Summary

  • Campsite villagers in ACNH can replace random islanders, but under normal circumstances, the player can't control which villager will get kicked out.
  • Players can use amiibo cards to invite specific villagers to the campsite and select who they will replace.
  • If a camper asks to replace the wrong villager, they may choose another if the player force quits and reloads at just the right time.

A main feature in Animal Crossing: New Horizons is the campsite, where random villagers visit approximately once a week. Players have the option to invite these villagers to move to their islands, but there's a catch: unless the player invited the camper by using an amiibo, random campers will ask to replace random villagers. Players ostensibly have no control over the choice, unless they use a trick to swap villagers.

If players are hoping to replace a specific villager with a random camper, they will need to go through all the steps of inviting that camper to stay on their island. This includes talking to the camper repeatedly and probably playing a card game, which is entirely based on chance. If the player wins, the camper will agree to move to their island. If the player loses, the camper will refuse — but continuing to talk to them and playing more rounds of the game may change their mind.

Updated March 18, 2024 by Katie Schutze: Four years after its release, Animal Crossing: New Horizons remains a Nintendo Switch classic. To celebrate the game's anniversary, this article has been updated with guides on how to unlock the campsite and how to invite villagers using amiibo cards, as well as to adhere to CBR's guidelines.

How To Unlock The Campsite In Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Villagers in Animal Crossing: New Horizons celebrating a new campsite
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Before they can use it to replace a villager in the first place, the player will need to build the campsite. In Animal Crossing: New Horizons, the player will need to move in three villagers after building three housing plots. On the day that the third plot is filled, Tom Nook will announce that the Resident Services tent will be replaced with the Resident Services building. Two days after the announcement, construction on the building will be finished, and Tom Nook will give the player a new recipe and objective: build the campsite.

The recipe for the Campsite Construction Kit requires the following:

  • 15 Wood
  • 15 Softwood
  • 15 Hardwood
  • 15 Iron Nuggets

Each type of wood has a 1 in 3 chance of spawning from any type of tree when using an Axe on it. At most, one tree will only give 3 pieces of wood a day, and the higher-level axes will chop the tree down on the third strike. Luckily, there's no need to deforest the home island; trees are abundant on most Nook Miles Islands, and Wilbur will provide the player with a Flimsy Axe for 100 Nook Miles if the player asks.

Iron Nuggets can be a little trickier to obtain. They have a 1 in 3 chance of spawning when hitting a rock with an Axe or a Shovel, and so can appear up to 8 times from a single rock. However, players need to be careful: if they hit a rock after eating food, the rock will break, and so will their chance to make the most of its potential payload. To work off the food, players can dig up and replant the same tree until the fruit bonus has gone away, or sit on a toilet item in a sneaky bit of bathroom humor. When their stomachs are empty, players can place furniture or dig holes behind them to serve as a wall to help them keep hitting the rock without getting pushed too far away. If hit fast enough, the rock can drop 8 items, with a 9th if the player breaks it afterward.

After setting up the campsite Construction Kit, a Smug villager will visit it the next day. The player will be required to invite them to move in, but Tom Nook will helpfully provide an extra housing kit once they do. After that, villagers of any personality can visit the campsite, even if the town's housing plots are all full.

How To Get A Campsite Visitor To Move In

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There is never a point at which a random camper cannot move to a player's island in New Horizons, even if they keep insisting they don't want to move. Persistence is often key in these interactions, though it can be frustrating to have to experience the same dialogue over and over again. Amiibo streamlines the process of inviting new villagers to an island, but even that process takes three days. An hour or so in the campsite with a random villager may be worth the payoff, especially if the camper is a player's favorite. Altogether, there are more than 400 villagers in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, so if a player's favorite villager shows up at the campsite, they'll have to do whatever they can to avoid losing them in the sea of animals the next day.

Once players convince a random camper to move in, one of two things will happen. If the player has an open plot, the camper will simply claim that space for their home. If the player has a full island, the camper will offer to replace a villager already living on the island. Much like the camper, the villager they ask to replace is randomly generated, so there's no way to predict what name will pop up in their dialogue.

Amiibo Campers Let You Choose Who To Kick Out

Marshal greets the player after his amiibo card is scanned in Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
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If players don't want to leave it up to luck or try their hand at time traveling, there's one surefire way to guarantee that the camper replaces a specific villager: amiibo. If the player has the amiibo card of the villager they want, they can go to Resident Services and use the Nook Stop terminal to scan it. The game will then ask the player if they want to invite the villager to the campsite. The villager will be happy to visit, but they'll require some convincing to stay for good.

While at the campsite, the amiibo camper will ask for an item. This may take a few conversations before they bring it up. Because they're only visitors at that point, the player will need to make sure to craft the item they want before they leave. Thankfully, the camper will provide the recipe for the item they want if the player doesn't already have it. After repeating this transaction for three days (though they don't have to be consecutive), the camper will finally be willing to move to the island. If the island already has ten villagers, the amiibo camper will let the player choose which one to ask to move out.

Animal Crossing's Campsite Method May Require A Forced Quit

Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Picross S4, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Baba is You, and Fire Emblem: Three Houses on the Nintendo Switch home menu.
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If a New Horizons camper asks to replace an Animal Crossing villager the player wants to keep, they can force quit the game by pressing the Home button on their Nintendo Switch, then selecting X with Animal Crossing: New Horizons highlighted. The game will shut down without saving and then the player can log back in and try again. Luckily, Mr. Resetti from previous games has changed careers, so there's no need to fear a lecture after booting the game back up. When the player returns to the campsite, they will have to once again convince the camper to move to their island. Ideally, the camper will ask to replace a villager the player wants gone within the first few rounds, but sometimes, this can take hours.

Several time-traveling Animal Crossing: New Horizons players jump from between campers to collect their favorites using what's called the Campsite Method. Those who really want to curate their villagers will go to seemingly any lengths, even if it means spending hours doing the same thing over and over again. Players who continue to talk to a camper after they've asked to replace someone will be stuck with that option.

The only way to make the camper choose someone new is to force quit the game and try again, before moving on in the dialogue cycle. This prevents the data from saving and essentially allows the player a do-over on the randomizer. Although it may seem like a bad idea to force quit multiple times, time travelers have not reported any issues with this method of campsite villager swapping — so it may be worth a shot next time a great villager shows up in the island's campsite.

The cover art poster for Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Animal Crossing: New Horizons

A 2020 social simulation game developed and published by Nintendo.

Franchise
Animal Crossing
Platform(s)
Nintendo Switch
Released
March 20, 2020
Developer(s)
Nintendo
Publisher(s)
Nintendo
Genre(s)
Simulation