Characters

Tom Nook, Timmy, Tommy, Orville and Wilbur are on the island from the first morning. The four characters our pages cover are not, and each one arrives carrying a set of features the island simply does not have until they show up. Isabelle brings the rating system. K.K. Slider brings terraforming and everything the late game hangs off it. Label brings a fashion side quest and a coupon. Brewster brings the last wing of the museum. Reading them in the order they can arrive is also reading the island's unlock tree from the middle outward.

Who unlocks what

Isabelle: the rating does not exist without her

The Isabelle page frames her arrival as the payoff for the first week: build Nook's Cranny with 30 each of wood, softwood, hardwood and iron nuggets, invite residents from Nook Miles Ticket islands, then complete Tom Nook's list of a bridge and three furnished, fenced plots. Once all three have moved in, Tom Nook declares that Resident Services is being rebuilt, and Isabelle is introduced at the reopening a day later. What she carries is the evaluation desk. Until she sits down, there is no island rating to read, no list of what is dragging it down, and therefore no path to K.K. Slider below. She also takes over the island flag and theme tune, and she is the person to see about a villager's catchphrase or outfit, though the remove villagers page is clear that she will not evict anyone.

Label: a coupon that needs a tailor to spend it in

Label is the lightest unlock and the only one tied to a shop rather than a rating. The Label page says she starts appearing near Resident Services once Able Sisters is open, with no fixed schedule. Her Fashion Challenge names a theme and hands you one garment to build around; change in the wardrobe, come back, and the challenge is done. You keep the garment, may receive a Labelle-branded piece depending on how well the outfit matched, and get a Tailors Ticket in the next day's mail worth 3,000 Bells at Able Sisters. The ticket attaches to whatever you pick up in the changing room and can be detached with Y if you change your mind.

K.K. Slider: the concert that opens the late game

K.K. Slider is the hinge of the whole island. The K.K. Slider page lists the groundwork Tom Nook wants first, the paid-off 5,000-mile getaway package, Nook's Cranny, a bridge, three furnished houses, Resident Services as a building and a campsite, then hands you to Isabelle for a three-star rating. Her advice on the page is to clear most weeds, plant trees and flowers on the high ground, water them, and spread outdoor furniture across the island; it also asks for at least seven villagers, and the improve island rating page has the fuller checklist. At three stars K.K. himself calls to say he will play the next day, and that first performance is the game's theme song.

The song list page covers what he unlocks as a performer: 107 songs, twelve of them added in Update 2.0 from K.K. Fugue to K.K. Robot Synth, and three secret tracks (Drivin', Animal City and Farewell) that have to be asked for by name, one a week. He plays Saturdays and occasionally Sundays, takes requests between 6 PM and midnight, gives you a copy of anything he performs, and plays K.K. Birthday with a free copy if his visit lands on your birthday; the Nook Stop also sells a random song delivered a day later. What he unlocks as a milestone is bigger. The page notes that his first concert is the trigger for Kapp'n's boat and Harv's plaza, and our mechanics pages add the Island Designer app and ordinances the following morning. Every system in the weeks tier of the mechanics guide sits behind this one Saturday.

Brewster: the last wing of the museum

Brewster is the deepest unlock on our pages and arrives only after K.K. has played. The Brewster page stacks the requirements: a three-star island, the concert, and a fully upgraded museum whose art wing needed 60 assorted donations and one piece from Redd. With Update 2.0 installed, Blathers then shows a speech bubble (walk out and back in if it does not appear) and asks you to find his friend, who has taken an interest in gyroids. That sends you to Kapp'n at the dock for a 1,000-mile boat tour, one a day, where every island hides a gyroid fragment and, on one of them, a pigeon in a hat. Agree to his plan, take the gyroid he gives you, report to Blathers, and the museum shuts for a day before The Roost opens upstairs.

The cafe's rewards are a calendar of visits: coffee to go after three days, the Roost Sable Cookie recipe at six, coffee beans at twelve, a cup and saucer at sixteen, a coffee plant at 21, a siphon at 31, a pro grinder at 41 and the Brewstoid at 51, the one gyroid Cyrus cannot recolour, as the gyroids page notes. Villagers drink at the counter, friends can sit together, and amiibo cards seat guests from older games such as Booker, Copper, Nat and Chip. You cannot work behind the bar as you could in New Leaf.

Frequently asked questions

Which character should I aim for first?

Isabelle, because nothing else on this list can start until she is running evaluations. Label follows as soon as the tailor opens, K.K. Slider at three stars, and Brewster only once the art wing exists.

How many songs can K.K. Slider play?

107 in total, including three secret songs that must be requested by exact name and twelve added in Update 2.0.

Where are the other special visitors covered?

Seasonal hosts such as Jack, Pave, C.J. and Flick are on our events guide, the Harv's Island vendors on the locations guide, and the everyday villagers on the villagers list linked from the Animal Crossing: New Horizons hub.