New Leaf Welcome amiibo Update: Everything It Adds
Welcome amiibo is the big free update to New Leaf, released on 2 November 2016, and also sold as an updated cartridge. It adds amiibo support, the campground, 50 returning villagers and plenty of smaller fixes.
- Released
- 2 November 2016
- Price
- Free update
- Returning villagers
- 50
- New currency
- MEOW Coupons
| Feature | What it does |
|---|---|
| amiibo and Wisp | Scan an Animal Crossing amiibo figure or card at the lamp and Wisp brings that character to visit. Villagers can be invited to move in. |
| Campground | A new campground on the cliffs, run by Harvey. Visitors arrive in RVs, and you can order the furniture inside them. |
| 50 returning villagers | Fifty villagers from the GameCube and e+ games return, plus special guests from Splatoon and Zelda amiibo. |
| MEOW Coupons | Finish the CAT Machine’s town initiatives (daily and weekly goals) for MEOW Coupons, spent at the campground. |
| Secret storeroom | Extra storage for 158,000 Bells from Nook’s Homes, reachable from any room. Furniture can be moved with the touch screen. |
| Minigames | Animal Crossing Puzzle League and Desert Island Escape, played from the 3DS XL and Wii U furniture. |
| Quality of life | Sit on rocks, shake trees while holding most tools, a quick way home from the island, villagers no longer fall ill, and fertiliser can save dying perfect-fruit trees. |
| Rebuilding | Sell your town to Tom Nook for Bells to carry over into a new town, with your catalogue. |
The 50 returning villagers
These villagers from older games are only in towns with the update; 333 more are in the original game (see all villagers).
Special amiibo guests: Cece, Viché, Inkwell, Epona, Medli, Ganon, Wolf Link. They arrive in RVs at the campground and, like ordinary villagers, can be invited to move in.
Playing in 2024 and later
- Nintendo ended online play for 3DS games in April 2024: Club Tortimer, online visits and the Dream Suite’s uploads no longer work.
- Local wireless visits and the whole single-player game still work, as does the free update if it is already installed.
- Existing dream addresses stopped working with the update anyway; it introduced new addresses with letters.
FAQ
Is Welcome amiibo free?
Yes. It was a free update for New Leaf, and later cartridges came with it already installed.
Do you need amiibo for Welcome amiibo?
No. The campground, MEOW Coupons, storeroom and fixes work without amiibo, but inviting specific villagers needs their amiibo card or figure.
How many villagers did Welcome amiibo add?
50 returning villagers, plus amiibo guests from Splatoon and The Legend of Zelda.
Sources & picture credits
- Animal Crossing: New Leaf – Welcome amiibo, Animal Crossing Wiki
- Animal Crossing: New Leaf – Welcome amiibo, Nookipedia
Guide text is original retrogameindex writing, checked against Nookipedia and the Animal Crossing Wiki. Icons, renders and screenshots © Nintendo; local copies archived from Animal Crossing Wiki file pages (listed in the picture gallery).