Friends, Aniimo Exchange and Companion Mode: playing together in Aniimo
Add friends and play together to raise your Affinity: it unlocks Aniimo Exchange, Aniimo gifts in Companion Mode and new two-player gestures. An exchanged Aniimo can’t be traded again for 30 days. The Horn, earned at Pathfinder level 10, calls other players for help.
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Aniimo plays perfectly well solo, but plenty of systems reward playing with others. This guide gathers the help center’s rules on friends, Affinity, trading, Companion Mode and the tools for meeting other Pathfinders.
Adding friends
The Friends tab lets you add players so you can explore together. The game offers several ways in:
- search;
- recommendations from the system or from a friend;
- face-to-face, when you run into a Pathfinder;
- from your current party;
- from a player’s Profile.
To open a nearby Pathfinder’s Profile, press the interact key (F on PC) or tap the player on mobile. The Profile gives access to interactions with that player, such as Aniimo Exchange. On your side, your Student ID is used to start exchanges and Companion Mode.
Affinity and its tiers
Each friend has an Affinity level with you. Interactions raise it, and the game specifically points to adventuring together in Companion Mode. The six levels are named:
| Level | Name |
|---|---|
| 1 | New Friend |
| 2 | Good Friend |
| 3 | Close Friend |
| 4 | Trusted Friend |
| 5 | Best Friend |
| 6 | Soulmate |
As Affinity grows, you unlock more features with that friend:
- Aniimo Exchange: progressively wider trading tiers (see below).
- Companion Mode Surprise: rarer Aniimo gifts and a growing shared report bonus.
- Two-player Interaction Gestures: Nice to Meet You, Peace Sign, Chemistry, Face Cupping, Finger Heart.
- Wild Surge: when you join a Wild Surge in a friend’s world, your own world’s Prismatic Energy grows too — a little at first, then moderately, then significantly.
- Login Reminder: a notification when that friend comes online.
- Aniimo Illusory: daily interactions can make you Illusory Friends, after which your Aniimo can cuddle up and become Illusory Aniimo.
- Friend Prefix: you receive that friend’s Designation Prefix cosmetic.
- Duet photos: from Affinity level 3, you can invite that friend to the Photo Studio (see our photo mode guide).
Aniimo Exchange
Aniimo Exchange starts from the Profile, once you meet up with a friend. The official rules:
- Invite a friend to meet up and exchange. Each exchange uses available attempts and the specified items.
- During an exchange, the Aniimo has a chance to gain a random Acquired Potential level.
- An exchanged Aniimo can’t be exchanged again for 30 days.
- The closer your friendship, the more Aniimo types you can exchange.
The exchange tiers, from most accessible to widest:
| Tier | Exchangeable Aniimo |
|---|---|
| 1 | Regular Aniimo in Lumin Stage Basic Form, potential up to 8 |
| 2 | Regular Aniimo in Basic Form, potential up to 8 |
| 3 | Regular and Umbral Aniimo in area or weather variants, potential up to 9 |
| 4 | Regular and Umbral Aniimo in area or weather variants, potential up to 10 |
For potential and Acquired Potential, see our Potential and Capability Awakening guide.
Companion Mode
Companion Mode turns a party into a small guided expedition.
- Starting it: form a party, then activate the mode with your Student ID. You can also invite a nearby Pathfinder from your profile card.
- The guide leads the whole team. Other members can break away to do their own thing: they temporarily leave the mode and rejoin automatically once they stop controlling their character.
- Leaving: a member who leaves the party or disconnects exits Companion Mode.
- Gifting Aniimo: the guide can gift caught Aniimo to other members who have enough Affinity with them.
- Shared rewards: when the guide reports a caught Aniimo, the other members get rewards too.
Aniimo gifts also follow Affinity tiers: first regular Lumin Stage Basic Form Aniimo (potential up to 7, then 8), then regular Basic Form Aniimo (potential up to 8), and finally regular or Umbral area and weather variants (potential up to 9, then 10).
Calling for help and being heard
The Horn
You receive the Horn at Pathfinder level 10. Use it from your inventory when you’re in trouble: other Pathfinders may come to help. The other way around, BINI sometimes tells you that a nearby Pathfinder, or one of your friends, needs help and offers to take you to their world.
The Flute
Open the Interaction Panel, pick the Flute, then choose a rhythm. A passing Pathfinder may hear your melody and answer. BINI lets you know when someone nearby is playing the flute or answering yours.
Gestures
The Interaction Panel also holds Gestures for greeting the Pathfinders you meet (O on PC). Some gestures are for two or more players.
Voice chat
On PC, F5 is Push to Talk, and the interface offers to join party voice chat.
Mark Sharing
Pathfinders can leave Marks in the world and share content: other players see what you leave behind and can like it. The duration rules:
- A Mark that doesn’t get 100 Likes within 10 days expires and other players can no longer see it.
- On its first day, a Mark is easier to spot. Once it passes 10 Likes, that boosted exposure is extended by one day, and the bonus can be extended multiple times.
- Expired Marks have to be removed manually.
Helping friends day to day
- Bonfires: they restore your Aniimo’s HP, and they’re also where you meet other Pathfinders, rest and share natural resources.
- Homeland: in another player’s Homeland, you can loosen the soil for their crops and earn a small bonus reward.
- Hatching: once an egg is incubating, you and your friends can pet the Hatchinator to speed it up.
- Prismana Flow: you can visit other Pathfinders’ worlds to enjoy their Prismana Flow.
- Duo Sanctums: each player awakens an Aniimo statue and twines with the Aniimo sealed inside to explore together. In multiplayer Sanctums, interacting with an already awakened statue seals its Aniimo again.
- Chain Ultimate: with more than two Pathfinders, chaining your Ultimates triggers a Chain Burst (see combat basics).
For the competitive and co-op mode, read our Egg Heist guide.
Frequently asked questions
How do you trade Aniimo with a friend?
Meet up with your friend, open their Profile (or your Student ID) and choose Aniimo Exchange. Trades use up available attempts and the listed items. The higher your Affinity, the more Aniimo types you can exchange.
Can I trade away an Aniimo I just received?
Not right away: an exchanged Aniimo can’t be exchanged again for 30 days.
Does trading change an Aniimo’s stats?
It can improve them: during an exchange, the Aniimo has a chance to gain a random Acquired Potential level.
When do you get the Horn?
At Pathfinder level 10. Use it from your inventory when you’re in trouble to call other Pathfinders for help.
How do I raise Affinity with a friend?
By playing together: the game says interactions increase Affinity, and specifically suggests adventuring together in Companion Mode.