The player can send letters to the following addressees: villagers in the player's townother players in the player's town, the Faraway Museum only in Animal Forest and Animal Crossingand the player's future self. To send a letter, the player must first obtain stationery. Letters are delivered at AM each day by Pete to the player's mailbox in every game except New Horizons where they are delivered at AM each day by an unknown carrier. Players have the ability to send letters to villagersother players, the player's future self, and the Faraway Museumand players may receive letters from villagers, other players, some special characters, Nintendoand other entities, such as the Happy Home Academy.

It is present in all main series games, but absent from spin-off titles such as Happy Home Designer. Letters are a form of communication in the Animal Crossing series.