Playing without dreamies...

[Arckaniel]

I'd say what I'll do is to get as much of my dreamies as I can on Nook Miles Island and then once my villager count is full (with random move ins and such), I'd just let go of the ones I don't like naturally, so elaborating on that, I'll always keep my dreamies but the ones I'm not fond of will be let go once they want to leave so that I could encounter more villagers and maybe get my other dreamies until I have all my dreamies in my town...

This method would probably take years but I really can't ignore them nor hit them with my net just because I hate them, I can't take doing that tbh AHAHAHAHA so I'll just play it naturally and talk to all my villagers and hey, I might get fond to some of the villagers that truly deserve some more love.

 

[TheRealWC]

I'm doing something very similar to this. The only villager I'd consider a "dreamie" and am actively seeking out is Goldie since she was my bestie in WW and I never got her in NL (didn't play online so I wasn't into villager trading). Other than her, I'm just going to be letting villagers move in and out organically. I'm sure I'll become friends with another villager and have them stay forever but I'm not gunning for any specific villagers.

 

[aikatears]

I dont have dreamies...there a few I like but my goal for the third try to get all pictures crazy yes but I shall try once more

 

[ayeeprill]

I'm doing what I did in New Leaf. My two favorite villagers will be staying forever (Kiki and Ribbot, already moved them in via the Amiibo feature). Other than that, I'm leaving it to chance. All of my New Leaf villagers were random move-ins or random campers except Kiki, Ribbot, and Octavian (adopted from a friend).

I've already decided Bianca will be sticking around awhile. I may eventually move my third favorite, Diana, in as well.

 

[ILikeFroakies]

When I get the game I'm not going after dreamies at the start. Until I get close to finishing my island I want to meet all new villagers and accept who I get. When I was figuring out my dreamies in New Leaf, most of them were because they were a random move in and I grew to love them. I want to give a chance for this to happen again. When my island is almost finished, I'll then evaluate who my dreamies are and move them into my town so I get the best of both worlds.

However, since there is 10 villagers and I want 1 of each personality, I might move in my two absolute favourites (Cube and Ankha) earlier in the game so I can spend more time with them

 

[Verecund]

That's what I'd like to do in this game; I had an NL town where I used amiibo to get all my favourites and I got sick of it fast. Since there's so many villagers in the game and there's many I haven't had in any town yet, I'm looking forward to making a bunch of new unexpected friends! I also want to hold off on the Nook Mile islands now because I've already recruited three villagers I'd like to keep for a while through them and I don't know if it'd get stale hanging on to so many villagers for so long (I want to keep my two starters for a while as well), so from now on I'm going to try to leave my move-ins up to chance (and campsite invites if I get anyone good).

 

[thundershot]

I got my dream team too quick in NL and ran out of things to do that I enjoy. My long term goal in the last three games has been to get the pic of every animal that has graced my town before sending them packing. When you complete a dream team of ten and you get all their pics, you have nothing left to do that really interests you. So then Welcome Amiibo came and got me back in. I let two go and added Ganon and Ketchup. I got Ketchup’s pic but I couldn’t get her to move.

so this time... I’m picking my five faves (Savannah, Camofrog, Rocco, Rod, Ankha) and then have five rotators. Hopefully they will still give out pics with max happiness, so I can do the same. Unfortunately I’ve started to take a liking to a couple of them that I never had in my town before... Coco and Hans. So we’ll see how it goes. Rod and Ankha may fall off the list. And if they ever bring WOOLIO back I have to make room for him!

 

[michealsmells]

I've got villagers of my own that are my favorites, and villagers that I don't really care for, but this is how I've always played the game!! It's fun having villagers come across organically. That's how I know my favorite villagers- because I've let them come along when they show up.

My current favorite is Tia who I just invited in. I absolutely love her, and that's not just because of her theme. I just think she's really cute and sweet and has an adorable aesthetic that fits perfectly in my town!!

 

[Saga]

I partially play this way. I have some dreamies, but then the rest of the villagers I just let cycle in and out naturally. I try to keep two "random" villagers at an absolute minimum, (right now I have 5 rotating, 5 invited or permanent villagers) just so I can meet new animals and my town doesn't get stale talking to the same characters day in and day out for years.

 

[Foxxie]

Wow, I really didn't expect this many replies! Thank you all for sharing your perspectives, I appreciate that.

As it stands for me, there are three villagers that will definitely be sticking around a while.

Norma, because she showed up on a tour and Norma is the name of my RL Nanna. My Nanna was so happy to hear that one of my islanders was named the same and I sent her a screenshot. She keeps asking after her, so I doubt I'll let her move any time soon. I've made her a little farm area with a silo and pear trees (my Nanna's favourite fruit) and she looks after the hybrid patch.

There's also Erik, who I had in NL and he's my Son's favourite villager ever. He's super cute and again I often end up turning the game on just so my son can go talk to Erik. He lives in his cabin in my woodland area and I'm planning a picnic area for him as he loves food so much.

And at the moment Annalisa lives in my Japanese garden. She is super cute, and just spends her time watering her garden and sweeping her path. Maybe considering switching her for Pekoe later on, but that's a big maybe.

Other than that my "town centre" area has two main housing streets with the remaining houses and these seven are going to be purely for rotation. Like many of you have said, if someone moves in that I can't bear to let go, then that's okay too Maybe I'll end up with 10 eventually that I can't part with

 

[Kurashiki]

personally, i am going to be searching for my dreamies, but i am making sure that almost all of them this time around are villagers i've never had before (all except bob!) to keep it new. as well, i am trying to be flexible about my list - i never planned to have flurry or punchy on my island, but i met them on island tours and fell in love, so my dream villagers evolves w my experience in the game!

 

[Rosch]

Majority of my dreamies were jocks, and they were always guaranteed to be one of the first villagers. I was resetting to get a good map, but the final one I picked apparently had my dreamy, Rod. Then in the island tours, I stumbled upon Sterling by luck, so I invited him.

I am not actively searching for them, but if they show up, then cool.

 

[Dustbird]

I think that's a great idea, and, to be fair, is much more in tune with the spirit of the game.

I think I'm going for something inbetween, I want my dreamies but I kind of want it to be a long-term project.

There are so many other cuties I don't wanna miss out on meeting!!

I have been insanely lucky with the mystery islands though and already got 3 of my ultimate dreamies!

 

[iGotNoiPad]

I dont have dreamies...there a few I like but my goal for the third try to get all pictures crazy yes but I shall try once more

I tried doing that with NL and got about 20% before I stopped playing the game. I will be doing the same for this game so hopefully I can have better results. Good luck with your attempt!

 

[wildbite]

No judgment to anyone else, but for me scanning in my cards feels too easy. I spent 17 tickets yesterday and didn’t find one of my dreamies on an island tour. I am going to save up even more next time before I place down my final housing plot. After I have all ten villagers and one asks to move out, I will resume trying to fill the final spot with a dreamie.

Months or a year from now, I will consider scanning in one of my cards. In New Leaf, I soft reset and time traveled to get all my dreamies and that took the fun out of the game for me.

 

[Lethalia]

That's a great idea! It'll be such a great opportunity to meet new faces and to maybe fall in love with a villager you never thought you would.

 

[thundershot]

I dont have dreamies...there a few I like but my goal for the third try to get all pictures crazy yes but I shall try once more

I tried doing that with NL and got about 20% before I stopped playing the game. I will be doing the same for this game so hopefully I can have better results. Good luck with your attempt!

Pics in NL were REALLY easy thanks to April Fool’s Day.

Even without, my animals gave me multiple copies of their pics over the course of the game. The only ones I needed April Fools for were the ones I wanted to get the pic and boot them out.