Adding More Residents to Your Animal Crossing Island: A Comprehensive Guide

Adding new residents to your island is a core part of the Animal Crossing: New Horizons experience. Growing your community with a diverse cast of villagers adds personality and charm to your virtual paradise. But how exactly do you go about inviting new neighbors to your island? Here’s a comprehensive guide to help you understand the process.

How to Add More Villagers in Animal Crossing: New Horizons

The process of adding new villagers involves a combination of gameplay progression, specific in-game actions, and a little bit of luck. Here’s a breakdown of the key methods:

• Initial Villagers: When you first start your island, you’ll be joined by two starter villagers. These are randomly selected personalities; typically one jock and one big sister type. As you progress, the next three villagers to move in will be peppy, normal, and lazy personalities in that order.
• Selling Land Plots: Once your Resident Services has upgraded from a tent to a building, you can speak to Tom Nook about expanding your island further. He will then offer you the option to sell land plots. By placing a plot, you are essentially reserving a space for a new villager to move in. These vacant plots are essential for attracting new residents.
• Visiting Mystery Islands: Using Nook Miles, you can purchase Nook Miles Tickets which allow you to travel to random deserted islands. When on these islands, you’ll encounter villagers roaming around. If you have a vacant land plot available, you can invite these villagers to come live on your island.
• The Campsite: After upgrading to a building, Tom Nook will introduce you to the construction of a campsite. Once built, the campsite will occasionally attract visiting villagers. You’ll be notified by Isabelle if there’s someone camping. You’ll have a chance to speak with the camper and invite them to move in if you have an open land plot.
• Amiibo Cards: Once the campsite is built, you can also use Amiibo cards to invite specific villagers to your campsite. If you invite a villager through an amiibo card, you must invite them to visit the campsite three separate times before they agree to move in.
• Moving In from Other Islands: If you visit a friend’s island and they have a villager in boxes (meaning they’re moving out), you can invite that villager to move to your island, provided you have an open land plot. This allows for a bit more choice over who will join your community.
• Unexpected Villagers: In some rare instances, if a villager is moving from a friend’s town and you have an open plot, they may move to your island without you specifically inviting them.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. What is the Maximum Number of Villagers I Can Have?

The maximum number of villagers you can have living on your island is 10. This limit does not include player characters.

2. How Do I Get My 10th Villager?

The 10th villager can move in through several ways:

• By inviting a villager from a mystery island, a campsite or from a friend’s island.
• By convincing a villager who is moving out from a friend’s island, to move to yours.
• Rarely, a random villager will move in if you have an empty plot.

3. Can I Have More Than 10 Villagers?

No, the game limits your island to 10 villager residents at any given time. There are no methods to surpass this limit.

4. Why Can I Only Have 10 Villagers?

The 10-villager limit is primarily due to island space limitations and maintaining a balance within the game’s mechanics and performance.

5. How Do I Get My First Camper?

Your first camper will typically appear the day after your campsite construction is complete. This camper is a forced move-in, meaning you must accept their offer to join your island.

6. How Do I Get More House Plots After the First Camper?

After the first forced camper, talk to Tom Nook again. He will provide more plots to place for future villagers. You must have the land plot placed before the new villager will move in.

7. How Do I Know When A Camper is Visiting?

Isabelle will make an announcement during her daily morning update if there is a camper visiting.

8. Do Villagers Move In Automatically?

Villagers will not automatically move to your island unless you have a vacant land plot. If you have an open plot, and you do not invite a villager within 24 hours, the game will automatically fill it with a random villager.

9. How Long do I have to Invite a Villager Before a Plot Fills Automatically?

You have 24 hours after a plot is placed or becomes empty to find a villager to move in. If you do not invite one, a random villager will move into that spot.

10. Can I Choose the Personality of My Villagers?

While you can’t directly choose the personality of your first 5 villagers, you will be able to choose more of your neighbors as you continue to play. You can control this by using mystery islands, the campsite, or inviting from a friend’s town. You cannot control which personality a random villager will have if you do not pick one yourself.

11. Are There Rare Villagers?

Yes, certain villagers are considered rarer due to their limited number within the game. Octopus villagers are particularly rare as there are only five of them.

12. Can I Move a Villager Out to Get a New One?

Yes, you can move villagers out by ignoring them or using various methods to encourage them to leave. However, there’s no guarantee that they’ll move out quickly. Once they move out, an empty plot will be left available for a new villager to move in.

13. What if I Don’t Like The Villager That Moves In Automatically?

If a villager moves in automatically and you are not happy, you will need to encourage them to move out, then acquire another villager to take their place.

14. How do I use Amiibo Cards?

After you build the campsite you can use your Amiibo cards by visiting the Nook Stop in Resident Services. Choose “invite Amiibo camper”. You can then scan the card to have the character visit your campsite.

15. Can I Have Multiple Players with Different Homes on the Same Island?

Yes, you can have up to 8 players on one island. Each player will have their own unique home, name, storage space, and more. However, only one player is the primary resident representative who can make significant island progression decisions. All other players are secondary players with some gameplay limitations.

Conclusion

Building a lively community on your island in Animal Crossing: New Horizons is one of the most engaging aspects of the game. While there are limits on the number of villagers you can have, the methods for inviting them are diverse and rewarding. Whether through random encounters on mystery islands, inviting villagers from the campsite, or interacting with friends’ islands, the process of curating your ideal island community is a journey worth enjoying. Using this guide, you can confidently add more residents and enhance your Animal Crossing experience.