Animal Crossing May Day 2021: Can You Invite Rover To Your Island

Animal Crossing: New Horizons features a wide variety of annual events that players can celebrate alongside familiar faces from the franchise. Among these holidays is May Day, which was first introduced in 2020 and occurs during the first week of May. Players are only allowed to complete Animal Crossing’s May Day event once per character, and receive prizes for doing so.

During May Day, Animal Crossing: New Horizons players are invited to use a unique May Day Ticket at the airport on their island in order to participate in a special tour. For the duration of the tour, all items in the player’s inventory are taken and stored elsewhere, and they must instead use the resources on the island to progressively craft the necessary tools to clear and navigate their way through a hedge maze.

In May Day 2020, it was revealed that Rover, the traveling blue cat from previous Animal Crossing games, could be found at the end of the hedge maze. Upon speaking to him, he would give players some Bell vouchers and a unique furniture item, Rover’s briefcase. Predictably, Rover makes his return in this year’s New Horizons May Day event, and given his place as a favorite among fans many are beginning to wonder: can Rover be invited to move to the player’s island?

Animal Crossing: Inviting Rover to Move In

Rover brings with him some new content this May Day, notably the item Rover’s Photo as a completion prize – but only if players have already completed Animal Crossing’s May Day 2020 event, otherwise they will receive his briefcase furniture item. Similarly to last year, the prize will arrive in the player’s mailbox the day after the hedge maze is completed.

Although players can once again talk to Rover when they find him at the end of the hedge maze, other than offering up this year’s prize there isn’t much more he’ll discuss. Notably, that means he can’t be asked to move onto the player’s Animal Crossing island. Given his reputation throughout the franchise as a frequent traveler, it seems that convincing Rover to settle down isn’t going to be an option any time soon, though it’s unknown currently if he’ll appear during another event or become a surprising guest Animal Crossing villager in the future.

Between this May Day and the last, Rover hasn’t made any other appearances in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, though his amiibo can be scanned in order to purchase his poster. However, if players try to invite Rover to their campsite, they’ll receive the message that he is busy on another far-away island. It’s likely that Rover maintain his status as a special character who exclusively appears during events for the foreseeable future. 2021’s May Day can be completed up until May 7th, at which point players will have to wait until next year to participate.

About The Author

Ky Shinkle
(528 Articles Published)

Ky Shinkle is a Senior Gaming Features Writer for Screen Rant as well as an overall avid gamer and writer. Her prior experience is primarily that of a narrative designer for video games, although her writing has covered all formats from screenplays and novels to stage scripts. A graduate of the Savannah College of Art and Design, when she isn’t writing she works on digital media projects and other types of fiction writing. Ky currently works out of Ohio and enjoys spending her free time either playing RPGs or running with her dog.

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