Maru is one of the NPCs in Stardew Valley that you can befriend and marry. She’s typically easy to hang around with, thanks to her friendly personality, but one wrong move can hurt your relationship just as easily. So follow this Stardew Valley Maru gift guide to learn how to befriend this tinkerer properly.

Maru: The Tinkerer

Maru is typically quiet, as she likes focusing on her gadgets. But she’s not difficult to approach, especially when you talk to her for the first time. Also, it’s pretty simple to look for Maru if you want to give her a present. You can often find her at the clinic since she works as a nurse. Otherwise, she’s usually working on her “big project” at home beside Robin’s Carpenter Shop. Befriending Maru also means building a relationship with her dad, Demetrius. Choose the wrong answer, and your friendship level with Maru, Demetrius, or both NPCs can plummet. With that, here is a list of the best gift options for Maru in Stardew Valley.

Preferred Gifts

Maru’s passion for tinkering with different items gives you a hint about the things she wants as gifts. You can give her up to two weekly gifts, with an additional instance on her birthday in Summer 10. Also, pay attention to the reaction when you give a present to find out if she loves, likes, dislikes, or hates it.

• Love: “Is that...? Oh wow, (player name)! This is spectacular!”
• Like: “This is a super gift! Thank you!”
• Neutral: “Thanks.”
• Dislike: “Oh... That's for me? I'll just put it over here...”
• Hate: “Yuck! You thought I would like this?”

Loved Gifts

• Battery Pack
• Cauliflower
• Cheese Cauliflower
• Diamond
• Gold Bar
• Iridium Bar
• Miner's Treat
• Pepper Poppers
• Radioactive Bar
• Rhubarb Pie
• Strawberry

Liked Gifts

• Copper Bar
• Iron Bar
• Oak Resin
• Pine Tar
• Quartz
• Radioactive Ore
• All Universal Likes except Honey, Pickles, and Maple Syrup

Neutral Gifts

• Chanterelle
• Daffodil
• Dandelion
• Ginger
• Hazelnut
• Leek
• Magma Cap
• Morel
• Purple Mushroom
• Wild Horseradish
• Winter Root
• All Universal Neutrals except Truffle
• All Eggs except Void Egg
• All Fruit except Blackberry, Strawberry, Salmonberry, Crystal Fruit, and Fruit Tree Fruit
• All Milk

Disliked Gifts

• Blackberry
• Common Mushroom
• Crystal Fruit
• Maple Syrup
• Salmonberry
• All Universal Dislikes except Battery Pack, Copper Bar, Gold Bar, Iridium Bar, Iron Bar, Oak Resin, and Pine Tar

Hated Gifts

• Holly
• Honey
• Pickles
• Snow Yam
• Truffle
• All Universal Hates except Radioactive Bar and Radioactive Ore

Heart Events

Befriending Maru, whether or not you gave her any of the gifts above, will give you access to her Heart Events. These instances trigger during every even-numbered friendship level. You can also start a 14-heart event (introduced in version 1.4). However, Maru must be your spouse before you can encounter this event.

Two-Heart Event

Go to and enter the Carpenter’s Shop when Maru is there. A scene will trigger wherein Maru and her father are in their laboratory, testing soil samples. Maru will then leave the room to fetch more samples, and Demetrius will start talking to you about his “special little girl.” When Maru returns, two options appear on the screen:

• +10 friendship (with Demetrius): (Say nothing)
• -100 friendship (with Demetrius): “Actually, your dad was being weird.”

Four-Heart Event

Enter the clinic while Maru is working there. Your entrance to the establishment startles her, making her drop a glass beaker. Three options will then appear on the screen that can affect her friendship level:

• -50 friendship: "Just scoop it off the floor. He won't know the difference."
• -20 friendship: "Tell Harvey it was my fault."
• +50 friendship: "Tell Harvey it was an accident."

Six-Heart Events

Travel to the mountain between 9 pm and 11:40 pm on sunny days. You’ll find Maru while she’s looking through her telescope. She’ll then let you look through her telescope, and two choices appear on the screen:

• +30 friendship: “A beautiful planet.”
• -30 friendship: “A cold, dark abyss.”

Eight-Heart Event

Return to the Carpenter’s Shop and ensure Maru’s in there. She’s working on a new project, but something hurts your character. Your answer to her care will affect your relationship.

• +30 friendship: “It’s okay; it doesn’t even hurt.”
• -50 friendship: “You’d better be. This hurts like crazy.”

Ten-Heart Event

Return to the Carpenter’s Shop, but ensure it’s between 9 am and 4 pm. Maru recently completed her big project. Allow the scene to play out normally. You’ll eventually come across a scene wherein Maru will ask your opinion about her project.

• +50 friendship: "I'm so impressed with your inventions."
• -50 friendship: "I'm disappointed... you should have made that robot your slave."
  • +50 friendship: "MarILDA's just a piece of machinery designed to act human."
  • +50 friendship: "I was just kidding. MarILDA deserves her freedom."
  • -50 friendship: "I would've put her to work on the farm."
• No effect: "So is your Dad okay with 'us' now?"
• No effect: (Just stare at Maru and say nothing)