To Villiager Hunt or Not to Villiage Hunt that is the question

[Angelbearpuppy]

Having restarted my island I am thinking of letting my villagers naturally cycle this time and find some new favorites instead of hunting down old ones. Maybe with an over arching goal of collecting as many portraits as I can before the New Year. That got me to wondering how many of you on here still villager hunt?

 

[cainhurst]

Oh, hey! I've just restarted, too We be twinning, as the kids say. lmao

That said, I'm not sure what to call my method for this time around. I don't want it to be entirely random, i.e., just go to sleep with an open plot and see who's there the next day, but I'm also not thinking of adopting every single villager from other players - at least not for the initial plot-filling. I'm not sure whether island-hopping counts as hunting, but to me it's like a sweet spot between totally random "whoever shows up, shows up" and deliberately seeking out specific villagers.

I'm seeking out just a couple from the lovely traders and cyclers on here, but otherwise I'm just going to pop by mystery islands until someone shows up that I'd be happy to have as a neighbor. I'm trying not to be quite as picky this time around.

 

[Clock]

I used to villager hunt, and it's a hassle doing it, so I didn't move out anyone for now.

 

[Firesquids]

I have so many amiibo cards that I just use them most of the time. In NH I was TTing and using amiibo to get the villagers I wanted, essentially right when the game launched. I kept one plot at a time to keep cycling using NMT to see the new villagers. I specifically wanted Audie, Raymond, and Judy. To be honest, in NH I'm very controlling of who I let live in my town, but I wasn't always this way. Back in New Leaf I made sure to keep a few villagers I was particularly fond of, specifically Shep, Punchy, and eventually Ankha, Merengue, and Julian. The rest of the village I would just let cycle. Eventually I got into amiibo cards and had a town full of wolves.
That being said, I think letting your entire town cycle out and never using NMT sounds like fun too, you may even find a new favorite villager. It would be an interesting experience to never stop villagers from leaving.

 

[azurill]

I restarted my second island end of last month. I have not island hopped for this island and plan on letting them move in randomly. I have had good luck so far with the first three.

As for my main island I haven’t island hopped in awhile and use Amiibo cards. I might go island hopping at some point but not anytime soon.

 

[Angelbearpuppy]

I have so many amiibo cards that I just use them most of the time. In NH I was TTing and using amiibo to get the villagers I wanted, essentially right when the game launched. I kept one plot at a time to keep cycling using NMT to see the new villagers. I specifically wanted Audie, Raymond, and Judy. To be honest, in NH I'm very controlling of who I let live in my town, but I wasn't always this way. Back in New Leaf I made sure to keep a few villagers I was particularly fond of, specifically Shep, Punchy, and eventually Ankha, Merengue, and Julian. The rest of the village I would just let cycle. Eventually I got into amiibo cards and had a town full of wolves.
That being said, I think letting your entire town cycle out and never using NMT sounds like fun too, you may even find a new favorite villager. It would be an interesting experience to never stop villagers from leaving.

That's what I am thinking too. Just letting then cycle. That does not necessarily mean I won't pass one or two up island hopping if they just don't appeal to me but for the most part letting them cycle to fund out new favorites sounds fun to me

 

[VanitasFan26]

I let my plot auto fill and it was a big mistake because I got Stella (again) and she was from my 2nd island.

 

[The retro leafeon]

I villager hunt when i want a specific villager really badly, but usually i grow attached and dont let villagers go (hated ricky when he first moved in, was sad to see him go a few months later)

 

[azurill]

I let my plot auto fill and it was a big mistake because I got Stella (again) and she was from my 2nd island.

This happened to me so much before I restarted my second island. It was one of the reasons I reset it. This way when I place plots to auto-fill they won’t be from my first island. I just don’t go back and forth between the two islands.

 

[ConfusedDad]

The only problem is that I used to not have many tickets, so I couldn’t do much villager hunting. Now I just don’t have enough plots open.

 

[Xara]

i still villager hunt/island hop, though not because i’m worried about an ‘ugly’ villager moving in if i don’t lol. i do it because i love it. island hopping/villager hunting has been my favourite thing to do in-game since i’ve gotten it. it can definitely be time-consuming and a little frustrating at times, but i still enjoy doing it. i love the surprise of not knowing what villager will be on each island, and getting to clear some of the nmts out of my storage is always nice haha. some of the mystery island layouts have also inspired ideas for my own island, and it’s a plus if the island has pear trees or a giant clam or 2 on the beach. can never have too many of those.

most of my villagers have come from villager hunting. i do occasionally amiibo villagers in, and a plot autofilled once (though it was an accident), but it’s not as fun for me as island hopping is.

 

[Croconaw]

I used Amiibo cards and traded for the rest of my favorite villagers. I don’t care for villager hunting.

 

[Sheando]

I usually island hop, but I tend to prefer some of the less popular villagers, and I’d never hunt for one specific villager for hours. Typically I buy a handful of NMTs and then island hop until I find somebody I like to invite, which is usually about 1-12 islands. It’s a nice balance of getting SOME say in who moves in while still having the outcome be a little random. I just stop at the first villager I enjoy that hasn’t lived in any of my previous AC towns.

 

[VanitasFan26]

I used Amiibo cards and traded for the rest of my favorite villagers. I don’t care for villager hunting.

The only time I use amiibo cards is if the villager who has been living for too long on the island and they refuse to go then I will force them out. It depends on if they are taking too long to give me their photo or if they just don't want to leave after giving me their photo.

 

[NookSchnook]

I decided that, if any of my villagers ask whether they should leave five times, it's time to let them move on. Then I'll hunt new villagers.

 

[WaileaNoRei]

I always villager hunt because I think it is really fun! I find that I am often surprised by villagers or discover that I like villagers I haven’t previously known I liked.

I would love to see who would auto fill on my island (I think the move in queue is pretty neat), but just can’t pass up the chance to island hop!

But I never go with a set list of who I am looking for or worry about going off list when I choose a villager.

It’s not about being worried about an ‘ugly’ villager to me, or about finding someone popular. I just really enjoy it. These days I tend to find villagers way too fast and it cuts my fun a little shorter than I would like

Also, for whatever reason I just don’t feel as much fun or connection from amiibo card villagers (even though I know they are the same villagers)

 

[S.J.]

I started a second island towards the end of last year, and I've done a mix of mystery island hopping and letting villagers move in randomly. When I do go island hopping, I'm not usually looking for a specific villager, and I'll just see who pops out at me. I think the only villager I've actively hunted was Megan.

I like visiting mystery islands over letting them move in randomly, because it means I get the opportunity to meet a lot more of the villagers and find one that clicks.

 

[cherrygirl]

I used to villager hunt big time, however after restarting a few times and getting a new switch and therefore having to restart completely from scratch again, I found I just couldn’t be bothered.

It’s fun at first but after awhile to get one specific villager it can take forever and requires a lot of persistence which I just don’t have.

Also with the amiibos being released I’ve managed to grab quite a few of my favourites so I’m quite happy to have random villagers move in as if I’m not a big fan of them I can always easily move them out.

I’ve also found that having the same favourites in all the time, I eventually get sick of them so with my current island I’m thinking of cycling a bunch of villagers (l like or don’t mind) in and out that way it keeps the game fresh for me.

 

[Flicky]

I always semi-villager hunted. I'd visit the mystery islands with a list of villagers that I wanted. But if I couldn't find one after about 20 attempts, I'd settle for the first villager afterwards that I liked the look of.

Along with a few lucky campsite finds, I did eventually get all of the villagers that I wanted using this method, and I found a lot of other cool new villagers along the way.