Amiibo

amiibo is a toys-to-life platform by Nintendo, which launched in November 2014. It consists of a wireless communications and storage protocol for connecting figurines and cards to the Wii U, Nintendo 3DS, and Nintendo Switch video game consoles. amiibo functionality can be used directly with these consoles by using their built-in NFC readers, though the original Nintendo 3DS and Nintendo 3DS XL require an official NFC adapter to also be used. amiibo are typically compatible with multiple different games and will unlock bonus content or affect gameplay once read.

amiibo was first introduced to the with a range of cards and figurines that can be used with,  to affect gameplay. Two additional series of cards were made available for the launch of, which introduces amiibo compatibility into and can also utilise previously released cards and figurines. Selected amiibo from other series can scanned to unlock special crossover villagers based on the The Legend of Zelda, Splatoon, and Monster Hunter series. is compatible with all previously released Animal Crossing amiibo, but not those from other series.

The line of amiibo cards is a spiritual successor to the Animal Crossing-e series of cards for the Nintendo e-Reader.

In the games
amiibo are compatible with the following titles:

is the first title to support the use of amiibo, and is compatible with the first four series of cards and all currently available figurines. The game is not compatible with the Welcome amiibo series or Sanrio series of cards, and attempting to scan these amiibo will freeze the game.

After completing a few remodels for Nook's Homes, Lyle will bring an amiibo phone into the office for the player to use. The phone allows an amiibo to be scanned, who will be contacted by the player using the phone. The player will then be able to recruit that character as a client and perform a remodel for their house. This is the only way to perform remodels for Special Characters, as they will never become clients during regular gameplay.

amiibo can also be scanned while in a client's house or facility to invite the character to that location. Villagers can have their clothing and headgear customized, and special characters have a limited selection of clothing that they can be changed between. Invited characters will remain in that location indefinitely unless asked to leave, and a maximum of 5 characters can exist in a single location at once. Scanning the amiibo again after inviting a character will save all furniture in the room to the amiibo, which can then be scanned in a different copy of the game in order to transfer furniture to other players to help fill their catalog.

Scanning the Villager amiibo will unlock a golden Villager Statue in the catalog, and scanning the Isabelle amiibo unlocks the Isabelle Scooter. Scanning these amiibo are the only way to acquire these items for use in the game.

In, the player must first locate an Empty Lamp in their town. Once placed in a house the lamp can be interacted with to summon Wisp, who provides access to all amiibo functionality in the game. Villagers can be invited to move into town by scanning their corresponding amiibo card. Special characters and villagers from the Welcome amiibo series will instead appear in their RV in the campground when scanned, from which furniture can be purchased in exchange for MEOW Coupons. The villagers can be spoken to and invited to move into town.

The game is compatible will all currently available amiibo. A total of eight unique crossover villagers from other series are available by scanning their amiibo and inviting them to move into town.

The Legend of Zelda series

 * W. Link WA Icon.png W. Link, obtained through Link, Zelda, and Young Link from the Super Smash Bros. series, Wolf Link, Link (Archer), Link (Twilight Princess), Link (Skyward Sword) and Link (Link's Awakening) from The Legend of Zelda series.
 * Medli WA Icon.png Medli, obtained through Toon Link from the Super Smash Bros. series, Toon Link (The Wind Waker), Zelda (The Wind Waker) or Zelda (Breath of the Wild) from The Legend of Zelda series.
 * Epona WA Icon.png Epona, obtained through Sheik from the Super Smash Bros. series, Link (Ocarina of Time), Link (Rider) or Link (Majora's Mask) from The Legend of Zelda series.
 * Ganon WA Icon.png Ganon, obtained through Ganondorf from the Super Smash Bros. series, 8-Bit Link (The Legend of Zelda), Guardian or Bokoblin from The Legend of Zelda series.

Splatoon series

 * Inkwell WA Icon.png Inkwell, obtained through the Inkling Boy, Girl, or Squid amiibo from the Splatoon series.
 * Cece WA Icon.png Cece, obtained through the Callie amiibo from the Splatoon series.
 * Viché WA Icon.png Viché, obtained through the Marie amiibo from the Splatoon series.

Monster Hunter series

 * Felyne WA Icon.png Felyne, obtained through any of the six amiibo from the Monster Hunter Stories series.

Sanrio series
The following villagers are based on characters and series created by Sanrio and will never move into town unless their card from the limited edition Sanrio series of amiibo is scanned and they are invited to move: • Rilla WA Icon.png Rilla (Hello Kitty)

• Marty WA Icon.png Marty (Pompompurin)

• Étoile WA Icon.png Étoile (Kiki and Lala)

• Chai WA Icon.png Chai (Cinnamoroll)

• Chelsea WA Icon.png Chelsea(My Melody)

• Toby WA Icon.png Toby (Kerokerokeroppi)

is compatible with all currently available amiibo, though unlike the previous game amiibo from other series cannot be used.

amiibo can be read while in Photopia to bring the character there as a model and unlock a poster of them for purchase in the Nook Shopping Catalog. Models cannot be spoken to at all, but interacting with them makes them face the player.

An amiibo can also be read once per day from the Nook Stop. The scanned character will appear and speak to the player, from where a villager can be invited to put up a tent in the town's campsite. When visiting their tent, they will give the player a DIY recipe for a specific item and ask them to craft it for them. If the player gives the camper the item, they will thank the player by giving them clothing in return and hint that they would like to be invited again. From their third consecutive visit, they can be invited to move into the player's town, but will always decline if asked during their first and second visits. A camper can only be invited to move in if there is a vacant plot, or a maximum of ten villagers already live on the island. In the latter case the player will be prompted to choose a resident to move out, so that the camper may move in.

The following amiibo are not yet fully compatible with the game. These characters will not appear and the player will be told that the character can't be invited. However, scanning these amiibo in Photopia will still unlock their corresponding poster: • Chai WA Icon.png Chai

• Chelsea WA Icon.png Chelsea

• Étoile WA Icon.png Étoile

• Marty WA Icon.png Marty

• Rilla WA Icon.png Rilla

• Toby WA Icon.png Toby

• BlancaAMFIcon.png Blanca

• BookerAMFIcon.png Booker

• BrewsterAMFIcon.png Brewster

• ChipAMFIcon.png  Chip

• CopperAMFIcon.png  Copper

• CyrusAMFIcon.png Cyrus

• DigbyAMFIcon.png Digby

• DonAMFIcon.png Don

• FranklinAMFIcon.png Franklin

• GracieAMFIcon.png Gracie

• GramsAMFIcon.png Grams

• HarrietAMFIcon.png Harriet

• JackAMFIcon.png Jack

• JingleAMFIcon.png Jingle

• JoanAMFIcon.png Joan

• KatieAMFIcon.png Katie

• KatrinaAMFIcon.png Katrina

• DJK.K.AMFIcon.png DJ KK

• Kapp'nAMFIcon.png Kapp'n

• LeifAMFIcon.png Leif

• LeilaAMFIcon.png Leila

• LeilaniAMFIcon.png Leilani

• LottieAMFIcon.png Lottie

• LyleAMFIcon.png Lyle

• LunaAMFIcon.png Luna

• NatAMFIcon.png Nat

• PascalAMFIcon.png Pascal

• PavéAMFIcon.png Pavé

• PellyAMFIcon.png Pelly

• PeteAMFIcon.png Pete

• PhineasAMFIcon.png Phineas

• PhyllisAMFIcon.png Phyllis

• PorterAMFIcon.png Porter

• ReddAMFIcon.png Redd

• ReeseAMFIcon.png Reese

• ResettiAMFIcon.png Resetti

• RoverAMFIcon.png Rover

• ShrunkAMFIcon.png Shrunk

• TortimerAMFIcon.png Tortimer

• Boy1AMFIcon.png Villager

• WendellAMFIcon.png Wendell

• ZipperAMFIcon.png Zipper

Other games compatible with amiibo
The following Nintendo games have effects when an amiibo from the is scanned:

Scanning a compatible amiibo in Taiko no Tatsujin will unlock the "New Leaf Medley" and extra content in Kisekae Shoot Mode.
 * Taiko no Tatsujin

The Villager amiibo can be used in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U as a customizable fighter, who can be trained up and given alternate moves.
 * Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U

Scanning a compatible amiibo in Super Mario Maker will unlock them as a Mystery Mushroom costume. These costumes can also be unlocked through the 100 Mario Challenge. The and Mystery Mushroom and costumes are only available in the original game, and are not present in Super Mario Maker for Nintendo 3DS or Super Mario Maker 2. • * Blathers
 * Super Mario Maker

• * Celeste

• * Cyrus

• * Digby

• * Isabelle (Summer outfit)

• * Isabelle (Winter outfit)

• * Kapp'n

• * Kicks

• * K.K. Slider

• * Lottie

• * Mabel

• * Resse

• * Resetti

• * Rover

• * Nooklings

• * Tom Nook

• * Villager Scanning a compatible amiibo in Mario Kart 8 (Wii U) or Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Nintendo Switch) will unlock an Animal Crossing-themed Mii racing suit.
 * Mario Kart 8

In Miitopia, scanning an Isabelle, Tom Nook, K.K. Slider or Mr. Resetti amiibo will unlock a corresponding costume that can be worn by the cast of Mii's in the game.
 * Miitopia

amiibo can be read in WarioWare Gold by using Wario's amiibo Sketch toy in the arcade. Once the amiibo has been read, Wario will paint the corresponding character in his signature style.
 * WarioWare Gold

Scanning an amiibo in Poochy & Yoshi's Woolly World will unlock Animal Crossing-themed patterns for use in the game.
 * Poochy & Yoshi's Woolly World

Scanning a compatible amiibo in Hey! Pikmin will unlock bonus treasure stages in the game.
 * Hey! Pikmin

Scanning any Isabelle amiibo in Style Savvy: Fashion Forward will unlock clothing based on her summer outfit for use in the game.
 * Style Savvy: Fashion Forward

Scanning an amiibo in Style Savvy: Styling Star will unlock three Animal Crossing-themed shirts for use in the game.
 * Style Savvy: Styling Star

In Conga Master Party, a compatible amiibo can be read to unlock Animal Crossing-themed costumes for use in the game as well as unlock specific characters.
 * Conga Master Party

Scanning a compatible amiibo in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate will unlock that character's spirit. Scanning the Timmy and Tommy amiibo will also unlock a special in-game shop.
 * Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

amiibo figures
On November 21, 2014, the first wave of Super Smash Bros. amiibo were released. This wave featured a majority of the main series' cast, including Villager. On August 24, 2015, Nintendo had a press release which revealed information about Happy Home Designer and a new Animal Crossing amiibo series. The first wave was released on November 13, November 20, and November 21 in North America, Europe, and Japan and Oceania respectively. An additional wave was released on December 17, January 22, January 29 and January 30, in Japan, North America, Europe and Oceania respectively. On November 14, 2015, several stores updated their amiibo store displays to include the previously unannounced Kapp'n, Timmy and Tommy Nook, and Rover amiibo. .These three amiibo alongside a variation of Isabelle wearing her summer dress were released on March 18, 2016 in Europe and North America (minus Isabelle who was released in North America on June 10), March 19 in Oceania, and March 24 in Japan. Isabelle's Super Smash Bros. Ultimate amiibo was released on July 19, 2019 in Japan and Europe, and on July 26, 2019 in North America.

Trivia

 * On October 28, 2015, Nintendo revealed the Animal Crossing Series 1 Cards were the best selling amiibo product in Japan and the 6th best selling product in North America.
 * Prior to the November 8, 2015 restocks by ToysRUs, the Villager amiibo was one of the most sought after amiibo in North America.
 * The Lottie amiibo figure was originally a Target exclusive in North America, people later discovered that Lottie had broken free from Target exclusivity about a month later.