Summary

• Pietro's popularity as an Animal Crossing villager is reflected in the high price of his Amiibo cards, selling for up to $30.
• The Smug personality type in Animal Crossing: New Horizons is rare, with only 37 characters having this trait, including Pietro.
• Getting Pietro in the game requires either patience in waiting for a Smug villager to move out or purchasing his Amiibo card for immediate access.

It's no surprise that Pietro is hard to come by in catchphrase make Pietro Animal Crossing's most desirable villager.

A good indicator of a villager's popularity is how much the associated Amiibo card sells for. When Animal Crossing: New Horizons first came out, and the Amiibo card trade was in full swing, Pietro's cards often sold for exorbitant prices. The market has cooled down a bit, but where the average villager goes for a buck or two, Pietro's Animal Crossing Amiibo card can run players as much as six or seven dollars - and some resellers charge as much as $30. So, people clearly want Pietro in their villages, and some are willing to pay out the nose for the privilege. But is Pietro really rare, or just popular?

Animal Crossing's Pietro Is Somewhat Rare

How Pietro's Personality Makes Him Rare

In truth, while Pietro is somewhat rare, he's only slightly harder to come by than the average ACNH villager. Although Animal Crossing villager spawns appear to be random, there are actually various factors that influence who chooses to move in. Personality is one of those factors. For example, every island in ACNH starts with one Jock and one Sisterly character, whose friendly advice often serves as a kind of tutorial for the game's basic mechanics. The next villager to move in always has a Peppy, Normal, or Lazy personality.

From there, Animal Crossing may vary the personality of each new villager that arrives so there's not too much repetition in dialogue. It's unlikely for a village that already has two Jock characters to see a third one move in. Animal Crossing: New Horizon's personality types are also tied to gender; male villagers will only have the Lazy, Jock, Cranky, or Smug personalities, while female villagers will always be Normal, Peppy, Snooty, or Sisterly.

The "Smug" personality is somewhat misnamed. While Smug characters often display confidence in themselves, they're hardly egotistical, and tend to be very friendly. However, they may not get along with Cranky, Sisterly, or Snooty neighbors.

Now, Pietro has a Smug personality. Smug is by far the rarest male personality type in Animal Crossing: New Horizons - there are only 37 Smug characters in the entire game, compared to 63 Lazy characters. As a result, Pietro will never be one of the first three villagers to move onto an ACNH island, so he's effectively reserved for the mid- to late-game. Still, the relatively small pool of Smug villagers means that, with no others of that personality type already on the island, there's a higher chance of spawning Pietro than, say, the Jock villager of the player's choice.

How To Get Pietro In Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Even so, there's certainly not a high chance of getting Pietro, unless players are willing to game the odds. The best way to increase the chances of getting Pietro in Animal Crossing: New Horizons is to convince any other Smug villager to move out. This can be done by effectively ignoring them until they decide to pack up and move. Patience can be a virtue here; even when totally icing out a villager, it can take several weeks for them to leave. And there's still a degree of chance involved. Sometimes, another villager will randomly decide to move out instead.

Some players have found it easier to convince villagers to leave by slowly advancing their Switch's internal clock. In order to do this, players must navigate to the date and time settings, set the date to one day ahead, and return to their village. They can then check with the Smug villager they want to move out - if they have a thought bubble above their head, there's a chance they're considering it. If they don't, it's best to advance the time in two-week intervals, after which a villager will almost always be preparing to move out, making a space for Pietro on the Animal Crossing: New Horizons island.

But this method for getting Pietro in Animal Crossing is every bit as time-consuming as simply ignoring other Smug villagers, and can really mess up the game's timeline. There is an easier, albeit more expensive, way: buying an Amiibo card is the fastest and most reliable way to get Pietro in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Although he's still popular, prices for Pietro's Amiibo card have gone down drastically since ACNH's release. This is the only guaranteed way to get Pietro to move in immediately.

Although Pietro is more popular than he is rare, it can be difficult to ensure any particular Animal Crossing villager moves in. Persistence and exploits can help, but there's still a lot of random chance involved in trying to socially engineer a specific villager's arrival. Still, it may be worth the effort. His uniqueness makes Pietro Animal Crossing: New Horizons' most popular villager, and for good reason.