Animal Crossing New Horizons: How To Host An Online Party And The Best Activities To Enjoy With Your Friends

Animal Crossing New Horizons is here, and if you've been playing since launch you've likely been having great fun visiting other people's island and gaining inspiration for your own.

If you want to get your buddies around and hang out in paradise, you'll want to follow the guide below – especially in these crazy times we live in.

Keep up to date with everything Animal Crossing by watching below!

How to Host A Party in Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Hosting a play session on your island is relatively simple, but you can add fun steps like sending invites via the in-game postal system if you'd like (just head to Dodo Airlines to send a postcard).

The main thing to do while you're there is open your island's gates, which you can do by chatting to Orville. You'll need a Nintendo Switch Online subscription, but once your gates are open your friends will be able to join you.

What to do with friends on your island?

Aside from being able to chat with in-game chat (let's be honest you'll probably use Discord instead), you can show off your island in all of its splendour (including your museum!), introduce friends to your villagers, or exchange gifts.

While there are no games per se, you can make your own fun – try burying presents on your island and having a scavenger hunt for example.

You can also set a timer to see how many fish and bugs you can catch in a set period, which can be ideal if your friends' islands are looking a little bare.

One of the more creative games we've found comes courtesy of @samirows on Twitter. Their island is home to a game called Musical Stumps, which revolves around one player playing a musical instrument while other players run around an ever-decreasing series of tree stumps. When the music stops, the last person not sitting on a stump is out.

You can check it out in action here!

And when the day is done, don't forget to take a group photo with your buddies that you can all share on social media!