Short answer: Sam loves Cactus Fruit, Maple Bar, Pizza and Tigerseye, plus universal loves such as a Prismatic Shard. Sam's birthday is Summer 17 (a Wednesday), when a loved gift is worth 640 friendship points instead of 80. The cheapest liked gift you can grow for Sam is Sunflower: plant it by Summer 9.
Quick facts
- Birthday: Summer 17, a Wednesday.
- Marriage: yes. Friendship stops at 8 hearts (2,000 points) until you give Sam a Bouquet, so extra gifts before that are wasted.
- Own gift lists: 4 loved, 1 liked and 13 hated by name, and 1 exception to the universal lists.
- Crops to grow for Sam: 5 liked.
What Sam loves
| Gift | Also loved by |
|---|---|
| Cactus Fruit | Linus, Pam |
| Maple Bar | Nobody else |
| Pizza | Shane |
| Tigerseye | Nobody else |
Only Sam loves Maple Bar and Tigerseye.
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 Sam likes
Sam likes Joja Cola, and All Eggs (except Void Egg). A liked gift (+45) is the easy fallback when you have nothing loved: 5 crops count as liked for Sam.
Birthday gift plan for Summer 17
These liked crops grow from shop seeds in Summer and are ready on Summer 17 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 9 | 125g | 80g |
| Summer Spangle | Liked | Summer 9 | 50g | 90g |
Other Summer birthdays, so one trip can cover several: Jas (Summer 4), Gus (Summer 8), Maru (Summer 10), Alex (Summer 13), Demetrius (Summer 19), Dwarf (Summer 22), Willy (Summer 24), Leo (Summer 26).
Gifts to avoid
Sam hates Bone Fragment, Cinder Shard, Coal, Copper Bar, Duck Mayonnaise, Gold Bar, Gold Ore, Iridium Bar, Iridium Ore, Iron Bar, Mayonnaise, Pickles and Refined Quartz (-40 each), and dislikes Daffodil, Dandelion, Ginger, Hazelnut, Holly, Leek, Quartz, Salmonberry, Seaweed, Snow Yam, Wild Horseradish and Winter Root, and All Vegetables (except Hops, Tea Leaves, & Wheat); All Mushrooms (except Red) (-20). On top of that come the universal hates, such as trash and bait.
Neutral (+20) for Sam: All Fruit (except Cactus Fruit, Fruit Tree Fruit, & Salmonberry); All Milk.
Where Sam breaks the universal rules
These items are universal for most villagers, but not for Sam:
- Seaweed: Sam dislikes it, though most villagers hate it.
To check any single item, with the points for each quality and day, open the Gift Finder for Sam.