Villagers in Animal Crossing: New Horizons are more than just cute accessories to your island. You may be surprised to learn that they’re able to store memories, recalling who you are and what you’ve done for them. Their memories last even after they move off your island.
What Your Villagers Remember
As this Reddit user discovered, villagers will recognize you even if they leave your island. Here, the Reddit user traded the villager, Snake, with a friend and then went to their friend’s island to ask him to move back. Not only did Snake remember who the user was, but he wore the same sweater they gave him before moving out.
While this surprised the Reddit user, you’ve probably noticed other instances of villagers having memories in your own game. For example, if you bury bells in gold holes, there’s a chance a villager will remark on it the next day. If you shake down many of your trees one night, a villager may wonder at why you were harassing those arboreal creatures when you speak to them next.
Other times, villagers may ask what your favorite genre of comic book is, or what you want to be when you grow up. The villager will then remember your answer, but also gossip to everyone on the island about it. This can lead to some interesting and potentially embarrassing conversations with otherwise innocent villagers.
Are Villagers Sentient?
If villagers have memories, does that mean they’re sentient?
Well, in order to be sentient, a creature or some form of life must be able to think for itself. What qualities define a life form? That’s increasingly up for debate as AI becomes more and more dynamic. However, while villagers in Animal Crossing: New Horizons are able to remember things, they’re a long way from being sentient AI. Until Tom Nook passes a the Turing test, we remain safe.
Rather, the game uses an algorithm to fill in blank spaces in pre-programmed text with the player’s input. You can see evidence of this by how the game highlights text you inserted, such as your island’s name, your name, and so on.
Not only does this serve to make the experience feel more tailored to you and your interests (thus making the game more immersive), but it also creates the illusion that villagers are free-thinking individuals. In reality, villagers are doing little more than simply following their programming… for now.
