Animal Crossing: New Horizons multiplayer explained - here's how to play with your friends

Ready to start bringing friends to your island with Animal Crossing: New Horizons multiplayer? You have a few different options that allow different things, but it's still surprisingly simple for an online Nintendo game.

You don't need to exchange any more codes with the friends you already have on your Switch system to play Animal Crossing: New Horizons with them. All you need to do is head to the airport, talk to the nice dodo (try not to bring up the whole extinction thing), and have him open the gate to all your friends. That's it! Now anybody else who is Switch friends with you can drop into your game by taking a flight from their own airport.

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Once they arrive, they'll find that they have limited access to your island and can't use all of their tools. This is a safeguard to keep people from making unwanted changes to your island - like cutting down all your trees. You can lift this restriction by adding players to your Best Friends list via your NookPhone. Not only can Best Friends use all their tools on your island, you'll also be able to see when they come online and send each other direct messages (though you can opt out of those features if you prefer).

If you want to invite people over but don't want to exchange full-on friend codes with them, that's what Dodo codes are for. Head to the airport, tell the dodo what kind of code you want, then give it out to other player(s) to let them visit your island. This opens the door for bigger gatherings with players whom you don't already know - and as long as you don't add them to your Best Friends list, they won't be able to mess up your stuff too bad.

Check out our Animal Crossing: New Horizons tips for more info to keep in mind as you start your island life.