Animal Crossing: New Horizons emphasizes the importance of community and friendship. From having different colors of a furniture series to every player having different fruits on their island, the game forces you to interact with other players to gather all the collectible items possible. It also gives you a chance to show off your hard work and how your island has changed since the start of the game without risking other players destroying your island.
Although showing off your island is fun, it's also profitable for players. Inviting friends to visit your island or visiting a friend's island will give you a chance to earn additional Nook Miles daily. So, players who are on the hunt for their Dreamie will have no trouble gaining Nook Miles if they have enough friends. Adding friends to your list will alert you as to when friends are online, who you can visit, and other fun bonuses that are worth exploring.
Prerequisites for having friends visit
In order to start visiting with friends, players have to wait at least one day after creating an island. After you arrive on the island on the first day, the airport will be closed and inaccessible. Once the airport is open for business, you will be able to visit other islands as well as host visitors. However, it is important to note that, in order to have visitors or to visit other islands, players will need a Nintendo Switch Online subscription.
Visitors can be either people from the player's Switch friends list or can be provided via Dodo Code. Although the Dodo Codes do provide players with more control over who comes to visit the island, playing online does run the risk of players meeting unsavory people. There has been an issue within the Animal Crossing community where players who open their island to strangers for cataloging parties or trading events have had their items stolen, their flowers trampled, and their island otherwise disrupted. But there are also a lot of good people out there who will go out of their way to help provide the lost items back to players. The community is full of all types of people. Just be careful about who is invited to the island and who is allowed Best Friend status on your island.
How to open your gates to all friends
The most straightforward way of inviting friends to your island is to visit the airport and open the gate to all of your Nintendo Switch friends. While this method is easiest since it doesn't require a code, it does make it so that anyone on your list can visit your island, so use this method at your own discretion.
Step 1: Visit Dodo Airlines and speak with Orville. Select I Want Visitors.
Step 2: Select Via Online Play. You can use this method to invite local players as well (players who also own a copy of the game and are in the vicinity of the host), but for the purposes of this section, we'll be focusing on Online play.
Step 3: You'll connect to the internet and then be given the following options:
- All my friends!
- Only my Best Friends!
- Invite via Dodo Code
The All My Friends option will allow anyone on your Nintendo Switch friends list to join, so select that one and your gates will be open to everyone.
How to invite friends via Dodo Code
Another way to invite friends to your island is via Dodo Code, which only allows visitors to come to your island if they have a code.
Step 1: Follow the same steps as the previous section, but when Orville asks who you want to invite, select Invite Via Dodo Code.
Step 2: You'll then be presented with three options:
- Only my friends
- Only my Best Friends
- The more the merrier!
After you make a choice, you'll be given a five-character code consisting of letters and numbers. Give this code to others and they'll use it to come to your island.
The Only My Friends option is restricted to players who are on your Nintendo Switch friends list. The Only My Best Friends option makes it so that only your Best Friends can visit you. The More the Merrier option allows any player to join, whether they're on your friends list or not.
How to visit another player
The steps for visiting another player are simple, and there are two ways to do so: Via Dodo Code or via your friends list.
Step 1: Talk to Orville and select the I Wanna Fly! option.
Step 2: Select the I Wanna Visit Someone option and make sure you pick Via Online Play and then say Roger when Orville tells you he's connecting you to the internet.
Step 3: Orville will then ask you how you want to travel and will give you two options:
- Search for a friend
- Search via Dodo Code
Selecting Search for a Friend will allow you to join any of your friends' islands as long as they're currently online. If you select the Search via Dodo Code option, you'll then be prompted to input it.
How to invite only Best Friends
Finally, let's dive into how the Best Friends system works because it's highly useful.
There is a distinctive difference between friends and Best Friends in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. While friends can come visit the island, only Best Friends will be able to use tools that can destroy the island.
You can access the Best Friend app from your NookPhone. It should appear automatically after you play online for the first time. Once you’ve found a “best friend” in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, that player can travel back and forth to your island. They can borrow tools and also destroy your community with their ax or shovel. You aren’t limited to one Best Friend — you can classify anyone who has visited your space before as a Best Friend on the Best Friends app in the NookPhone.
Step 1: If you’d like to add a friend, the method is even easier. All you have to do is meet with that player while playing the game. If you choose to upgrade them to a Best Friend, you can check out whenever they’re online, send them messages in the game, or give them fun gifts.
Step 2: To keep track and manage your Best Friend list, check out your NookPhone. To connect with a friend, you just need to be in the same place at the same time within the game. After landing on the same island, their name should appear on your phone. Then you can choose to add them to your Best Friend list.
Step 3: Every time you visit another island, you earn Nook Miles rewards. These specific rewards are a great way to score additional points in the game. Or you can choose to trade in your Nook Miles for more popular items, like Nook Miles Tickets.
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