New Horizons is a fun game to play alone, but nothing quite beats sharing your experience by playing with and adding friends in Animal Crossing.
When you add a friend on Animal Crossing, it means you can explore each other’s islands and marvel at their creations. Not only is playing with friends more enjoyable, but it also unlocks some added benefits, especially when you add someone as a best friend in Animal Crossing.
How to Add Friends In-Game on Animal Crossing
Time needed: 10 minutes
- Launch Animal Crossing
Turn on your Nintendo Switch and launch Animal Crossing as the user you want to play the game as. If you have multiple users on your Switch, ensure you choose the correct one as you’ll be adding friends your character has played with.
- Visit Dodo Airlines
On day 2 of your Animal Crossing island, you’ll be able to visit Dodo Airlines. This unlocks the ability to play with friends locally, via online play, and add best friends.
- Talk to Orville
Once inside Dodo Airlines, talk to Orville. Choose “I want visitors” if you want a friend to visit your island. Select “via online play” or “via local play”.
Local play will only work if you are physically near another player in your house who has their own Nintendo Switch and copy of Animal Crossing.
- Invite Friends
You will be able to choose who you want to invite to your island, whether that be all of your friends, or friends via Dodo Code.
Dodo Codes can be found by talking to Orville. If you obtain a Dodo Code, you can give this to your friends so that they can enter through your island’s gates.
Alternatively, you can invite only your friends or best friends to your island, meaning not just anyone with your Dodo Code can enter.
- Add Friends
Now that your friends are able to visit your island, you can add them to your Nintendo Switch friends list. Click the home button on your Switch, then select your profile in the top left-hand corner.
From here, you can select Add Friend > Search for Users You’ve Played With. This will open up a list of players you’ve recently played with, including the game you played with them.
- Send Friend Request
Now that you’ve seen which friends you’ve played with recently. You can simply press A on your friend’s profile picture, and select Send Friend Request.
This will send a request to their Nintendo Switch. Once they’ve accepted your request, you’ll be friends on your Nintendo Switch console.
- Add Friends in Animal Crossing
After you’ve played with a friend in Animal Crossing by either inviting them to your island or visiting their island, you can add them as a Best Friend.
You do this by pressing ZL in the game and selecting Best Friends List from your Nook Phone. Choose a name from the list and select Ask to Be Best Friends.
What Can Friends Do in Animal Crossing?
You can check out our Animal Crossing multiplayer guide for a full list of the requirements and options to do things with friends in the game.
For now, here’s a quick glimpse of the activities friends and best friends can unlock.
| Gameplay Options | Friends | Best Friends |
| Resources | ||
| Pick and plant fruits/flowers | yes | yes |
| Catch bugs and fish | yes | yes |
| Pick up resources from the ground | yes | yes |
| Hit stones to gather iron/clay/money | no | yes |
| Hit trees for wood | no | yes |
| Dig for fossils and clams | no | yes |
| Plant trees | no | yes |
| Other | ||
| Visit the Nook Shop to buy and sell | yes | yes |
| Access items in Resident Services | no | no |
| Talk to animal residents | yes | yes |
| Enter homes | yes | yes |
