Now more than ever, I really wish I could have a second island.

[Llunavale]

Yeah, I know, everyone does, but when replying to another thread it got me thinking about how much I appreciated having a second town in New Leaf around the time I'd gotten a little bored of checking into my main town each day.

I don't want to reset again because I really like my island now - I like the layout, I like the villagers, I love my catalogue collection and the seasonal items I've collected, my DIY collection...I'm in love with what I've built up, but I still have this itch to come at the game fresh again, and the only thing that will scratch it at this point is a second island.

I know we have the flexibility to do whatever we want with the town, but that's not a solution to me - I don't want to be in a loop of building up my island, tearing it down, repeat, especially not on my "main" island. I want to have an island I can refine and make "perfect," and grow as updates for the game release, and I want to have an island I can just goof about with and try new things on.

I understand why we only have island per Switch, but don't think it's a good enough reason and now more than ever, I really wish I could have a second island.

How do you guys cope with this? How do you keep things interesting on your one and only island?

 

[Sharksheep]

I plan on adding a seasonal area then I can change more frequently and experiment with decorating a small space. Maybe play around with Harv's Island a bit and experiment with theme rooms.

If you are getting brunt out, maybe just play for an hour to do your daily activities for a couple of days. This game is forgiving if you need a break from it.

 

[sleepingsae]

if you have a second page on your switch im pretty sure you can have a second island, right?

 

[Llunavale]

If you are getting brunt out, maybe just play for an hour to do your daily activities for a couple of days.

That's already what I'm doing haha, it's the opposite feeling of being burned out for me though, I want more but there currently isn't more and when the same thing happened in New Leaf, my solution (and a lot of other peoples actually) was to start a second town! It's a pretty fun way to kill some extra time doing stuff you wouldn't normally do on the island you're trying to build up properly piece by piece.

if you have a second page on your switch im pretty sure you can have a second island, right?

Sadly not! Additional profiles on the Switch just get to join the existing island as additional playable characters, there's no way to have a second island on a single Switch (even if you own two cartridges, it loads the same island).

 

[Sefyre]

I haven't felt this about my island itself, but I'm feeling this a bit about my house.

I've gotten to the point where I mostly love / like the way my house has turned out and in spite of wanting to try something new, I DON'T want to tear down the work I've already done because I love it for what it is.

My solution was to create a second player account to start a new house and then share a few items to get it started.

In anticipation of having the same feelings about my island itself, I've held off on some island development and designated a portion to that second player / new ideas.

It's not the same as wanting a completely new island, but I definitely see the appeal of it.

 

[sleepingsae]

dude! really? thats so sucky D:

 

[Llunavale]

My solution was to create a second player account to start a new house and then share a few items to get it started.

Yes! I've done exactly the same thing for houses actually, made another profile so that I can develop a second property - I do enjoy that to be fair, I just need to know when to draw a line under it - I don't fancy developing 8 profiles worth of houses any time soon!

In anticipation of having the same feelings about my island itself, I've held off on some island development and designated a portion to that second player / new ideas.

I did burn through a lot of the game (as many people did I'm sure) due to having such an abundance of time on my hands and I do wonder if taking it a bit slower to begin with would have been more beneficial, but at the same time it's just prolonging the feeling I suppose - I am looking forward to new content updates though, another reason I don't really want to restart my current town!

 

[Xara]

same honestly - while i’m not really getting burnt out, i have so many ideas that i’d like to implement that i don’t have room for on my island. catch me buying a whole other switch just to have a second island ;;

 

[Cosmic_Insanity]

I never had a second NL island, but then I was never as into NL as I am NH. The idea is appealing sure, but I do wonder if I would actually cope with playing on two islands time and commitment wise (yes, I see playing AC daily a "commitment"). There is still so so much left to do on my island, so I'm not facing the issue of feeling "finished" yet. I have created 2 secondary characters so I can design their homes as something extra to do. Plus, Nintendo are rolling out periodic updates with this game, and there's definitely the possibility of DLC. I think we should remain hopeful, you never know what we'll get in the future!

 

[Llunavale]

I'm not facing the issue of feeling "finished" yet. I have created 2 secondary characters so I can design their homes as something extra to do. Plus, Nintendo are rolling out periodic updates with this game, and there's definitely the possibility of DLC. I think we should remain hopeful, you never know what we'll get in the future!

I can definitely agree with this - I don't think I feel like I'm "finished" with it as such, there's still a lot I want to do and a lot I will do as new updates are released, I think it's just about having that option to turn to another island that's really just a bit of fun vs the one I'm committing more of my time to, that's how I thought of my second NL town at least - experimental fun vs my "main experience."

 

[Angelbearpuppy]

I try to have a sesonal area. I decorate it with the seasonal items and redesign it each season or event. That is what I did on my first island. When my Mom experessed wanting to play I started over to enjoy a new isand with her.

 

[Fendi]

Initially, I thought that the island we were given was already large enough as it is, but I quickly realized that it is much smaller and I'm starting to experience growing pains. Admittedly, not everything in my island has actually been fully developed yet, in the hopes that more storefronts will come, or maybe even more items so I can flesh out the ideas I initially wanted.

But I would love a second island just so I can experiment around with style ideas without having to spend countless hours on my original island if I hate the direction it is going in.

 

[June]

i had a second NL island too and boy do i miss having that option easily available to me ; - ; now i just have to remind myself i probably don't have time to develop both/or go between them even if one island is more "relaxed" than the other

 

[Aliya]

I had 3 NL towns at one point and I agree! There's so many more villagers I want to experience and I'd love to play with a different theme for my island. I would buy another copy of NH in a heartbeat once I had the money if it wasn't one island per switch but I can't really justify $300 for another switch (especially with the shortages now).

I sometimes feel the urge to reset and start fresh since it's always fun to look at fresh islands and imagine the potential, but then I remember how much I love my current island and the feelings back off.

 

[Mayor Todd]

I've been tempted to go back to Dragon Quest Builders 2 and mess with my islands there a bit. I'm pretty sure I have enough time to juggle two games right now. I still like building friendships in New Horizons, but the whole crafting and island building thing was done a lot better in DQB2.

 

[Llunavale]

I would buy another copy of NH in a heartbeat once I had the money if it wasn't one island per switch but I can't really justify $300 for another switch (especially with the shortages now).

Absolutely, I'm in the same boat - I've been super tempted like @xara mentioned but I definitely can't justify the cost of it - especially with how much even the Switch Lite is being flipped for at the moment.

I sometimes feel the urge to reset and start fresh since it's always fun to look at fresh islands and imagine the potential, but then I remember how much I love my current island and the feelings back off.

Yeah, this for sure - I had restarted once already because I wasn't super fond of some of the aspects of the town we can't change, like the dock placement, number of rocks along the beaches, placement of residential services next to the airport. So I spent a lot of time making sure the island I have now is "right" for me, so it's hard to even consider resetting it honestly.

I've been tempted to go back to Dragon Quest Builders 2 and mess with my islands there a bit. I'm pretty sure I have enough time to juggle two games right now. I still like building friendships in New Horizons, but the whole crafting and island building thing was done a lot better in DQB2.

I've never played a DQB game or been too interested in playing it, but knowing this aspect of it makes me a little curious about it - I may have to look into a bit and see how it is!

 

[Mayor Todd]

I've never played a DQB game or been too interested in playing it, but knowing this aspect of it makes me a little curious about it - I may have to look into a bit and see how it is!

I really enjoyed Dragon Quest Builders 2 a lot. Originally it was something to kill time until New Horizons came out, but I ended up really liking it. It has different priorities than New Horizons. The focus is more on story and crafting things than on relationships and being part of a community, which I think is Animal Crossings strength. You do develop strong relationships with some of the NPCs, especially Malroth and Lulu, but that all takes place in a fairly linear story line. There's a really good demo available on the Nintendo Switch store which allows you to transfer your game save if you decide to go on to the full game. I don't think it takes the place of Animal Crossing, but it's a good game on its own.

 

[Mayor-of-Bliss]

Yes. I want a one species only island but not on my MAIN island. I think Nintendo missed the point with that one.

If 10 people are willing to pay 60 for a new game but you make it only avalible for 300 because new game and new switch...1 might do it but thats it probably. So in the long run you'd make more money with selling the game separately not needing another switch.

Anyway. I just think about rebreeding blues roses. Nope nevermind.

 

[eminyan]

I totally get what you mean. I get bored of things really easily and as much as I am "content" with a design it gets to be boring soon after...

 

[jumpluff]

I wish I had one just for things like cycling villagers, rehoming them, etc. To be honest, now my partner plays the game, it eased a lot of the pain that made me want another island, and it's fun seeing his build up, although it isn't the same as getting to work on one that's all my own, with my own villagers and ideas... But I don't like that you can only have one per Switch at all, and I'd love to do a pure-terraform island (because I have trouble changing the one I'm so attached to... of course I don't want to restart lol).

I dunno. I'd pay for two copies of the game, but two people do not need three Switches between them really (at least, these two people don't!). Back in the day, I was always so jealous of people with multiple copies of New Leaf, and I was so disappointed I couldn't live that life with NH.