Villager Hearts: How to Raise Them and What They Give

Village in the Shade: how villager hearts are read, what talking, gifts and requests add, the event and threshold of each stage, the dinner and night-over conditions, and every villager's birthday and likes.

How to Raise Them and What They Give

Talking, gifts and requests build hearts; a full heart opens a story event, and later come dinners and a night at their place.

01 / Reading hearts

How to read the hearts and marks

In the villager list, the five hearts under each name show how far you are.

Grey: This stage isn't full yet.
"!": The stage's event is ready: go to the spot on the map during its hours; means it's outside them right now.
Red and full: You've seen the stage's event.
Talked today: The bubble beside the name lit up means you've talked today; dim means not yet.
Gifts this week: none yet, one gift, both (resets on Monday).
Stage 6: The sixth heart is hidden at first and appears once you've seen the stage 5 event; fill it for the stage 6 event.

02 / Raising them

How do hearts go up?

What	Adds	Notes
Talking	+10	Once a day per villager.
A gift	Liked +25, other +15, disliked +5; double on their birthday	Once a day and twice a week per villager (resets on Monday). The birthday gift doesn't count toward the two, but it's still one that day. A disliked gift still adds; nothing takes away.
A request done	+30	Board requests (open after Rokkaku's event on Spring 8) and the ones villagers ask you for directly.
The right choice	+30	When you pick the right answer in a heart event.

A liked gift adds more the better its quality: bronze +27, silver +30, gold +33, brand +37. Nothing else gets this.
Nobody dislikes Eggs: keep four or more chickens and give everyone two a week for a steady +30 each.
The hokora skills Befriending Finesse and Befriending Finesse+ add on top.
From 1.30 the range for handing things to villagers is wider: you can give gifts and request items from a little farther away.
Gifts open after the Errand Coupon event on Spring 16.

03 / Each stage

What each stage opens

Each heart brings an event: once it's full and you've seen the stage before it, the stage's event opens.

※ Talking daily, two ordinary gifts a week and one on their birthday reaches full hearts in about 145 days; liked gifts and requests are much faster.

Stage	Hearts	Also needs	Then
1		That villager's Errand Coupon request (Rin: after her reward in Rule 2; Nago: once he lives in the village in Rule 3)	An event
2		Stage 1 seen	An event
3		Stage 2 seen	An event; their home opens; after Rule 2 the dinner invitations start
4		Stage 3 seen and Rule 5 done	An event (Village in the Sunshine mode stops at stage 3)
5	Appears after this event	Stage 4 seen	An event
6		Stage 5 seen (Kisuke: after Rule 6 and the ending)	An event; after all three dinners, a night at their place

Go to the place during its hours; not on thunderstorm or festival days. Each villager's hours, places and other conditions are on their page.

04 / Dinners

Getting a dinner invitation

Needs: Stage 3 seen, Rule 2 done, and two or more gifts to them this week (resets on Monday).
How: Talk to them between 7:00 and 16:45: a 10% chance each day. If it fails, there's no second draw that day; try tomorrow.
When: It starts at 18:00 that day; you're taken there when the time comes.
How many: Three per villager, each teaching a dish, in a random order.
Tip: Give both gifts on Monday and Tuesday, and every remaining day of the week gets a draw.
Village in the Sunshine mode: Has them too.

05 / Staying over

Staying the night

Needs: All three dinners, stage 6 seen, Rule 6 done, and two or more gifts this week.
How: Talk between 7:00 and 17:45: a 10% chance a day; it starts at 18:00.
Never on: Spring 11, Summer 14, Autumn 22, Winter 27 and the 26th of every season (the day before a festival).
Kisuke: Only after the happy ending.
How many: Once per villager; not in Village in the Sunshine mode.

06 / Your birthday

Setting your own birthday

Added in the free update on 27 October: set your birthday and the villagers celebrate it with you.

Needs: Village in the Shade mode: you've reached Year 2 and it's the day after clearing the story.
Village in the Sunshine mode: Year 2 reached and the day after Nago moves in.
How it starts: Rin writes to you. Between 7:00 and 16:59, go to the blue star on the map (by the bench), meet Rin and Komako, and pick a day on the calendar.
Which days: Festival days, the Evaluation on the 27th of each season and the villagers' birthdays are off the list, which leaves 90 days; once set, it can't be changed.
On the day: Rin's card and a Birthday Cake are in your mailbox. Talk to the villagers: those with three or more hearts give you a birthday present (one each a year), and all of them can go in your room.
Birthday Cake: A dish: Stamina +950 (exactly five full bars), Health +39. Can't be sold.