What's your playstyle?

[Mairen]

* I want to first state that this is not intended to be a debate thread, so please show kindness to everyone, even if you disagree with how they play.*

I'm curious to hear how you are playing your game! I think it's going to be fascinating to hear about all the different play styles that people are using. Some example questions you may consider answering in your response is: Do you time travel or not? Do you have a dreamie list or let random villagers come and go? Do you mostly play solo or do you play with a group of friends? Do you trade heavily with other people or are you trying to unlock items on your own? Are you using guides to ensure you get all of the bugs and fish possible, or are you just going at it blind and seeing what you happen to catch? Add in anything else that you'd like to share with us!

I'm trying to have what I'm calling a "natural" play style. I do not time travel. I'm not trading with people for diys or items, I want to unlock them for myself. I have a 'dreamie' list but it's not a solid 10 villagers only. I'd say there's 20-30 villagers on that list that I'm happy to go through. I may whittle this down as time goes on and eventually settle on 10 permanent ones, but I'm not ready to do that yet. I'm not adopting villagers from other towns at this time, but that may change in the future. I have a small group of about 5 offline friends that I have a discord channel with and we'll chat about our gameplay adventures in there. (We're all carefully watching our turnip prices this week to see who ends up with the best rate, then we'll all visit that person's town.) I haven't decided yet, but I'm considering not using a bug or fish guide for my first year, and just trying to see what I catch on my own. After the first year, I'll probably use a guide to finish getting anything that I still happen to be missing.

What about you guys? ^-^

 

[Xara]

i wouldn’t consider myself a ‘natural player’. i have time travelled a bit (nothing to the extreme, i just wanted to catch a shark lmao) and i have traded a bit with other players. i have a set list of 10 dreamies and a general idea of what i want to do with my island. however, i am attempting to obtain things by myself for the most part and have avoided looking up guides as i’d like to figure things out for myself (although i’d love to know the best present to give bertha since her birthdays in 3 days lol)

 

[Romaki]

I play day-by-day, but after deciding to restart I allowed myself to start on the same day and then travel forward to catch up since the downside would be missing out on a bunch of stuff. But anyway, now I play day-by-day again. My first session is at noon where I do my daily routine and get everything in order. I'll talk with the villagers and take as much time as I can, usually a couple of hours because I have something else to do. If CJ is in town I'll take some time to fish, if Flick is there I'll wait for the evening to grind. In the evening I usually grind NookMiles and terraform a little bit. For Flick I'll grind tarantulas, otherwise I just do whatever I feel like doing.

I'm not using a guide, but I do have the app someone posted on here to know if my villagers have a birthday coming up and what bugs and fish are available at the moment. I think I have caught everything at the moment, I try not to spoil myself but I really don't care either way.

 

[Altarium]

I'm a completionist, so the things I enjoy the most are completing the museum and getting all my dream villagers. These are of course long term goals, so in the meantime I'd consider myself a pretty regular player.

My first session of the day is usually at 10 or 11 AM, in which I do my daily routine (fossils, message in a bottle, checking the shops, gold rock, money tree and speaking to all my villagers) which takes about an hour. I usually save the afternoon sessions for terraforming and landscaping because I enjoy the hourly music and the sunset sky :3. I rarely play at night, unless I need to catch a bug or a fish (gimme that damn barreleye pls it's been a month)

I'm usually a solo player as I don't have that many IRL friends to play with, but I like playing solo anyway.

I try to get everything on my own, so I usually resort to trading only if I desperately need that one item or if I can't get it myself somehow. I do enjoy trading items and villagers though!

I don't time travel UNLESS I need to make space for a dreamie, but those are rare occasions.

 

[claracampanelli]

sooo... my internet connection is pretty bad so trading is impossible for me. i guess i'm stuck with having to unlock everything on my own hahaha
i did time travel once to buy turnips, but mostly i don't TT. i don't have anything against it and if i ever feel like i need to TT for something, i will.
i don't have a dreamie list and i'm just letting them come and go (actually that's not entirely true because i've grown so attached to my villagers that i rarely let them go. i started playing when it launched and yesterday was the first time i agreed to someone moving out only because a friend of mine would adopt her)
about playing solo or with friends: i guess i'm about 50/50 on that one. i love having people over and sending gifts via mail. but i only do it with my close friends bc they don't care about my ****ty internet conection lol
not using guides regarding catching fishes/bugs, i'm just freestyling it

 

[Mezzanine]

deleted

 

[Dormire]

The merchant/peddler playstyle. I LOVE trading with people and will unapologetically TT to hand over villagers like pancakes if need to.
I set up an "insurance policy" with trading villagers. Like, if it glitches and have an Amiibo of said villager, I'll replace it with a new one for free!(Disclaimer: this is a one time use and exclusive only up until the villager adoption glitch is patched.)

I don't exactly play around with the game unless I can trade stuff. It's fun. I get items in exchange, I get more friends. Sounds pretty good to me! (I mean, I do work hard to get a starting capital via paperclip trading (like trading up until the big stuff!) it's tough and anxiety-inducing (thank you unstable online multiplayer) but it's fun once you get into it!

 

[shayminskyforme88]

I do time travel, but I set restrictions on myself regarding what I can and cannot do. I don’t allow myself to do things that progress anything during time traveling like catching bugs and fish that aren’t within my season or gathering seasonal DIYs off season. My time traveling is mostly just to cycle villagers out to make room for ones I want if anyone is selling or if I feel like island hunting.

For a Dreamie list, I don’t have a strict one. I have generally a few in mind per personality which I look for, although I do adopt others not within my original choices as well and do end up liking them(Maple in particular).

I don’t really have a lot of close friends who play so I mostly do online trading. I feel that completely not trading will slow the progress down too much for me.

For turnips, I try to take advantage of the fact that I am in Asia so it’s already Sunday where I’m at, but would still be Saturday elsewhere. I would then try to flip turnips if I find a good price just so I won’t have to worry about them next week. If I don’t find a good place to flip, it’s also fine. I treat turnips as bonus profit.

I do use guides to see the new fish added in per month but it does sound like a fun idea to try playing without a list and just catch things you see. It will keep you in awe for a longer time. Like back in Wild World, I was so happy when I caught that butterfly attracted to hybrids(it’s name always gets censored here lol) because I have been playing the game for 2 years already at the time and didn’t even know it existed. So it was a surprise when I first found one.

Also regarding town planning, I did make a general initial plan, but I modify as I go as well since there would be aspects of the design you won’t really see unless you actually see it in game. Spaces you thought were big may be smaller than you thought or spaces you thought were small may be bigger than you thought.

 

[Saga]

I'm an eccentric player. I trade for items, but not villagers. I time travel occasionally, but only 3-4 days, and then I go back to real time. Since I mostly play late at night/very early morning, sometimes I TT back 12 hours just so my shops will be open!

I have a list of about 13 dreamies, plus a number of others who I like and would adopt if I found them while island-hopping. But sometimes I get my dreamies, realize I don't like their personality, and let them go again (sorry, Cranston).

I love playing with others, but sometimes it also can give me anxiety, so then I'll play solo for a few days and take a break from the pressures of trading or arranging visits in different time zones. But I always enjoy having other people over to see Sahara, Kicks, Celeste, or join me in wishing on shooting stars.

I'm trying to catch all the bugs and fish but rarely use a guide. I figure that if I miss one, I'll just get it next year.

Finally, I spend about half my time playing in English and half in Japanese. I like the villagers' personalities better in Japanese (no more lazies talking about bugs in their walls, normals are even sweeter and more talkative, etc.), but using the catalog is an absolute nightmare, so then I inevitably have to switch back to English when I want to add to my wishlist/catalog list on villagerdb. As a result, I feel like I get to experience twice as much dialogue, and I never get bored of talking to my villagers!

 

[LuchaSloth]

I don't time travel. So, I just take every day as it naturally unfolds.

I wake up and grab my Switch from my bedside area, which is where I leave it when I go to sleep...(because, I'm always playing it or watching youtube on it before I go to sleep). I start my Animal Crossing day at the same time I start my real day, which helps me wake up and build the will to actually get out of bed. Lol.

Anyway...I start my game when I wake up...go and immediately look for the four fossils. I simultaneously check my beaches for a DIY message at this time. Dig up the fossils, get em appraised...sell the ones I don't need (plus the other junk that I was too lazy to sell the night before). Then I check the items at Nook's and Able's to see if there is anything new/interesting. Then I continue to just walk around and talk to the villagers/go about my normal activities and see what the day brings. Maybe I water some of my flowers...but that tends to be one of those things that I do here and there as the day goes on. I'm never in a huge rush to do that.

Short answer - I just play casually and see what comes.

 

[Figment]

I'd say my play style is natural. I don't time travel (and have nothing against people who do).

My "dreamie" list is quite fluid. For the most part, there are some villagers I really want, but I'm open to change and to see what happens. I found Midge and Sprinkle on random islands and I really wasn't even familiar with them when I first started, but I fell in love with them. I don't have friends who play AC, which is partly why I joined TBT. I'd like to play and trade more with people, but for the most part I am content to take things as they come. My trading at this point has been extremely limited. Just some fruits and flowers.

There are some items I would like to have to fit the rural/natural theme of my island. I'd be fine if I didn't trade for them, and at this point I'm not that concerned about trading for anything else.

I'm not interested in paying exorbitant amounts for villagers, but I would like to get one villager from another person's island and see them talk about their original island. I feel like it would be like having an exchange student or something.

 

[Larimar]

I'm playing real time 99% of the time, if theres a situation where an event is about to run out and I havent fully experienced it/finish it then I'll TT back a couple hours to get my full satisfaction out of it. Also because I'm a bit of a completionist, so I like to have access to as many items and diys as possible if they're gonna retire for a while. I've also been using a guide to catch bugs and fish, but mostly because I've never completed the museum before, and I wanna be able to experience that! Without the guide I dont think I could do it on my own.

I also wanna let villagers come and go as much as possible. I dont have a set group of dreamies for my island (besides Hugh I guess who is staying here forever, he randomly moved in as my lazy villager) and I wanna experience as many new faces as possible!

I've been keeping trading and turnips within my friendgroup that plays the game. I've jumped on here in the past to sell/buy turnips, and it likely wont be the last, but since most of the group also plays the stalk market now it's been fun sharing prices and inviting each other over! We also like to invite each other to see each others shops and we'll sometimes ask in the chat "if anyone can find [item] can ya let me know?". I don't entirely rely on getting items from others, but it's mostly because I dont even have a wishlist and barely even know what I want xD I kinda like when the items find me sometimes.

Also I absolutely adore sending my friends gifts in-game. I'm so happy this feature exists just so I can send my friends fun things that remind me of them with a dumb letter to make them laugh.

 

[Edge]

I’m a collector. I want to complete everything in the museum, shopping catalog, and the diy list. But I also have fun designing the island(and the interior of my house) and I love all the changes New Horizons introduced In that aspect. I also like the social aspect of visiting my friends islands.
I also don’t time travel, I just like taking my time.

 

[Aubrey895]

I do not time travel in this game. The first game I am not time traveling in and I am actually having so much fun.
I have villagers I want, but I am having fun getting the ones I usually wouldn't have and letting them move naturally. I play with my friends alot. I only looked up the hybrid guide and I looked up the fish and bug guide close to the end of the month, but try to catch everything just by playing so I am surprised. I do trade extra diys I have, but items no because I want to find everything myself so I have something to do for longer.

 

[wrenbow]

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[Fuzzysaurus Rex]

My playstyle is subject entirely to casual whimsy. I mostly play day-by-day because I love how relaxing and laid back AC is. I try to talk to my villagers and do some basic gardening/daily chores then head up to the mountains as I slowly expand my terraforming plans outward across the island- all things (except that damned fourth Chaos Emerald Town Hall) subject to my godly power of Earthly destruction and creation. Almost nothing can stand in my way or deny my birthright to form this land as I see fit. Rivers bend their flow to my will, mountains crumble and rise at my command, the very Earth itself forms or disappears at my feet, plants dishevel themselves from the earth and take root upon my whim, all who live in these lands place their fates in my hands trusting in their almighty lord! I CANNOT BE STOPPED! SEA BASS ARE ILLEGAL IN THESE LANDS! I AM MAYOR, I AM LAW!

Sorry, might've gotten carried away there. I really do spend a lot of time terraforming though. I do occasionally TT but I work a lot and sometimes I just want to get things built so I can see how they look and form my island plan. Otherwise, I just take things as they come.

 

[Rinpane]

I go in each day without too much of a concrete plan, like a story that tells itself. I really enjoy dressing up my villager in various clothes and having various items, so there’s a general focus of “Something good up for sale today? Work towards buying it!”, however usually I just do whatever comes into my head since I don’t really plan anything besides checking the store, doing nook mile tasks so I can go on more tours and watering flowers.

Even if there was possibly not much to do, I’d log in just to see my villagers and chat with them(the favourite especially). Seeing them going about their day enjoying island life makes me happy. I want to make it a great place for them to live.

The only reason I’ve TT’d a few times was because I was trying to fix the move out glitch; I figured there was no stopping the cranny upgrade once it started up, so I let it happen(alongside getting the Ables store because I thought I might as well do that as well after the shop upgrade). Other than that, I haven’t really felt any desire to time travel.

 

[lunachii]

First of all: timetravelling, it really depends on the situation for me. Right now when I sit home all day with nothing to do because of quarantine, I sometimes just wanna play all day, and that often makes me timetravel a bit to not "get bored". But I usually never tt more than a week ahead, its usually just a few days. But I'm sure when I'm back to my job I won't tt, because then I only have the afternoon\evening to play and hopefully won't get sick of playing on the same day.

I have a dreamie list-ish. Sometimes I might get suprised by a random villager and end up loving them to bits, this happened in new leaf when molly moved in, i didnt care for her at all but now shes on my dreamie list. So it's not that strict. I'm also not willing to pay up 200 nook mile tickets or 12 million bells for a dreamie, it's not that serious.

I usually play solo as most of my irl friends dont play it. I have a friend I made on reddit that I often meet up with in the game and trades, we send each other gifts and chats on reddit about animal crossing stuff which is fun. Speaking of trading, I do like to trade, I love to trade DIYs, and I also trade to find wishlist items that I want forexample to finish decorating an area in my town. I also traded to get all fruit and flower types, but I don't like trading fossils.

So idunno what to call me really lmao. But this is how i play

 

[meo]

I'm not a faithful player in terms of not alternating the times, letting things unlock naturally, finding villagers through natural means (no amiibo).
In terms of time travel, I can't time travel far out and keep going. If I do timetravel it's usually to accomplish something (unlock a shop faster, get a building/bridge/incline built/moved faster, speed up a mail delivery). Once I finish doing whatever I'm trying to do, I always tend to leave my game off at the proper date.
I tend to need to have all shops unlocked to really start to get into the game. So, I always usually end up time jumping more in the beginning to unlock things. A huge enjoyment factor for me is building my catalog. For one, I just like to collect and, for two, it opens my options for planning out a theme.
With the previous note, I like to theme towns. I don't tend to like to section different themes in my towns (usually just one theme throughout). For New Horizon, I'm still going with a zen/asian theme but for my other town I think I'm going to explore a darker/sad theme town.
I have a lot of amiibo cards. I didn't really waste time scanning in most villagers I like in my main town. My second town I'm not really rushing to scan many in as I'll let villagers somewhat naturally go and out for awhile in that one till I'm actually ready to use that town seriously.

I guess the last note is multiple towns. I do think to enjoy the game, at the point of new leaf and on, I like to have multiple towns. I think a huge component of enjoying the game for me is community things. Which, for me, having a second town as a throwaway sort of town to do events/giveaways in is nice. On the other hand, being able to do more than one themed town/different creativity is enjoyable especially as time goes on and once the first town is pretty much "done".

 

[s i r e n t i c]

I'd say that I'm kind of a natural player?

I time travel a tiny bit, though its mostly just for mail purposes. I have a tiny dreamie list that consists of Diana, Cherry, Bea, and Maddie; two of which I've already gotten from mystery islands or random move ins. The rest of my dreamie list is mostly just villagers I'd have a preferance for, though I'm not too focused on getting them immediatly. I'd like to shuffle through a few villagers before I commit to a set list of villagers. I play mostly solo, with all of my online interactions being trades of some kind for items that I really want for decorating. I enjoy trying to get each months bugs and fish asap, but I'm not really too bothered about getting everything 100% done within the first year.

The main thing I'm trying to hold off on is decorating my island too much too fast. Personally after I've decorated my island in a way that I really like I'm not likely to change it afterwards, so right now I'm trying to slow my decorating process down a bit so I dont end up running out of places to decorate later on