The next Animal Crossing game has a fairly clear path to success. The spectacular sales numbers for Animal Crossing: New Horizons means that the potential audience for the next entry in the franchise will be massive, and with so much of New Horizons being well received, simply improving upon that game’s foundation would work wonders. However, alongside quality-of-life features like a craft all button and a faster multiplayer system, some new features tied to Villagers should be added.
Animal Crossing fans have had plenty of suggestions for how the series’ Villagers can be improved. These suggestions include more varied personalities like in the older games, with some meaner Villagers mixed in alongside the many cheerful animals. Additionally, fans have proposed improvements to Dreamie hunting and the Nook Miles Tickets required to embark on a search. However, the best change of all would see players being able to recruit more citizens, and letting Villagers share a house is the perfect way to make that happen.
A Roommates Feature For Animal Crossing Can Double Villager Counts
In Animal Crossing: New Horizons, players are limited to just 10 Villagers, forcing them to get very picky about who stays on their island. With hundreds of Villagers to choose from, this is a constant point of frustration, as players will surely love more than just 10 critters. Still, the reason for this limit makes perfect sense, as it is tied to the size of the player islands in Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
While gamers get a decent amount of space to work with in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, that space quickly becomes limited once players set down their 10 Villager homes, as these buildings are all decently large. If players make a neighborhood, it will consume a good chunk of their island space, and spreading out the houses can be a bit unsightly. Fortunately, there is a perfect solution to this problem: letting players pair up two Villagers inside one house.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons gives each Villager their own house, which comes with the upside of a unique exterior and interior for all the houses. However, there is only one room inside each Villager home, which is a far cry from the player house that has several. In theory, the next Animal Crossing can just feature two-room Villager houses to compensate for characters living in the same home. This seems doable based on the technology that existed in New Horizons’ player homes, so a sequel could surely support two-Villager houses. As for the exterior, players could simply choose which design they prefer from the two inhabitants.
This system would also be a fun way for the Animal Crossing community to lean into the Villager relationships they like seeing the most of. If players like seeing Judy and Audie as friends, for example, they could have them room together so that they see these interactions whenever they visit. Alternatively, if Tiffany has a dislike for Cherry that results in silly arguments, setting them up inside the same house could lead of a lot of comedic dialogue. With a roommate system, Animal Crossing fans could double the Villager count of their islands or towns while also encouraging bonds to form between specific characters.
Assuming that the next Animal Crossing game is on whatever the new Nintendo console ends up being, the issue of a small Villager count could solve itself, as players may get a bigger area to customize where more Villagers are allowed. However, assuming that Nintendo is going to keep a low Villager house limit intact, then players should be given a chance to double their Villager count by deciding who lives with who. Further, with the personality system to consider, players could think up some charming scenarios where characters who like (or dislike) each other are paired up.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is available now on Nintendo Switch.
