Voluptua Sneezelips
Senior Member
Hi all:
Here's an FAQ thread to provide answers (insofar as we know them) to a bunch of...FAQs (go figure). It's now organized by category for easier searching. The categories below are:
- Basic Info/Overview
- Hardware Info
- amiibo Card Info
- DLC Info
- Info re: Number of Players & StreetPass
- Character Customization & QR Codes
- About Your Town
- Catalogue and Bells
- Villagers
- Happy Home Network - Online Rating System
- Playthrough Videos & twitter Hashtags
- Gameplay: Unlocking Features (the amiibo phone, Public Buildings, and Re-Design Options)
If you have more info or other Qs to add, or if you think I've gotten something way wrong, post here and I can update the main post.
Basic Info/Overview
When did Happy Home Designer come out?
It launched on July 30 in Japan and on September 25 in North America. It released on October 2 in Europe and October 3 in Australia.
So what's the deal with this game? How do you play? Is this a new Animal Crossing?
Happy Home Designer is an Animal Crossing spinoff, meaning that it isn't a full-on AC game. HHD is focussed on designing villagers' homes. Your job is to meet with villagers and design a home and a yard for them according to the theme they give you. As you complete each home, you'll unlock more furniture to use in decorating, more clothing, and you'll have a chance to design common public buildings, like a school and shops.
So what's new in this game?
There's a bunch of new stuff in HHD, beyond what's mentioned in the sections below! The list here is not exhaustive, but here are a few examples:
- There are more furniture options than ever before, including stuff you can hang from the ceiling! There are a LOT of new food items and new little design touches, like stacks of books, baskets of yarn, perfume trays, garbage bags...pretty much almost anything you need to make a home look lived-in.
- You can decorate the outside of villagers' houses along with their yards and choose music or outdoor-type sounds for the inside.
- You can unlock two- and three- room layouts for your villagers using play coins (the DS currency you can unlock just by walking around in real life...or shaking your DS if you don't feel like walking...or you can get 'em by jumping up and down and holding your DS too [this last option may or may not have been tested for scientific purposes. multiple times])
- You'll be able to design and open shops on the main street!
- You'll be able to assign jobs to villagers to work in the shops you create
- You will be able to see other players' designs for different villagers and rate them through an online system
Hardware Info
Do I need a new 3DS to play Happy Home Designer?
Note: this answer refers to two types of 3DS: The original 3DS and 3DSXL, and the new 3DS and 3DSXL (N3DS; N3DSXL). The N3DS and N3DSXL were released in Japan in October 2014, in Australia in November 2014, and in North America and Europe in February 2015 (note: in Feb 2015, NA only got the N3DSXL). If you are playing on any 3DS that you bought before the above-mentioned dates or the packaging did not indicate it was a new 3DS, you are likely playing on an older system. The new 3DSes have the ability to read amiibos and amiibo cards directly from the bottom screen; the older-model 3DSes do not.
All of the above said, you don't need a new 3DS or new 3DSXL to play HHD. You can play on an older 3DS, 3DSXL or on a 2DS, but you will not be able to scan the new amiibo cards on your old systems (without a special card reader--more on that below). This means that you won't be able to load Special NPCs into your game to decorate their homes and you won't be able to control which villagers show up and ask for your decorating services - you will be limited to choosing from the random villagers that show up in your town's main street. But you can still play! You can also buy an NFC Reader, which will plug into your old 3DS model or 2DS and allow you to scan amiibo cards.
What's this NFC Reader thingy? Is it region-locked?
The NFC reader is a small external unit about the size and shape of a hockey puck that, when you scan an amiibo or amiibo card on it, will transmit the information to your 3DS, 3DSXL or your 2DS. It will release on the same day as Happy Home Designer in your location and it's also available in all regions as a bundle with the game.
The NFC reader does not appear to be region-locked. Rumours in late July suggested that it might be, based on information provided by an online retailer, but several videos, like the one embedded in this article, show imported NFC readers working with North American 3DSes.
So there's a limited-edition, Happy-Home-Designer-themed 3DS, right? Can I get it?
There are actually two different limited-edition HHD 3DSes, which include the ability to digitally download a copy of the game (the game is included in the purchase price but must be downloaded). One is a new 3DSXL (N3DSXL) featuring a special HHD-themed pattern on the front and a delicious, lime-green back (the inside is white). The other is a plain white new 3DS (N3DS) that comes with two special HHD-themed faceplates. Faceplates are interchangeable, so you could switch up your 3DS faceplate for another design (sold separately) if you wish.
These two 3DS bundles have been announced for release in Japan, the UK/Europe, and Australia. The N3DS bundle with faceplates was announced for North America on August 31st, 2015, but there has been no announcement for the N3DSXL bundle in North America (we're still giving you the side-eye, Nintendo of America). Note: this is the first time that the regular-sized N3DS has been available in North America!
**Note: the N3DS and N3DSXL do not come with a charger. You can use chargers from your old DSi, 2DS, 3DS or 3DSXL, if you have one--they are compatible. Otherwise, if you need a charger, you will have to purchase it separately.
amiibo Card Info
What do the amiibo cards do? Do I need the amiibo cards to play Happy Home Designer?
You don't need the cards to play. The amiibo cards allow you to:
- bring Special NPCs [i.e., non-villagers, like Isabelle, Resetti, Pascal, etc.] into your game so you can decorate their homes
- have some control over which villagers ask for your decorating services
- "invite" villagers into another villager's home for a party
- designate specific villagers to hold "jobs" in your public buildings.
BUT, you can still play without the cards. Three (and later four) random villagers will show up in your town's main street every game day and you can choose to decorate their homes.
How do I get the amiibo cards? How many cards are there?
The first set has 100 cards, which you can see here. The cards are being sold in blind packs of 3 cards in Japan, Europe and Australia, and 6 cards in North America. "Blind" means that you won't know what's inside each pack--you'll have to buy them to find out. We do know that each pack will include one Special NPC card.
Nintendo has indicated that there will eventually be 4 series of Animal Crossing amiibo cards, with 100 cards in each set.
If you want to (or are able to) order a booster box of cards, Japanese boxes have 50 packs of cards, Australian boxes have 42 packs, and North American boxes have 18 packs. Not sure about UK/EU booster box numbers, but will update this post when the info peeks its head out of its hidey-hole.
Series 2! Is the second set of 100 cards out yet?
Series 2 is not yet released, but just like with Series 1, Nintendo of Japan has started teasing us by releasing information about *some* of the cards. You can see their Series 2 card page here, which shows what they've revealed so far. Series 2 will release on October 29th in Japan, but as yet there are no release dates for other regions.
Are the amiibo cards region-locked?
A tumblr user was able to successfully scan a Japanese amiibo card on their North American 3DS. You can see the photo of this here. TBT's very own Justin was also able to scan Japanese amiibo cards into his copy of Super Mario Maker and run around as Resetti and DJ KK, among others.
If I scan a card and summon a villager into my game, then mail the card to my friend, can I invite that villager to other homes or buildings in my game?
Sadly, nope. You need to use the card each time you want to summon a villager to a new location. If you want to invite Peanut to Julian's house, you have to scan Peanut's card. If you later want to invite Peanut to Soleil's house, you have to scan the card again. And if you want Peanut to work in your restaurant, you'll have to scan her card yet again.
Well, what if my friend is sitting right next to me and we're both playing HHD? Can we use the same amiibo card?
If it's a friend in your neighbourhood or a family member, sharing amiibo cards is much easier! You could invite Peanut to Julian's house by scanning Peanut's card, hand the card to your friend and they could invite Peanut to Soleil's house using the same card. So the same card can indeed be used by more than one person--it just requires that if you want to summon the villager again, you need to have the card physically with you to do so.
Even if you've designed a home for a villager, so they're present in your game, you can't summon them to a party from your list of clients you've designed for--you have to use their card every time you want to invite them somewhere specific.
Can we trade cards with people on the forum?
Rumour has it that a trade sub-forum will be set up. Just be aware that the Bell Tree doesn't support trading real-world items for forum currency. And if you're trading with someone online, you're doing so at your own risk.
I heard the game comes with one amiibo card. Is that right?
It does look like many of the bundles being offered (whether it's the 3DS, 3DSXL or the amiibo card reader bundle) will come with an amiibo card in all parts of the world, and it appears that these will be a Special NPC card.
DLC Info
Hey--there's DLC for this game? Can I get it?
Special DLC has been advertised for Japan, plus additional DLC is being made available for everyone.
Players around the world will have access to DLC visitors via both Nintendo Zones and SpotPass. The first visitor is Louie, an older AC series gorilla villager. He comes with a number of Nintendo-themed items, though these are also available through regular villagers that will appear on your Main Street (e.g., Static the squirrel unlocks many of the same items). Future visitors may also be older AC villagers we haven't seen in a while, though this isn't yet confirmed.
For Japan, there are two DLC/cross-promotion offers that we know of, one of which has also been confirmed for UK/EU:
1. Monster Hunter-themed DLC, including an Airu (aka Felyne) villager, which is a pretty adorable-looking kitty-friend. So far, this has been announced for Japan only.
2. 7-11-themed DLC, which will be available in UK/EU as "24-hour shop DLC". Some pieces appear to be the same as those released as 7-11DLC in AC:NL, while some appear to be new additions. It includes a superhero-esque horse villager, whose name is "Number 7" in Japan ("7-Go" is another general translation of the name as reported by the notoriously reliable internet), and "Filly" in the English version of the game.
In AC:NL, the 7-11 DLC was never released for download outside of Japan, though it was possible for players in other parts of the world to obtain it through trades with players in Japan. If a player uses a villager card that's been read and "updated" by another 3DS, this unlocks furniture that the villager on the card "saw" in another town, so it's possible to transfer furniture between players.
Even if you're in Japan during the period that DLC is available at 7-11s, you will only be able to download the DLC if you have a Japanese 3DS. If your 3DS is locked to another region, you will not be able to download the DLC. (thanks DJStarstryker, and sorry you weren't able to get the DLC!)
In addition, anyone downloading a digital copy of the game in any part of the world will be able to download a special HHD menu theme for their DS.
Info re: Number of Players & StreetPass
Can I have more than one game on a cartridge?
It looks like you can only have one game per cartridge. There doesn't appear to be an option for multiple player-characters in one town. So: One player, one cartridge.
Is there multiplayer? What about Streetpass?
It looks as though there's no multiplayer option, so you won't be able to invite other players to visit your town. BUT, as of September 16th in Japan and at time of launch for players in other parts of the world, HHD will have a new feature: The Happy Home Network. It will allow players to view and rate rooms designed by other players--kinda like the dream suite, but with a rating option. This isn't multiplayer, but it does allow for a degree of interaction with others. See the section far below titled "Happy Home Network" for more details about this feature!
According to online reports from players in Japan, there does not appear to be Streetpass for HHD. It isn't mentioned on the packaging for the game and players who've walked around with their 3DSes have gotten no Streetpass notifications for HHD. Spotpass, Miiverse, etc. are mentioned on the packaging, however, so when the online rating system goes live, there may be a Spotpass feature (though this is entirely speculative).
Character Customization & QR Codes
Character customization: tell me about it!
Unlike previous AC games, you have the ability to choose your skin tone from a range of 8 shades. Like AC:NL, you can choose your eyes from a range of 12 eye styles and 8 colours, plus 16 hairstyles per gender, along with 16 hair colours. Once you've unlocked the blue salon machine in the upstairs of HHD's headquarters (which looks like one of Harriet's salon machines from AC:NL), you can change your appearance and also choose from all 32 hairstyles (both the "male" and "female" styles), regardless of your character's chosen gender.
Can we use our own designs and develop QR codes? Can we use QR codes from Animal Crossing: New Leaf? Tell me more!
You can indeed develop your own designs and QR codes. However, unlike AC:NL, where we had only 10 slots, in HHD we have (are you sitting down?) 120 QR slots. One hundred and twenty. Design your brains out, friends!
You can also import QR codes for designs developed in AC:NL, so once you've unlocked the QR ability, you'll have immediate access to thousands of designs that are already out there on the internet. If you're looking for new QRs designed by HHD players, try visiting TBT member Sora Smiles' new tumblr - Happy Home Central. The twitter hashtags mentioned at the very bottom of this post are also a great source for QRs.
Okay, so talk to me about clothing options.
When you're doing your home-designing job, you have to wear your HHD jacket (which looks kinda like the Happy Home Academy jacket from AC:NL), but you will eventually be able to choose what skirt or pants you'd like to wear along with the jacket, plus hats and accessories. You can unlock new clothing styles by completing home designs for villagers. And yup, boys can wear skirts and girls can wear pants, so you can tart yourself up however you like! As a bonus, you can dress up your villagers too!
How do I dress villagers up?
When you visit a villager either before or after your workday, if you pick the villager up, a clothing icon will appear just above the garbage can icon on the left side of your touch screen. Drag the villager over the clothing icon and you?ll have the option of dressing the villager in shirts, dresses (which will look like a shirt on the villager) or QR code designs, and choosing either a hat or glasses for them to wear. The selection of hats and accessories for villagers is smaller than the selection available for you to wear, but still?doesn?t Beau look cute in that little straw boater hat?? Protip: try putting a New Year?s hat on your villager and see what happens. Also see the "villagers" section below.
How do I get rid of my red jacket and dress myself up? Am I stuck in that red monstrosity for all eternity?
During your workday, you?re trapped in your red jacket. You have no choice: Red. Jacket. Always. When working. The good news is, as mentioned a couple of Qs above here, you can choose everything else that you wear along with your red jacket. You can show your disapproval of the red jacket by wearing clashing colours on purpose.
There?s one little bit of relief from your uniform, though: When you?re in a villager?s home or public facility before or after your workday, you can change your clothes, including your jacket. Just like you can with the villagers, you can pick yourself up and drag yourself over the clothing icon that will appear on the touch screen, just above the garbage can icon on the left. From there, you can choose shirts, skirts, pants, dresses, shoes, socks, accessories, and even QR code designs.
About Your Town
Can I name my town?
It appears that you can't name your town. Isabelle refers to your town as "New Town". (thanks, Mint!)
Can I walk around the village? Can I go fishing and bug-huntin' and stuff?
Nope! You have access to a map to allow you to choose where to locate a villager's home and the environment (forest, meadow, river, beach, desert, mountains) of that home, plus the season it's in, but you will not be able to walk around the map. Each villager's home is its own separate instance. You will, however, be able to unlock bugs, fish, fossils and art to use in home decorating, even though you can't wander around and encounter them on the map.
Are there seasons in HHD?
There sure are! You can't set the time in your game the way you can with AC:NL, but your main street's season changes according to the date on your 3DS. So if your 3DS' calendar settings are set to July, it will look summery on your main street. If you then change your 3DS' settings to January, the ground and trees, etc. will be covered with snow. (Thanks to Preslie for this info!)
You can also choose the season for your villagers' plots, so you can customise the season for each individual villager's home.
Is HHD on a regular 24-hour "day" system like Animal Crossing? Is there day and night?
The game is not on a 24-hour system, but you do get to see both day and night. The game is divided into "workdays", in which you complete tasks. You can choose when to end your "day", though you can only design one villager house per game day (either from choosing one of the 4 random villagers that appear on your main street every day, or by summoning one with an amiibo card). The good thing is, once you've ended your workday, you can start a new one right away!
When you start your day, it will be morning and Lottie will greet you in Nook's Homes. You can either use an amiibo card to summon a villager or go for a walk on your main street, where you can visit your public buildings and see what's going on inside, talk to any villagers you've already helped who might be walking around, and/or choose a client from the random villagers looking for help. You can also visit a villager you've already designed a home for and choose to re-design their home if you'd like.
Once you've chosen a client either by using an amiibo card, choosing one of the villagers on main street, or deciding to re-design for a villager you've already helped, your workday begins.
Once you've designed the villager's home, you'll return to Nook's Homes and it will be nighttime. You can go back out onto main street, visit public buildings, or visit a villager and have a party, or you can choose to write your day's report (i.e., save), and end the day.
At day's end, once you've written your report (i.e., saved), a new workday begins. It'll be daytime again and off you go to continue our design adventures!
Can I design my own house?
You can't design your own house. But since you can do pretty much anything you like with all of the villagers' houses (provided you use any specific furniture items provided in the room when you start), it's kinda like having several hundred of your own houses! *Note: You only have to use the specific furniture items the first time you design a villager's home. If you go back to re-design, you aren't required to use those items again.
I designed a villager's home/public building and have decided I HATE what I did! Should I restart my game?
Nope! As you play, you will unlock options to expand and re-design buildings, so if that playroom-themed school you designed is giving you a headache, or your super-pink hospital d?cor is giving you heartburn, you'll have a chance to turn it into something you like better. See the section below on gameplay and unlocking stuff for more information about re-designing.
Catalogue and Bells
So if I'm designing houses, how do I fill out my catalogue and get new furniture? Do I start with all the furniture in my catalogue, or do I have to buy it? What about stuff like bugs, fish, fossils and art? And how do I make bells to buy all this stuff?
You start with a limited number of items, but each villager you design a house for will unlock new furniture and clothing for you to use. The unlocked furniture can be used in any villager home or public building. So as time goes on and you design more houses and public buildings, the number of items in your catalogue will increase! You can even go back and re-design villagers' homes and public buildings, so you'll be able to add in any new furniture that you've unlocked.
Happy Home Designer doesn't use Bells. You don't earn any Bells, but you don't have to spend any, either. All you need to do is keep designing homes and buildings to increase the amount of furniture and clothing available to you.
The only exceptions to the above are art, bugs, fish, and most gyroids. The only currency used in the game is Play Coins, which you can get just by walking around with your DS (or shaking it so it thinks you're walking!). The Play Coins are used to unlock additional features in the game, like: being able to use art, fish, bugs and most gyroids; designing houses with more than one room; the ability to use QR codes; refurbishing furniture, etc.
Is there a limit on the number of items I can put in a villager's home?
There is. Regardless of room size, there is a 64-item limit on the number of items you can put in a room.
Villagers
How many villagers can I have? Is there a limit?
There isn't a 10- or 12-villager limit like the regular Animal Crossing games. You'll be able to design homes for hundreds of villagers. Hundreds! You can also give more than one villager the same style/location of housing plot as other villagers, and each villager's home occupies its own small "instance":
E.g., if you choose a plot and design a home for Peanut, there won't be another villager's home in the same instance as Peanut's home. Peanut will have her own little home and yard with no one else living in that same space and no direct next-door neighbours (you won't be able to walk out from Peanut's yard and find another villager's house next door). But if you later want to set up a home for Marcel and you choose the same style plot that Peanut has, you can! Marcel can have a location that looks exactly the same as Peanut's, but his house will be the only one in that instance.
What villagers are available in the game? Are my favourite villagers there?
This imgur album is the closest thing we have to knowing what regular villagers are currently available in the game. These pix were apparently uploaded by one person, showing all the villagers they were able to unlock simply by visiting Main Street, not using amiibo cards. We can tell they weren't summoned using amiibo cards because the background behind them is a default background--when you summon a villager using an amiibo card, their profile pic on your clipboard will change to look like their amiibo card, including the colourful amiibo card background.
At this point, we don't have confirmation as to which Special NPCs will be in the game. The only ones we know of so far are either the ones included in the first series of 100 amiibo cards, or those shown on the packaging for series 2, which is not yet in production.
How can I get my dreamies? Can I say "no" to villager requests until I get my dreamies?
The beautiful thing about HHD is that there doesn't appear to be a limit on the number of villagers you can design houses for (there's not a 10- or 12-villager limit as there was in previous AC games and as per the first question in this section, there doesn't appear to be a limit on how many times you can choose a particular plot [even if you choose a certain plot for a villager, that plot will still be available to choose for other villagers' homes]). Random villagers appear in your main street (3 or 4 per game day, depending on how far advanced your game is) and you can choose to decorate one of their homes per game day. You could try to "cycle" and get your dreamies by just ending your workdays immediately without doing anything, but chances are that it would be much faster to just design homes for villagers that appear, or use the amiibo cards if there's a card for that particular dreamie and you're lucky enough to find it.
In addition, every villager unlocks furniture that you can use in any home you design, so it's worth designing a house for each villager, even if you don't really like them. This will give you a lot more furniture options when you do find a dreamie and want to design a swanky room for them.
Is the appearance of villagers random?
The first couple of villagers are always the same. You'll design a test house with Lottie's help (the tutorial), then your first "real" client is Goldie the dog, followed by Lopez the deer.
After that, it appears that you have a small pool of villagers to choose from until you unlock the school design project (after you've designed for about 6 villagers). After that, the number of villagers to choose from increases and seems to continue increasing each time you design another public building.
While the number of random villagers to choose from increases as you go along, there does appear to be variety in which villagers appear. Players out there on the internet that are playing more than one copy of the game at the same time are finding that they're encountering different villagers in their two games.
Is it true that villagers will like anything at all that you design, even if it's not what they asked for?
Yup. There are no consequences for designing something different from the theme that a villager requests. This could be seen as bad if you like being rewarded for completing tasks perfectly (and getting penalized if you don't), but if you want absolute creative freedom, you might see this as pretty sweet.
The only requirement a villager will give you is to use specific furniture items in their rooms (these will show up automatically and look like shipping boxes until you "unpack" them and see what's inside). You can't throw these away and still complete the house--you *must* include these items in your design. Your clipboard that you use for designing includes a checklist of the required items, so if you throw something out by mistake, you can double-check what you're supposed to have in there.
Villagers only have requirements for specific pieces of furniture the first time you design a home for them. If you go back and redesign and/or expand their home, you don't have to keep the furniture they asked for the first time. So if Goldie's requirement that she has a bookcase is driving you bonkers, you can go back, chuck it and give her a wavebreaker instead if you really want. (Thanks Jinglefruit!)
Can I dress up my villagers?
You sure can! It's a lot easier than AC:NL and you can dress them up in not just shirts, but also hats or glasses too. You can even put them in dresses, though it'll appear on the character as though it was a shirt. Here's how it all works:
Villagers will start out by wearing their own default clothing at home. In a public building, they'll wear default, scene-specific stuff (like doctor's coats, nurse's hats, etc. in a hospital). You can change what they're wearing by picking up a villager and dragging them onto the clothing tab icon, which will appear on the left-hand side of your touch screen, at which point you can put whatever you like on them (well, whatever you've unlocked at that point). So if you want Ren?e to wear purple cat's eye glasses, a shower cap, and a blue party dress (and you've unlocked all these things), you can! (thanks mirukushake!)
Happy Home Network - Online Rating System
What's the Happy Home Network?
The Happy Home Network is a feature that allows you to visit villager homes and public buildings that others have designed, plus you have the option of uploading your own homes and buildings for others to visit. It's similar to the Dream Suite in AC:NL, except it has the added feature of allowing you to rate the homes and buildings you visit (more on that below). You can only visit others' designs of villager homes and buildings that you've already unlocked and designed for yourself.
How Do I Unlock the Happy Home Network?
First, make sure you've downloaded the game update, which is required to access the Happy Home Network. Lottie will not mention the Happy Home Network to you until you've installed the update. You can launch the update from the e-Shop, though if your game isn't running and you're about to launch it, you might also get a popup-box prompt and can download the update by pressing 'Y'.
Lottie appears to mention the Happy Home Network to you after about 8 or 9 "workdays", after you've designed the school. Once she's talked to you about it, you're free to use it from a small console on her desk in Nook's Homes.
How Do I Upload a Building or Home that I've Designed?
To upload a home or building to the Happy Home Network, you can choose to upload it immediately once you've finished designing (the game will ask you after the montage cutscene of the completed home), or you can also upload a villager home directly from your clipboard. The most recent snapshot you've taken of the home or building that you're uploading will be displayed for others to see on the Happy Home Network. Once your design has been uploaded, you will receive a number code for the house (similar to a dream address code), so that people can enter the code and visit your design directly, plus you will also have the option of a QR code, which you can upload to social media for others to scan and visit.
What happens if I re-design a house or public building and the original design was uploaded to the Happy Home Network? Can I re-upload? What happens if I do?
You can choose to keep your original design up on the Happy Home Network if you like, even after you?ve updated your design. When you finish a re-design, you?ll be asked if you want to upload the new design to HHN. Be aware: if you select ?yes?, this will replace your original design on HHN and it will wipe out any ratings you received on that design?your ratings on that house or building will go back to 0.
How Do I Visit Buildings or Homes that Others have Designed?
To visit others' homes and buildings, go to the console on Lottie's desk in Nook's Homes, and it will give you the option of connecting to the Happy Home Network. You are limited to visiting only homes or buildings that you've already unlocked yourself. You can search all uploaded homes by villager or by building type, so if you want to see 15 versions of Goldie's house or 10 schools in a row, you can! A preview snapshot of each home or building is available, so you'll be better able to choose which buildings you'd like to visit. If you have either a numeric code or a QR code for a specific design you'd like to visit, you can enter or scan it while using the console on Lottie's desk. Check the twitter hashtags linked at the bottom of this post, which are a great source of home QRs and codes.
Once you've visited a home or building, you can rate it according to 4 categories:
- Cute
- Cool
- Unique
- I want to live there
You can give up to 3 "points" in each category.
When you're browsing homes, you can also see the cumulative results of people's ratings, so it's easy to immediately see which homes left an impression on people!
Gameplay: Unlocking Features and Re-design Options: The amiibo Phone, Housing, and Public Buildings
How do I unlock the amiibo Phone?
Lottie and Lyle will speak to you one morning, telling you about Lyle?s new invention: the amiibo phone. From that point on, you will be able to use the amiibo phone to call villagers (i.e., scan their amiibo cards) and design their houses (if you have a card for that villager). This is the only way you will be able to summon Special NPCs (like Isabelle, Tom Nook, etc.) to design their homes.
You can use the amiibo cards to summon villagers in other ways, too: If you?re at a villager?s home or in a public building, you?ll see an amiibo card icon at the bottom left of your screen. Select it, and you will be able to invite villagers (if you have their amiibo card) to visit another villager?s home, or if you?re in a public building, you can choose to replace any villagers currently in the building with villagers of your choice (if you have their amiibo card).
How do I unlock extra design features like hanging items, bigger rooms, bugs, fish, fossils, etc.?
Tom Nook will come in one morning after you've designed your first few houses and give you the option to take courses from the notebook on your desk. Your first course will be free, but to take the rest, you'll need a total of 31 play coins (the coins you get just for walking around with your DS).
The courses you can take include things like larger floor plans, ceiling items, remaking furniture, QR codes, character re-design, and gyroids, bugs, fish, fossils and art.
How do I re-design villagers? houses? What are the different remodelling options?
If you want to re-design a villager?s home, visit them at the beginning of a workday (by choosing them from your clipboard), before you?ve chosen a client for the day. Speak to the villager and they will give you an option to re-design their home (i.e., the villager you?re re-designing for will become your client for that day). From there, you have a couple of choices (and be sure you've taken the appropriate course from your notebook!):
1. Deluxe Remodel (allows you to re-design the existing home ? the yard, home and furniture will remain exactly the same, but you can move stuff around)
2. New House (allows you to start from scratch, if you like). You have the option of choosing:
a) A new plot of land and season. If you keep the original plot, your yard decorations will remain intact; if you choose a new plot, you will have to re-design the yard.
b) A new floor plan. You can choose a new house that?s smaller than the current one, or the same size or bigger. If you had a one-room home, you can choose a bigger room, or upgrade to a two-room home. If you already had a two-room home, you can choose bigger rooms, or you can upgrade to a three-room home. Your original furniture placement remains intact.
How do I get bigger floor plans for my villagers? houses? What?s the biggest house I can make?
You can get bigger floor plans by re-designing villagers? homes. Each time you go back to re-design, you?ll have the option of larger floor plans.
If you had a one-room home, you can choose a bigger room, or upgrade to a two-room home. If you already had a two-room home, you can choose bigger rooms, or you can upgrade to a three-room home.
The largest you can choose is a three-room home.
How do I unlock public buildings? How many public buildings are there?
Once you?ve designed about 6 houses, Lottie will introduce Isabelle, who will start appearing in Nook?s Homes every morning. Your first public design project will be a school.
You will unlock three phases of Main Street design once you have designed the school.
In the first phase, you will be asked to design a shop, a hospital, and a caf?, which you can do in any order.
Once you?ve completed all buildings in the first phase, you enter the second phase of public design. The lower level of Main Street will open up and you?ll be asked to design an office building, a restaurant, and a department store, plus you will be asked to re-design the school and make it bigger. Once you've re-designed the school, Digby will start appearing in Nook's Homes in the mornings, giving you the option to re-design any public facilities you've already done.
After you?ve completed the design assignments in phase two, you?ll enter the third phase of public design. Two final projects will become available to you: a concert hall and a hotel. Once these are completed, you will have finished the game?s main storyline and the credits will roll.
How do I re-design public buildings? Can I get bigger floor plans?
Once you've re-designed the school in phase 2 of your Main Street building unlocks, Digby will start appearing in Nook's Homes in the mornings, giving you the option to re-design any public facilities you've already done. You will have the option for larger floor plans when you re-design.
Playthrough Videos & twitter Hashtags
A number of playthroughs are available for you to watch right now, if you'd like to do some research. For example:
Jennifer Christensen has been playing the Japanese version since it came out at the end of July. She livestreams HHD a couple of times a week on twitch during weekdays (either at 11 a.m. or 7 p.m. PST [GMT-8]). She has over 100 HHD vids on youtube. I recommend picking a random video to watch, as she went into the game completely blind. If you want to see her figuring it out, start from the beginning, but otherwise, she's designed homes for at least a couple of hundred villagers at this point and has built all of the public buildings in her main street. Her twitch handle, if you'd like to join the livestream, is v3lla.
LinandKo have done a couple of playthroughs, though these are limited.
TheBitBlock has done several videos.
Chyadosensei on YouTube has a few vids as well.
If you'd rather check out screenshots, check out TBT member Jinglefruit's tumblr. Jinglefruit plays with themes, creates backstories for houses and generally mucks around. It provides great examples of how you can either stick with a theme the villager gives you or bust right out of it and do all kinds of silly, hilarious, wonderful things.
twitter Hashtags
There are a couple of twitter hashtags you might also like to keep an eye on, which provide great inspiration. The feeds are full of snaps of houses, but also new QR codes that people have developed, and, as of a few days ago, homes you can visit through the Happy Home Network. There's some overlap in what you'll see in the 3 hashtags below, but some Japanese players only tag with the Japanese hashtags, so it's worth checking them all out.
The most basic hashtag is #ACHappyHome, which is being used by players all over the world.
The Japanese equivalent of #ACHappyHome is #ハッピーホーム. You'll definitely see overlap with #ACHappyHome, as many people tag their posts with both hashtags, but occasionally you'll find a hidden gem in this feed that doesn't make its way into the other hashtag feeds.
A new tag popped up in late September 2015 called #ツクッター which is a little less active than the two above, but appears to be focussed mainly on showcasing Happy Home Network QRs and codes. Again, there's some overlap with the above two tags, but again, sometimes something special shows up that you won't see anywhere else.
Here's an FAQ thread to provide answers (insofar as we know them) to a bunch of...FAQs (go figure). It's now organized by category for easier searching. The categories below are:
- Basic Info/Overview
- Hardware Info
- amiibo Card Info
- DLC Info
- Info re: Number of Players & StreetPass
- Character Customization & QR Codes
- About Your Town
- Catalogue and Bells
- Villagers
- Happy Home Network - Online Rating System
- Playthrough Videos & twitter Hashtags
- Gameplay: Unlocking Features (the amiibo phone, Public Buildings, and Re-Design Options)
If you have more info or other Qs to add, or if you think I've gotten something way wrong, post here and I can update the main post.
Basic Info/Overview
When did Happy Home Designer come out?
It launched on July 30 in Japan and on September 25 in North America. It released on October 2 in Europe and October 3 in Australia.
So what's the deal with this game? How do you play? Is this a new Animal Crossing?
Happy Home Designer is an Animal Crossing spinoff, meaning that it isn't a full-on AC game. HHD is focussed on designing villagers' homes. Your job is to meet with villagers and design a home and a yard for them according to the theme they give you. As you complete each home, you'll unlock more furniture to use in decorating, more clothing, and you'll have a chance to design common public buildings, like a school and shops.
So what's new in this game?
There's a bunch of new stuff in HHD, beyond what's mentioned in the sections below! The list here is not exhaustive, but here are a few examples:
- There are more furniture options than ever before, including stuff you can hang from the ceiling! There are a LOT of new food items and new little design touches, like stacks of books, baskets of yarn, perfume trays, garbage bags...pretty much almost anything you need to make a home look lived-in.
- You can decorate the outside of villagers' houses along with their yards and choose music or outdoor-type sounds for the inside.
- You can unlock two- and three- room layouts for your villagers using play coins (the DS currency you can unlock just by walking around in real life...or shaking your DS if you don't feel like walking...or you can get 'em by jumping up and down and holding your DS too [this last option may or may not have been tested for scientific purposes. multiple times])
- You'll be able to design and open shops on the main street!
- You'll be able to assign jobs to villagers to work in the shops you create
- You will be able to see other players' designs for different villagers and rate them through an online system
Hardware Info
Do I need a new 3DS to play Happy Home Designer?
Note: this answer refers to two types of 3DS: The original 3DS and 3DSXL, and the new 3DS and 3DSXL (N3DS; N3DSXL). The N3DS and N3DSXL were released in Japan in October 2014, in Australia in November 2014, and in North America and Europe in February 2015 (note: in Feb 2015, NA only got the N3DSXL). If you are playing on any 3DS that you bought before the above-mentioned dates or the packaging did not indicate it was a new 3DS, you are likely playing on an older system. The new 3DSes have the ability to read amiibos and amiibo cards directly from the bottom screen; the older-model 3DSes do not.
All of the above said, you don't need a new 3DS or new 3DSXL to play HHD. You can play on an older 3DS, 3DSXL or on a 2DS, but you will not be able to scan the new amiibo cards on your old systems (without a special card reader--more on that below). This means that you won't be able to load Special NPCs into your game to decorate their homes and you won't be able to control which villagers show up and ask for your decorating services - you will be limited to choosing from the random villagers that show up in your town's main street. But you can still play! You can also buy an NFC Reader, which will plug into your old 3DS model or 2DS and allow you to scan amiibo cards.
What's this NFC Reader thingy? Is it region-locked?
The NFC reader is a small external unit about the size and shape of a hockey puck that, when you scan an amiibo or amiibo card on it, will transmit the information to your 3DS, 3DSXL or your 2DS. It will release on the same day as Happy Home Designer in your location and it's also available in all regions as a bundle with the game.
The NFC reader does not appear to be region-locked. Rumours in late July suggested that it might be, based on information provided by an online retailer, but several videos, like the one embedded in this article, show imported NFC readers working with North American 3DSes.
So there's a limited-edition, Happy-Home-Designer-themed 3DS, right? Can I get it?
There are actually two different limited-edition HHD 3DSes, which include the ability to digitally download a copy of the game (the game is included in the purchase price but must be downloaded). One is a new 3DSXL (N3DSXL) featuring a special HHD-themed pattern on the front and a delicious, lime-green back (the inside is white). The other is a plain white new 3DS (N3DS) that comes with two special HHD-themed faceplates. Faceplates are interchangeable, so you could switch up your 3DS faceplate for another design (sold separately) if you wish.
These two 3DS bundles have been announced for release in Japan, the UK/Europe, and Australia. The N3DS bundle with faceplates was announced for North America on August 31st, 2015, but there has been no announcement for the N3DSXL bundle in North America (we're still giving you the side-eye, Nintendo of America). Note: this is the first time that the regular-sized N3DS has been available in North America!
**Note: the N3DS and N3DSXL do not come with a charger. You can use chargers from your old DSi, 2DS, 3DS or 3DSXL, if you have one--they are compatible. Otherwise, if you need a charger, you will have to purchase it separately.
amiibo Card Info
What do the amiibo cards do? Do I need the amiibo cards to play Happy Home Designer?
You don't need the cards to play. The amiibo cards allow you to:
- bring Special NPCs [i.e., non-villagers, like Isabelle, Resetti, Pascal, etc.] into your game so you can decorate their homes
- have some control over which villagers ask for your decorating services
- "invite" villagers into another villager's home for a party
- designate specific villagers to hold "jobs" in your public buildings.
BUT, you can still play without the cards. Three (and later four) random villagers will show up in your town's main street every game day and you can choose to decorate their homes.
How do I get the amiibo cards? How many cards are there?
The first set has 100 cards, which you can see here. The cards are being sold in blind packs of 3 cards in Japan, Europe and Australia, and 6 cards in North America. "Blind" means that you won't know what's inside each pack--you'll have to buy them to find out. We do know that each pack will include one Special NPC card.
Nintendo has indicated that there will eventually be 4 series of Animal Crossing amiibo cards, with 100 cards in each set.
If you want to (or are able to) order a booster box of cards, Japanese boxes have 50 packs of cards, Australian boxes have 42 packs, and North American boxes have 18 packs. Not sure about UK/EU booster box numbers, but will update this post when the info peeks its head out of its hidey-hole.
Series 2! Is the second set of 100 cards out yet?
Series 2 is not yet released, but just like with Series 1, Nintendo of Japan has started teasing us by releasing information about *some* of the cards. You can see their Series 2 card page here, which shows what they've revealed so far. Series 2 will release on October 29th in Japan, but as yet there are no release dates for other regions.
Are the amiibo cards region-locked?
A tumblr user was able to successfully scan a Japanese amiibo card on their North American 3DS. You can see the photo of this here. TBT's very own Justin was also able to scan Japanese amiibo cards into his copy of Super Mario Maker and run around as Resetti and DJ KK, among others.
If I scan a card and summon a villager into my game, then mail the card to my friend, can I invite that villager to other homes or buildings in my game?
Sadly, nope. You need to use the card each time you want to summon a villager to a new location. If you want to invite Peanut to Julian's house, you have to scan Peanut's card. If you later want to invite Peanut to Soleil's house, you have to scan the card again. And if you want Peanut to work in your restaurant, you'll have to scan her card yet again.
Well, what if my friend is sitting right next to me and we're both playing HHD? Can we use the same amiibo card?
If it's a friend in your neighbourhood or a family member, sharing amiibo cards is much easier! You could invite Peanut to Julian's house by scanning Peanut's card, hand the card to your friend and they could invite Peanut to Soleil's house using the same card. So the same card can indeed be used by more than one person--it just requires that if you want to summon the villager again, you need to have the card physically with you to do so.
Even if you've designed a home for a villager, so they're present in your game, you can't summon them to a party from your list of clients you've designed for--you have to use their card every time you want to invite them somewhere specific.
Can we trade cards with people on the forum?
Rumour has it that a trade sub-forum will be set up. Just be aware that the Bell Tree doesn't support trading real-world items for forum currency. And if you're trading with someone online, you're doing so at your own risk.
I heard the game comes with one amiibo card. Is that right?
It does look like many of the bundles being offered (whether it's the 3DS, 3DSXL or the amiibo card reader bundle) will come with an amiibo card in all parts of the world, and it appears that these will be a Special NPC card.
DLC Info
Hey--there's DLC for this game? Can I get it?
Special DLC has been advertised for Japan, plus additional DLC is being made available for everyone.
Players around the world will have access to DLC visitors via both Nintendo Zones and SpotPass. The first visitor is Louie, an older AC series gorilla villager. He comes with a number of Nintendo-themed items, though these are also available through regular villagers that will appear on your Main Street (e.g., Static the squirrel unlocks many of the same items). Future visitors may also be older AC villagers we haven't seen in a while, though this isn't yet confirmed.
For Japan, there are two DLC/cross-promotion offers that we know of, one of which has also been confirmed for UK/EU:
1. Monster Hunter-themed DLC, including an Airu (aka Felyne) villager, which is a pretty adorable-looking kitty-friend. So far, this has been announced for Japan only.
2. 7-11-themed DLC, which will be available in UK/EU as "24-hour shop DLC". Some pieces appear to be the same as those released as 7-11DLC in AC:NL, while some appear to be new additions. It includes a superhero-esque horse villager, whose name is "Number 7" in Japan ("7-Go" is another general translation of the name as reported by the notoriously reliable internet), and "Filly" in the English version of the game.
In AC:NL, the 7-11 DLC was never released for download outside of Japan, though it was possible for players in other parts of the world to obtain it through trades with players in Japan. If a player uses a villager card that's been read and "updated" by another 3DS, this unlocks furniture that the villager on the card "saw" in another town, so it's possible to transfer furniture between players.
Even if you're in Japan during the period that DLC is available at 7-11s, you will only be able to download the DLC if you have a Japanese 3DS. If your 3DS is locked to another region, you will not be able to download the DLC. (thanks DJStarstryker, and sorry you weren't able to get the DLC!)
In addition, anyone downloading a digital copy of the game in any part of the world will be able to download a special HHD menu theme for their DS.
Info re: Number of Players & StreetPass
Can I have more than one game on a cartridge?
It looks like you can only have one game per cartridge. There doesn't appear to be an option for multiple player-characters in one town. So: One player, one cartridge.
Is there multiplayer? What about Streetpass?
It looks as though there's no multiplayer option, so you won't be able to invite other players to visit your town. BUT, as of September 16th in Japan and at time of launch for players in other parts of the world, HHD will have a new feature: The Happy Home Network. It will allow players to view and rate rooms designed by other players--kinda like the dream suite, but with a rating option. This isn't multiplayer, but it does allow for a degree of interaction with others. See the section far below titled "Happy Home Network" for more details about this feature!
According to online reports from players in Japan, there does not appear to be Streetpass for HHD. It isn't mentioned on the packaging for the game and players who've walked around with their 3DSes have gotten no Streetpass notifications for HHD. Spotpass, Miiverse, etc. are mentioned on the packaging, however, so when the online rating system goes live, there may be a Spotpass feature (though this is entirely speculative).
Character Customization & QR Codes
Character customization: tell me about it!
Unlike previous AC games, you have the ability to choose your skin tone from a range of 8 shades. Like AC:NL, you can choose your eyes from a range of 12 eye styles and 8 colours, plus 16 hairstyles per gender, along with 16 hair colours. Once you've unlocked the blue salon machine in the upstairs of HHD's headquarters (which looks like one of Harriet's salon machines from AC:NL), you can change your appearance and also choose from all 32 hairstyles (both the "male" and "female" styles), regardless of your character's chosen gender.
Can we use our own designs and develop QR codes? Can we use QR codes from Animal Crossing: New Leaf? Tell me more!
You can indeed develop your own designs and QR codes. However, unlike AC:NL, where we had only 10 slots, in HHD we have (are you sitting down?) 120 QR slots. One hundred and twenty. Design your brains out, friends!
You can also import QR codes for designs developed in AC:NL, so once you've unlocked the QR ability, you'll have immediate access to thousands of designs that are already out there on the internet. If you're looking for new QRs designed by HHD players, try visiting TBT member Sora Smiles' new tumblr - Happy Home Central. The twitter hashtags mentioned at the very bottom of this post are also a great source for QRs.
Okay, so talk to me about clothing options.
When you're doing your home-designing job, you have to wear your HHD jacket (which looks kinda like the Happy Home Academy jacket from AC:NL), but you will eventually be able to choose what skirt or pants you'd like to wear along with the jacket, plus hats and accessories. You can unlock new clothing styles by completing home designs for villagers. And yup, boys can wear skirts and girls can wear pants, so you can tart yourself up however you like! As a bonus, you can dress up your villagers too!
How do I dress villagers up?
When you visit a villager either before or after your workday, if you pick the villager up, a clothing icon will appear just above the garbage can icon on the left side of your touch screen. Drag the villager over the clothing icon and you?ll have the option of dressing the villager in shirts, dresses (which will look like a shirt on the villager) or QR code designs, and choosing either a hat or glasses for them to wear. The selection of hats and accessories for villagers is smaller than the selection available for you to wear, but still?doesn?t Beau look cute in that little straw boater hat?? Protip: try putting a New Year?s hat on your villager and see what happens. Also see the "villagers" section below.
How do I get rid of my red jacket and dress myself up? Am I stuck in that red monstrosity for all eternity?
During your workday, you?re trapped in your red jacket. You have no choice: Red. Jacket. Always. When working. The good news is, as mentioned a couple of Qs above here, you can choose everything else that you wear along with your red jacket. You can show your disapproval of the red jacket by wearing clashing colours on purpose.
There?s one little bit of relief from your uniform, though: When you?re in a villager?s home or public facility before or after your workday, you can change your clothes, including your jacket. Just like you can with the villagers, you can pick yourself up and drag yourself over the clothing icon that will appear on the touch screen, just above the garbage can icon on the left. From there, you can choose shirts, skirts, pants, dresses, shoes, socks, accessories, and even QR code designs.
About Your Town
Can I name my town?
It appears that you can't name your town. Isabelle refers to your town as "New Town". (thanks, Mint!)
Can I walk around the village? Can I go fishing and bug-huntin' and stuff?
Nope! You have access to a map to allow you to choose where to locate a villager's home and the environment (forest, meadow, river, beach, desert, mountains) of that home, plus the season it's in, but you will not be able to walk around the map. Each villager's home is its own separate instance. You will, however, be able to unlock bugs, fish, fossils and art to use in home decorating, even though you can't wander around and encounter them on the map.
Are there seasons in HHD?
There sure are! You can't set the time in your game the way you can with AC:NL, but your main street's season changes according to the date on your 3DS. So if your 3DS' calendar settings are set to July, it will look summery on your main street. If you then change your 3DS' settings to January, the ground and trees, etc. will be covered with snow. (Thanks to Preslie for this info!)
You can also choose the season for your villagers' plots, so you can customise the season for each individual villager's home.
Is HHD on a regular 24-hour "day" system like Animal Crossing? Is there day and night?
The game is not on a 24-hour system, but you do get to see both day and night. The game is divided into "workdays", in which you complete tasks. You can choose when to end your "day", though you can only design one villager house per game day (either from choosing one of the 4 random villagers that appear on your main street every day, or by summoning one with an amiibo card). The good thing is, once you've ended your workday, you can start a new one right away!
When you start your day, it will be morning and Lottie will greet you in Nook's Homes. You can either use an amiibo card to summon a villager or go for a walk on your main street, where you can visit your public buildings and see what's going on inside, talk to any villagers you've already helped who might be walking around, and/or choose a client from the random villagers looking for help. You can also visit a villager you've already designed a home for and choose to re-design their home if you'd like.
Once you've chosen a client either by using an amiibo card, choosing one of the villagers on main street, or deciding to re-design for a villager you've already helped, your workday begins.
Once you've designed the villager's home, you'll return to Nook's Homes and it will be nighttime. You can go back out onto main street, visit public buildings, or visit a villager and have a party, or you can choose to write your day's report (i.e., save), and end the day.
At day's end, once you've written your report (i.e., saved), a new workday begins. It'll be daytime again and off you go to continue our design adventures!
Can I design my own house?
You can't design your own house. But since you can do pretty much anything you like with all of the villagers' houses (provided you use any specific furniture items provided in the room when you start), it's kinda like having several hundred of your own houses! *Note: You only have to use the specific furniture items the first time you design a villager's home. If you go back to re-design, you aren't required to use those items again.
I designed a villager's home/public building and have decided I HATE what I did! Should I restart my game?
Nope! As you play, you will unlock options to expand and re-design buildings, so if that playroom-themed school you designed is giving you a headache, or your super-pink hospital d?cor is giving you heartburn, you'll have a chance to turn it into something you like better. See the section below on gameplay and unlocking stuff for more information about re-designing.
Catalogue and Bells
So if I'm designing houses, how do I fill out my catalogue and get new furniture? Do I start with all the furniture in my catalogue, or do I have to buy it? What about stuff like bugs, fish, fossils and art? And how do I make bells to buy all this stuff?
You start with a limited number of items, but each villager you design a house for will unlock new furniture and clothing for you to use. The unlocked furniture can be used in any villager home or public building. So as time goes on and you design more houses and public buildings, the number of items in your catalogue will increase! You can even go back and re-design villagers' homes and public buildings, so you'll be able to add in any new furniture that you've unlocked.
Happy Home Designer doesn't use Bells. You don't earn any Bells, but you don't have to spend any, either. All you need to do is keep designing homes and buildings to increase the amount of furniture and clothing available to you.
The only exceptions to the above are art, bugs, fish, and most gyroids. The only currency used in the game is Play Coins, which you can get just by walking around with your DS (or shaking it so it thinks you're walking!). The Play Coins are used to unlock additional features in the game, like: being able to use art, fish, bugs and most gyroids; designing houses with more than one room; the ability to use QR codes; refurbishing furniture, etc.
Is there a limit on the number of items I can put in a villager's home?
There is. Regardless of room size, there is a 64-item limit on the number of items you can put in a room.
Villagers
How many villagers can I have? Is there a limit?
There isn't a 10- or 12-villager limit like the regular Animal Crossing games. You'll be able to design homes for hundreds of villagers. Hundreds! You can also give more than one villager the same style/location of housing plot as other villagers, and each villager's home occupies its own small "instance":
E.g., if you choose a plot and design a home for Peanut, there won't be another villager's home in the same instance as Peanut's home. Peanut will have her own little home and yard with no one else living in that same space and no direct next-door neighbours (you won't be able to walk out from Peanut's yard and find another villager's house next door). But if you later want to set up a home for Marcel and you choose the same style plot that Peanut has, you can! Marcel can have a location that looks exactly the same as Peanut's, but his house will be the only one in that instance.
What villagers are available in the game? Are my favourite villagers there?
This imgur album is the closest thing we have to knowing what regular villagers are currently available in the game. These pix were apparently uploaded by one person, showing all the villagers they were able to unlock simply by visiting Main Street, not using amiibo cards. We can tell they weren't summoned using amiibo cards because the background behind them is a default background--when you summon a villager using an amiibo card, their profile pic on your clipboard will change to look like their amiibo card, including the colourful amiibo card background.
At this point, we don't have confirmation as to which Special NPCs will be in the game. The only ones we know of so far are either the ones included in the first series of 100 amiibo cards, or those shown on the packaging for series 2, which is not yet in production.
How can I get my dreamies? Can I say "no" to villager requests until I get my dreamies?
The beautiful thing about HHD is that there doesn't appear to be a limit on the number of villagers you can design houses for (there's not a 10- or 12-villager limit as there was in previous AC games and as per the first question in this section, there doesn't appear to be a limit on how many times you can choose a particular plot [even if you choose a certain plot for a villager, that plot will still be available to choose for other villagers' homes]). Random villagers appear in your main street (3 or 4 per game day, depending on how far advanced your game is) and you can choose to decorate one of their homes per game day. You could try to "cycle" and get your dreamies by just ending your workdays immediately without doing anything, but chances are that it would be much faster to just design homes for villagers that appear, or use the amiibo cards if there's a card for that particular dreamie and you're lucky enough to find it.
In addition, every villager unlocks furniture that you can use in any home you design, so it's worth designing a house for each villager, even if you don't really like them. This will give you a lot more furniture options when you do find a dreamie and want to design a swanky room for them.
Is the appearance of villagers random?
The first couple of villagers are always the same. You'll design a test house with Lottie's help (the tutorial), then your first "real" client is Goldie the dog, followed by Lopez the deer.
After that, it appears that you have a small pool of villagers to choose from until you unlock the school design project (after you've designed for about 6 villagers). After that, the number of villagers to choose from increases and seems to continue increasing each time you design another public building.
While the number of random villagers to choose from increases as you go along, there does appear to be variety in which villagers appear. Players out there on the internet that are playing more than one copy of the game at the same time are finding that they're encountering different villagers in their two games.
Is it true that villagers will like anything at all that you design, even if it's not what they asked for?
Yup. There are no consequences for designing something different from the theme that a villager requests. This could be seen as bad if you like being rewarded for completing tasks perfectly (and getting penalized if you don't), but if you want absolute creative freedom, you might see this as pretty sweet.
The only requirement a villager will give you is to use specific furniture items in their rooms (these will show up automatically and look like shipping boxes until you "unpack" them and see what's inside). You can't throw these away and still complete the house--you *must* include these items in your design. Your clipboard that you use for designing includes a checklist of the required items, so if you throw something out by mistake, you can double-check what you're supposed to have in there.
Villagers only have requirements for specific pieces of furniture the first time you design a home for them. If you go back and redesign and/or expand their home, you don't have to keep the furniture they asked for the first time. So if Goldie's requirement that she has a bookcase is driving you bonkers, you can go back, chuck it and give her a wavebreaker instead if you really want. (Thanks Jinglefruit!)
Can I dress up my villagers?
You sure can! It's a lot easier than AC:NL and you can dress them up in not just shirts, but also hats or glasses too. You can even put them in dresses, though it'll appear on the character as though it was a shirt. Here's how it all works:
Villagers will start out by wearing their own default clothing at home. In a public building, they'll wear default, scene-specific stuff (like doctor's coats, nurse's hats, etc. in a hospital). You can change what they're wearing by picking up a villager and dragging them onto the clothing tab icon, which will appear on the left-hand side of your touch screen, at which point you can put whatever you like on them (well, whatever you've unlocked at that point). So if you want Ren?e to wear purple cat's eye glasses, a shower cap, and a blue party dress (and you've unlocked all these things), you can! (thanks mirukushake!)
Happy Home Network - Online Rating System
What's the Happy Home Network?
The Happy Home Network is a feature that allows you to visit villager homes and public buildings that others have designed, plus you have the option of uploading your own homes and buildings for others to visit. It's similar to the Dream Suite in AC:NL, except it has the added feature of allowing you to rate the homes and buildings you visit (more on that below). You can only visit others' designs of villager homes and buildings that you've already unlocked and designed for yourself.
How Do I Unlock the Happy Home Network?
First, make sure you've downloaded the game update, which is required to access the Happy Home Network. Lottie will not mention the Happy Home Network to you until you've installed the update. You can launch the update from the e-Shop, though if your game isn't running and you're about to launch it, you might also get a popup-box prompt and can download the update by pressing 'Y'.
Lottie appears to mention the Happy Home Network to you after about 8 or 9 "workdays", after you've designed the school. Once she's talked to you about it, you're free to use it from a small console on her desk in Nook's Homes.
How Do I Upload a Building or Home that I've Designed?
To upload a home or building to the Happy Home Network, you can choose to upload it immediately once you've finished designing (the game will ask you after the montage cutscene of the completed home), or you can also upload a villager home directly from your clipboard. The most recent snapshot you've taken of the home or building that you're uploading will be displayed for others to see on the Happy Home Network. Once your design has been uploaded, you will receive a number code for the house (similar to a dream address code), so that people can enter the code and visit your design directly, plus you will also have the option of a QR code, which you can upload to social media for others to scan and visit.
What happens if I re-design a house or public building and the original design was uploaded to the Happy Home Network? Can I re-upload? What happens if I do?
You can choose to keep your original design up on the Happy Home Network if you like, even after you?ve updated your design. When you finish a re-design, you?ll be asked if you want to upload the new design to HHN. Be aware: if you select ?yes?, this will replace your original design on HHN and it will wipe out any ratings you received on that design?your ratings on that house or building will go back to 0.
How Do I Visit Buildings or Homes that Others have Designed?
To visit others' homes and buildings, go to the console on Lottie's desk in Nook's Homes, and it will give you the option of connecting to the Happy Home Network. You are limited to visiting only homes or buildings that you've already unlocked yourself. You can search all uploaded homes by villager or by building type, so if you want to see 15 versions of Goldie's house or 10 schools in a row, you can! A preview snapshot of each home or building is available, so you'll be better able to choose which buildings you'd like to visit. If you have either a numeric code or a QR code for a specific design you'd like to visit, you can enter or scan it while using the console on Lottie's desk. Check the twitter hashtags linked at the bottom of this post, which are a great source of home QRs and codes.
Once you've visited a home or building, you can rate it according to 4 categories:
- Cute
- Cool
- Unique
- I want to live there
You can give up to 3 "points" in each category.
When you're browsing homes, you can also see the cumulative results of people's ratings, so it's easy to immediately see which homes left an impression on people!
Gameplay: Unlocking Features and Re-design Options: The amiibo Phone, Housing, and Public Buildings
How do I unlock the amiibo Phone?
Lottie and Lyle will speak to you one morning, telling you about Lyle?s new invention: the amiibo phone. From that point on, you will be able to use the amiibo phone to call villagers (i.e., scan their amiibo cards) and design their houses (if you have a card for that villager). This is the only way you will be able to summon Special NPCs (like Isabelle, Tom Nook, etc.) to design their homes.
You can use the amiibo cards to summon villagers in other ways, too: If you?re at a villager?s home or in a public building, you?ll see an amiibo card icon at the bottom left of your screen. Select it, and you will be able to invite villagers (if you have their amiibo card) to visit another villager?s home, or if you?re in a public building, you can choose to replace any villagers currently in the building with villagers of your choice (if you have their amiibo card).
How do I unlock extra design features like hanging items, bigger rooms, bugs, fish, fossils, etc.?
Tom Nook will come in one morning after you've designed your first few houses and give you the option to take courses from the notebook on your desk. Your first course will be free, but to take the rest, you'll need a total of 31 play coins (the coins you get just for walking around with your DS).
The courses you can take include things like larger floor plans, ceiling items, remaking furniture, QR codes, character re-design, and gyroids, bugs, fish, fossils and art.
How do I re-design villagers? houses? What are the different remodelling options?
If you want to re-design a villager?s home, visit them at the beginning of a workday (by choosing them from your clipboard), before you?ve chosen a client for the day. Speak to the villager and they will give you an option to re-design their home (i.e., the villager you?re re-designing for will become your client for that day). From there, you have a couple of choices (and be sure you've taken the appropriate course from your notebook!):
1. Deluxe Remodel (allows you to re-design the existing home ? the yard, home and furniture will remain exactly the same, but you can move stuff around)
2. New House (allows you to start from scratch, if you like). You have the option of choosing:
a) A new plot of land and season. If you keep the original plot, your yard decorations will remain intact; if you choose a new plot, you will have to re-design the yard.
b) A new floor plan. You can choose a new house that?s smaller than the current one, or the same size or bigger. If you had a one-room home, you can choose a bigger room, or upgrade to a two-room home. If you already had a two-room home, you can choose bigger rooms, or you can upgrade to a three-room home. Your original furniture placement remains intact.
How do I get bigger floor plans for my villagers? houses? What?s the biggest house I can make?
You can get bigger floor plans by re-designing villagers? homes. Each time you go back to re-design, you?ll have the option of larger floor plans.
If you had a one-room home, you can choose a bigger room, or upgrade to a two-room home. If you already had a two-room home, you can choose bigger rooms, or you can upgrade to a three-room home.
The largest you can choose is a three-room home.
How do I unlock public buildings? How many public buildings are there?
Once you?ve designed about 6 houses, Lottie will introduce Isabelle, who will start appearing in Nook?s Homes every morning. Your first public design project will be a school.
You will unlock three phases of Main Street design once you have designed the school.
In the first phase, you will be asked to design a shop, a hospital, and a caf?, which you can do in any order.
Once you?ve completed all buildings in the first phase, you enter the second phase of public design. The lower level of Main Street will open up and you?ll be asked to design an office building, a restaurant, and a department store, plus you will be asked to re-design the school and make it bigger. Once you've re-designed the school, Digby will start appearing in Nook's Homes in the mornings, giving you the option to re-design any public facilities you've already done.
After you?ve completed the design assignments in phase two, you?ll enter the third phase of public design. Two final projects will become available to you: a concert hall and a hotel. Once these are completed, you will have finished the game?s main storyline and the credits will roll.
How do I re-design public buildings? Can I get bigger floor plans?
Once you've re-designed the school in phase 2 of your Main Street building unlocks, Digby will start appearing in Nook's Homes in the mornings, giving you the option to re-design any public facilities you've already done. You will have the option for larger floor plans when you re-design.
Playthrough Videos & twitter Hashtags
A number of playthroughs are available for you to watch right now, if you'd like to do some research. For example:
Jennifer Christensen has been playing the Japanese version since it came out at the end of July. She livestreams HHD a couple of times a week on twitch during weekdays (either at 11 a.m. or 7 p.m. PST [GMT-8]). She has over 100 HHD vids on youtube. I recommend picking a random video to watch, as she went into the game completely blind. If you want to see her figuring it out, start from the beginning, but otherwise, she's designed homes for at least a couple of hundred villagers at this point and has built all of the public buildings in her main street. Her twitch handle, if you'd like to join the livestream, is v3lla.
LinandKo have done a couple of playthroughs, though these are limited.
TheBitBlock has done several videos.
Chyadosensei on YouTube has a few vids as well.
If you'd rather check out screenshots, check out TBT member Jinglefruit's tumblr. Jinglefruit plays with themes, creates backstories for houses and generally mucks around. It provides great examples of how you can either stick with a theme the villager gives you or bust right out of it and do all kinds of silly, hilarious, wonderful things.
twitter Hashtags
There are a couple of twitter hashtags you might also like to keep an eye on, which provide great inspiration. The feeds are full of snaps of houses, but also new QR codes that people have developed, and, as of a few days ago, homes you can visit through the Happy Home Network. There's some overlap in what you'll see in the 3 hashtags below, but some Japanese players only tag with the Japanese hashtags, so it's worth checking them all out.
The most basic hashtag is #ACHappyHome, which is being used by players all over the world.
The Japanese equivalent of #ACHappyHome is #ハッピーホーム. You'll definitely see overlap with #ACHappyHome, as many people tag their posts with both hashtags, but occasionally you'll find a hidden gem in this feed that doesn't make its way into the other hashtag feeds.
A new tag popped up in late September 2015 called #ツクッター which is a little less active than the two above, but appears to be focussed mainly on showcasing Happy Home Network QRs and codes. Again, there's some overlap with the above two tags, but again, sometimes something special shows up that you won't see anywhere else.
Last edited:
