With update 1.5, longtime Stardew Valley players were introduced to a brand-new area of the game called Ginger Island. This tropical paradise can be accessed after helping Willy fix his boat in the back of his shop and paying 1,000 gold for each trip out there.
While there are plenty of great materials to gather, there are some new characters to meet while on Ginger Island. One of them is Leo, a boy who lost his parents and adopted the parrots on the island as family. While Leo is shy at first, players can work on building a friendship with him through gift-giving, like most Stardew Valley characters.
Gift Guide
It will be difficult to get Leo to talk until players give the parrot near the turtle 10 golden walnuts. Doing so will prove to Leo that they can trust the player, and it is at this point that a friendship can start to form. Building one up, however, requires knowing about what Leo likes and dislikes.
Leo can mostly be found at his hut, but can also be found at the docks at Island South in the morning, around Island North in the early evening, and occasionally Island East or the Gem Bird Shrine. His birthday is on Summer 26, which means gifts will reward eight times the amount of friendship points.
Loved Gifts
Presents that Leo adores will score players 80 friendship points per gift, which is huge for trying to unlock more to Leo's story. While there are some rare items he loves, he enjoys a decent handful of items that it won't be too difficult to find one he loves a lot.
- Duck Feather
- Mango
- Ostrich Egg
- Poi
- All universal loves
Liked Gifts
There is a broader net with the amount of Liked gifts that Leo would be interested, which is nothing to be bummed about as each gift will still earn the player 45 points each. However, there is some complexity to what Leo enjoys on this list.
- Dragon Tooth
- Mango Sticky Rice
- Nautilus Shell
- Quartz
- Rainbow Shell
- Sea Urchin
- Spice Berry
- All universal likes with exceptions
While Leo likes most of the items under universal likes, he will feel neutral or worse about Beer, Coffee, Life Elixir, Mead, Pale Ale, Pickles, Piña Colada, Triple Shot Espresso, and Wine.
Disliked & Hated Gifts
Unfortunately, there are a handful of items that Leo would not only hate to receive, but giving it to him could negatively impact the friendship that the player may be working hard to build. Therefor, it is extremely important to avoid giving these items under any circumstances.
- Beer (Hated)
- Chanterelle
- Common Mushroom
- Daffodil
- Dandelion
- Ginger
- Hazelnut
- Holly (Hated)
- Hops (Hated)
- Leek
- Life Elixir
- Magma Cap
- Mead (Hated)
- Morel
- Oil
- Pale Ale
- Pickles
- Piña Colada (Hated)
- Purple Mushroom
- Salmonberry
- Snow Yam
- Triple Show Espresso (Hated)
- Unmilled Rice (Hated)
- Wild Horseradish
- Wine (Hated)
- Winter Root
- All universal dislikes (except Fish, with Carp and Snail being the only ones he hates)
- All cooked dishes (except Bread, Fried Egg, Mango Sticky Rice, & Poi)
- All universal hates (except Dragon Tooth & Sea Urchin)
Friendship Perks & Heart Events
Increasing friendship points means that players will begin earning a heart for every 250 points earned. Getting a heart may trigger a heart event, which means that players can enter a specific location to begin a special interaction with Leo, or he may send something in the mail. Perks include:
- At three hearts, players will receive a Poi recipe in the mail from Leo. This will give players 75 energy and 33 health when consumed and can be sold for 400 gold.
- At seven hearts, players will receive a Mango Sticky Rice recipe in the mail from Leo. It heals 50 points and gives 113 energy while giving a +3 Defense buff. It can also be sold for 250 gold.
Players will also get to participate in heart events when they visit Leo after earning two hearts, four hearts, six hearts, and nine hearts. The event at six hearts may be the most significant as it will result in Leo moving to Stardew Valley to live near Linus.
Stardew Valley is available on Windows, Mac, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.