Hobby

In the, hobbies are pastimes that the villagers in the player's town may take up to occupy their time. Hobbies include various activities the player may partake in, such as walking around, collecting fossils, or gardening, as well as activities the player cannot do in-game, like reading and singing.

In and, a villager may change their hobby several times, while in , a villager always has one hobby that doesn't change.

In and
In and, eight hobbies can be observed. Hobbies are the same between and, with small variations in activities between installments. Sometimes, villagers will play games based on their hobby—for example, lazy villagers may ask players to guess what their current hobby is. Hobbies affect villagers in many ways—their conversations vary, the content of their homes change, and what tool they carry may differ as well. Over time, a villager's hobby will change. Villagers may have up to two hobbies at a time; however, once they move in, the second hobby is always walking.

Catch bugs
Villagers with the "catch bugs" hobby will carry a Net while they are outside. They will collect bugs for display in their homes. In, residents have competitions with the player to find a certain insect as fast as they can, or to catch the rarest bug. In, villagers simply ask for a specific insect, often in exchange for a reward.

Collect furniture
Villagers with the "collect furniture" hobby will often ask the player for a piece of furniture of a specific color, style (old-school, chic, etc.), or set to display in their home. Because of how specific the requests are, they may reject the player's offerings—this is especially so with colors, as the whole item must be that color, not just a part of it. However, even if the furniture is rejected by the villager, they may not give it back to the player, opting to keep it without displaying it.

Collect shells
Villagers with the "collect shells" hobby will talk about seashells, but do not ask the player to find any for them. However, they do ask the player to complete deliveries and generally stay in the lower acres of town near the beach.

Dig up fossils
Villagers with the "dig up fossils" hobby will carry a Shovel while they are outside. They enjoy collecting fossils and will sometimes ask the player to find a fossil for them (a specific type or any). These will usually be placed inside the villager's homes. They will sometimes comment on the fossil exhibit at the museum or how much they enjoy Blathers's lectures about fossils.

Fish
Villagers with the "fish" hobby will carry a Fishing Rod while they are outside. They will collect fish for display in their homes. In, villagers often treat their hobby as more of a competition to see who can catch a fish the fastest. They may challenge the player to find a specific fish, the rarest fish, or even the biggest fish, and will always take the fish in exchange for a present if they lose this "competition." In, villagers request a certain fish from the player in return for a reward.

Garden
Villagers with the "garden" hobby will carry a Watering Can while they are outside. They enjoy planting flowers, and flowers will appear around their house each day; eventually, up to two rows of flowers will appear in front of their house, excluding the single space in front of their door, and up to one row of flowers will appear on either side of their house. Villagers with this hobby often comment on how other villagers have been running through their gardens. If talked to, they may ask the player to deliver a letter or present for them.

Shop for clothes
Villagers with the "shop for clothes" hobby will ask for new clothes, sometimes specific styles, in exchange for gifts. Clothing may be rejected if the villager deems it too unattractive. Lazy villagers might say that they are becoming a super hero, named "Super Spiffy [Villager Name]," and that they may ask players for style tips later on, since they will be their sidekick. They also say that they will stop wearing only the clothes their mom sends them. When players give a villager new clothes, the clothes they are wearing are displayed in their house.

Walk around
The "walk around" hobby is the automatic second hobby of all villagers. Villagers with this hobby will talk of their favorite routes, what they notice on their walk, and how refreshing they find it. They sometimes ask players if they want to walk with them, or to complete a delivery.

Normal villagers may mention flowers blooming on their route that weren't there yesterday. Cranky villagers will usually say, "You may think I'm a tired old man for saying this, but I like walking slow. Everyone these days have caught up with speed walking, but who needs speed? Wander around on a day like this and see what you discover." Peppy villagers will usually comment on how they're walking off a big meal or dessert, or how they intend to stay fit by walking around the town. In, specifically, they may comment: "Since I'm becoming a healthier person now, I want to walk all the way to the city instead of taking the bus, but I don't think ANYONE could do that, not even, like, a marathon runner!"

In
In, six hobbies can be observed, with each allowing the villager to perform unique actions, or certain actions at any time that other villagers can only perform during a scripted activity outside Resident Services that involves several villagers. Villagers may also be seen reading books or magazines pertaining to their hobby.

Special character also have a hobby in their code, though it appears unused on their end.

Education
Villagers with the education hobby can wear and read a novel while outside. They will also use a magnifying glass when near certain furniture items, such as art, fossils, flowers placed outside as furniture, insects placed outside as furniture, and fish placed outside as furniture; and near certain plants, such as flowers, trees, weeds, and produce. They also use the magnifying glass with insects that are flying around. This hobby is most common among normal and cranky villagers. Additionally, Cobb is the only jock villager, Shino is the only peppy villager, Doc is the only lazy villager, and Quinn is the only big sister villager with this hobby.

Fashion
Villagers with the fashion hobby can wear specific headwear or accessory items while carrying a special type of bag; for female villagers, they carry a pink purse with a white flower on it, and for male villagers, they carry a brown leather bag. Most of the villagers with fashion as their hobby are female, and nearly all of them are either peppy or snooty; Eunice, Ione, Jambette, and Vesta, who are all normal, are the only exceptions. Sasha, who is lazy, is the only male villager with this hobby. No big sister villagers have fashion as their hobby.

Fitness
Villagers with the fitness hobby will wear and lift heavy dumbbells while exercising. Other villagers can only lift heavier dumbbells when exercising at the Resident Services plaza during a scripted activity with a group of villagers; at any other time, they lift lighter dumbbells. Most jocks have this hobby. All of the gorilla villagers have this hobby, except for Rilla, who was added in the version 1.9.0 update with the nature hobby. No normal villagers have this as their hobby.

Music
Villagers with the music hobby can sing or dance anywhere without the need of a stereo. Other villagers can only sing or dance if they interact with a stereo, or during a scripted activity at the Resident Services plaza. Many big sister villagers have this hobby, while no lazy villagers have this as their hobby. Flip, Rory, and Sprocket are the only jock villagers with this hobby.

Nature
Villagers with the nature hobby can read specific books that pertain to the item they are looking at. They use a gardening guidebook when examining flowers, a bug guidebook when examining trees or bugs placed outside as furniture, a fish guidebook when examining fish placed outside as furniture, and a fossil guidebook when examining fossils placed outside as furniture. They can walk around holding a Watering Can in order to water multiple flowers; other villagers can only water one flower at a time. Prior to Ace's inclusion in version 2.0, no jock villagers had this hobby. No big sister villagers have this as their hobby.

Play
Villagers with the play hobby can run around with their arms extended at any time, rather than only at the Resident Services plaza during a scripted activity with a group of villagers. Many lazy villagers have this hobby, while no snooty villagers do. Prior to Chelsea's inclusion in version 1.9.0, no normal villagers had this hobby, and prior to Cephalobot's inclusion in version 2.0, no smug villagers had this hobby.