Hobby

In the Animal Crossing series, 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, fossil collecting, or gardening, as well as activities the player can not do in-game, like exercising or reading.

Hobbies affect villagers in many ways—their conversations vary, the content of their homes change, and what they wear or carry may differ as well. It is also not unusual for a villager to change their hobby several times throughout their time in a player's town.

City Folk and Wild World

Hobbies are the same in Animal Crossing: City Folk and Animal Crossing: Wild World, 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. Villagers may have up to two hobbies at a time; however, once they move in, the second hobby is always walking.

Bug Catching

Villagers collect bugs for display in their homes. In Wild World, residents have competitions with the Player to find a certain insect as fast as they can, or to catch the rarest bug. In City Folk, villagers simply ask for a specific insect, often in exchange for a reward. Villagers with this hobby carry nets often.

Eating

The eating hobby involves a villager asking the player for a specific fruit, sometimes giving a gift in exchange. They also talk about their favorite foods and ask the player about what foods they like. Although it is most common in lazy villagers, other personalities may take up the hobby in the form of cooking. For example, cranky villagers might say: "I've been recently making foods that animals can really sink their teeth into: [three random foods], and pretty much anything else you can think of. But no fancy drinks, there's only water at the chef's table. You can't enjoy my delicious flavors with a mouth full of ginger ale!"

Fashion

Villagers 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 his 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.

Fishing

Villagers with this hobby are often seen carrying fishing rods and collect fish to put in their homes. In Wild World, 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 City Folk, villagers request a certain fish from the player in return for a reward.

Fossil Collecting

Villagers who enjoy collecting fossils are often seen carrying shovels, 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' lectures about fossils.

Gardening

Villagers who enjoy planting flowers have this hobby. Flowers appear around the villager's house in great amounts, but are not tended to or organized. These villagers carry watering cans and 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.

Home Decor

Villagers 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.

Seashell Collecting

These villagers 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.

Walking

The automatic second hobby of all villagers. Villagers 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 City Folk, 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!"

New Horizons

In Animal Crossing: New Horizons, six hobbies can be observed, with many activities making up each:

• Fashion: Villagers will often visit Able Sisters and comment on the player's fashion, sometimes giving them clothes that match their current outfit.
• Fitness: Villagers will participate in exercises (by stretching or with weights), usually in the plaza or in front of their house, sometimes while wearing reflective sports sunglasses. This hobby is similar to the Morning Aerobics from the original game, but not limited to any particular day or time.
• Music: Villagers will sing or dance a lot in their spare time. If a radio is set outside with a song playing, they will sing to the melody; if other instruments are set up, such as drums or guitars, they may play along.
• Nature: Villagers observe trees and occasionally sit down underneath them. They will also smell flowers and water them if there are a large amount on the island, chase after bugs, and go fishing. A scorpion or tarantula will cause the villagers to become frightened, and they will sigh in relief when the player catches them.
• Play: Villagers occasionally run around the island, sometimes with other villagers (as if playing tag). They may also set up treasure hunts, a timed minigame, with the player.
• Reading: Villagers can be seen reading books both outdoors and indoors, sometimes wearing glasses (if their character model doesn't already have them). The type of book can vary between hardcovers and paperbacks, with some villagers preferring to read comic books.

It is possible for villagers to have more than one hobby at once. Even if a hobby seems to correlate to a specific personality, the correlation is not always true; for example, lazy villagers can be into fitness, and cranky villagers can pursue music.