How to Reset Which Villager is Moving

[troola]

I don't know if this is common knowledge or not, but I figured this out last night so I thought why not share? I repeated this process over ten times until the villager I wanted to move asked to move, so I'm going to share in case it helps anyone else! I've also had this happen to me once before, too, but I wasn't sure what caused it. Now I know!

What You Need

• A villager who wants to move
• 50k bells ( you will get this back )
• A willingness to time travel ( day by day! )

How it Works

When you talk to a villager and they want to move DO NOT ANSWER THEM! Just turn off the game, or simply don’t talk to them to begin with.

Next you will go to Tom Nook and say you want to move this villagers house. After that they shouldn’t want to move any longer so you can just return the kit. If they still have a thought bubble they might just want to give you something. Talk to them before returning the kit to be sure they no longer want to move, but they never did when I tried. Time travel a day forward and someone else should want to move! It is possible to get the same villager to ask again, though I only had it happen once. Just repeat the steps!

If you happen to not be able to find anyone moving, go forward or backwards to another day, and there should be someone asking to move! It’s a little time consuming, but I think this is the best method to get a certain villager out, rather than time traveling weeks or days at a time.

A note though, I never left the same week while trying this, I would always go from Monday to Saturday, back to Monday. I'm unsure if TTing to a new week will effect it. For some reason I could never find anyone wanting to move on Saturday, but on Monday there would always be someone.

 

[noodle'ssoup]

Brilliant! Thanks for this.

 

[RenaiRider]

Has anyone else tested this? Seems like a big deal if it works!

 

[Calysis]

You don't even have to do the plot thing to have the villagers reset each day! ^^

My method is this:

Spoiler

1. Start up the game and see who wants to leave/look for the thought bubble. If it's someone you don't want to leave, immediately close the game without saving/without ending the dialogue.
If you're unsure if anyone is even trying to leave, time travel 15 days ahead to trigger someone wanting to leave.

2. Time travel one day ahead and look for the thought bubble. If the villager you wish to leave is inside their home and you can't find a villager wanting to move outside, time travel a couple of hours in the future to try to get that villager outside of their home so you can check them. The villager asking to move out stays the same on the same day, so they could be wanting to move. However, since they're inside their home, they won't ask!

3. Repeat step 2 until you get the villager you want with the bubble. The villager with the bubble should be alternating between villagers every time you change the day.

Honestly, your method seems a lot more efficient as long as you aren't absolutely broke, so I'm going to start using your method. Thank you for sharing!! ^__^

 

[Hoosker]

As someone who's widdling down the list of villagers I want to evict, this is AMAZING.
Thank you!

 

[Nefarious]

Wish I learned this a day earlier when Ed wanted to move. But I’m definitely bookmarking this for next time! Thank you for this method!

 

[marea]

Thanks for sharing! I dont tt currently but this is gonna help me after i start doing so.

 

[Munyo]

Villagers don't ask to leave on Saturday because of K.K., I believe!

 

[usa-chan]

can confirm that this method works! thanks so much for this!

 

[ctar17]

Thanks for sharing this method!

While I've only had 1 person ask me to move out (2 weeks ago, on a Sunday), one reason why they never ask on Saturdays could be that KK is in town. I find that all of my outside villagers like to walk towards KK and sit on the stools forever on Saturday...

 

[kumamon]

thank you so much for posting this!
my observations from trying this:
- the "cycle" lasts for maybe 4 or 5 days at a time? going to a new week doesn't affect it, but your cycle may not necessarily be mon-sat consecutively.
for example: i found a thought bubble on 5/1, a friday. i went back to the monday before (4/27) but couldn't find a bubble. so i went to the monday after (5/4) and found a bubble, so despite being a new week it still worked. i couldn't find a bubble the next day on tuesday (5/5) or on weds (5/6) so i just cycled friday, skip sat bc KK, sun and mon.
- villagers can have thought bubbles on rainy days, but they have to be outside
- sometimes villagers won't be thinking the first time you pass by them, try leaving the screen or entering a building and checking again

 

[Cwynne]

Can this work without TTing (i.e, doing the plot reset thing and then simply waiting for the next day) or is that necessary?

 

[Khaelis]

Bleh, why do these methods always need time travel. ):

 

[Raz]

Bookmarked, even if I personally have a "No Marty McFly" rule.

 

[troola]

Bookmarked, even if I personally have a "No Marty McFly" rule.

Bleh, why do these methods always need time travel. ):

Can this work without TTing (i.e, doing the plot reset thing and then simply waiting for the next day) or is that necessary?

I'm pretty sure it would work the same if you just waited for the next day, I can't see why it wouldn't. The game is recognizing it as a day new, so I'm sure a real new day would work just we well!

If anyone wants to try waiting for the next day and reporting back on the results, though, to be sure that would be great!

 

[Krissi2197]

So you can return the plot to Nook once you pay the money to him?? Cause I dont wanna be forced to move a home every time I try to do this

 

[troola]

So you can return the plot to Nook once you pay the money to him?? Cause I dont wanna be forced to move a home every time I try to do this

Yes! Just talk to him and click the same options again, and you'll get the option to return the kit instead.

 

[Krissi2197]

Really interesting! I'll have to try this next time someone wants to move out if it ends up being a villager I dont want to move.

 

[MindlessPatch]

Oooo definitely gonna try this next time someone asks to move. So far no one has left my island (except for one I booted out with an amiibo) cause people I want to keep are the only once asking.

 

[AshdewCrossing]

I've heard this method works without having to talk to Tom Nook and return the plot, as long as you quit before the game autosaves. Your method seems pretty good for those who took too long to find the villager and got autosaved though!