Lewis Stardew Valley Guide: Introducing Mr. Mayor

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Seth Christmus

Seth is a writer for SDew HQ. As a kid, one of Seth’s favorite games was Harvest Moon 64. He’s always enjoyed playing indie games, too, so this led to a natural love of Stardew Valley and how it built upon games like Harvest Moon. He has written guides, reviews, and news articles for a number of gaming sites in the past.

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I envy gamers who are just starting Stardew Valley for the first time. The 2016 indie title took me straight back to my favorite game of all time, Harvest Moon 64. Outside of all the gameplay improvements and quality-of-life additions that made Stardew Valley an evolution of the farming simulator genre, it completely captured the charm that made Harvest Moon 64 such a fixture of my childhood.

A lot of Stardew Valley’s charm comes from its varied cast of characters. Chief among them is Lewis, the mayor of Pelican Town and a friend of your deceased grandfather’s. He is one of the first characters you’ll meet in the game, welcoming you to your new home and farm.

Lewis is someone I regularly buy a beer for at the Stardrop Saloon, maybe because he doesn’t feel as bad as a normal politician-type. Sure, he has his secrets (more on that later) and questionable motives, but all in all, he’s an okay mayor and a good friend if you take the time to build up his friendship level.

If you want to learn more about Lewis and his role in Stardew Valley, this guide will help you do just that. I’ll cover all the essential information you need to know about Lewis to befriend him, max out his heart level, and complete the quests he gives you. By the end, you’ll be an expert on all things Lewis!

Bottom Line Up Front

Lewis is a character in the 2016 video game Stardew Valley. He is the mayor of Pelican Town and lives by the river in the Mayor’s Manor, just south of Pam‘s trailer.

He has a secret relationship with Marnie that the player can learn about in a quest and note found in Lewis’ home.

Lewis’ essentials:

• Age – ??? (60s or 70s)
• Appearance – grey hair and mustache, brown flat cap, green dress shirt, yellow necktie, brown suspenders
• Temperament – friendly, jovial, outgoing, secretive
• Family – ???
• Friends – Marnie
• Best Gifts – Autumn’s Bounty, Glazed Yams, Green Tea, Hot Pepper, Vegetable Medley
• Birthday – Spring 7

Appearance, Personality, and Hobbies

Appearance

Lewis is an older gentleman and looks to be about in his 60s or 70s. His hair has greyed out and that includes his incredibly bushy mustache. He also dresses the part of the mayor by wearing a green dress shirt and a yellow necktie. He also wears brown suspenders, brown slacks, and dark brown shoes.

Personality

Lewis’ friendliness can’t be overstated. Along with Robin, he is one of the first people to welcome you to your new home in Pelican Town that you’ve just inherited from your grandfather. Lewis was friends with your grandpa, and his helpful nature towards you suggests they were pretty close.

As you get to know Lewis through heart events, festivals, and other interactions, you’ll come to realize that while Mayor Lewis has the same self-preservation instincts as every politician, he does seem to care about the town, the farm, and by extension, you, at least on the surface.

He often asks about how the farm is doing and will drop hints about things you can do around town, like checking the calendar for birthdays and how to obtain different kinds of honey. While he may not be the most productive mayor around – the numerous things around the valley that need repair are evidence of this – Lewis’ helpful tidbits elevate him above other NPCs in the game.

Hobbies

As you get to know Lewis through dialogue, he’ll mention a hobby of his from time to time: gardening. He has his garden beside his house and will comment to the player during planting seasons that he’s checking on his garden. In addition, he also mentions the spring flowers that Stardew Valley is known for that can be grown in gardens.

I would consider socializing to be one of Lewis’ hobbies, too. He enjoys visiting the saloon and can be seen there with Marnie some nights. While not explicitly mentioned as a hobby, Lewis seems to know how to cook as well, because he will sometimes comment on Gus’ dishes at the saloon and he’ll send you recipes as rewards for reaching certain friendship levels.

Family and Friends

Lewis’ family isn’t mentioned in Stardew Valley. He confirms in dialogue that he’s never been married. That said, he does have one friend in Pelican Town, though she’s more than just a friend.

Marnie

Marnie runs the ranch located south of your farm in Cindersap Forest. You can buy animals and animal supplies from her, such as hay for feeding your animals and heaters for keeping them warm in winter.

The relationship between Lewis and Marnie is an interesting one that we learn more about during their 6 Heart Event and in the Mayor’s Shorts quest. Both will confess to being single at different points in the game, but they’re secretly dating. It’s a mystery to me why Lewis wants to keep their relationship a secret; the only reason I can think of is that his age is a factor and he may enjoy his privacy when it comes to his love life.

Schedule

While Lewis’ schedule isn’t filled up with different activities, he does tend to go to different places in town on different days. It’s easiest to break it down into two sections: before completing the Community Center and after completing the Community Center.

Before you finish the Community Center, Mayor Lewis’ whereabouts can be quite hard to pin down on a sunny day. He must feel obligated to visit every business in town because that’s pretty much what he does throughout the week. During Spring and Summer, on Mondays, he’ll visit Robin, Pierre, or Willy.

Tuesdays are reserved for visiting Pierre‘s, while on Wednesdays he goes to Marnie’s ranch. Thursdays he hangs around outside the general store and the clinic. Fridays are similar to Thursdays, except that he also goes to the fountain near the Community Center at 2:00 PM. Saturdays are for visiting the blacksmith and the museum, while Sundays are spent gardening and hanging out by the tree beside the clinic in Spring and gardening and viewing the ocean from the pier in Summer.

Fall and Winter change things up a bit in regards to Lewis’ schedule. On Mondays in Fall, Lewis will visit Robin’s shop from about noon to 4 PM, at which point he’ll return home. He visits Willy’s store instead during Winter. Tuesdays are much the same, except that he visits Pierre’s store. Wednesdays in Fall see him hanging out in front of the clinic and the general store, while in Winter he visits Marnie’s ranch.

He can again be found near Harvey’s clinic on Thursdays in both Fall and Winter. On Fridays in both seasons, he’ll be near Harvey’s in the earlier part of the day, after which he’ll walk to the fountain near the Community Center and then to the Stardrop Saloon until he returns home late in the evening.

Weekends before finishing the Community Center are also a little different in Fall and Winter. On Fall Saturdays, like a lot of other days in other seasons, Lewis spends time around the clinic and general store before returning home in the evening, while in Winter he visits Clint’s shop and the museum. As for Sundays, in Fall he goes to Cindersap Forest and hangs out near Leah‘s house by the river. In Winter, he spends all day inside his house.

Rainy days are the easiest to find Lewis. He spends the first half of his day at home before going to the Stardrop Saloon, staying there from 2:30 PM to 7:40 PM. He then returns to the Mayor’s Manor.

After you finish the Community Center, Lewis becomes much easier to find as his activities on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays become the same. On those days, he tends to his garden in the morning before going to the Community Center around noon. He leaves at 6:30 PM to return home.

Best Gifts for Lewis

Lewis has 5 items that he prefers above all others as gifts. Give one of these to Lewis twice a week.to boost your friendship with him as quickly as possible.

Autumn’s Bounty

This cooked meal is a combination of two Fall crops: pumpkin and yam. In addition to being a great healing item to take into dungeons with you, it’s also one of Lewis’ favorite dishes. To make this item, you’ll have to reach a friendship level with Demetrius of at least 7 hearts, at which point he’ll send you a recipe for Autumn’s Bounty in the mail.

Alternatively, you can also receive Autumn’s Bounty as a reward for completing the Exotic Foraging Bundle in the Community Center. Finishing the bundle will net you five of the item.

Glazed Yams

The Glazed Yams item is another simple meal that can be made for Lewis by combining one yam and one sugar. It will take some time before you can get the recipe, though. You can learn how to cook this item by watching The Queen of Sauce TV show on the TV in your farmhouse on Fall 21 in your first year.

Green Tea

Green Tea is a relatively new item that was added in patch 1.4. Being able to make this item requires some time and money. You can buy a tea sapling from the Traveling Cart for somewhere between 1,500g and 2,500g. The sapling will grow into a Tea Bush after 20 days. At that point, you can harvest Tea Leaves, which can be put into a keg. The keg will turn the tea leaves into green tea after 3 hours. This item is a favorite of both Lewis and Caroline.

Hot Pepper

Lewis’ love for Hot Peppers shows that his palette can handle spicy foods, not just the vegetable dishes and green tea presented so far. Hot peppers are probably the easiest gift to obtain on this list because their seeds are cheap and grow quickly. Pepper seeds go for 40g at Pierre’s General Store and take 5 days to grow. The best part is that they’ll continually grow throughout Summer, so you can stockpile hot peppers to give to Lewis if you’re looking to quickly raise his friendship level.

Vegetable Medley

The list of Lewis’ favorite items shows that he’s a healthy eater and the Vegetable Medley dish is no exception. This is another prepared dish that can be learned from a recipe you receive from Caroline after reaching 7 hearts in her friendship level. It requires 1 tomato and 1 beet to make. You can also buy it randomly from either Krobus or Gus in the Stardrop Saloon.

Worst Gifts for Lewis

Holly

Lewis might not be so high on the Christmas season if his distaste for holly is any indication. This decorative plant that can be obtained by foraging is one of two items on Lewis’ hate list. You can find it around Pelican Town and the surrounding areas of the valley in Winter. It’s important to know that, while you have the option to do so, you should never eat this item as it will decrease your health.

Quartz

Quartz is a mineral you can find by foraging. It’s found in both the mines to the north of Pelican Town and Skull Cavern in the Calico Desert. This clear crystal, while being liked by some villagers, is disliked or hated by the majority of the characters in the game, including Lewis.

Lewis’ Heart Events

Three Hearts

When you reach three hearts with Lewis, he’ll send you a recipe for spaghetti. Spaghetti is simple to make and only requires 1 wheat flour and 1 tomato. You can cook it by using your kitchen (which can be built by Robin for 10,000g and 450 wood) or by using a Cookout Kit.

Six Hearts

This event only occurs if your friendship level with Marnie is also at 6 hearts. If you enter town between 7 pm and 11 pm on a sunny day, you’ll encounter Lewis and Marnie talking by the river. Marnie wants to go public with their relationship, but Lewis has no interest.

He thinks that if people know about his secret relationship, it would put his position as mayor in jeopardy. At that point, you will walk up and surprise them, causing Lewis to ask if you heard anything. Choosing to tell Lewis that you’ll keep his and Marnie’s relationship a secret will result in a boost to your friendship with him while saying that you’ll tell everyone will cause you to lose friendship points.

Seven Hearts

Reaching seven hearts with Lewis results in another recipe being sent to you by mail. This time it’s for eggplant parmesan, a dish that can be made by combining 1 eggplant and 1 tomato. Like all other cooked meals, you can either use a kitchen or Cookout Kit to make eggplant parmesan.

Related Quests

Mayor’s Shorts

This might be my favorite quest in all of Stardew Valley just for how funny it is. Lewis requests that you find and return his pair of purple shorts that he has misplaced. Those shorts are boxers and can be found in Marnie’s room. The hilarious part is that, before you reach the required friendship level with Marnie to enter her room, the boxers can be seen lying out in the open on her floor.

There’s also no need to rush to return the boxers to the mayor if you want to have a little fun. I suggest either putting the boxers in the soup cauldron at the Luau (Summer 11) or in your display at the Stardew Valley Fair (Fall 16). Be warned – Lewis won’t be very happy to see his boxers on display in public or to taste them as part of a soup. However, it might be better to be a nice person, since you’ll receive 750g and 1 heart for returning the boxers to the mayor.

Mayor’s Need

This quest is easy to complete, especially since it comes in Year 2 after you had some time to build up your farm. Lewis will send a letter on Summer 21 requesting a bottle of truffle oil. Making truffle oil requires a truffle, which can be found by pigs, and an oil maker. You can make an oil maker by combining 50 slimes, 20 hardwood, and 1 gold bar after reaching level 8 in the Farming skill. The reward for completing this quest is 750g and 1 heart is added to Lewis’ friendship level.

Best Lewis Merch

While official merchandise offerings featuring Lewis or his likeness are few and far between, independent artists have created some pretty cool products related to the mayor. Here are a few of my favorites:

• Secret Shorts Hardcover Journal
• Pelican Town Travel Ad – Poster
• Lewis for Mayor – Stardew Valley-inspired Campaign Classic T-Shirt

FAQs

Lewist Stardew Valley: Conclusion

While Lewis may not be the best mayor or boyfriend, I do think his heart is in the right place as he works to make the village a better place – mostly, anyway. He does try to hold events that bring the community together, and he does monetarily support your farming endeavors through the Stardew Valley Agricultural Fund, though the amounts he sends are laughable after just a few seasons.

All things considered, I think Lewis is a friendly enough character on the surface, but he has some secrets that make him a little untrustworthy.

Like any politician, there are pros and cons to Lewis’ work as mayor of Pelican Town. At the end of the day, however, it’s up to the player to take charge and create meaningful change in Stardew Valley, a theme that extends to the real world, too.