a flower found during any season.

[Mauri]

Originally posted by Muggy:

You either gotta go with trial and error or wait for townsfolk to say something like "this person really likes/hates ______" and go from there.

This. And sometimes they'll even say what they would like. Maybe you gotta read a bit between the lines, so pay attention to what they say.

[Lurlex]

I really don't understand this aversion to 30 seconds of reading that so many people have. This is one of those games out there that was kind of *designed* under the assumption you'd be doing a bit of outside reading -- it's not cheating.

I'd go so far as to say that for people that have a big problem with taking 15 seconds on a wiki article (that's about as long as it would take), this is probably not the game for you. There's nothing wrong with that, in the same way that there are people who don't like FPS's that require a lot of twitch and adrenaline. Well, this game requires a bit of reading.

At least, that is if you really want to 'win' at this game. It's a look-it-up-as-you-go-if-you-don't-want-to-be-banging-your-head-on-your-keyboard sort of thing (note, this is actually the kind of game I *LOVE*). It's just way too in-depth and involved to wander around blindly and expect big success from everything the game offers. There's no possible way for you to learn each villager's loves, likes, and dislikes by trial and error alone. You *HAVE* to read if you want to max out those hearts, and do it within a practical, non-frustrating timeframe. Yes, you may get infrequent hints once in a while through organic gameplay, but they're few and far between, and they definitely don't guard you against accidentally dumping a dud on someone.

Get over the "not wanting to read a guide," or live with frequent mistakes. It takes a lot less time to invest the few moments necessary to read than it does to recover from blind blunders. I can't think of anything else to tell you.

If your answer is, "BUT I DON'T WANT TO DO THAT BECAUSE IT'S NOT FUN FOR ME"? -- Again, not the game for you. This is the nature of the beast -- a wiki is necessary to truly hit the top heights of the game, if you want more out of it than blindly raising low-profit crops in inefficient patterns and aimless wandering around day after day. You're going to live in constant confusion without a reference.

[NotThatHarkness]

Originally posted by blueandwhite87:

I had 1 heart for penny, I gave her a gift, nice gift she says, I loose a heart? I don't want to to read a guide to find out what they like but is that the only way to give them exactly what they like?

Sort of. Talking to them every day helps too. Aside from idiosyncratic likes and dislikes for each villager, there are also universal likes and dislikes (with some exceptions). Gifts need to be what they like or love if you want to raise hearts. Gifting something they dislike or hate can lower hearts. If they are neutral about the gift....I'm not sure, wiki doesn't say. Penny's particular response to a gift she's neutral about is, "Thanks, this looks nice.”

[ScaryYapper]

Don't worry too much about them disliking gifts, if you are playing to discover their loves and likes on your own. Just talking to them and the other villagers will increase hearts. Just don't be impatient or try to rush one of the singles to marriage, if avoiding guides is your preference. Honestly, as long as you don't neglect talking to them (especially if you cross their paths), you'll be above four hearts with them pretty easily over the first few years, and even higher whether you want them to be or not, if you happen to stumble upon one of their loves.

TreyNutz makes a good point about responses: some villagers are just more "polite" about thanking you even if they didn't like a gift.

[BrknSoul]

As a general rule, most people like Artisan Goods. I used to be that weird Cheese Guy, showing up to the Saloon every Friday and Saturday evening to hand out cheese to everyone.

Shane and the kids (Jas and Vincent) don't like Cheese. The kids like Pink Cake or Coconuts (Vincent loves Coconuts).

Another idea is to pick a few people (3 or 4), learn what they love, and get them to max hearts, then pick another 3 or 4 people. It might take longer, but cuts down on the alt-tabbing to check the gift spreadsheet.