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, and will also result in earning 1-3 points of friendship.

Appearances

In the first-generation games

In Doubutsu no Mori, Doubutsu no Mori+, and Animal Crossing

Mitzi asking the player to retrieve her watch from Punchy in Animal Crossing

In Doubutsu no Mori, Doubutsu no Mori+, and Animal Crossing, the player can ask a villager to give them work. There are a total of 12 quests a villager can give the player, divided into three categories: errands, deliveries, and contests. Upon completing a quest, the villager will reward the player with an item; the reward differs depending on the quest.

Quest type	Description	Prerequisite(s)	Reward
errand	The villager asks the player to retrieve an item they lent to another villager in town. Upon speaking to the villager who the item was lent to, they can either give the item to the player or tell them that they lent it to another villager. This can happen up to three times before a villager gives the item to the player.	-	The reward varies depending on how many villagers the player had to speak to before receiving the lent item: 1 villager 75% —  Stationery 25% —  Clothing 2 villagers 25% —  Furniture 25% —  Stationery 25% —  Clothing 25% —  450–4,179 Bells 3 villagers 50% —  Furniture 25% —  Clothing 25% —  675–6,269 Bells 4 villagers 65% —  Furniture 25% —  900–8,359 Bells 5% —  Wallpaper 5% —  Carpet
delivery	The player must deliver a clothing item to a villager in another town.	The player must have spoken to at least one villager in another town.	40% —  Furniture 40% —  180–1,671 Bells 10% —  Wallpaper 10% —  Carpet
	The player must deliver a clothing item to the last villager who moved to another town.	The villager must have moved out in the past 60 days.	40% —  900–8,359 Bells 20% —  Furniture 20% —  Wallpaper 20% —  Carpet
	The player must deliver a clothing item to a villager in town.	-	40% —  Furniture 30% —  The clothing currently worn by the villager 30% —  900–8,359 Bells
	The player must deliver a lost item to a villager in town.	-	40% —  Furniture 40% —  Clothing 10% —  Wallpaper 10% —  Carpet
contest	The player must bring any fruit to the villager.	-	40% —  450–4,179 Bells 30% —  Wallpaper 30% —  Carpet
	The player must bring a ball to the villager.	-	40% —  Furniture 30% —  Wallpaper 30% —  Carpet
	The player must build a snowman in the acre the villager is in.	Only available from December 25 to February 17 from 8 AM to 5 PM.	60% —  Furniture 20% —  Wallpaper 20% —  Carpet
	The player must plant four flowers in the villager's house acre.	The villager's house acre must have at least four open tiles and 20 or fewer flowers already planted.
	The player must bring any fish to the villager.	-	80% —  Furniture 10% —  Wallpaper 10% —  Carpet
	The player must bring any bug to the villager.	Only available from March 1 to November 28.
	The player must send the villager a letter.	-

Part of the player's part-time job for Tom Nook requires them to ask for work from a villager, although the player only needs to ask and does not need to complete or even accept the quest.

In Doubutsu no Mori e+

In Doubutsu no Mori e+, the player can no longer ask villagers for quests directly, and they are now brought up randomly in normal conversation.

In Wild World

In Animal Crossing: Wild World, 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 City Folk and New Leaf

Drake asking the player to deliver a present to Harry in City Folk

Favors are given somewhat randomly in Animal Crossing: City Folk and Animal Crossing: New Leaf. 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 New Leaf, 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 New Horizons

In Animal Crossing: New Horizons, favors work almost the same way as in Animal Crossing: New Leaf, 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. 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 City Folk, New Leaf and New Horizons.
• Request (all games) - The villager will ask for a piece of furniture, item of clothing, a fish, a bug, a fossil, or (in Animal Crossing and New Leaf) 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) (Wild World, City Folk, New Leaf, New Horizons) - 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) (City Folk, New Leaf, New Horizons) - 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. In New Horizons, if the player completes 30 homes through the Happy Home Paradise DLC and redesigns a villager's interior, the option to buy items will not appear. However, it will appear again if the player reports the villager with Isabelle at Resident Services to have their house reset.
• Sickness (Doubutsu no Mori e+, Wild World, City Folk, New Leaf, New Horizons) - 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 Animal Crossing: New Leaf - Welcome amiibo but was added back in New Horizons.
• Retrieval (Animal Crossing) - A villager may ask the player to retrieve an item that was borrowed by another villager. After the player asks the other villager for the item, they will usually inform them that they have lent it to a third villager, who may have then lent it to a fourth villager. By repeatedly finding the correct villagers, the player will eventually track down the item, which can then be returned to its owner.
• Ball Request (Animal Crossing) - 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 (Wild World) - 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 (City Folk, New Leaf) - 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 (City Folk) - 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 (City Folk) - 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 (Doubutsu no Mori e+, New Leaf, New Horizons) - 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 Doubutsu no Mori e+, a villager needs to tell the player about the missing item first before it appears around. In New Horizons, if the villager says that the item is not theirs, they will mention who it belongs to.
• Time capsule (New Leaf) - 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 (New Leaf) - Villagers may ask the player to get six signatures for a petition. However, these signatures must come from another town. Due to the termination of online play, local wireless is now required to complete this favor.
• Escort (New Leaf) - 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 (New Horizons) - 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 the villager to receive the item.

Notes

Gameplay elements

Player Player Mayor approval rating Catalog Catch quotes Hairstyle Passport Pockets Photo Reaction Reputation Resident Representative Skin tone Tool Town Pass Card Town Town/island Hemisphere Amenities Animal tracks Rebuild the town Acres Objects Public works projects Town fund Town initiative Town ordinance Lost and found Group Life House Happy Home Academy Balloon Event Fashion check Fêng shui Home loan Letter Luck Moving NookPhone Savings Visit Activities Badges Bug catching Constellation Designing Fishing Mystery Island Tour Part-time job Stalk Market Swimming Tour (Tortimer Island) Character AI Villager Starting villager Special character Catchphrase Compatibility Conversation Episode Friendship Hobbies Scrapbook Memory Nickname Personality Petition Sickness Star sign Quests Ball Favor Hide-and-seek Lost item Time Capsule Minigames NES games Doubutsu no Mori e+: Doubutsu-tachi to Asobou! Desert Island Escape Animal Crossing Puzzle League Currencies Bells Caps Leaf Tickets Medals MEOW Coupons Nook Miles Play Coins Poki Vouchers Vehicles Bus Camper RV Taxi Train Transportation Connectivity Multiplayer Dream DS Suitcase Friend Code Happy Home Network Design Contest Nintendo Network Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection NookLink Tag Mode Transfer WiiConnect24 Cheating Cheating device Glitch Gameplay modification Seeds Time travel Fourth Wall • Reset • Secret code • Category