Darcy

How friendship works

Every villager tracks a hidden pool of heart points. Talking to someone once a day adds 7 points, and an ordinary gift reaction adds between 0 and 20. The two special Void gifts are exceptions and give 80 points to the right villager. Hearts appear as you cross fixed thresholds: 80 points for the first heart, then 180, 280, 390, 530, 705, 900, 1125, 1450 and 1850 for the tenth.

Because the thresholds widen, the last heart costs roughly five times as much as the first. Early on, daily conversation carries you; later, only loved gifts move the needle at a useful rate.

What a gift is worth

A loved gift gives 20 heart points, a liked gift 10, and anything neutral 3. Disliked and hated gifts give no points. They do not lower friendship, but the item is gone and the villager reacts badly.

Any gift given on a villager's birthday earns an extra 20 points. A loved birthday gift is therefore worth 40 points.

Dislikes are driven by tags rather than by a list. Most villagers dislike anything tagged junk, bugs or "weird", so a whole category is unsafe at once. Each villager also has exactly one specific hated gift.

Using these pages

Open a villager to see their birthday, job and complete gift lists. If you already have an item and want to know who wants it, use the gift finder. It looks up the villagers who love, like or hate that item.

Gift lists are full of foraged flowers, crops and cooked dishes, so it is usually worth checking what is in season before a gifting run.