Difference between revisions of "Moving"

From Nookipedia, the Animal Crossing wiki
(→‎How to tell if a villager is going to leave: Due a bug, it's impossible to prevent a villager from leaving on 29th.)
m (→‎Moving out: was also the case in the original (non updated) game)
(166 intermediate revisions by 61 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
[[File:Friga Moves.jpg|300px|thumb|[[Friga]] preparing to move away in {{CF}}.]]
+
[[File:NH Snooty 1.jpg|240px|thumb|right|[[Snooty (villager)|Snooty]] preparing to unpack in {{NH|short|nolink}}]]
 +
'''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.
  
'''Moving''' is a process [[villager]]s undertake in all games in the {{SER}}.
+
Prior to {{NH}}, a villager may move away without notice. In {{NH|nolink}}, a villager will ask the player first before moving away. In games after {{DnMe+}}, villagers will be seen in their [[Villager house|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 ''Animal Crossing'' ==
+
==In {{PG|nolink}}==
Each {{PG}} town starts with six villagers. Over time, more move in until the maximum of 15 is reached. Once this occurs the game will cycle out the 14th or 15th villager every ten days or so while keeping the initial 13 villagers intact. A villager may mention moving in a random [[conversation]] and ask the [[player]] for an opinion, but the player's response does not affect villager movement. A moving villager will not pack up prior to leaving; their home will simply be removed from the map upon game load and a goodbye [[letter]] is sent to the [[player]]'s [[mailbox]]. Unlike subsequent ''Animal Crossing'' titles, once a villager has moved out another usually replaces them immediately.  
+
In {{PG}}, each town starts with six villagers, one of each personality type. There is a maximum of 15 villagers in a town.
  
===Movement across memory cards===
+
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.
Players are able to travel to other ''Animal Crossing'' towns by speaking to [[Porter]] at the [[Train Station]]. Each time a player goes to visit another town, one of the traveling player's villagers is chosen at random to move out, and anytime a town is visited by another player, that town will receive the resident from the visiting player's town. This is the only way to cycle out one of the 13 original villagers.
 
  
===Controlling villager movement===
+
===Moving in===
By taking advantage of the way villagers move across memory cards, the player can manipulate which villagers come and go. In order to do this, three memory cards are required: one with the primary town's ''Animal Crossing'' data, a second with space for travel data, and a third with a secondary town that will be used as a repository for unwanted villagers.
+
Once the first player has settled into their house at the beginning of the game, new villagers will begin to "naturally" move into the town.
  
====Removing unwanted villagers====
+
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:
Because villagers are selected at random to move when visiting another town, moving out a specific villager is a matter of trial and error. To begin the process, follow these steps: (the town must have seven or more villagers in order for this to work)
+
* At least 24 hours must have passed since the last villager moved in.
#Load up the town with the unwanted villager.
+
* The chosen player must have spoken to all the villagers currently living in the town.
#Talk to Porter and create travel data on a second memory card and then remove it from the slot.
+
* A random chance based on the town's [[Environment rating|Field Rank]]. This has a 40% chance of succeeding at the lowest Field Rank and a 100% chance at the highest.
#Load up the primary town again using a secondary character (not the character used to create the travel data).
 
#Check the map to see which villager has moved out. Regardless of which one has moved, save and quit the game. If it was the correct villager, skip to step six. Otherwise continue to step five.
 
#Reinsert the memory card with travel data and then load the primary town. The player's character will return along with the villager that had moved out. Repeat steps 2-5 until the desired villager moves out.
 
#Once the desired villager has moved out, we must successfully move them into the secondary town. To begin this process, remove the memory card containing the primary town's data and insert the card containing the secondary town into slot A. Place the memory card with the travel data into slot B and load the town.
 
#The visiting player will arrive and the unwanted villager will move into the secondary town. Have the player speak with Porter to save travel data onto the memory card in slot B.
 
# Remove the secondary town from slot A and insert the primary town's memory card in slot A and load the game. The traveling player's character will return and the unwanted villager has been successfully removed.
 
  
This same process can be used in order to move in a desired villager from one town to another.
+
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.
  
==In ''Dōbutsu no Mori e+''==
+
Certain villagers cannot be starting villagers in the player's town, instead having to move in later. These include all [[anteater]]s, [[kangaroo]]s, and [[ostrich]]es, as well as [[Coco]], [[Genji]], [[Kabuki]], [[Lucky]], [[Octavian]], [[Ribbot]], [[Rizzo]], [[Snake]], [[Stinky]], [[Tiara]], [[Velma]], and [[Woolio]].
The [[E-Reader]] features of {{PG}} are expanded upon in {{AFe+}} with the addition of 60 new [[villager]] cards as well as 18 new [[islander]]s. In addition to providing the player with items, scanning these cards will move the character featured on the card into the player's town. This feature is backwards compatible with the E-Reader cards released for {{AF+}}, giving the player an additional 273 villagers to choose from.
 
  
The game also includes an island for each playable character, however unlike ''Animal Crossing'' each island does not come with an islander by default. Instead, the player must scan one of the islander e-cards and the islander will wash up on the island's shore (just like Gulliver) the next day.
+
====In {{DnMe+|nolink}}====
 +
In {{DnMe+}}, villagers can also move to town if their [[e-Reader card]] is scanned at the [[wishing well]]. For the 60 new villagers in {{DnMe+|nolink}}, this is the only way for them to move to town.
  
== In ''Animal Crossing: Wild World'' ==
+
===Moving out===
In {{WW}}, villagers attempt to move by packing their [[furniture]] up in boxes. While the villager is packing the player can convince him or her to stay, although it may take several tries. If the villager is not convinced to stay they will move away, leaving a [[signpost]] behind and sending a goodbye letter to the player's mailbox. Another villager (usually of the same gender) will move in to replace that villager within a week. The game will attempt move a villager out every two days; this causes the villager to forget their current [[hobby]] and switch to a different one if they are convinced to stay.
+
Once the maximum of 15 villagers is reached, villagers will begin to "naturally" move out at regular intervals 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]].
  
===The move-in process===
+
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 overall.{{Note|If the player never speaks to a villager, they will be the prioritized to move out. This mechanic can be exploited to indefinitely preserve 14 of the town's 15 villagers.}} Additionally, villagers who moved in naturally will be picked before villagers who moved in from a town on another memory card.
Due to ''Animal Crossing: Wild World'''s small town size, there are only three villagers present at the start of the game. Over time more villagers will move in until the town reaches its maximum of eight villagers.  
 
  
====The ninth slot-in====
+
Each time a villager moves out in this fashion, a new villager instantly moves in, during the game load screen.
Within the game's code exists a space used to store incoming villager data received from other ''Wild World'' towns via WiFi or DS to DS local connection; this is referred to by players as the 'ninth slot-in'. It can be thought of as a waiting room where a villager received from another town will sit until there is space for them to move in. This villager will remain in the game's saved data indefinitely until it can move in or is replaced by another villager. To override the villager in the ninth slot-in the player must visit or host another player over WiFi or DS to DS local connection that has a villager waiting in their ninth slot-out. The villager in the other player's ninth slot-out will transfer to the player's ninth slot-in.
 
  
'''Note:''' It is not known how the game handles data when interacting with more than one other player at a time.
+
When speaking to villagers, there is a 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.
  
====Moving in a specific villager====
+
====In {{DnMe+|nolink}}====
In order to move in a specific villager, three requirements must be met:
+
In {{DnMe+}}, the method of determining who moves out naturally is different from {{PG|nolink}}. 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.
#The villager must '''not be''' a current resident.
 
#The villager must '''not be''' in the player's ninth slot-out.
 
#The villager '''must be''' in ''another'' player's ninth slot-out.
 
  
Even if the player does not have room in their town for an additional visitor, they can still receive the villager's data; it will simply override any existing data in their ninth slot-in. To receive the data, they must host or visit a player whose town contains ninth slot-out data for the villager the player wishes to receive.
+
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.
  
===The move-out process===
+
===Moving between towns===
Once a town reaches its maximum villager limit the game will choose a random latent villager to move out of town. A latent villager is one who is in-between hobbies. The player can use this fact to their advantage and keep the unwanted villager in latency as often as possible (by completing their requests e.g. catching a bug, getting them a specific piece of furniture etc).
+
[[File:AC Olivia Recalling player from previous town.png|200px|thumb|right|[[Olivia]] recalling a player from her previous town]]
 +
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.{{Note|The villager is selected at random from any villager who has spoken to all players; if all villagers have spoken to every player or none have, a random villager is selected from all of them.}} 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.
  
====The ninth slot-out====
+
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 [[town tune|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.
When a villager leaves town, their data is not immediately erased. Instead, it is stored in what is called the 'ninth slot-out', a space in the game's memory used to store villager data beyond the eighth villager. This data can then be exchanged with other players over WiFi or DS to DS local connection. In a case where two villagers move out one after another, the original villager's slot-out data would not be overridden. Some players theorize the second villager's data is deleted, while others believe it is stored in what might be called a 'tenth slot-out'- a backup slot used if the data from the ninth slot-out cannot be transferred to the receiving player. Example: Player A's ninth slot-out is Bob, but Player B already has Bob in their town and so the game gives Player B the data from Player A's tenth slot-out, Olivia.
 
  
It's also important to note that when interacting with other players, slot-out data always replaces slot-in data; it is not possible for players to exchange slot-out data for slot-out data or slot-in data for slot-in data. In cases where both players have slot-in and slot-out data, data is not exchanged at the same time, meaning that one player's slot-out data may override the other's slot-in data before a mutual exchange can occur.
+
Within 60 days of moving out, a villager who moved between towns can show up in their original town as a visitor. They will appear in a random acre from 6 AM to 12 AM on weekdays, 6 AM to 7 PM on Saturdays, and 2 PM to 12 AM on Sundays. They cannot appear if Gulliver is visiting or Tortimer is visiting to build a bridge. After being spoken to once, the villager never appears again for that player. After speaking to all players in the town, the villager leaves town.
  
'''Note:''' It is not known how the game handles data when interacting with more than one other player at a time.
+
==In {{WW|short|nolink}}==
 +
In {{WW}}, each town starts with three villagers. Over time, more move in until the maximum of eight is reached.  
  
====Clearing slot-out data====
+
===Moving in===
As previously noted, a player's slot-out data is not overridden when another villager moves out. It can be removed in one of two ways: by being deleted, or by being transferred to another player.
+
When a villager moves out, their house is removed and a random new villager moves over a [[signpost]] within seven days.
  
To delete the data, simply enter [[Tag Mode]] with no other DS's in range. This is useful when you want to assure that no one else will receive your character data, if for example it contains a [[Villager_Modifier|glitched villager]] or a villager with an inapproproiate [[catchphrase]].  
+
Certain villagers cannot be starting villagers in the player's town, instead having to move in later. These include all anteaters, kangaroos, [[octopus (species)|octopus]]es, 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.
  
'''Note:''' It is not known whether data in the tenth move-out slot is deleted via the Tag Mode method (if a tenth slot exists at all).  
+
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.
  
To transfer data to another player, simply visit or host another player over WiFi or DS to DS local connection. The only time data will not be transferred is if the villager already lives in the other player's town or if the data for that villager is in that player's move-out slot.
+
===Moving out===
 +
Once the maximum of eight villagers is reached, a random villager who is in-between [[hobby|hobbies]]<sup>[''clarification needed'']</sup> 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.
  
== In ''Animal Crossing: City Folk'' ==
+
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 {{CF}}, moving works similarly to {{WW}}, but rather than immediately packing their [[furniture]] in boxes, moving villagers will approach the [[player]] while outside and ask them whether they should move away or not. They can be convinced to stay as before, although it can again take multiple tries. If a week passes and the villager is not convinced to stay, they will pack their belongings. Once this happens, they cannot be convinced to stay; they will move out after two days and will send the player their departure letter.  
 
  
As in {{PG}}, there are six villagers present at the start of the game, one of each [[personality]]. One villager will move in each day for the next three days. The villager maximum is ten and the final villager can take up to a week to move in.
+
<gallery>
 +
WW Moving Introduction.png|[[Tangy]] introducing herself after moving in
 +
WW Moving Out In Boxes.png|[[Dotty]] letting the player know that she's going to move out
 +
WW Letter Stitches Moving Out.png|[[Stitches]] letting the player know by mail that he has since moved out
 +
</gallery>
  
===Frozen villagers===
+
==In {{CF|short|nolink}}==
The concept of the 'ninth villager slot' from ''Wild World'' returns in ''City Folk'', however instead of being described as occupying a hidden extra villager slot, villagers are said to be 'frozen' in the game's data after moving out. While the process for moving villagers in and out is identical to ''Wild World'', it is complicated by the ability of villager data to be sent to other players via [[WiiConnect24]]. This feature allowed players to receive villager data from a town they had never visited, similar to the Spotpass feature in ''New Leaf''. In order to maximize the chances of delivering or receiving villager data, it was recommended that the player turn off WiiConnect24 and remove all players from their friend list except the one they intended to WiFi with. WiiConnect24 was discontinued on June 28, 2013 with [[Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection]] terminating in July of the following year. As the Wii does not allow for local multiplayer play, players are no longer able to exchange villager data without using a replacement server host such as [http://wiki.tockdom.com/wiki/Wiimmfi_Project Wiimmfi].
+
[[File:Friga Moves.jpg|thumb|right|[[Friga]] preparing to move out in {{CF|nolink}}]]
 +
In {{CF}}, each town starts with six villagers—one of each personality type. Over time, more move in until the maximum of ten is reached.  
  
== In ''Animal Crossing: New Leaf'' ==
+
===Moving in===
In {{NL}}, towns no longer feature permanent signposts marking possible villager plots, instead new villagers may move in anywhere there is space. The day before a new villager moves in a roped area of land will appear with a signpost noting the future villager's name. Additionally, villagers will now tell the [[player]] the date that they will pack up their [[furniture]] and after leaving, may send their [[picture]] along with their goodbye letter if the player has befriended them.  
+
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.
  
===The move-in process: A brand new town===
+
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.
Every town starts with just five villagers; their personalities will vary, as the game attempts to maintain a balance between the eight types. The day after a town is created, a new villager will begin the move-in process. An empty plot will appear, roped off with a sign in front. The following day, the villager's house will be constructed and they will be unpacking their boxes. Isabelle will make a note on the startup screen that someone has moved in.
 
  
On the fourth day, a new area will be roped off, ready for another villager to move in. This constant move-in process will continue until nine villagers are reached at which time no more villagers will move in without some help from the player.
+
===Moving out===
 +
Once the maximum of 10 villagers is reached, a villager will approach the player and ask them if they should move out.{{Note|Villagers cannot inform the player about them moving out during certain [[event]]s or while a [[favor]] is being done for them.}} 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.
  
====The tipping point: nine villagers in town====
+
When a villager moves out, they are added to an internal one-villager queue where they could move to another player's town via the [[Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection]] or [[WiiConnect24]] before the services' discontinuations in 2013 and 2014, respectively.
A town with eight villagers or less is considered to be in a ‘moving-in period’. During this time, no villagers will ever move out and the game will move in new residents at a constant pace. Once a town reaches nine villagers, it will naturally want to reduce the count back to eight, but is in no hurry to do it. It will be at least three days if not much longer before an animal moves out. If desired, one last villager can be added to the town to bring the total to ten. This can be done in one of four ways:
 
  
====Four ways to get a tenth villager====
+
==In {{NL|short|nolink}}==
Note that any of these methods can be used to obtain a ninth villager as well, however the tenth can ONLY be obtained via these methods.
+
In {{NL}}, 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.
  
#'''Invite a camper to stay.''' If the campsite public works project has been built, villagers will come and camp out from time to time. To get them to stay, the player must win at a game of rock, paper, scissors or charades. The player can keep trying until they win. Note that it is impossible to invite villagers who are camping in other towns into one's own, nor can the player convince a camper to stay if they already have ten villagers in their town.
+
===Moving in===
#'''Invite a villager who is moving out of another town.''' If a villager in someone else’s town has packed up their boxes and is about to move out, that villager can be invited to come and stay in the player's own town. Just head over to the friend’s town (WiFi or local connection), talk to the villager and they will initiate the move conversation.
+
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.
#'''Pick up a villager from ‘the void’.''' ‘The void’ is where villagers are said to go if no one comes to adopt them and they leave town with nowhere to go. If the player WiFis with someone who has recently voided a villager of theirs, that villager can end up in the player's town if space is available.
 
#'''Pick up a villager from StreetPass.''' If the player passes another ACNL player who has StreetPass enabled, it is possible for the player to receive one of their villagers. (It may be a requirement for this villager to have been recently voided by that player.)
 
  
===Influencing move-ins===
+
====Campsite====
'''Resetting at the source:''' Players seeking out a specific villager have a few options, the first of which is to delete their town and start anew or acquire a second copy of the game. A randomized selection of five different animal residents will be generated each time a new town is created. This method will probably take the longest, as there are 333 different villagers total for the game to choose from.
+
Once the [[Campsite (facility)|campsite]] is built, villagers will appear occasionally there, where they can be invited to move in after the player wins a game with them.
  
If the player has the campsite public works project the player can cycle through villagers there as well by continuously creating a new character the day that a camper comes to visit (this requires foresight/a bit of luck).
+
====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 fewer than ten villagers already living in town. Additionally, villagers who 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.
  
'''Resetting by personality type:''' The game tries to maintain a balance of personality types, so when a new villager is generated it will be of a type that the town currently lacks or has the least of. This can be used to one's advantage; the player can reset their game until it produces a desired villager of the personality type it is currently generating. (e.g. if the player is looking for a specific uchi villager and the game is currently generating that personality type, there is a 1/21 chance of getting the player's preferred villager... that’s way better than 1/333!) Follow these instructions to properly reset the game:
+
====amiibo====
 +
In the {{NLWa|short}} 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.
  
====The villager reset trick====
+
===Moving out===
This trick will allow the player to cycle through possible move-in scenarios, and to pick the villager or house location that best suits their needs. In order to use this trick, the town must have less than four human characters created.
+
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 {{NLWa|short|nolink}} update) and move out the day after. 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]].
  
On a day when a new villager will (or is suspected to) put down a house plot, begin the game by creating a new character- ''do not load an existing character''. After getting off the train, look around town with the new character to see if a new villager has set up a plot. Remember that a villager will only move in during a move-in period (when there are less than nine villagers in town) or if the player has fulfilled one of the conditions listed under the ‘Four ways to get a tenth villager’ heading.
+
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.
  
'''If there is no house plot,''' quit the game (don’t save) and create another new character. After going through this process about three times with no luck, then a villager will most likely not move in that day. To be safe, the player should choose a home location for the newly created human character, then save and quit. The new character can then be deleted (if they are unwanted/unneeded). It's recommend that the player always place a newly created character's home in the same spot, as the area where their home used to be will turn to dirt once the character has been deleted.
+
<gallery>
 +
NL Curly Moving In Campsite.jpg|Asking a villager to move into their town
 +
NL Moving Plot Reserved.jpg|A plot reserved for a villager who will be moving in the following day
 +
NL Ribbot Move In.jpg|A villager moving in who has yet to unpack
 +
NL Merry Introduction.jpg|A villager introducing themselves, if they have yet to when they moved in
 +
NL Avery Planning to Move Out.jpg|A villager expressing his intent to leave
 +
NL Moving in Boxes.jpg|A villager about to move out who has already packed his belongings
 +
NL Letter Fuchsia Moving Out.jpg|A goodbye letter from a villager
 +
</gallery>
  
'''If there is a house plot,''' look and see who it is. If it is a desired villager, and/or if the villager's home is properly placed, choose a home location for the new human character, save and quit. Otherwise, do not save, and keep creating a new character until a suitable villager and/or location is found. Take note of the personality of the villagers the town is generating, this will let the player know whether it is in their best interest to continue resetting, or if it’s not worth the time. It’s important to note that if a villager of a given personality type just left town, the next villager the town generates will never be of the same type. (e.g. If a smug villager just moved out, a new smug villager will never move in after them unless they are invited in/they are received from the void or SpotPass)
+
==In {{NH|short|nolink}}==
 +
In {{NH}}, two villagers—one [[jock]] and one [[big sister]]—move to the deserted island with the player, and there is a maximum of ten villagers.
  
'''Note:''' The reason it is so important to create a new character when using this trick, rather than loading an existing character, is because of the nature in which the game chooses to save town data. When an existing character is selected, the game loads the town data and then it saves the game without any notification. That means that any villager plot seen while walking around town with a pre-existing character is permanently placed. Even if one were to quit without saving it will remain and that villager will move in the next day. There is no way to move a villager plot once this happens.  
+
===Moving in===
 +
====Initial move-ins====
 +
The player can use [[Nook Miles Ticket]]s to go on [[Mystery Island Tour]]s 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 at this time (they will later in the game).
  
On the contrary, when a new character is created, the game loads the town, but does not save it until that new character has established a home and has finished registering with Isabelle. This allows the player to keep reloading the town data until an agreeable villager plot is generated.
+
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.
<br />
 
====Villager home placement====
 
New villagers seem to want to move in close to where other villager and human character homes are placed. If there is an area the player wants villagers to move into, they should try placing all human homes in that area. In addition to this, new villagers like to set up their homes near the spot where the most recent (and sometimes second most recent) move-out was living. It should also be noted that they can and will move in on top of paths, trees, bushes, flowers, and even dropped items. If the town has a police station these items will show up in the lost & found, otherwise they are gone for good.
 
  
A villager’s home will never brush up against another permanent, immoveable object (including the river). They require a buffer of one space to their left, right, and back, and a buffer of two spaces in front. Their home may be placed as close as two spaces away from the ledge separating the town from the beach and as close as one space away from the ledges on the Eastern and Western sides of town. Two homes can be as close as two spaces apart on the left and right sides and as close as three spaces apart on the top and bottom sides. They may be as close as one space apart from rocks, ponds, rivers or public works projects, but will never touch them diagonally. A villager’s home will never block access to a ramp or bridge.
+
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 move-out process===
+
The first house plot is always claimed by a lazy villager, the second a peppy villager, and the third a normal villager. (This is the number on the plot not the order they move in.)
Once a town has reached nine or more villagers, it will be in a ‘moving-out period’. During this time, the game will continually try to move villagers out- no villagers will move in unless they are invited them from the campsite/another town or are acquired from WiFi-ing or SpotPass.
 
  
====Who’s moving next? (How does the game decide?)====
+
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.
The mechanics behind how the game choses the next villager to boot are currently unknown, but there are few observations. The most recent villager to move in will never be the next villager to move out. Additionally, it seems that villagers who have been in town the longest are more likely to leave than those who have recently moved into town, and ignoring villagers is not a surefire way to get them out either; talking to unwanted villagers may work better. The general rule is that it is random, and a player is most likely going to have to deny moving requests from villagers they want to keep before the one they want gone will leave.
 
  
====How to tell if a villager is going to leave====
+
====Building the campsite====
A villager will ‘decide’ to leave up to five days before they actually pack up. It is during this time that the player can convince them to stay, or tell them it’s ok to leave. There are two ways to determine who is thinking of moving:
+
After the [[Campsite (facility)|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.  
  
#'''The gossip method.''' If a player talks to a villager enough, they might fill them in on who is thinking of leaving. A good rule of thumb is to keep talking to three villagers until they get fed up and refuse to talk anymore. When this happens they will show a constant ‘thinking’ emotion. If a villager in town is thinking of leaving, one of these three will let the player know who. If they don’t mention anyone, then no one has decided on a moving date yet.
+
====Assigned plots====
#'''The self-confessing method.''' Using this method, the villager will reveal his/herself if and when they are moving. This information cannot be prodded out of them however, they must divulge it willingly. If a villager is thinking of moving, they will ‘ping’ the player (display a surprised emote) and then walk up to them as if they want to say something. Press A to engage them in conversation and they may mention moving. If they talk about anything else (e.g. change my catchphrase etc.) then they are not interested in moving at this time.
+
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]].
  
However, it’s not as simple as this- a villager will only ping if the player is on ‘speaking terms’ with that villager. The player can determine if they are on speaking terms with a villager by walking up to them and speaking to them. If they start off with something like “I haven’t talked to you in a while!” then the player was not on speaking terms with them… but by talking to them just now- they are! After getting back onto speaking terms with a villager the player can save/quit and reload the game and walk in front of them to see if they will ping.
+
====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.
  
'''Note:''' If the gossip method was used to figure out who was leaving, the second method must still be used to convince the villager to stay or go. This is why it is recommend to skip the gossip and cut to the chase.
+
=====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{{Note|The days do not have to be consecutive.}} 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.
  
'''Note:''' It is impossible for a villager to ‘ping’ the player during [[Toy Day]], due to a [[Glitch|bug]]. Therefore meaning it's impossible to prevent any villagers that are thinking about moving away from cancelling their move and it has to be relied on chance as to whenever or not a villager will move away on the 29<sup>th</sup>.
+
Inviting via amiibo is the only way for the [[Sanrio]] villagers to move to the player's island.
 +
{{Clear|left}}
  
====The move-out date & letting go====
+
=====Mystery Island Tours=====
Once a villager pings and informs the player they are moving, they will ask whether or not they should stay. If the player tells them to stay, they will not leave. However, this does not mean that they will never decide to move again sometime in the future. If the player says yes, they may either be excited and thank them for understanding, or they may change their mind and stay anyway.  
+
If there is an open house plot, villagers will appear on [[Mystery Island Tour]]s. 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.
  
If they change their mind and decide to stay, but the player really wanted them gone, the player can quit their game without saving and the villager will move out on the day they stated they would.  
+
=====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.
  
Additionally, if a villager decides to move and the player does not tell them to say, they can change their mind later on and decide to stay. They might reveal their change of heart sometime during conversation or even without telling anyone. To avoid this, the player can time travel to the villager's move-out date, thus ensuring that they will move out on time.
+
===Moving out===
 +
====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.
  
'''Note:''' A villager’s ‘moving date’ is the day they will be inside their home with their boxes packed. If a player wants a villager to stay, they have to convince them to do so prior to this date. If the game is loaded on their move-out date and Isabelle announces they are leaving, they cannot be convinced to stay; the player has passed the point of no return. This would be the day where the player could have someone come over and adopt them.
+
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 when 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%.
  
===Villager cycling===
+
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.
Villager cycling is a term used to describe a fast and efficient method of generating move-out requests in order to remove a specific villager from town in the shortest amount of time. There are multiple methods used to cycle villagers, all of which involve time travel. Start the process by following these steps:
 
  
'''Note:''' Before beginning it is recommended that the player set their town to the beautiful town ordinance to prevent flowers from wilting and weeds from spawning. Also note that the town will be overrun with common flowers and gyroids if this method is used often.
+
====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.
  
#'''Make sure the town is in a move-out period.''' If there are less than nine villagers in town, no one is going anywhere. Also be sure that the villager to be removed wasn’t the most recent one to move in- if so, the player must move out someone else first before that villager will consider leaving.
+
<gallery>
#'''Make sure the player is on speaking terms with the villagers.''' Start off by loading up the game (during a time when all villagers will be awake) and just go up and talk to all of them. If they are not outside or they can't be found, save and quit and then reload; the villagers that are wandering about outside will be cycled. Once the player has talked to all their villagers once, save and quit the game.<br />'''Note:''' If a villager doesn't want to come out of their home it is because they are a) sick or b) it is their birthday. In the case of option B there will be at least one other villager in their home celebrating with them who is also MIA.
+
NH Campsite Interior.png|[[Peewee]] at the [[campsite (facility)|campsite]]
#'''Walk in front of all the villagers.''' Reload the game and walk in front of all the villagers wandering about outside. Save & quit and reload to cycle villagers outside until the player has walked in front of everyone once. If none of them ping and ask to leave, then no one is thinking about moving just yet. TT one day ahead using the 3DS system settings and repeat this step (#3) until someone pings requesting to leave.
+
NH Moving Campsite Suggestion.jpg|[[Whitney]] suggesting that somebody move out for her
#'''Approve or deny the request to leave.''' If it is a villager the player wants to keep, deny their request to move, save and quit, then TT forward one month (yes one month). Load the game, then save and quit. TT back to the present date and then and go back to step three. If it is a villager the player wants to move, tell them to leave and go to step five.
+
NH amiibo Camper Invitation.jpg|[[Margie]] being invited to the campsite via her amiibo card
#'''Time travel to their move-out date.''' Once an unwanted villager provides their move-out date, TT to that date immediately before they change their mind! (Remember that a villager is told to move but they change their mind the player can quit without saving and TT to their move-out date anyways.) Load the game on their move-out date, save and quit. Then TT one day forward so that their house will disappear, load the game, save & quit.
+
NH Nana Invite Mystery Island Tour.jpg|[[Nana]] being invited to move to the player's island on a Mystery Island Tour
#'''Repeat the process as needed.''' Now that one villager has been moved out, the player can keep moving out villagers, but remember that the town must be in a move-out period to do so, so a villager may need to be moved in at this point. If the player doesn't care who moves in, TT forward 10 days and someone will likely move in. Remember that the villager reset trick can be used to choose their home’s location.
+
</gallery>
#'''Getting back to the present.''' Once all villager cycling is done, the player will find themselves somewhere far in the future... to get back, repeat step three until someone asks to leave and deny their request. Then, save & quit and TT back to the present.
 
  
====Getting back a long lost villager====
+
==Trivia==
Worst case scenario... the player just loaded up their game and Isabelle says that one of their dream villagers is leaving town today- what can the player do? They can't be convinced to stay, the only thing that can be done is to have a friend come over, adopt them and hold onto them until the player can get them back. But it’s not as simple as inviting them back over- they won't come back until the player has gone through...
+
*In {{NH}}, 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 (facility)|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 {{NH}}, 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.
  
====The 16-villager cycle====
+
==Notes==
After a villager leaves town (whether they are adopted or sent to the void), their data is still stored in the game’s memory to allow them to visit the town to shop on Main Street. The player will be unable to reacquire that villager until this data has been overridden.
+
{{Note list}}
  
Once a dream villager has been sent off to a friend for safe keeping, the player should start keeping track of how many villagers have been cycled out of town. The villager cycling method outlined above can be used to move villagers out as quickly as possible. After 16 more villagers have left town, the player will be able to go and pick their dream villager up again.
+
{{Image}}
 
+
{{To-do|Expand intro|Verify and expand {{WW|short|nolink}}, {{CF|short|nolink}}, and {{NL|short|nolink}} info}}
===Keeping dream villagers in place===
+
{{Navbox Gameplay elements}}
The easiest way to make sure everyone stays put is to never allow the date to change. Prior to loading the game, set the system’s internal clock back to the last date played. No villagers will ever leave. If a player is going to use this method they have to remember that the game recognizes the start of a new day at 6AM, not midnight, so they need to make sure the game is not powered on and loaded up when 6AM rolls around.
 
 
 
====Going on hiatus====
 
To make sure that no villagers will have moved upon returning, follow these steps:
 
 
 
'''Before going on hiatus'''<br/>
 
If the player knows they are not going to play for a while, the town should be set to the beautiful town ordinance. The process used to return involves a bit of time traveling and enacting this now will save flowers. Second, make a note of the the date the player last saved/quit the game; this will be needed later. (If there is no paper/pen handy, go to the 3DS’ home screen and then click the pencil icon at the top to write it in the game notes.)
 
 
 
'''Coming back from hiatus''' - ''The following must be done '''before''' loading the game!''<br />
 
#'''Change “Today’s Date” in the 3DS’ system settings so that it matches the last date played.''' If the player cannot remember the last date played they can look in the activity log and check their software library. When ''New Leaf'' is selected it will note the last play date.<br />'''Note:''' If the player time travels often the activity log may not accurately reflect their play history. If the player is unsure of what to do, set the 3DS back to a date that is known to be BEFORE the last date played. It is better to choose an older date than it is to choose a date that is sometime after the last date played.
 
#'''Make sure the time is set to a time that all the player's villagers will be awake.''' If not, change it and then load the game.
 
 
 
If the game was loaded on the SAME DAY that the player last played, no villager loss should be experienced. If the game was loaded to anytime BEFORE that day, it is possible for a villager to move ''if they had already planned on moving''.
 
 
 
'''Getting back to the present'''<br />
 
To get back to the present day without having to time travel day by day, follow these steps:
 
 
 
#Talk to each villager one time to make sure the player is on speaking terms with them. The player and villager are on speaking terms if when spoken to the villager greets the player and then they are given the standard dialog box (which is something like “What’s new?” and “Nevermind.”)
 
#Once this is done, save and quit the game. Then, reload the game (same day, don’t change the time at all yet).
 
#Walk in front of the villagers that are strolling outside in town. There are usually 5 of these guys out and about. The player is looking for one of them to ‘ping’. That is, make a surprised emote and then run up to the player.
 
#If someone does run up, talk to them and see what they say. If they want to move, deny their request.
 
#If none of the five villagers that are outside run up to the player, then save and quit and reload the game to cycle the villagers that are in their homes.
 
#'''If the player has walked in front of ''all the villagers'' in town at least once, and none of them ping-''' save and quit, then time travel ONE DAY FORWARD and repeat the process of walking in front of all the villagers until they ping and one of them asks to move. Once this happens, deny the request.
 
 
 
Once the player has denied a request to move they are free to time travel forward as far as they'd like. So, after saving and quitting the game, go back to system settings and correct the date/time. Then, load the game and the player will be back to the present.
 
 
 
== Trivia ==
 
*The moving boxes are marked with a [[Tom Nook]] leaf suggesting Tom Nook moves villagers in and out as well as the [[player]].
 
*From {{WW}} onwards, villagers may move to another player's town provided there has been some form of contact between the two towns some time previously.
 
*In {{WW}}, the player can also move out by going at the [[Town Hall|Civic Centre]] and selecting "Moving".
 
*From {{WW}} onwards, when an animal is moving in, then they are under "[[house]] arrest" until they unpack. The first time the player talks to them, they will introduce themselves and will be very pleased to meet them. The second time they talk to them, they will tell them to come back the following day as they are too busy unpacking. [[Lazy]] villagers may whine about needing to unpack their pillow for a place to sleep, [[snooty]] villagers complain about how their house is such a mess, [[cranky]] villagers get angry and yell at the player to go away, and [[normal]] villagers will feel like they need some time to move on in.
 
 
 
[[Category:Gameplay Elements]]
 

Revision as of 14:02, May 6, 2024

Snooty preparing to unpack in New Horizons

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 Animal Crossing: New Horizons, a villager may move away without notice. In Animal Crossing: New Horizons, a villager will ask the player first before moving away. In games after Doubutsu no Mori e+, 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 Animal Crossing

In Animal Crossing, 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 into their house at the beginning of the game, new villagers will begin to "naturally" move into 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 24 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 Doubutsu no Mori e+

In Doubutsu no Mori e+, villagers can also move to town if their e-Reader card is scanned at the wishing well. For the 60 new villagers in Doubutsu no Mori e+, 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 regular intervals 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 overall.[nb 1] 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 a 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 Doubutsu no Mori e+

In Doubutsu no Mori e+, the method of determining who moves out naturally is different from Animal Crossing. 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

Olivia recalling a player from her previous town

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.[nb 2] 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.

Within 60 days of moving out, a villager who moved between towns can show up in their original town as a visitor. They will appear in a random acre from 6 AM to 12 AM on weekdays, 6 AM to 7 PM on Saturdays, and 2 PM to 12 AM on Sundays. They cannot appear if Gulliver is visiting or Tortimer is visiting to build a bridge. After being spoken to once, the villager never appears again for that player. After speaking to all players in the town, the villager leaves town.

In Wild World

In Animal Crossing: Wild World, 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 City Folk

Friga preparing to move out in Animal Crossing: City Folk

In Animal Crossing: City Folk, 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.[nb 3] 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 another player's town via the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection or WiiConnect24 before the services' discontinuations in 2013 and 2014, respectively.

In New Leaf

In Animal Crossing: New Leaf, 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 fewer than ten villagers already living in town. Additionally, villagers who 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 Welcome amiibo 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 Welcome amiibo update) and move out the day after. 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 New Horizons

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

Moving in

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 at this time (they will later in the game).

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. (This is the number on the plot not the order they move in.)

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[nb 4] 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.

Moving out

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 when 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 Animal Crossing: New Horizons, 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 Animal Crossing: New Horizons, 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.

Notes

  1. If the player never speaks to a villager, they will be the prioritized to move out. This mechanic can be exploited to indefinitely preserve 14 of the town's 15 villagers.
  2. The villager is selected at random from any villager who has spoken to all players; if all villagers have spoken to every player or none have, a random villager is selected from all of them.
  3. Villagers cannot inform the player about them moving out during certain events or while a favor is being done for them.
  4. The days do not have to be consecutive.


Redd NH Character Icon.png
This page could be improved with the addition of images.
You can help by uploading one or more images and including them on this page.
Redd NH Character Icon.png
This page could be improved with the addition of images.
You can help by uploading one or more images and including them on this page.
Isabelle NH Character Icon.png
To-do list: This page could do with some improvements!
Edit this page and add a little something to make it just right.
  • Expand intro
  • Verify and expand Wild World, City Folk, and New Leaf info
Isabelle NH Character Icon.png
To-do list: This page could do with some improvements!
Edit this page and add a little something to make it just right.
  • Expand intro
  • Verify and expand Wild World, City Folk, and New Leaf info