In Animal Crossing: New Horizons, gamers are let loose to improve their islands in whatever way they see fit. Some will prioritize the main path of prettying up their island to attract KK Slider, while others will work on completing activities for Nook Miles. Filling up the museum for Blathers is another common activity, while the Happy Home Paradise DLC gives interior decorators a way to stay busy. However, some will put one activity above all others: dreamie hunts.
Hunting for dreamies (a player’s most desired Villagers) is far from a simple endeavor, as gamers are forced to be selective about the Villagers they recruit. With only 10 slots for homes being available, and it being so difficult to make Villagers leave if Animal Crossing players are not willing to time travel, getting an island full of dreamies can take months of work. While some kind of grind should be maintained, Nintendo should strive to make things a bit less tedious.
How Animal Crossing: New Horizons’ Dreamie Hunts Can Be Improved
The biggest thing that Nintendo should look to improve is the speed in which players can move between mystery islands. Like other quality-of-life Animal Crossing changes, such as a craft all button for items like fishing bait, being able to hop between islands without needing to fly back home could be hugely beneficial. While the slow movement from place-to-place was likely tied to the outdated technology of the Nintendo Switch, there is no denying that it got annoying needing to watch the same scene play out between island visits.
In the next Animal Crossing game, players could simply take multiple Nook Miles Tickets with them if they plan to visit a few islands to look for Villagers. They could interact with Wilbur to trade in another ticket and go to the next island, seamlessly going from one mystery island to the next without suffering through another flight animation. Alternatively, players could “plot a flight course” with Orville at the airport, spending several tickets ahead of time to visit a randomized island chain.
Outside of letting players go from island to island quicker, the next entry in the Animal Crossing franchise could let players spend multiple tickets to increase the rarity of the Villagers featured on the next Island. Surely Nintendo has its own data on the most desirable Animal Crossing Villagers, as various websites already track this info. Further, new Villagers are always sought after since they lack amiibo cards, so these could be more likely to appear on mystery islands that players spent extra tickets to visit.
Another option would be to give players a chance to come across islands with multiple Villagers. These could also be accessed by spending a few extra Nook Miles Tickets to raise the quality of each mystery island, with players then having a choice between a couple different Villagers. The more tickets they spend, the busier an island could be, giving them a better chance to get a dreamie since hundreds of Villagers have a chance of appearing.
Obviously, there are other ways that Nintendo can make it easier to collect rare Villagers. A trading system like Nookazon could be added to the game, players could freely swap Villagers with their friends, and players could be able to free up slots without needing to wait for a Villager to make a request. Still, mystery island hunts are a lot of fun, and they could be made even more enjoyable with a few smart additions. Hopefully, Nintendo looks at the ways this popular community pastime could be made better when crafting the next entry in the series.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is available now on Nintendo Switch.