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How to use Animal Crossing’s new Dream Suite to visit other islands

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Back when Animal Crossing: New Horizons launched earlier in the year, data miners unearthed hints as to the game’s future updates. One sliver of that grand leak was clues of the Dream Suite, a returning feature from past titles that allows players to explore the islands of friends and strangers while their would-be hosts are away from their consoles.

It took a little longer to arrive than we anticipated, but the second leg of the summer update realized our dreams. So here’s how to use the Dream Suite to visit other islands, and what you’ll need to do it. And like most cool features in a Nintendo game, there are limits to what you can do.

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Unlocking the Dream Suite in Animal Crossing

By now, most players should have unlocked the Dream Suite automatically. It came as part of the second summer update, so as long as you’re seeing version 1.4.0 or above on the start-up screen, you should have the Dream Suite unlocked.

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If not, you’ll want to ensure your Nintendo Switch is connected to the internet. From there, press + on your Animal Crossing: New Horizons icon on the dashboard and hit the button to check for updates from there. Once the patch is installed, you should unlock the feature when you next fire up the game.

How to use the Dream Suite

Animal Crossing Dream Suite access
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Using the Dream Suite is almost as convenient as pulling out your phone to quickly search which mushrooms you can eat when you find yourself lost and alone in the woods — until it isn’t. Diving into the dream world just takes a bed. Any bed. You can get a nice one directly from Luna, but even the sleeping bag you started with is good enough.

Once you’ve chosen where to take your nap, just crawl on into bed, select the “Yeah, I want to sleep” option (if only it were that easy), and you’ll be whisked away into the Dream Suite where Luna will be on hand to direct you through to wherever it is you want to go.

If it’s your first time entering the Dream Suite, Luna should give you a primer on the whole thing and ask if you’d like to upload your island for other Dream Suite users to experience. Just be mindful that this isn’t the same as backing up your island in case your Nintendo Switch breaks and you need to recover your save.

When your island has been uploaded, you’ll be given a code to give out to others. This is what they’ll need to enter to access your island in their game, and you’ll need theirs to do the same. The map screen on your Nook Phone should also list your Dream Address on the bottom, so a quick snap and share of this should give others everything they need to check out your town at their own convenience.

That’s where things in the Dream Suite get a little too closed and complicated. Just like the pattern browser in the Able Sisters clothing shop, you can’t access anything in the Dream Suite without a direct code.

You can’t just browse random islands on a whim, and there’s no rating system to list something like the top-rated islands in-game, despite the Dream Suite being little more than a way to tour an island to inspire your own.

Codes for the dreamiest Dream Suite islands

Dream Suite codes
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Getting the most out of the Dream Suite feature means scouring the internet for codes. Because you can’t even do something as simple as visiting a Dream Suite island from your friend list, you’ll have to find, note, and input a code each and every time you want to explore.

Thankfully, as is with the case with custom-made patterns, players have found a way to harness the power of social media to fill in the blanks left by Nintendo’s stringent safety measures. Here are a few of the most inspiring Dream Suite island codes we found on a quick tour of Twitter.

  • Laceberry, an Autumnal Halloween haven (by @LazerWitch): DA-6307-6970-9481
  • BerRie_Moomin’s Tropical Arabic island (by @BerRie_Moomin): DA-4315-2363-0329
  • Back to school on Nashijima! (by @mini_katsudon): DA-6634-8391-8053

One of the easiest ways to find more New Horizons islands to visit through the Dream Suite, like the ones above, is through your social media platform of choice. The #DreamSuite hashtag is being used the world over to share photos and codes of gorgeous islands that can help reignite your creativity.

Chances are, with the Dream Suite, you’ll find an island so far beyond your idea of the game’s limit that you’ll come back with plenty of new ideas to take your island to the next level.

While some people split their island into several diorama-like themes, some find ways to turn their vast islands into cramped micro-cities. If there’s one thing Animal Crossing has proved this year, it’s that this innocent game is deeper than it looks

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Josh Brown
Josh Brown
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Josh Brown is a UK-based freelancer with devoted interests in video games, tech, film, and anime/manga. Just don't talk to…
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