• Guide

How to add friends - Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Tired of playing alone? Here's everything you need to know to start adding friends in Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

Josh Hawkins

April 27, 2020 9:45 AM

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Animal Crossing: New Horizons has been a big spot of light during all of 2020’s nonsense. As players continue to experience the joys of Tom Nook’s deserted island getaway, players keep coming up with things to do. If you’re just picking up the game, and you want to team up with your pals, then you’re going to need to know how to add friends, something we can help you accomplish.

How to add friends

If you’re looking to add your friends in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, then there are a couple of things you’re going to need to do.

First, you’re going to need to have a Nintendo Online account – unless you’re playing via local network. You can sign up for a Nintendo Online account from the eShop. There are a couple of different payment options, so try to grab whichever option you prefer.

Once you have a Nintendo Online account, or are playing via a local network, head to your Airport and be sure to follow the steps listed in our guide on how to play with friends.

To actually become friends in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, you’re going to need to visit the same island as the person that you want to become friends with. This can be done by traveling to their island, having them come to your island, or meeting up on another friend’s island. While New Horizons will allow you to join islands of people on your Switch friends’ list, to actually become friends in-game, you must travel to the same instance and location.

When you have traveled to the same island as your friend, you’re going to find that they now automatically appear on your friends’ list on the Nook Phone. However, if you’d like to be able to send them letters, including gifts from the Nook Terminal, then you’re going to need to add them as Best Friends. Making them a Best Friend will also give them the ability to dig and do other things on your island, so make sure you only add people you trust to your Best Friend list.

To add someone to your Best Friend list, head into the Nook Phone, navigate to the friend app, and then click on their name. You should see the option to “Become best friends”. Once they accept the invite, you’ll be best friends, and can then message them, send them mail, and do other things on their island.

Now that you know how to add friends, be sure to check out the rest of our Animal Crossing: New Horizons guides for even more handy information.

Josh Hawkins

Guides Editor

Joshua holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Creative Writing and has been exploring the world of video games for as long as he can remember. He enjoys everything from large-scale RPGs to small, bite-size indie gems and everything in between.