Favor

Favors are requests from villagers. They might ask for items, such as fish, bugs and furniture, or ask the player to deliver presents and letters. Quests such as retrieving a villager's key or lost item also count as favors. Completing a favor will earn the player a small reward, such as 500 Bells or a furniture item.

In
Players can request favors from villagers in. The option will be something such as, "Need help?" or "Can I have a job?" The villager will often have something for the player to do, but there is not a guarantee that they will. Asking for a favor and then refusing the task offered may make the villager angry. One type of job is a delivery, where a villager asks the player to retrieve a unique item from another villager. These items do not appear anywhere else in the game.

In
In, favors are linked to villager hobbies. Usually, the task that the player is given is linked to the villager's hobby, so a furniture hobby will be accompanied by requests for furniture. Villagers with the walking or seashell-collecting hobbies, as well as those who are 'in between' hobbies, may ask the player to undertake deliveries. Completing several favors in succession for a villager increases their chances of packing their boxes to move away.

In and
Favors are given somewhat randomly in and. If the player's pockets are full when they complete a favor, their reward will be mailed to them. Also, refusing a favor can make a villager depressed for a short time. In, most favors can be done until 6 AM the next day or whenever the villager that requested it goes to sleep. However, if a villager asks for a favor late at night, they will allow the player to do it the next day. This allows the player to do a favor later if a villager is asleep.

In
In, favors work almost the same way as in , except they can be done until 5 AM the next day or whenever the requesting villager goes to sleep. There is also the option to do it the next day if it is late at night. Unlike previous games, favors can only be done if the villager is in a thinking mood or if the villager suddenly approaches the player. In addition, whenever the player accepts the favor, the villager cannot talk about other subjects until the favor is completed; only to remind the player what must be completed.

List of favors

 * Delivery (all games) - The player will be asked to deliver a letter, item or green-wrapped present to another villager within a time limit. If the player's pockets or letter slots are full, the favor cannot be done. Also, if the present is opened or the letter is read before it is delivered to the villager, they may be ask why it was unwrapped. The letter delivery does not appear in, and.
 * Request (all games) - The villager will ask for a piece of furniture, item of clothing, a fish, a bug, a fossil, or (in and ) a piece of fruit. Sometimes the request will be for a specific item, other times it will be more general. If the time for a favor expires and the player brings the requested item, the villager will say that they forgot about the favor and either caught a fish or bug of their own or they got the requested item themselves and will apologize, telling the player to do it faster next time.
 * Visit (player's house) - The villager will ask to come to the player's house. Usually this must be scheduled for at least 30 minutes into the future. Not much usually happens during a visit, although the villager may comment on the player's furniture.
 * Visit (villager's house) - The villager will invite the player to their house. The player may be given an opportunity to buy an item from the villager's house.
 * Sickness - Occasionally, a villager will become sick. They will stay in their house during their sickness and display the 'depressed' and/or 'shivering' emotions. The player should give the villager medicine once a day until the villager is cured. Sickness was removed in  but was added back in.
 * Retrieval - A villager may ask the player to retrieve an item that was borrowed by another villager. However, this is not as simple as it first seems, because the second villager will usually have lent it to a third villager, who may have then lent it to a fourth villager, and so on. However, if the player persists long enough, they will eventually track down the item, which can then be returned to its owner.
 * Ball Request - The player may be asked to bring the villager a sports ball that will be lying somewhere around town. The ball must be kicked to the villager, as it cannot be carried.
 * Contest - The villager will challenge the player to a fishing or bug-catching contest. Usually this involves catching a specific fish or bug before the villager does. However, the villager can also challenge the player to a contest to catch the 'rarest' fish or bug (this actually means the most valuable, as in the amount of Bells the item is worth when selling to Tom Nook).
 * Hide-and-Seek - Villagers often ask the player to play Hide-and-Seek. If the player accepts, three villagers will hide somewhere in town (such as behind trees or buildings) and the player will have to find them all within either 10 or 15 minutes to win.
 * Lost Key - About once a week, a villager will lose their house key. The player can find it by fishing in the river (the key has a 'small' shadow, similar to a Crucian Carp). They can then take the key to the villager for a reward.
 * Message Delivery - The villager will ask the player to pass a message to another human player in town. If the second player types out the message correctly, both players will receive a reward.
 * Lost Item - Occasionally, a lost item appears on the ground in town. The player will need to speak to each villager in turn to find its owner. In, a villager needs to tell the player about the missing item first before it appears around. In , if the villager says that the item is not theirs, they'll mention who it belongs to.
 * Time capsule - Villagers sometimes ask the player to bury a time capsule. Once buried, it will disappear the next day, but eventually reappear at a later date. When it reappears, the player can dig it up and return it to the villager, and will usually be allowed to keep the item inside.
 * Petition - Villagers may ask the player to get six signatures for a petition. However, these signatures must come from another town (therefore local wireless or online play is required to complete this).
 * Escort - A villager may ask the player to bring another specific villager to their (the first villager's) house. The wanted villager will follow the player to the house.
 * Treasure hunt - The villager might ask the player to dig up an item somewhere on the island. The player needs to find it during 3 or 6 minutes before the time expires. Once the player found the treasure, they need to talk to villager and receive the item from this.