How to Use Cards in Animal Crossing: New Horizons

This guide is for Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Cards for other games, like our Zelda cards, have their own special uses in those games.

Every Villager Cards NFC card works just like an official amiibo card when you tap it on your Nintendo Switch. Here's everything you can do with them in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, step by step.

Where to tap your card

Joy-Con: hold the card flat over the right control stick.
Switch Lite: hold it over the right control stick.
Pro Controller: hold it over the NFC logo at the top center.

Animal Crossing New Horizons prompt to hold an amiibo card to the NFC touchpoint on the right Joy-Con

What can you do with NFC cards in Animal Crossing?

Invite any villager to your campsite and convince them to move to your island.
Call villagers and special characters to The Roost café for a cup of coffee.
Design vacation homes for any villager in the Happy Home Paradise DLC, with no limit on how many.
Bring villagers into your photos for better vacation-home portfolio shots and Photopia scenes.
Get special characters like Isabelle, K.K. Slider and Tom Nook to visit, which you can't do any other way.

Invite a villager to your campsite

You'll need a campsite built on your island first.

1. Open the Nook Stop terminal

Go to Resident Services, open the Nook Stop terminal, and choose Invite amiibo camper.

Nook Stop terminal menu in Animal Crossing New Horizons with Invite amiibo Camper selected

2. Confirm you want to use an amiibo

Nook Stop asking whether to use an amiibo to invite an animal to the campsite

3. Tap the villager's card

Hold the card over your controller's NFC spot. The terminal reads it and asks you to confirm the villager.

Nook Stop recognizing a villager amiibo card and asking to invite them to the campsite

4. Meet your camper

A short scene plays as the villager accepts. Leave Resident Services and head to your campsite. Your guest will be waiting for you.

Villager accepting an amiibo invitation to visit the island campsite

5. Craft what they ask for

Chat with them until they ask you to craft something, then craft it and bring it back before the day ends.

Campsite villager asking the player to craft an item in Animal Crossing New Horizons

6. Repeat, then ask them to move in

Invite the same villager on two more days (three visits total). After the third visit and request, they'll agree to move in. If your island already has 10 residents, you'll pick someone to move out to make room.

Choosing which resident to move out so an amiibo villager can move in

Tip: special characters can visit your campsite, but only regular villagers can move in.

Use cards at The Roost café

Once The Roost is open in your museum, step inside and walk to the amiibo reader on the left side of the café.
Press A and tap your card when prompted.
Your villager or special character pulls up a seat and enjoys a coffee with you.

Scanning an amiibo card at the reader in The Roost café

Villager visiting The Roost café for coffee after an amiibo card is scanned

Use cards in Happy Home Paradise (paid DLC)

Design a handful of vacation homes as normal. Lottie will then introduce the amiibo scanner.
Tap any villager's card to have them request a vacation home. You can design homes for as many villagers as you like.
Keep designing to raise your rank, which unlocks homes for special characters like Isabelle, K.K. and Tom Nook.

Lottie explaining that amiibo cards let you invite vacation home clients in Happy Home Paradise

Use cards for portfolio photos

Scan cards while designing to bring villagers into your vacation homes and set up the perfect portfolio shots.

Villagers summoned with amiibo cards posing inside a Happy Home Paradise vacation home

Ready to invite your dream villagers?

Browse all NFC cards or check out our customer testimonials.

Villager Cards are unofficial fan-made products and are not made, licensed, or endorsed by Nintendo. Nintendo, amiibo and Animal Crossing are trademarks of Nintendo. Game screenshots are shown for instructional purposes.