Animal Crossing: New Horizons restricts players to a maximum of 10 villagers on their island at once. While this limit may seem overly strict when compared to the total number of villagers in the series, it serves several important functions in improving the game's overall experience. One of the main attractions of the Animal Crossing series is the selection of over 400 different villagers that have been added throughout the franchise's lifespan. With so many choices, some players may be tempted to collect as many of these lovable neighbors as they possibly can, but narrowing it down to 10 can be tricky.
There are several features that go into the quality of Animal Crossing games. While the series has experienced serious change over its lifetime, the ability to create a peaceful virtual utopia with villagers that (mostly) get along in Animal Crossing has been a regular appeal. Decorating homes, catching bugs or fish, and paying off the debts thrust upon players by Tom Nook all contribute to the game's final vision, which would be much more crowded if ACNH had allowed more than 10 villagers to live on player islands.
One of the primary reasons that Nintendo has limited the number of villagers players can acquire in Animal Crossing: New Horizons is the limited amount of space the islands provide. Despite the generally randomized layouts of each player island, and the ability for players to terraform in ACNH, allowing more than 10 villagers to reside on the island would make things quite crowded. As is the case with most Animal Crossing games, villagers' homes aren't the only buildings located on the map. Different buildings such as Town Hall, the Abel Sisters, the Museum, and the Campsite are just a few of the properties that occupy the limited space on ACNH's islands.
Animal Crossing's Island Villager Limits Explained
Animal Crossing has created a vast network of characters, totaling over 400 available villagers with eight different personality types divided among them. Each neighbor has their own appeal, but some Animal Crossing villagers are more popular than others. By allowing players to obtain 10 different villagers, each of the personality types can be acquired with room for two duplicates. In ACNH, different personalities will offer the player different DIY recipes that can be used to improve the overall look and design of the island or homes. By restricting the number of Animal Crossing villagers to ten, Nintendo allows players to work quickly toward collecting their desired DIY recipes of a certain personality type.
While Animal Crossing: New Horizons has far more villagers than are available to be settled on player islands, the limit of 10 villagers actually serves a function to extend the game's longevity. While some Animal Crossing villagers are unnecessary and are almost universally disliked (like Barold), there are quite a few that have gained extreme popularity and value (like Raymond). Aside from these top-tier villagers, however, there is a wide variety of well-designed and entertaining characters to choose from. ACNH's limit encourages players to eventually rotate villagers out of their island and collect new neighbors. Different species and personalities ensure that no two villagers are (too) similar, and the unique layout of different houses can introduce new themes and designs to a player's islands.
With the release of the Happy Home Paradise DLC and 2.0 update, deciding which villagers to keep and which to pursue is even more important. While it looks as if no new villagers - or content - will come to New Horizons now, Happy Home allows players to make vacation homes for villagers, so people may want to check and see what each home looks like. For example, they may choose to build for a villager whose home they like, rather than because they like the actual villager. The limit of 10 villagers in ACNH fulfills several functions within the game, many of which directly benefit the player and contribute to the game's longevity. With enough time and luck, most players will be able to explore plenty of the characters that have joined Animal Crossing's cast.