Short answer: Maru loves Battery Pack, Cauliflower, Cheese Cauliflower, Diamond, Dwarf Gadget, Gold Bar, Iridium Bar, Miner's Treat, Pepper Poppers, Radioactive Bar, Rhubarb Pie and Strawberry, plus universal loves such as a Prismatic Shard. Maru's birthday is Summer 10 (a Wednesday), when a loved gift is worth 640 friendship points instead of 80. The cheapest liked gift you can grow for Maru is Sunflower: plant it by Summer 2.
Quick facts
- Birthday: Summer 10, a Wednesday.
- Marriage: yes. Friendship stops at 8 hearts (2,000 points) until you give Maru a Bouquet, so extra gifts before that are wasted.
- Own gift lists: 12 loved, 6 liked and 5 hated by name, and 6 exceptions to the universal lists.
- Crops to grow for Maru: 2 loved and 25 liked.
What Maru loves
| Gift | Also loved by |
|---|---|
| Battery Pack | Nobody else |
| Cauliflower | Nobody else |
| Cheese Cauliflower | Nobody else |
| Diamond | Penny, Evelyn, Gus, Jodi, Krobus, Marnie, Willy |
| Dwarf Gadget | Nobody else |
| Gold Bar | Clint, Willy |
| Iridium Bar | Clint, Krobus, Willy |
| Miner's Treat | Nobody else |
| Pepper Poppers | Shane |
| Radioactive Bar | Nobody else |
| Rhubarb Pie | Jodi |
| Strawberry | Demetrius |
Only Maru loves Battery Pack, Cauliflower, Cheese Cauliflower, Dwarf Gadget, Miner's Treat and Radioactive Bar.
The universal loves count too: Golden Pumpkin, Magic Rock Candy, Pearl, Prismatic Shard, Rabbit's Foot and Stardrop Tea. What "universal" means and the points for each kind of gift: gift rules for every villager.
What Maru likes
Maru likes Copper Bar, Iron Bar, Oak Resin, Pine Tar, Quartz and Radioactive Ore, and All Mushrooms (except Common & Red). A liked gift (+45) is the easy fallback when you have nothing loved: 25 crops count as liked for Maru.
Birthday gift plan for Summer 10
These liked crops grow from shop seeds in Summer and are ready on Summer 10 if you plant them by the day shown, at normal growth speed. Cheapest to give first: the sell price is the gold you give up.
| Crop | Taste | Plant by | Seeds | Sells for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sunflower | Liked | Summer 2 | 125g | 80g |
| Radish | Liked | Summer 4 | 40g | 90g |
| Summer Spangle | Liked | Summer 2 | 50g | 90g |
| Red Cabbage | Liked | Summer 1 (seeds from Year 2) | 100g | 260g |
The loved crops (Cauliflower and Strawberry) can't be grown from seed by Summer 10; harvest one in Spring and keep it in a chest, since crops never spoil.
Other Summer birthdays, so one trip can cover several: Jas (Summer 4), Gus (Summer 8), Alex (Summer 13), Sam (Summer 17), Demetrius (Summer 19), Dwarf (Summer 22), Willy (Summer 24), Leo (Summer 26).
Gifts to avoid
Maru hates Holly, Honey, Pickles, Snow Yam and Truffle (-40 each), and dislikes Blackberry, Common Mushroom, Crystal Fruit, Maple Syrup and Salmonberry (-20). On top of that come the universal hates, such as trash and bait.
Neutral (+20) for Maru: Daffodil, Dandelion, Ginger, Hazelnut, Leek, Wild Horseradish and Winter Root, and All Eggs (except Void Egg); All Fruit (except Blackberry, Crystal Fruit, Fruit Tree Fruit, Salmonberry, & Strawberry); All Milk.
Where Maru breaks the universal rules
These items are universal for most villagers, but not for Maru:
- Maple Syrup: Maru dislikes it, though most villagers like it.
- Truffle: Maru hates it, though most villagers are neutral about it.
- Oak Resin: Maru likes it, though most villagers dislike it.
- Pine Tar: Maru likes it, though most villagers dislike it.
- Radioactive Bar: Maru loves it, though most villagers hate it.
- Radioactive Ore: Maru likes it, though most villagers hate it.
To check any single item, with the points for each quality and day, open the Gift Finder for Maru.