Animal Crossing multiplayer, on a game that never had it
The GameCube original was one player at a time. Here you can ride the train to a friend's town and walk around it together.
What was never possible before
Animal Crossing for the GameCube had no online play. A town held up to four people and a slot for a visitor from somewhere else, but they took turns: you carried your memory card to a friend's console. There was no way to be standing in a town at the same time as someone else.
The online layer here is ours, not Nintendo's. It is built on top of the original game rather than into it.
How a visit starts
Send a friend an invite link, or give them your user ID. Opening the link asks to visit and puts them in your Friends dialog. You can also start one from the Friends button while you are playing.
Then you ride the train in through Porter, the same way the original moved you between towns. Both of you need a free account and your own copy of the game loaded.
Whose town you are in
The host's. A visitor sees the host's villagers, fish and bugs, and shares the host's weather, time of day, shop stock and town tune. Your own town is not touched while you are visiting someone else's.
Doors work: you can follow each other into a house or a shop and still see each other inside.
What you can see each other do
Everyone shows their own face, skin tone and shirt, with a name tag floating above them. You walk, run and swing tools with full animation, and emotes pop up over your head.
The town reacts on both screens at once: digging, chopping, shaking trees, hitting the money rock, dropping and picking things up, planting, and pulling weeds. Signs and the bulletin board read the same for both of you, and you can trade items.
New here? Read the how to play guide, or see what is coming next on the roadmap.