Players ofStardew Valleymight be surprised to learn that Pelican Town isn’t the only place they can explore during their farming experience. In fact, players can actually go to the mysterious Calico Desert to gather more supplies and procure rarer items to bring back to their beloved farm. And within Calico Desert are also colorful figures to make friends with, such asSandy, who runs the Oasis store.
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However, while Sandy always stays within Calico Desert, she’s not simply the typical “shopkeeper” NPC inStardew Valley. In fact, players can develop a friendship with Sandy and have her as one of their closest confidants. And while Sandy seemingly has a pretend persona, there are ways for players to get Sandy to open up to them more.
Who Is Sandy?
When playersenter the Calico Desert for the first time, they may have stumbled upon the store known only as the Oasis. Managed by the beautiful yet mysteriousSandy, Sporting fashionably red hair and a blue gown, fans would be surprised to realize that this good-natured shopkeep could actually become one of their closest friends inStardew Valley.
Players can meet Sandy by the time they repair the bus via the vault bundle or through the purchase of a Bus for 40,000g through the Joja Community Development Form. As she would eventually reveal, “Sandy” is simply her nickname, as it is “good for business.” This mysterious character already makes Sandy worth the friendship, especially once players get insights on the deeper aspects of her personality.
Sandy’s Relationships
Players curious about Sandy’s personality might want to look into the people she regularly interacts with across theirStardew Valleyplaythrough. By the time players have spent enough interactions and gets to connect the dots, here are some of the people Sandy is closely associated with:
Sandy’s Schedule
Players who want to develop friendships with Villagers inStardew Valleywill likely want to “catch” them within in the vicinity in order to provide them with gifts and engage with interactions. In turn, players would want to analyze where characters at any given time. Luckily with Sandy, her nature as a shopkeeper means she’s almost always at the Oasis. However, players need to check out these particular intricacies within her schedule:
Gift Guide
As withother Villagers inStardew Valleyincluding the Wizard, players may be able to develop their Friendship with Sandy primarily through the provision of Gifts. Similarly, Sandy does have a particular Gift pattern that players should follow in order to reap the most benefits during the course of their relationship. Here are some elements to consider:
What Does Sandy Love? (+80 Friendship Points)
Dialogue:“Ooo! I absolutely love getting flowers from the valley. I’m so happy!”
One of the most interesting aspects of Sandy’s personality is her attraction to flowers. In fact, giving her a Loved Gift can merit an interaction that talks about flowers, even if said Gift isn’t close to being a plant. Of course, these flowers are on top ofUniversal Loves inStardew Valleyguaranteed to earn a Love remark from a Villager.
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That being said, players who want to get closer to Sandy compared to otherStartdew ValleyNPCs would likely want to look into specific flowers, a lot of which are related to seasons. Here are the Gifts that could merit a Love Reaction from Sandy:
What Does Sandy Like? (+45 Friendship Points)
Dialogue:“This looks wonderful. Thanks so much!”
Similar to otherVillagers that players meet inStardew Valley, Sandy does have a particular take on things that she Likes. Unlike others that have a specific “trend” regarding her Liked Gifts, Sandy has a very specific list of objects that could merit her Like Reaction.
With that in mind, players may want to look into these objects to increase Sandy’s Friendship points as aStardew ValleyNPC. Thankfully, much of these Liked Gifts are easily acquired, provided players know exactly where to look for them:
What Is Sandy Neutral About? (+20 Friendship Points)
Dialogue:“This is for me? Thank you!”
As with other Villagers, Sandy’s most expansive list of Gift Interactions lie with her list of Neutral Gifts. Moreover, while Sandy loves flowers, she is rather picky when it comes to certain vegetables and other produce orStardew Valleycrops, making it rather tricky to acquire certain Gifts for her.
Players who want to play it safe and couldn’t necessarily acquire Sandy’s Liked or Loved Gifts may be able to rely on these Neutral Gifts to get a rather safe reaction from her. Here are items players should consider:
What Does Sandy Dislike? (-20 Friendship Points)
Dialogue:“Oh… Um. Thanks.”
As with other Villagers inStardew Valley, Sandy does have a particular list of items she doesn’t particularly appreciate, including some itemsfromStardew Valleymonsters. However, unlike other Villagers that have specific Dislikes, Sandy instead simply doesn’t like all Universal Dislikes.
This makes Sandy rather an easy Villager to make friends with, since players don’t need to look into extremely specific items that they shouldn’t give Sandy to earn her DIslike Dialogue. For a quick reference, here are Sandy’s list of Disliked Gifts:
What Does Sandy Hate? (-40 Friendship Points)
Dialogue:“sniff …what is it?”
Of course, as withother Villagers inStardew Valley, Sandy does have a list of Gifts that are definite “no-nos” in her book. Being Hated Gifts, these merit a reduction of -40 Friendship Points, potentially souring a player’s friendship with Sandy or ruining their progress for the past few days.
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As with Sandy’s Dislikes, she doesn’t have a particular set of Hated Gifts, and instead relies on what are considered Universal Hates throughout the game. Aside from that, Sandy only doesn’t want one item in particular. Here are the list of Sandy’s Hated Items:
Other Activities
Players who want to elevate their Friendship with Sandy may want to skip Gifts entirely and instead try to improve their standing with her through theMovie Theater. This isn’t immediately available on the get-go, though, and instead only becomes unlockable once Morris offers players all upgrades or completes the Community Center. Players pursuing the Joja Mart route can instead buy this for 500,000g.
If players have access to the Movie Theater, they can actually take any Villager out on a movie date, not just Sandy, toboost their Friendship Points with theStardew ValleyVillager faster. Either way, Tickets cost 1,000g per participant including the player, and the Ticket has to be given to the Villager in question as a Gift. Not only that, players need to take the Villager out to the movies on the day the Ticket has been given, lest they waste them.
What Theater Setup Does Sandy Dislike?
Quests
Similar to other Villagers, Sandy does give players Quests from time to time in order to raise their Friendship with her. These come randomly, however, meaning players may be able to spot some Quests from Sandy or those that involve her in some way given enough waiting and exploration. Here are those Quests:
Heart Events
Despite her nature as a shopkeep NPC, Sandy has her fair share of Heart Events that players can experience throughout their Friendship. However, unlike other NPCs, Sandy’s nature as a shopkeep does mean there are only limited opportunitiesthroughoutStardew Valleyseasonsthat unlock Heart Events as players progress through their relationship with her. Those interested in developing their Friendship levels with Sandy further may want to look into these particular Heart Events:
Anytime
Similar to other NPCs inStardew Valley, Sandy will be giving some rewards to players at any point during their Friendship, provided they have more than 0 Friendship Points. As with other Villagers, these Events happen randomly, regardless ofStardew Valleyseason, and increase in probability depending on the Friendship Points players have.
Sandy can give a total of three unique items prior to breaching seven (7) Friendship Hearts. These will be found in the Mail, alongside a note from Sandy that greets players from the Calico Desert. She will then invite players to thank her in person, as she is bored.
At 7 Hearts
When players breach seven (7) Friendship Hearts with Sandy, they will unlock another Heart Event. Instead of being a cutscene, Sandy simply gives a recipe to players in the Mail. Alongside the Gift is a note that tells players that Sandy has written to them out of sheer boredom, alongside a Recipe to a “delicious soup.” It ends with an invitation to visit Sandy soon.
Stardew Valleywas released in 2016 and is currently available for the PC, macOS, Linux, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, iOS, Android, and PS Vita.
