Pitfall seed

Pitfall seeds (known as pitfalls in ) are items in the. A pitfall seed has the appearance of a white sphere with a large red exclamation point in the center on both sides.

The primary use of a pitfall seed is for the player to bury it, at which point it will look like any other buried item. When a villager or player walks over a buried pitfall seed, they will fall into it. If the player speaks to a trapped villager, they will rattle about their situation and jump out. Depending on the game or personality, they will be angry or sad after escaping. However, special characters such as Tortimer and Joan are "immune" to pitfalls, and in, the player will not receive a friendship penalty from a villager who falls into a pitfall. Any player who falls into a pitfall can get out by rapidly tapping any button. A second use for pitfall seeds are to place them in letters written to neighbors, and in return, they will send the player a present.

In
Pitfalls are uncommon in, , , and and can only be found whenever a villager buries it somewhere and puts up a notice on the bulletin board on which acre to where to find it in. Sometimes, however, villagers may put a notice on the bulletin board and bury a furniture item instead of a pitfall. Pitfalls can also be found in the dump, or at the Lost & Found at the police station. If the player tries to sell a pitfall to Tom Nook, he will treat it as he does trash and will not buy it; instead, he offers to throw it away.

In and
In and, pitfall seeds are found every day. One spawns per day alongside some fossils if any previous pitfall seed has been stepped on by the player or a villager, or has been dug up. Pitfall seeds can also be collected from the lost and found run by Booker at the checkpoint, or found in the recycling bin in the town hall. As with his appearance in, Tom Nook will offer to throw out pitfall seeds if the player tries to sell them.

In
In, in addition to the returning pitfall seed mechanics from and , a new type of pitfall seed, the tricky pitfall seed, appears in the game. They can only be found at the police station and are very rare. They take the appearance of normal pitfall seeds except the sphere is dark purple and the exclamation point is yellow, similar to fossil's color scheme. They also work the same way as pitfall seeds, except the 'star mark' left behind is smaller, making them more difficult to see.

For the first time, pitfall seeds can now be sold for Bells, with Re-Tail selling for a mere Bells 10 and Timmy and Tommy's store for Bells 8. In addition, if the player steps on a pitfall seed and falls into the hole, any nearby characters (including special characters and villagers) will express their shock and fear towards the player.

In
In, pitfall seeds can no longer be found buried in ground, however it has its own DIY recipe that can be obtained from Nook's Cranny for Bells 900 or when the player digs up a pitfall seed buried by another player and automatically learns it. Until version, the pitfall seed could be obtained from jock villagers. They function normally as from previous games. Using a or getting up from a chair into a hole also functions the same as falling into a pitfall.

Pitfalls make an appearance in, where Yū and Alfonso is shown digging holes to prank some villagers. Ai ends up being stuck in one of their pitfalls, but leaves ungrudgingly, as unbeknownst to them Ai's friend Margie's sudden leave from Animal Village left Ai in a depressed state.

Super Smash Bros series
Pitfalls make an appearance in the Super Smash Bros. series, appearing in, , and. When thrown, they are buried for a short time, but fighters can quickly escape by quickly waggling the control stick back and forth. If the opponent is in the air and the pitfall hits, they are "meteor smashed", or shot directly downward. Or, if thrown and it lands on the ground, it appears to vanish in a series of sparks. When an opponent walks over the place where the pitfall is thrown, they will be buried.