How to get Shino and other new Animal Crossing: New Horizons 2.0 villagers

Hope you’ve got a room opening up on your Animal Crossing: New Horizons island. With the major 2.0 update, Nintendo’s added 16 new villagers who can move in — eight of which are entirely new, while the other eight are from earlier games.

Unless you’ve got a stash of amiibo cards, the only way to get these villagers is with a bit of luck or a lot of time. But some — like Shino, Ione, Marlo, and Sasha — are so dang cute that it’s worth the effort. Shino, of course, has taken the lead on social media as New Horizons fans’ favorite new villager, but the other 15 aren’t slouches. Here’s who those villagers are and how to find them.

Who are the new villagers?

Image: Nintendo EPD/Nintendo

There are 16 new villagers in total, and we’ve gotten to know them a bit in the past few weeks since Nintendo announced its New Horizons update. (They came to Pocket Camp early, which gave us a lot of new information!)

• Shino the deer
• Sasha the rabbit
• Cephalobot the robot octopus
• Ione the squirrel
• Petri the mouse
• Marlo the hamster
• Tiangsheng the monkey
• Quinn the eagle
• Chabwick the penguin
• Ace the bird
• Zoe the anteater
• Rio the ostrich
• Azalea the rhino
• Frett the dog
• Faith the koala
• Roswell the alligator

How can I get New Horizons’ new villagers?

A few ways, in fact.

Amiibo cards

Image: Nintendo EPD/Nintendo

Amiibo cards are not the only option, but they are one way to get the New Horizons villagers that you want. All the new villagers (as well as some NPCs) have been added as amiibo cards with the Series 5 set. These come in packs of six, with six random cards inside — so you might have to buy a few to get your ideal villager, or trade with friends.

These work as they did in the past: You can invite villagers to your campsite by scanning their cards at the Nook Stop in Resident services. Even if you have open spaces on your island, however, you’ll need to convince them to move into your island — by buying them stuff and having them visit randomly. It’s a process, but Shino may be worth that effort for you.

Nook Miles island hopping

One way to get new islanders is to use Nook Miles to visit mystery islands. That’s where you’ll find rogue characters wandering around; it’s probably how you got your original villagers to move in. But you can use this technique — with sheer time and luck — to seek out specific villagers. It will likely require a lot of Nook Miles tickets for the Mystery Island Tours, unless you’re lucky.

Once you’ve spotted the villager you want, you simply have to go up to them and ask them to move in. They’ll agree, so long as you have an open spot available.

Campsite

Every once in a while, a villager will randomly show up at your campsite. This method is probably for the very patient player, because it’s mostly waiting for a lucky draw. Villagers who do show up randomly, as opposed to being invited by amiibo cards, tend to move in easier, though, and without so much cajoling.

Trade with other players

If one of your pals gets lucky and gets a villager to move in, and then decides they no longer want them, you can lure them away to your own island on the character’s moving-out day. The day before they leave, they’ll be in their old house on your friend’s island, with all their stuff in boxes. Talking to them on that day will provide the option of asking them to move into your island, if you have space available.