Present

Presents are a way of sending gifts such as furniture, flowers, and fruit to other villagers and players in the series. The present initially appears as a white box with a red bow around it, and can be opened in the player's inventory. Presents appear in various different ways. Here is a list of examples -
 * Floating on a balloon - Can be shot down with a slingshot (in and, you must wait until it rests in a tree and then shake it)
 * A gift from a villager or the player's mother - Attached to a letter.
 * A delivery task on behalf of a villager - Although intended for another resident of the town, these can be opened, and appear as a white box with green bow. Talking to the villager who gave the player the task may get angry knowing it has been opened.
 * Sometimes, if the player does not get the task done, the villager will ask for the present back and deliver it themself.
 * Other times, the present will not say "For ", and it will say "What was that?", in which the villager who asked the player to deliver it will forget they even asked them, and you will not be able to deliver it.

Floating Balloons
Balloons sometimes float along in the air, but always carry a present along with them. In Animal Crossing, a player would have to hope that the present got stuck in a tree, meaning that it could be shaken down, but in Wild World and City Folk, presents could be shot down with a slingshot. If shot down over water, and it lands in the water the player will show the emotion shock.

Balloons seem to float randomly over the town, but they in fact originate on the edges of the map at specific times, different for each town. The times they will appear will all end with the same minute value; for example, if you see a present float in from the edge at 5:45, you can be sure that each time it floats in will be a time ending in the minute value "5". Presents can then appear at times such as 7:55, 2:35, etc. They will not appear at times such as 6:22 or 2:17.

After shooting down 15 packages, a golden slingshot will float across the town on either a golden balloon (Wild World) or a group of three golden balloons (City Folk). These balloons have to be shot down in order to obtain the golden slingshot tool, which shoots three pellets and differs in appearance to the store-bought variety.

In City Folk, the presents are the sole source for the Super Mario themed items, but common items can be shot down as well.

In City Folk, Phineas the sea lion states that balloons actually come from the sky. This statement, however, cannot be proven.

In New Leaf, presents can be caught by a net near the beach

Usually, presents appear just above the player, but in Wild World, they appear on the top screen.