Friendship
In the Animal Crossing series, friendship is a measurement of how friendly the player is with a villager.
Scale
Friendship is measured on a numeric scale which is not directly visible to the player.
In New Leaf and earlier, positive represents friendship and negative represents dislike; generally, when a villager moves into town, the friendship starts off in the middle.
In New Horizons, data mining has indicated that the scale goes from 0 to 255, with six different ranges mapping to different levels of friendship. A new villager starts at 25 points, near the top of the first friendship level (0-29). "Good" friendship (levels 3-4) requires 60 points. "Best" friendship (levels 5-6), which is required to be able to obtain photos (pictures), usually takes much longer to reach, requiring 150+ points.[1]
Since version 2.0, the player can determine where their friendship level is with a specific villager by consulting Katrina for 
1,000 Bells. The player is then able to pay Katrina 10,000 Bells while the friendship level with the selected villager is 1-4 in order to grant a small boost of two friendship points. The dialogue that is presented determine where the player is with a specific villager.[2]
- "I am one with <villager's name>'s consciousness...I see many faces... But I do not see... No, I do not see yours among them. From this evidence, I wonder if you even know <villager's name>... And does <villager's name> know you? If you want to know someone, consider speaking with them...Instead of just waiting for them to come to you." (at level 0)
- "I see that, as one neighbor might recognize another, so too does this <villager's name> recognize you... This is pleasant... But perhaps they are thinking it would be nice to get to know you a little better? Perhaps." (at level 1)
- "As someone who lives with you on the same island, your acquaintance <villager's name> knows you well. If you want to be closer, continue speaking to them in the kind way for which is known." (at level 2)
- "I see...many faces before me...in <villager's name>'s consciousness. Oh, and there is your face... And again... And again... Perhaps 20 percent of the faces I see are yours. From what I can sense in this image, I gather that you are known quite well by <villager's name>. I sense the beginnings of a stronger bond than that of acquaintances who happen to live on the same island." (at level 3)
- "I float within the consciousness of <villager's name>...When eats or sleeps, <he/she> thinks of you... Doing chores, having fun... thinks of you. From this vision, I see that you are the object of many pleasant thoughts in <villager's name>'s curious mind. You are important to <him/her>, and <he/she> wants to get even closer to you... I have a strong sense of this." (at level 4)
- "I float within the consciousness of <villager's name>...I see many faces before me... You smile... You frown... Your eye seems puffy...perhaps from a wasp sting... From this vision, it is clear that many memories of you swirl about in the curious mind of <villager's name>. It is certain that you two are bound together by the strongest of bonds." (at level 5 or 6)
Improving Friendship
The player's friendship level can be increased by doing tasks that make them feel better, such as talking to them daily, giving them gifts (in most cases), sending them letters, or doing favors for them. Conversely, acting rudely towards villagers, such as by talking to them too much, refusing or failing to complete favors, yelling in their face with a megaphone (New Leaf only), giving them trash as a gift, or hitting them with a net, lowers the player's friendship level with the villager. The exact actions that affect friendship may vary by game.
Rewards
Good friendship can earn the player rewards:
- Villager pictures (photos) (Wild World, New Leaf and New Horizons) have a much higher chance of being obtained if the player stays on a villager's good side.
- The villager will pay more for the player's items at the Flea Market (in Wild World and City Folk), and charge less for items in their own house on said event day.
- In New Leaf, villagers who are friends with the player may enter their house unannounced, when they are inside it.
- In New Horizons, additional dialogue is unlocked after reaching good and best friendship with a villager.[1]
Measuring
When the player waves at a villager in Wild World or City Folk, the villager responds in a way that indicates their friendship level. In order to wave at a villager, the player taps them using the touch screen (Wild World) or the Wii Remote (City Folk) when they are at least five spaces away from them. A villager who dislikes the player will ignore them, and either a piano crash or blowing wind will sound, depending on the personality. One who likes the player will bow (normal and lazy villagers), or they may wave back.
In New Horizons, villagers with low friendship may not show ongoing dislike of the player in the same way, though any villager can be upset for a time by player behavior such as hitting with a net. The current friendship level may be inferred from certain activities which are only available at or above a specific level. For example, the ability to give a gift each day during conversation is unlocked at level 2 (30+ points), and beginning at level 4 (100+ points) the villager might ask occasionally if the player wants to change that villager's catchphrase.[1] Additionally, when leaving a villager's house, they may wave faster or with both arms after reaching higher friendship levels, though the exact correlation is less clear and the behaviour may vary based on villager personality.
References
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