The friendship system in Utara, explained
DAVE THE DIVER's In the Jungle expansion swaps the Blue Hole for Utara, a freshwater village built around a jungle lake. The 23 residents you meet here are not just background flavor. Build your friendship with each one and they hand over gifts that span house decorations, combat accessories, shop discounts, and daily resource collection. Most villagers reward you twice: once at 3 hearts and again at 4.
Resident Note heart tracker
How do hearts and friendship levels work?
Every villager tracks friendship through hearts, with a cap of 4 per person. Meeting someone for the first time fills the first heart automatically, so you earn the remaining three through deliberate interaction. The reward milestones land at 3 and 4 hearts.
Two hearts matters more than it might seem. Once an adult villager reaches that threshold, they start showing up at Bancho Grill in the evening as a paying customer. Serving them there keeps the relationship climbing at the same time you are running your restaurant.
A few villagers break the standard pattern. Jepun only has a single reward and stops after 3 hearts. Cinta skips the 3-heart gift entirely and only hands over a reward at 4. Marone is the earliest starter of the group, beginning daily material collection from 3 hearts rather than waiting for 4.
Complete friendship rewards list
The table below covers all 23 villagers, their rewards at each milestone, and what those rewards actually do.
| Villager | 3-heart reward | 4-heart reward | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| Panutah | Festival Hair Ornament | Charm of Abundance | Ornament is a wall decoration. Charm grants two items from pots or jars when equipped. |
| Muna | 1x Tin Ingot, 1x Black Iron Ingot | Anti-Gravity Device | Ingots are crafting materials. Anti-Gravity Device lets Dave keep two items if he dies on a dive. |
| Rimbo | PONY Pickup Model | Electric Scooter | Model is a house decoration. Electric Scooter is faster than the base Kick Scooter, especially on the beach. |
| Lathi | Mortar | Mortar Decoration | Mortar lets Dave brew recovery drinks at Lathi's house and unlocks new shop stock. Four-heart version places a Mortar at home and adds more items. |
| Basu | Redtail Catfish Taxidermy | Utara Fishing Rod | Taxidermy is a wall decoration. Utara Fishing Rod is an upgraded tool for catching larger species. |
| Peneb | Utara Woodcraft Cooking Station | Axe Oil | Cooking Station can be placed at Bancho Grill. |
| Lipah | Lipah's Lizard Terrarium | Big-Eyed Lizard Charm | Terrarium displays lizards gifted to Lipah. Charm is a Setah Forest accessory giving +10% Defense and +20% Luck. |
| Jepun | Coconut Keychain | — | Keychain is a phone charm. No 4-heart reward. |
| Uzme | Shell Menu Board Decoration | Bracelet of Strength | Decoration goes at Bancho Grill. Bracelet raises the underwater combat combo gauge by 50%. |
| Harta | Amber Bead | Gold Necklace of Sloth | Amber Bead is a Setah Forest accessory giving +20% XP. Necklace slows nearby fish: 60% for small, 50% for medium, 40% for large. |
| Gesang | Human: Fall Flat Bob Block | Box Arcade Machine | Bob Block is used in the animal stacking minigame. Arcade Machine is a playable house decoration. |
| Chandra | Traditional Patterned Carpet | Eye of the Falcon | Carpet is a house decoration. Eye of the Falcon is a Setah Forest accessory that reveals enemy immunities. |
| Kinah | Bookshelf | Butterfly Necklace | Bookshelf is a house decoration. Butterfly Necklace restores 2 AP every turn. |
| Meilan | Flower Menu Board Decoration | Eye of the Spirit | Decoration goes at Bancho Grill. Eye of the Spirit unlocks a dialogue option showing playthrough stats. |
| Jaka | Old Painting | To the Moon Ending Song CD | Painting is a house decoration. CD can be played in the CD player. |
| Bonita | Yoga Mat | Air Resonance Necklace | Yoga Mat is a house decoration. Air Resonance Necklace grants +30% oxygen recovery. |
| Omila | Traditional Pattern Table | Omila's Handkerchief | Table goes at Bancho Grill. Handkerchief restores 10% HP each turn. |
| Perak | 20% Blacksmith Discount | 50% Blacksmith Discount | Both rewards reduce prices at the Blacksmith. |
| Cinta | — | Belt of Memories | No 3-heart reward. Belt restores 5% HP and AP on a Just Guard. |
| Eka | Basilosaurus Clay Model | Creature Collection | Model is a house decoration. At 4 hearts, Eka collects creatures for Dave every day. |
| Saniah | Saniah's Rabbit Doll | Four-Leaf Clover | Doll is a house decoration. Four-Leaf Clover reduces ally status ailment chance by 50%. |
| Bima | Bima's Robot Samurai Drawing | Material Collection | Drawing is a wall decoration. At 4 hearts, Bima collects materials and ingredients for Dave daily. |
| Marone | Material Collection | Improved Material Collection | Marone collects materials from 3 hearts. Rarity of hauls improves at 4. |
Villagers dine at 2 hearts
Which friendship rewards are worth prioritizing?
You cannot always chase these in a clean order since progress depends on available quests, gifts, and which favorite foods you have stocked. That said, some rewards pay off fast enough that the villagers tied to them are worth befriending early.
| Villager | Reward | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Perak | Blacksmith Discount | 20% off at 3 hearts, 50% off at 4. Tool upgrades get expensive fast. |
| Marone | Material Collection | Daily materials from 3 hearts, rarer quality at 4. Earliest passive income in the group. |
| Bima | Material Collection | Daily materials and ingredients once you hit 4 hearts. |
| Eka | Creature Collection | Daily creature drops at 4 hearts. Pairs well with Bima's material runs. |
| Rimbo | Electric Scooter | Faster travel than the base Kick Scooter, especially noticeable on the beach. |
| Harta | Gold Necklace of Sloth | Slows fish within range, making underwater captures and combat noticeably easier. |
| Bonita | Air Resonance Necklace | +30% oxygen recovery is a real difference-maker on longer or harder dives. |
None of these are required to finish the main story. The one actual progression gate is getting three adults to 3 hearts during Chapter 3, which lets Dave move a boulder blocking access to Setah Forest. Outside that requirement, treat everything else as quality-of-life rather than a hard unlock.
Perak's Blacksmith discount
How to raise friendship faster
Three actions do the heavy lifting here. Feeding a villager their favorite dish at Bancho Grill is the most consistent method, alongside giving them gifts they like and completing their friendship missions when those become available.
To hand over a present, talk to a villager and select the Gift option, then pick from your inventory. Any item the villager has confirmed as a favorite will show a heart icon next to it. One gift per villager per day is the hard limit, so save confirmed favorites for the people you want to level up first. Gifts are mainly bought from Rimbo's shop, which refreshes its stock daily, making it worth checking in every morning.
You learn a villager's preferences by talking to them and selecting Talk, then Favorite things. An N appears on that option when they have new information to share. Some villagers only reveal preferences as your relationship grows, so you may need to make progress before their full likes list unlocks. Checking a villager's reaction after gifting them something unknown is another way to fill in the gaps, and confirmed favorites get added to their Resident Note entry automatically.
For a full breakdown of what each villager wants to eat, the villager favorite gifts and dishes guide covers every preference in detail.
How to check friendship levels and claim rewards
Press up on the d-pad to open the Resident Note menu. This shows Dave's current heart level with every Utara villager at a glance. Selecting an individual entry pulls up everything learned so far about that person's favorite foods and gifts, which makes it easy to plan your next move.
When a reward becomes available at 3 or 4 hearts, a pink question mark appears above the villager's head. Walk up and talk to them to collect it. The item either drops into your inventory or installs as a decoration depending on what it is. A few rewards, like Marone's daily material collection, do not begin until the following day after you claim them.
Children and animals in Utara also have friendship rewards, though they cannot visit Bancho Grill at 2 hearts the way adult villagers can. This makes raising their affinity slightly slower since you cannot serve them food, but the daily collection rewards from Eka, Bima, and Marone make the effort worthwhile.
For more on what to cook and serve to maximize those evening Bancho Grill sessions, the full new recipe list for In the Jungle is worth bookmarking alongside this one. And if you want to cover every angle of the expansion, the complete Dave the Diver guides collection has everything from fish locations to crafting materials in one place.
