Gifting, hearts, and what every villager loves
How the gift reaction ladder works, how many points each tier gives, and the habits that raise friendship fastest.
The short answer
A gift gets one of five reactions — loved, liked, neutral, disliked or hated — worth 20, 10, 3, 0 and 0 heart points. Birthdays add +20 on top, and the two cooking perks multiply liked and loved reactions. Talking to a villager also gives 7 points a day, so gifts plus conversation is the fastest route.
The reaction ladder
Every villager reacts to a gift in one of five ways, checked in this order:
- Loved — in their loved list (or an item with the Loveable infusion) → 20 points
- Liked — in their liked list (or Likeable infusion) → 10 points
- Hated — their single hated item → 0 points
- Disliked — carries a tag they dislike → 0 points
- Neutral — everything else → 3 points
The two hardcoded specials break the ladder: Void Newt is loved by Juniper and Void Cake by Eiland, and each counts as a birthday gift and doubles, making them worth 80 points each — the largest single-gift total in the game. Everyone else dislikes both.
Juniper
EilandThe full per-villager lists are on the gift finder — it answers both directions, “what does X love?” and “who wants this item?”
How hearts add up
Heart levels are cumulative point thresholds, not per-level resets:
| Level | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Points needed | 80 | 180 | 280 | 390 | 530 | 705 | 900 | 1125 | 1450 | 1850 |
One loved gift (20 points) plus a daily conversation (7 points) takes a villager from zero to heart 1 in about three days. From there, the higher levels need a mix of gifts, birthdays and dates — dates alone are worth 60 points (romance guide).
The birthday bonus
Gifting on a villager’s birthday adds +20 points to whatever the gift would otherwise give. A loved gift on a birthday is 40 points — double a normal loved gift, and nearly half of heart 1’s requirement. Birthdays are worth planning around: the calendar page lists every villager’s birthday, and a stack of their loved gifts ready before the day is the cheapest heart-jump in the game.
The one rule to remember: the birthday bonus applies on the birthday, whatever you give — but a disliked or hated item on a birthday is still zero, so the bonus only helps with gifts they actually like.
The cooking perks
Two perks in the cooking tree change the math:
- Award Winning — multiplies liked reactions.
- A Way to the Heart — multiplies loved reactions.
Both apply to cooked food gifts, which is why high-star dishes are the most efficient gifts in the game once these perks are active. A five-star loved dish can be worth several times the ordinary 20 points.
Practical gifting habits
- Talk to everyone daily. 7 points a day is free friendship — the largest reliable source over a season.
- Target the loved list. The gift finder shows each villager’s loved items; most are cheap forageables or easy dishes.
- Save birthday gifts. One loved item per villager per birthday is the single best point-per-item ratio.
- Use the void specials. A void newt or void cake handed to the right villager is worth four ordinary loved gifts (void guide).
- Cook for the perks. Once A Way to the Heart is active, cooked loved dishes outpace raw ones by a wide margin.
Where friendship leads
Ten hearts with a dateable villager opens the proposal, and the whole romance arc — dates, the engagement ring, the wedding — builds on the same heart points. The romance guide covers the date system and the unlock items, and the villagers page lists everyone with their job, birthday and likes.