Making friends with every Stardew Valley NPC can be challenging, but rewarding, especially with a character like George.

Aside from being a farming sim, Stardew Valley offers players the opportunity to meet and make friends with other villagers in Pelican Town. And making friends with each and every one of these villagers is an experience to cherish, especially with each NPC being quite diverse with their interactions and dialogue to share. Such is the case of George, who, beneath his rather stern expression, is a gentle soul longing for his youth.

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Players of Stardew Valley hoping to make quick friends with George shouldn’t fret and back away due to his rather quiet and seemingly-angry look. In fact, just the right approach and mindset can make players and George much quicker friends.

When players visit 1 River Road, they will likely stumble upon a rather grumpy-looking old man in a wheelchair. Talking with him will have him reminisce about “the good old days,” similar to most other grandparents people talk to in the real world. In Stardew Valley, this man comes in the form of George Mullner.

Similar to other Villagers who have a “theme” regarding their questline, George’s focuses on players helping George open up more to people outside his family. Thankfully, the player’s growing relationship with George and their potential friendship could make this endeavor a success.

As with other Villagers in Pelican Town, George is also connected to a lot of other Villagers through their relationships. Due to his nature as a wheelchair-bound individual George spends much of his time at home under the care of his family. His relevant relationships include:

Players who want to develop a friendship with George would need to understand his particular schedule in order to make sure they don’t miss him at any particular day. Unlike other Villagers that players meet in Stardew Valley, George’s nature as someone wheelchair-bounded means he’s at home almost everyday, similar to other shopkeep NPCs. Here are other relevant elements of his schedule that players may want to look into:

While George is not necessarily someone players can marry in Stardew Valley similar to the Wizard, they can certainly cultivate a meaningful friendship with him. Regular conversation and giving Gifts can help players foster a friendship with the grumpy George, potentially helping him open up more and realize some deeper aspects of his personality. Here are some things to consider:

Dialogue: “This is my favorite thing! Thank you!”

Although George seems to have a tough exterior, there are actually particular Gifts that players could give him that could make his heart melt. Considered in Stardew Valley gameplay as Loved Gifts, these are items that are specifically tailored for George’s interest.

Interestingly enough, George being a rather quiet person does translate to his selection of favorite Gifts. In fact, aside from Universal Loves in Stardew Valley, he only has two items that he considers his Loved Gifts. Here are some other insights players might want to check out:

George being a rather quiet old man means he’s not so easily pleased, and this is something reflected in his Gifts. Ironically enough, he has more selections of Loved Gifts compared to his slate of Liked Gifts, making his Friendship in Stardew Valley quite tricky to foster unless players know exactly what Universal Likes to use as extra Gifts.

In fact, George only has one specific item he considers as Liked Gift, which players may consider as a Stardew Valley crop, with the rest being Universal Liked Gifts. Players interested in fostering a deeper friendship with George but also do it with a slower pace may want to consider using these Liked Gifts instead of Loved Gifts:

Dialogue: “A gift? Hmm…” | “Do you want something in return?”

Due to George’s quiet demeanor, players of Stardew Valley may immediately take him for a rather “meh” kind of guy. This much is true, at least regarding items he could consider as Neutral Gifts. True to his personality, there’s quite an extensive range of items that George would classify as Neutral Gifts, making him a rather easy person to provide Gifts with for players who want to play it safe with items they currently possess.

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With that in mind, players may want to look into particular items that George would consider as Neutral Gifts, especially those outside the list typical Universal Neutral Gifts. Here’s a handy list of George’s Neutral Gifts:

Dialogue: “That’s a terrible gift.”

Given how George appears rather stern and strict, it makes sense that one wrong move might ruin his mood for the rest of the day. Interestingly enough, while it’s true that George has items he considers as Disliked Gifts, his list is rather not extensive compared to other VIllagers. One thing to note is that he considers all Flowers as Disliked Items, so players should be careful when choosing GIfts for him any any Stardew Valley Villager.

Thankfully, George doesn’t have a lot of items he considers as Disliked Gifts. However, players may still want to take note that Universal Dislikes and Flowers are still classified as Disliked Gifts when interacting with George. Here are other items to take note of:

Dialogue: “This is probably the worst gift I’ve ever seen. Thanks a lot.”

Similar to other Villagers in Stardew Valley, George does have items he doesn’t especially appreciate. Compared to his Neutral Gifts, however, he only has four major items that are big “no-nos” for him, three of which are flowers and some obtained from Stardew Valley monsters.

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Although George’s list of Hated Gifts aren’t extensive, players still need to be wary that George is still affected by Universal Hated Gifts. That means giving those to him can become a huge setback to a player’s progress on their Friendship with George. WIth that in mind, here are some items to take note of and avoid when pursuing George:

Players who want to take their Friendship with Stardew Valley Villagers like George to the next level may instead skip Gifts and opt for something more personal, such as the Movie Theater. At its core, the Movie Theater becomes unlocked once Morris offers all community upgrades or once players complete the Community Center. Those who pursued the Joja route may purchase the Movie Theater for 500,000g.

Either way, players can take George out for a film viewing once every seven (7) days. Each ticket costs for 1,000g, with a ticket for a Villager being offered to them like a Gift. Players interested in taking George out to movies would have to enter the Theater on the same day they’ve provided the Ticket, and the Movie chosen does have an effect on George’s relationship with players.

As with other Villagers, George will give players Quests as one of many opportunities to get to know him better. These can come in various means, and players may need to wait for the right timing in order to come across these tasks. Here are those Quests:

As with other Villagers in Stardew Valley, players who start cultivating their Friendship with George would experience Heart Events or special cutscenes during certain Friendship Levels and in during Stardew Valley seasons. Players need to take these Heart Events into consideration when gauging their overall Friendship with George, as having these Events occur denote various milestones they have achieved in their relationship. Here are Heart Events players need to take note of:

At any point in time during the player and George’s Friendship, any Friendship Level above 0 can have George send good-quality Stone to players in the mail. The odds of this occurring get higher the more Friendship Points players earn.

After players reach three (3) Hearts with George, regardless of the Stardew Valley season of the year, he will send a Recipe for Fried Eel to players in the Mail. Alongside it is a note that asks players to receive this Recipe as it’s been “lying around,” and players should try not to “burn” it.

When players reach six (6) Hearts with George, they don’t receive an item but rather trigger a cutscene. Players enter George’s home and see him struggle to reach something on a bookshelf. After players help him retrieve the item, there will be a couple seconds of silence before George opens up about how he’s become wheelchair-bound.

After players reach seven (7) Hearts with George, they now send players a Recipe in the Mail. This is the last milestone players get as they develop their Friendship with George. Alongside this Gift is a note that once again tells the player not to “burn” the Recipe.

Stardew Valley was released in 2016 and is currently available for the PC, macOS, Linux, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, iOS, Android, and PS Vita.

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Rhenn is a Manila-based content writer with a love for all things geek and pop culture, and science and technology. He has a BA Journalism degree, and has since then pursued making content about geek culture. Rhenn used to write for a couple of geek and gaming publications, and also served as editor-in-chief for Philippines-based What's A Geek!. He constantly plays video games but also takes the time to try out older titles. If he's not playing video games, he's probably playing TTRPGs.