Island life isn’t always straightforward. Sometimes your secondary players want to go solo and create their own island memories, but what happens when you move to a new island in Animal Crossing: New Horizons?
What does moving to a new island mean?
If you have two players on your island, you’ll see the ability to move to a new island after selecting the resident upon startup of the game.
This allows the secondary player to begin island life on their own elsewhere.
NOTE: you’ll need a second Switch and ACNH game.
But why would you do this?
Well, if your island rep has lost interest in the game and stopped playing ACNH, you might want to go it alone to create your island journey.
Equally, if you’ve just received a new Switch and copy of Animal Crossing: New Horizons, you might want to break free from your current island and create your own.
Moving the primary player to a new island
The island rep can’t move to a new island without starting from scratch. The primary player can move to a new Switch console, but they’ll simply transfer the whole island.
If the primary player wants to restart their island, the secondary player should transfer their island to another Switch so that they don’t lose their inventory and hard-earned bells.
Moving a secondary player to a new island
As a secondary player, you can transfer to an established island and remain a secondary player, or transfer to a new Switch console and create your island as the primary player.
If you’re a secondary player and you move to a new island, you’ll become the island rep and retain your:
- Learned DIYs roster
- Critterpedia
- Bells
- Reactions
- Terraforming capabilities
- Inventory
- House upgrades & decor
- House storage
Other than the above, you’ll start from scratch, which includes the museum.
So even though your critterpedia will be transferred, you’ll need to re-donate all items.
Can I move to a new island in ACNH?
If you’re a secondary player, you can transfer to a new island on a secondary Switch (that has a copy of Animal Crossing: New Horizons) and become the new island rep.
For primary players, the options are more limited as you’ll either need to start from scratch or transfer your whole island to a new console.