One of the big highlights of Animal Crossing: New Horizons’ 3.0 update is the new Slumber Islands feature. This feature lets you fully customize additional islands, providing you with more freedom to design than your standard home island. You can also enjoy customizing Slumber Islands with friends. In this guide, we’ll explain how to access Slumber Islands and how to use this new sandbox-style feature.
The 3.0 update also includes a new Resort Hotel to unlock and a new way to tidy your island with Resetti’s Reset Service. We have a complete Animal Crossing: New Horizons guide hub to help you with all of your island needs. The list includes starter tips, details surrounding timed seasonal events, how to complete all the upgrades, and more.
How to access Slumber Islands
There are a few requirements you’ll need to meet in order to gain access to Slumber Islands content. First, you must be on the new 3.0 version of the game. If you need to check if you’re updated, you can check by looking at the upper right-hand corner of the main menu loading screen. Your version should start with a 3.
Second, this is an online mode, so you need an active Nintendo Switch Online subscription to play Slumber Islands content.
Lastly, you’ll need a letter in the mailbox from Luna inviting you to Slumber Islands. This is something you might already have waiting in your mailbox if you are a returning player, but if you’re a new player or someone who hasn’t visited Luna before, you’ll need to finish some steps to visit Luna for the first time.
You need to progress in the game until you upgrade your tent to a house. Place a bed in your house, lay down, and choose the option to sleep. This will let you meet Luna for the first time, and she’ll teach you all about Animal Crossing dreams.
When she asks how she can assist you, choose the “I’d like to share a dream” option. This uploads your island into Luna’s dream library. This will generate a unique code for a dream version of your island. Afterwards, you can wake up.
You’ll receive a letter in the mail from Luna the next day. This will be your invitation to Slumber Islands. This means you’ll now have a new option to choose when you sleep called “It’s slumber time.” Choose this to start your journey with Slumber Islands.
Slumber Islands explained
Slumber Islands lets you enjoy new islands with a more sandbox-style experience. Think of it sort of like a Creative mode in a game like Minecraft, where some progression elements are removed so you can focus on decorating without resource restrictions. You can create your own or join a friend’s island. We’ll discuss more on the co-op elements later.
You can create up to three Slumber Islands. When you start a new island, you get the choice of one of three sizes:
- Small: This is around the size of the Mystery Tour islands
- Medium: Larger than a Mystery Tour island, but smaller than your home island
- Large: Close in size to your home island
You’ll then be given the choice to pick between various island layouts. For example, some layouts will have a river, while others won’t, and there is an option to have a flat island with no terrain levels to deal with.
It’s also worth noting that you can always delete an island if you reach your three-island limit and want to start over.
Naming your island
Luna lets you name your island. There’s no pressure to do this step right away, so if you can’t think of a good name or want to wait and brainstorm ideas with co-op buddies, you can always name your Slumber Island at a later time. Simply speak with Luna when you’re ready and choose the option to name your island.
Decorating your Slumber Islands
Once you’ve selected your island size and layout, you can begin decorating. You can place any item down to decorate, as long as you have already registered it in your catalog. It won’t cost you any crafting materials, and you can plop down as many as you want of each item.
There are several things you can do on Slumber Island. This includes the following customization:
- Interact with the wardrobe on the dock to change your appearance
- Terraform the island by adding or removing cliffs
- Move or redesign your house
- Add or demolish bridges and inclines by talking to Lloid.
- Place any furniture, plants, and other decor from your catalog
- Change the time and weather (press Left on the D-pad)
Of course, it’s important to remember these islands are in a dream world. Nothing you do on Slumber Island will carry over to your home, meaning:
- You can’t permanently change your appearance here
- Nothing you harvest or catch on the island will return home with you
Add residents to Slumber Islands
You can also add residents to your Slumber Island, selecting from any residents from your home island. They can be selected from the Residents tab of your inventory menu on Slumber Island. You can easily drop them and remove them.
Inviting or joining friends
Slumber Island is a fully-cooperative experience. You can team up with friends to customize an island together, but you and anyone who joins you will need a Nintendo Switch Online subscription.
Assuming everyone has a Nintendo Switch Online subscription, you can play up to 12-player sessions in Slumber Islands if everyone has a Switch 2 edition of the game.
If playing from the original Switch, Switch Lite, or Switch OLED, you can party up in up to eight-player sessions.