Moving

Moving is the process of a villager moving in or out of the player's town. Whenever there is an available space in the player's town, a villager will move in. After a while, villagers start to move out.

Prior to, a villager may move away without notice. In, a villager will ask the player first before moving away. In games after, villagers will be seen in their house if they are moving in or out of the town. Their furniture is replaced with cardboard boxes. Each game has various methods of determining who will move out and who will move in.

In
In, each town starts with six villagers, one of each personality type. There is a maximum of 15 villagers in a town.

The events of villagers moving in and out occur exclusively during the orange-text loading screens. As a result, there is no unpacking or packing up event for the player to witness. Villager houses simply appear and disappear.

Moving in
Once the first player has settled in to their house at the beginning of the game, new villagers will begin to "naturally" move in to the town.

There is a chance for a new villager to move in each time the player's town is loaded, after the player chooses their name at the game load screen. Several criteria must be met:
 * At least 1.75 days (42 hours) must have passed since the last villager moved in.
 * The chosen player must have spoken to all the villagers currently living in the town.
 * A random chance based on the town's Field Rank. This has a 40% chance of succeeding at the lowest Field Rank and a 100% chance at the highest.

The game tries to select a new villager of the personality type the town has seen the least, including both current and past residents. If the personalities of all current and past villagers are equally represented, then past villagers are ignored and only the personalities of current villagers are considered. If there is no least-represented personality among the current villagers, then the new villager can be from any personality group. Villagers who have never lived in the town before are prioritized over villagers who previously lived in the town. Once a villager moves out, they cannot move back in naturally until all 218 villagers have lived in the town at least once.

Certain villagers cannot be starting villagers in the player's town, instead having to move in later. These include all anteaters, kangaroos, and ostriches, as well as Coco, Genji, Kabuki, Lucky, Octavian, Ribbot, Rizzo, Snake, Stinky, Tiara, Velma, and Woolio.

In
In, villagers can also move to town if their e-Reader card is scanned at the wishing well. For the 60 new villagers in, this is the only way for them to move to town.

Moving out
Once the maximum of 15 villagers is reached, villagers will begin to "naturally" move out at a regular interval to make room for new villagers. Unlike in later games, villagers do not let the player know they are leaving, and they do not pack up. When a villager moves out, they send the player a goodbye letter.

When the town is loaded, a villager will move out if at least 10 days have elapsed since the last villager moved out. When selecting the moving villager, the game tends to favor villagers who have seen the least interaction with the player who was chosen at the game load screen. Additionally, villagers who moved in naturally will be picked before villagers who moved in from a town on another memory card.

Each time a villager moves out in this fashion, a new villager instantly moves in, during the game load screen.

When speaking to villagers, there is chance they will say that they are considering leaving town. Their fate is then left for the player to decide, who is presented with the choice of asking the villager to stay or encouraging them to leave.

In
In, the method of determining who moves out naturally is different from. The game initially chooses the villager who has gone the longest without speaking to a player; if the length is the same between all villagers, a random villager from the town's most populous personality type is chosen; if all personality types are equal, the villager with the lowest friendship between all players is chosen; if all villagers have the same friendship between all players, a random villager is chosen.

If a villager is invited to move in via their e-Reader card while there are 15 villagers living in town, one will move out to make room using the same checks as if they were to naturally move out.

Moving between towns
When the player uses the train to visit a town on another Memory Card, one of the player's villagers is chosen to move out. This villager may then move into the visited town, but only if a player from the visited town uses the train to visit the initial town. This event bypasses the restrictions placed on moving in new villagers naturally.

Villagers who move from one memory card to another retain certain memories of their life in their previous town. This includes the name of the town, the names of the town's four player characters, and the town's tune. When spoken to, these villagers may occasionally mention the name of one of their past town's players, express their good friendship together, sing their past town tune, and lament about losing touch with that player.

In
In, each town starts with three villagers. Over time, more move in until the maximum of eight is reached.

Moving in
When a villager moves out, their house is removed and a random new villager moves over a signpost within seven days.

Certain villagers cannot be starting villagers in the player's town, instead having to move in later. These include all anteaters, kangaroos, octopuses, ostriches, as well as Agent S, Big Top, Boone, Bud, Caroline, Coco, Drift, Genji, Jitters, Kabuki, Kid Cat, Lucky, Maelle, Ribbot, Roscoe, Rowan, and Snake.

The six monkey villagers—Champ, Elise, Monty, Nana, Simon, and Tammi—can only move in after being distributed from DS Download Stations via Tag Mode. This was the only way for them to move to the player's town. When received by the game, the villager instantly moved in and a Note in a Bottle containing a message from Katrina; if there were already eight villagers in the player's town, the villager would be added to a queue and would move in when another one moves out.

Moving out
Once the maximum of eight villagers is reached, a random villager who is in-between hobbies[clarification needed] will pack up their furniture in boxes. During this time, the player can ask them not to move, which may convince them to stay. Otherwise, the next day, the villager will move out and send a goodbye letter to the player.

When a villager moves out, they are added to an internal one-villager queue where they can move to other another player's town via multiplayer.

In
In, each town starts with six villagers—one of each personality type. Over time, more move in until the maximum of ten is reached.

Moving in
The seventh, eighth, and ninth villagers move in over the next three days, and the tenth and final villager moves in up to a week after the ninth. When a villager moves out, their house is removed and a villager with a personality the town lacks or has the least of moves over a signpost within seven days.

Certain villagers cannot be starting villagers in the player's town, instead having to move in later. These include all anteaters (with the exception of Antonio), kangaroos, monkeys, and octopuses, as well as Agent S, Ankha, Big Top, Coco, Genji, Gigi, Kabuki, Kid Cat, Knox, Lucky, Marcel, Ribbot, Snake, Sterling, and Stinky.

Moving out
Once the maximum of 10 villagers is reached, a villager will approach the player and ask them if they should move out. If they are not persuaded to stay, they will pack the furniture in boxes five days later and move out two days after that, and then they will send the player a goodbye letter.

When a villager moves out, they are added to an internal one-villager queue where they could move to other another player's town via the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection or WiiConnect24 before the services' discontinuations in 2013 and 2014, respectively.

In
In, each town starts with five villagers, which can be any personality except smug and big sister. Over time, more move in until the maximum of nine is reached.

Moving in
Once there are nine villagers living in the player's town, no more can move in naturally; a tenth villager can move in through one of the four methods detailed below. When a villager moves out, their house is removed and a villager with a personality the town lacks or has the least of moves in at a random location within seven days.

Campsite
Once the campsite is built, villagers will appear occasionally there, where they can be invited to move in after the player wins a game with them.

Other players' towns
If a villager in another player's town is moving out, the player can persuade them to move to their town if there are less than ten villagers already living in town. Additionally, villagers that recently moved out of another player's town and were not invited by any other player can move to the player's town when visiting or when passing by them via StreetPass.

amiibo
In the update, the player can scan a villager's amiibo card to have them move in. This is the only way for the villagers added in the update to move in.

Moving out
Once there are nine villagers living in the player's town, a villager will move out. Before a villager moves out, they come up to the player and ask if they should move. If the player lets them move, they will pack up 10 days later (five before the update) and move out the day after. Beginning in the update, other villagers can let the player know if a villager is thinking about moving out. After finally moving out, the villager will send the player a letter, and if their friendship is high enough, will attach their photo.

When a villager moves out, they are added to a 16-villager pool where they can appear on Main Street and cannot move back in. After more than 16 villagers move out, the oldest villagers start to be removed from this pool. If an amiibo card of a villager in the 16-villager pool is used to move in the villager, the 16-villager system will be ignored.

In
In, two villagers—one jock and one big sister—move to the deserted island with the player, and there is a maximum of ten villagers.

Initial move-ins
The player can use Nook Miles Tickets to go on Mystery Island Tours. Where they can be invited to the player's island. At that time, only lazy, normal, and peppy villagers appear on Mystery Island Tours. Once a villager is invited, villagers of that personality can no longer appear.

After the player meets certain requirements, Tom Nook gives the Resident Representative three Housing Kits and a list of requested furniture for each. Once the Housing Kits are placed, the requested furniture must be placed around the plot or in the submission box in front of the plot.

After the player placed the Housing Kits, villagers can now move to their island. If the player invited villagers before they placed the housing kits, those villagers will move to the player's island. If the player does not invite three villagers from Mystery Island Tours before providing the plots' requested furniture, a random villager will move in once per day in the order of the house plot number.

The first house plot is always claimed by a lazy villager, the second a peppy villager, and the third a normal villager.

Each of the initial five villager houses has an interior based on the villager's personality rather than the villager's unique interior. All subsequent villagers will have their unique interior.

Building the campsite
After the campsite is built, a smug villager appears in it the next day. If this villager is not invited to move in, they will occupy the campsite indefinitely until invited to move in.

Assigned plots
Once a plot is placed for the campsite villager, the Resident Representative gains the ability to purchase Housing Kits for 10,000 Bells each. Up to ten houses can be on the player's island. If there is an empty house plot and a villager is not invited via one of the four methods detailed below, a random villager of a personality the island is lacking will move in each day. Each move-in until all ten plots are first filled will reward the Resident Representative with 1,000 Nook Miles.

Methods of inviting villagers
After the initial campsite visitor moves in, villagers will appear occasionally at the campsite, where they can be invited to move in after the player wins a game with them. If there are ten villagers living on the island, the camper will choose a random resident to replace, and the player can choose to accept or reject them. The chosen resident will be locked until the villager leaves the campsite.

amiibo
If a villager's amiibo card is scanned at the Nook Stop in Resident Services, they will instantly appear at the campsite. When spoken to, the villager will ask the player to craft them an item. If the player brings the requested item, then invites them again on two other days and brings them their requested items, they ask the player if they should move in. If there are ten villagers living on the island, the player can choose a resident for the camper to replace.

Inviting via amiibo is the only way for the Sanrio villagers to move to the player's island.

Mystery Island Tours
If there is an open house plot, villagers will appear on Mystery Island Tours. The villager that appears is randomly chosen; the game first selects a species, then a villager of that species. If the villager is not invited to move in, another random one will appear on each visit. Only one villager can be invited to move to the player's island per day, even if there are multiple open house plots.

Other players' islands
If a villager on another player's island is moving out, the player can persuade them to move to their island if there is an open house plot. After the third conversation with the moving villager, they will call up the player's Resident Services and purchase an open plot.

Natural move-outs
Once there are six villagers living on the player's island, the villager with the lowest friendship among all players will ask to move out. When a villager wants to move out, a thought bubble appears above their head and they ask the player if they should move. If the player lets them move, they will pack up their belongings the next day and move out the day after. If the player does not interact with the villager with the thought bubble that day, the thought bubble can transfer to another villager.

Once a villager moves out, more villagers cannot ask to move out for 15 days, and if a villager asks to move out but stays, more villagers cannot ask to move out for five days. During a time where villagers can move out, the chance of one asking is higher if there are more villagers, and it increases by 1% each day no villager asks up to a maximum of 30%.

A villager cannot ask to move out if they were the last to move in, the last to ask to move out, have a birthday in the next seven days, or are in the process of relocating their house.

Campsite move-outs
If the player invites a standard campsite villager to move in while there are already 10 residents, a random villager will be chosen to move out to make room for them; if the player invites a villager via amiibo, they can select the villager to move out. If the camper is invited to move in, the chosen villager will pack up their belongings immediately, and they will move out the next day.

Trivia

 * In, it is possible for two villagers to simultaneously move out. This can be done when the town has 10 residents and one of the villagers randomly decides to move out of town, and then the following day, a villager camps at the campsite and chooses a random villager to move out. This has been known to cause a glitch where one villager is packing up to leave indefinitely, until they are forced out via amiibo or another random camper.
 * In, if a villager who previously lived in the player's town is invited via their amiibo card to The Roost, they will recognize the player and sometimes reminisce about when they lived in the town.