Nothing in Stardew Valley is free sans you getting your farm, and hats are no different. They can be pretty pricey in terms of effort investment.
Some hats require you make a certain amount of money, catch a wide variety of fish, or be the cool kid in town with all the best gifts and a wealth of friends. Further still, some aren’t tied to achievements at all, making them difficult to figure out on your own.
Luckily most hats are tied to achievements, making them easy to figure out and get during normal gameplay. Those tied to winning festival games, museum completion, and adventuring are more difficult to stumble upon and are generally more difficult to get. The Sombrero, tied to you earning 10 million gold, is the most difficult non-achievement hat to get.
How do you get a hat once you reach the requirement(s)?
Once you’ve obtained the achievement tied to a hat, the Ruined House on at the south of the Wizard’s tower on the west side of town opens for business – and that business is the sort of maybe kind of dapper world of hats.
If you have 1000 gold on hand, you can saunter up to the Ruined House and give it your business. Each hat costs 1000 gold regardless of difficulty to unlock.
The list below has the hats listed in alphabetical order with the achievements they’re tied to (when applicable) and the requirements to obtain them listed. Just because you’re a farmer doesn’t mean you can’t be snazzy.
If you’re hungry for more info on Stardew Valley, check out my guides on wooing potential spouses, befriending villagers, cooking (you gotta eat!), and crop maturation times and prices. Have fun, and don’t get so wrapped up in farming you don’t adventure!
