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Ethically and Effectively Getting Rid of an Unwanted Villager in Animal Crossing: New Horizons

 


There are so many articles out there with guides teaching you how to get rid of an unwanted villager. I must say though, with some new updates being patched it does seem a little more difficult, but it can be done - and I'll write about how to do it - effectively.

Ethically though - I'm not sure if this will reach my intended audience, but I'll throw it out there anyway.

Please stop hitting your villagers with nets, giving them rubbish, pushing them around, pushing them into pitfall seeds, complaining to Isabelle and fencing them in. You might find it "enjoyable", or a good way to vent/ release frustration over that you perhaps didn't get to choose this villager living on your island, but I wanted to say it is not nice. And that's just saying it in the nicest way possible. Just because it's a game, it doesn't give you a licence to be a bully. 

And in case if you didn't know - doing all the above doesn't do anything.

Moreover, it applies in real life - someone might not look nice, but they can be your friend. You might not agree with me, but the game is designed so that you will eventually make lots of animal friends - you might not want to play this way and that's fine, but you need to understand it's a goal or achievement to be friends with these animals - another goal (though it is probably personal at this point) is to collect the ones you like. But there is never harm in making a friend.

Having said that, this is why the game has a reward for being besties with these animals, in the form of them gifting you their photo, which is a wooden framed collectible you can place on a surface, or hang on the wall inside a home. I know a lot of people buy these photos and collect them - I've had plenty of chances to get these from other players, but I never took them as 1. they are not catalogue-able 2. I get a better sense of achievement when I have actually earned the photo, as proof they have stayed on my island.

You don't need to gain their photo before letting them go, but if I had the chance to, I would, because as soon as they offer to sell you stuff from their inventory, they have a chance of gifting you their photo - and it doesn't really take much to get to that level. I'm not really here to judge or tell others how to play their game, I'm just trying to explain the way the game works, and to respect why it was designed that way. 

Alright so there are three ways to effectively get rid of a villager.

1. Using an amiibo

An amiibo is essentially a card or coin with a chip inside with the data of a villager. In other words, it's like having a particular villager you want, physically in a card. After you have unlocked the campsite, the Nook ATM will have the option to call an amiibo to the campsite. You will need to scan this amiibo on your Switch, and you talk to the villager at the campsite. You need to do this three days in a row.

Again, you need to do this three days in a row. If you time travel, you can simply skip to the next day, and do this for the three days you need.

On the third day, they will ask you to craft something for them (if you don't have the DIY recipe, they usually will give it to you, so check your DIY app), and when you give it to them, they will agree to move in. They will also then ask you who you would like to be replaced - with the condition you already have 10 villagers (if you have less than 10, you will need to buy a plot, so the amiibo replacement method only works when when you have 10 villagers), so this is a very quick, 100% guaranteed method of getting rid of a villager. It is also a 100% guaranteed method of getting the villager you want (with the exception of the villagers without an amiibo).

Advantages of using an amiibo:

  • 100% guaranteed
  • Quick
  • Collect a genuine amiibo card released by Nintendo (if you go genuine)
Disadvantages of using an amiibo:
  • Costs actual money to make unless you have an android phone and can do it yourself
  • Cards are random (if issued by Nintendo), so it might cost quite a bit of money unless you get a bootleg one or program it yourself
  • You cannot go island hopping as it is a straight replacement
  • You cannot replace your villager with a villager without an amiibo
  • You cannot replace your villager with another villager in boxes

2. Using time travel

Time travel simply means changing the clock on your Switch to a different time or date, and restarting the game so that you skip some time. The reasoning behind time travel is that the game is programmed so that a villager usually asks to leave every 2 weeks or so. With this reasoning, skipping 15 days is pretty adequate for this purpose, and if it's not enough, you add a day on at a time, until you find someone who wants to move out. Simple enough? There are a few factors that can complicate things. Your newest villager will never ask to move out using this method, and, you need to have talked to said villager a couple of times before (so you cannot just ignore them and never talk to them)

Advantages of time travel:

  • It's pretty quick. I mean, you don't need to wait the actual 2 weeks, so you can boot whoever you like, whenever.
  • It's effective, when luck is on your side.
  • You can go island hopping or invite a villager in boxes to your island when your plot is empty
Disadvantages of time travel:
  • You end up with loads of weeds, but can be useful
  • You cannot boot your newest villager (though some users say they have been able to, though I have never encountered my newest asking to leave, so I still stand by my original thought that the newest cannot be booted via this method)
  • It can be time consuming and tricky


Ready to time travel? Make sure you don't have any turnips:

  • Save and close your game.
  • Skip forward 15 days, and set the time to anywhere between 12noon-4pm, as this is the time most villagers are outside of their house
  • Start the game
  • See if there are any bubbles over any villager. If there are none, roll forward a day, until you find a bubble.
  • Look for the villager you want gone - if they are out and about with a bubble, that's great, talk to them, let them go and save the game. If it is a bubble but they are not thinking about moving, close without saving and roll forward a day. If they are at home, close the game without saving, and roll forward a day. If it's someone else with a bubble, close the game without saving and roll forward a day. If a villager comes running towards you happily to give you a gift or talk to you, close the game without saving and roll forward a day.
  • It is important that you find "Moving out day", meaning that day is the day someone wants to move out. Once you find this date, you roll back and forth.
  • As soon as you find "moving out day", you close the game without saving, roll forward a day, look for bubbles again, and if none, close the game without saving and roll BACK a day to "moving out day", and the bubble should transfer to another villager. Note that after a series of updates, I find that usually the bubble stays with a certain villager maybe two or three times (unlucky but it happens), before you get it over another villager
  • Sometimes "moving out day" gets maxed out - as in, there are only a certain number of times someone will want to move out. In this case, "moving out day" usually rolls to the next day or the day after. So for instance, if you have been rolling between the 9th and 10th, you might need to check the 10th and 11th, if not the 11th and 12th.
  • If it's raining, a weekend, or there's an event, roll to the next day or Monday, whichever is the closest with two weekdays attached.
  • CONGRATULATIONS if you manage to get rid of the one you wanted gone! And remember, when you let the villager go, remember to save the game!
  • If you want to time travel to speed things up, I suggest only going forward a day at a time, and fill your plot first, and ensure your new villager has completely moved in before time travelling back to the actual/present date. I have read some very weird stories about inviting villagers just to have the game glitch and have someone else move in, so do it a day at a time.
And last but not least, some villagers are SUPER STUBBORN and will NOT go. I time traveled for a whopping three days (not in game, but in real time) to get rid of a villager and she will not go. She never had a bubble, and it was getting beyond ridiculous. She had been on my island for ages, and while I really liked her, it was time for her to go. So you might need to consider the last method...

3. Replacing your villager with a campsite villager


This might require a bit of time travel, and luck - lots of it. While doing method 2, I usually check if there are any campsite visitors (Isabelle will mention it when you load the game). I usually check if it's someone I want, and if it is, I take my chances.

Advantages of using the campsite method:
  • It's free and you don't need to use any Nook Mile Tickets or amiibos
  • Adding onto point one, if you are missing a particular personality on your island, your campsite is more likely to give you villagers of said personality, and may give you a villager who doesn't have an amiibo eg. Raymond, Dom, Judy so it saves you a lot of woes hunting (though this really just boils down to luck)
  • You have the chance of booting your latest villager as they are not immune
  • You can boot that very stubborn villager who never ever seems to have a moving out bubble
  • 100% guaranteed... eventually
Disadvantages of using the campsite method:
  • You might not get a camper you really like, and need to time travel lots if you're picky
  • You don't get a chance to go island hopping if that's something you like, and you cannot invite a villager in boxes
  • Winning the game takes a lot of time and chance if you're not lucky
Playing the games with a camper is fairly easy - even if you don't win the games, if you pester them long enough, they will eventually agree to move in as they get flattered with your persistence. When they ask you who to replace, it's the same old reasoning - close the game without saving and restart the game (do not change the time, unless it's almost 5am, then stay within that day but go earlier as the camper disappears after 5am).

  • Do not say yes or no to a villager you want to stay.
  • Any name you don't want to see, exit the game immediately and restart.
  • Keep asking the camper to stay, until they mention the name you want, then you say YES.
  • Save the game as soon as you get the right villager out.
  • Optional: time travel forward a day at a time until your camper has moved in (to ensure game does not glitch), before going back to the actual/ present date. Usually I try to get my villager in boxes adopted before I attempt any time travel.



So there you have it. Three ways of getting rid of a villager - apart from the amiibo method, I've successfully done the other two.

And just as a disclaimer, my two images of my villagers moving out of Plucky and Graham were a result of time travel... but I really miss them both. I also did not intentionally time travel to get them out... because at the time I was happy with anyone out at the time. They both lived on my island for a really long time and were part of my original lineup, and it was time for them to move on as they didn't suit my island theme. If I could have more villagers I'd want them back in. 

Plucky was the hardest to let go ever and I kid you not I bawled for about half a day before making the decision to time travel and island hop. With a very strong mindset that her replacement had better be the best replacement (though the new villager will never be a replacement as such), I settled on Julian as he is the only unicorn in the game and was, in my opinion, the most worthy replacement at the time.

As a player from the end of March, I only had two villagers I really disliked, and they were both auto-fills from Tom Nook. My first auto-fill was Octavian, and I didn't want him as I hated his oriental looking house and his rude manner. It was also the first time I had ever seen fleas so I thought he was pretty grotty. By the time he left though, I warmed up to him and had slight feelings of regret, especially as he really wasn't that bad and I let him go without getting his photo. 

The second auto-fill was Diva, and I disliked her because she actually came from a friend's island... yet my friend didn't admit it until Diva mentioned where she came from... on the day she left. It was the first time I ever pushed a villager into a pitfall seed, and it wasn't really nice. I think if I actually chose her, I wouldn't have felt so bad about her, but she was just a disappointing auto-fill. I never pushed anyone after that. But maybe because I never let my plots auto-fill ever. again. I also starting gifting her stuff and she was okay... but I never missed her as such.

As a final message once again, please be nice to your villagers. It doesn't cost anything to be nice, and you don't really have much to lose, only a friend to gain...

So, how did everyone go with getting rid of a villager? Please leave a comment if you had success!

Yours,


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