At first, the campsite feature in Animal Crossing: New Horizons seems like a very appealing way to get new neighbors to populate your island. You don't have to spend your hard-earned Nook Miles on a ticket to visit another island, you don't have to purchase an amiibo card, so what's the catch here? Unfortunately, several factors.
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Unlike the wanderers you find on the other islands, campers will not just bunk up with a little bit of chit-chat. They instead require you to outsmart them with a card game that comes with a tricky algorithm. But the truth is, no one really knows if there's a regiment to this or if it's completely random. Gacha game players have a wise saying that goes, "Rate up is a lie." Does this philosophy apply to New Horizons' card game? Fortunately, people have found a few special hacks to seemingly navigate it. Here is a go-to guide for all the tips and tricks for not only winning the card game but how to also best utilize the campsite feature.
Updated on July 20, 2021, by Ashely Claudino: Many of us are still hooked on Animal Crossing: New Horizons, you can make your own fun with this game. One particularly challenging thing to do is getting all of your favorite villagers to move into your island. You'll most likely have to play cards with them over and over again until they decide to move in and replace one of your other villagers (if you already have ten villagers living on your island). We'll go over this and also what fans have theorized over this infuriating card game. You can finally find out if there is even any logic behind it or if it's all completely random.
It's Not Set In Stone To Win
Before attempting these, keep in mind that these are all different experiences of different players, so you're not always guaranteed to win no matter what. For example, one Reddit user posted a method while claiming it worked for them five times in a row. They say that the red cards are on the left side and the black cards are on the right. The card furthest to the left on the red side is the heart one. The one closest to you, but still on the same side is the diamond. The farthest card on the black side is the clubs, and the closer one is the spades.
Note that on the next try of this, however, they were unsuccessful. It's possible it can vary by each villager as well, but no one can truly say for sure. All you can do is enter with a positive attitude, along with the concrete understanding that this is meant to be just a fun brain teaser put in the game. Definitely don't be discouraged if you don't succeed, especially since there's a possible later trick you can do if you're really that unlucky at cards.
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Remember That It's Just Gambling
Several are claiming that the card game is rigged, and while that may be true to an extent, it's possible that the developers inserted it as part of the popularity of Gacha gambling-themed games in Japan in all formats. YouTube videos show that even the secondhand shops there have giant claw machines where you can take a chance to win a prize. Because sometimes, it's not about winning or getting the one you want, it's about the thrill of the game. Remember that how you perceive something may not be how someone else's experience perceives something.
The campsite may also be a subtle way of Nintendo using product placement to advertise Pocket Camp, the Animal Crossing mobile game. This definitely wouldn't be the first time they did so. In Super Mario Odyssey, there was a Toad with a pet dog that looked suspiciously like a Nintendog dog. See the connection?
The Villagers Cave (Eventually)
As for that mysterious trick mentioned earlier, it simply involves repeatedly playing the card game with the camper even if you don't seem to be lucky. Once you lose a certain amount of times, they will go to resident services and ask to move in. Players have reported this sequence happening a different set number of times depending on the camper, so you'll have to play around until they react.
The downfall of this though? It's one of the times you cannot really pick who moves out. If you have 10 villagers, it will select a villager for you at random to say yes or no to asking to leave. So, what do you do if it's someone chosen who you don't want to kick out, but at the same time you really want that new camper to move in? According to Headgirl on Reddit, there is a proven method.
Don't Tell Mr. Resetti About This One
The first thing is when you meet the camper, you don't want to save your game up to that point yet. After turning on your game, go talk to them right away, and play the card game until either you win or they go to resident services. When you get the random villager's name on the screen to boot out or not boot out, quickly hit the home button and press x to close out the game.
Remember to avoid saving at all costs. Don't click the little dash button on the upper left side of the screen you use to save with. This is apparently the main way players can mess this trick up. Keep repeating this until you get the name of someone you want to kick out. It can take a while, but it's definitely worth doing if you want to bring in that camper or kick out the villager you can't stand.
If you're still trying to get your favorite neighbors to live in your village and feeling discouraged, don't give up hope. Who knows if they'll show up at your campsite one day. If they do, be sure to follow this guide to help you seal the deal. For now, the best thing is to try to appreciate the good people who do populate your town who you have been lucky enough to meet.
How Does The Game Pick Who Leaves?
If you're getting tired of resetting your game over and over again because the campsite visitor won't ask your least liked villager to leave, you might be wondering what makes it this way?
At first, many fans thought it was based on the villagers' personalities. So, if you had more Lazy villagers compared to any other personality, the campsite visitor would ask to move one of the Lazy villagers out. This logic however only works for who the game decides will be visiting your island. This means that the villager the visitor chooses to kick out is completely random. You have to reset the game until you get the one you want to leave or you have to use an amiibo card which will take three days but you will then be able to specifically decide which villager leaves.
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