Time and time again, Animal Crossing has proven itself as one of the most refreshing and relaxing video game franchises in Nintendo’s repertoire. Contrary to popular belief, the franchise actually began in earnest on the Nintendo 64, with a Japanese exclusive that would later be ported to the Nintendo GameCube roughly half a year later.
Animal Crossing is almost two decades old now, and it’s arguably only gotten better with time. Each new entry brings with it quality of life improvements that help make the experience not only faster, but more enjoyable on a control level. Needless to say, every villager should know how best to approach New Horizons before they uproot their life.
10 Buy The Tool Ring
Long gone are the days of needing to plan out days to actually make the most out of Animal Crossing’s features. Where stores would once close after the sunset, they now stay perpetually open. Where the gameplay loop would often struggle to fill an hour of meaningful gameplay, New Horizons throws seemingly endless content at the player.
There are more fish to catch, bugs to collect, trees to chop, and things to do– but all this requires tools, and cycling with the D-Pad or going into the menu to equip a tool every time it’s needed is a pain. Thankfully, the Tool Ring can be redeemed with Nook MIles and allows for villagers to open up an 8 slot ring filled with their favorite tools.
9 Get The Stone Axe ASAP
As was the case with the mechanic in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, durability is going to be rather hit or miss with fans of Animal Crossing. Especially early on when Flimsy Tools break in what feels like seconds. The first major tool upgrade players will likely be able to get their hands on is the Stone Axe, but some might want to hold out for the Axe proper.
Don’t. The real Axe’s only benefit is lasting longer and being able to take down trees. The Stone Axe, on the other hand, does at least have better durability than the Flimsy Axe, but it’s mainly useful due to the fact it spawns more nuggets out of stones. Considering how valuable Iron Nuggets are at the start of the game, the sooner villagers grab the Stone Axe, the better.
8 Power Of Fruit
More than ever, it’s important to eat fruit everyday. Not only due to the importance of staying well fed and maintaining a nutritious diet, but because it will help you break rocks. In an attempt to further spruce up gameplay, New Horizons introduces a brand new energy mechanic. Simply eat a piece of fruit, and villagers will gain one point of energy.
Energy can be stored and then used in conjunction with tools. Eat a fruit, use energy to destroy a rock to smithereens. Keep in mind, however, energy is automatically used if you have it. Don’t go destroying rocks until they’ve been fully mined.
7 Pole Vaults And Ladders Don’t Break
Although the durability system is more than certain to rub some fans the wrong way, Nintendo did at least go to the trouble of ensuring that not every tool breaks. While the staples and tools that see frequent use do break (Axe, Shovel, Net, Fishing Rod,) the two traversal tools– the Pole Vault and Ladder– have infinite durability.
It’s not hard to see why. As they’re used to navigate across the island, it only makes sense Nintendo would want to ensure players never lose their Vault or Ladder. Bizarrely, the Rescue Services app already circumvents this, but it really is for the best that villagers can tuck a vault or ladder into their pockets and never need to think about them again.
6 Jump To Redeemable Nook Miles With The Right Stick
This is one of those features where the longer you go without knowing about it, the worse it’s going to feel when you finally figure it out. In typical Animal Crossing fashion, it isn’t enough to simply complete challenges for Nook Miles, villagers need to manually go into their Smartphones and redeem their Miles.
One’s natural instinct is to use the D-Pad to move up and down, searching for any Nook Miles in sight. That said, by flicking the right analog stick, the app will immediately jump to any redeemable Nook MIles, completely circumventing the need to search for Miles.
5 Donate Before Selling
Think of this as much of a pro tip as a common sense tip. Especially for singler player villagers, one of the best ways of making money is to catch fish, catch bugs, find fossils, and sell them to Tom Nook. Not only is it just better than selling off your own fruit, actually getting fish, bugs, and fossils requires taking advantage of the gameplay loop.
Don’t be hasty, though. Blathers does have a museum if you donate enough critters to Tom Nook. Once Blathers is on the island and personally accepting donations, go donate before heading over to sell. Anything already donated once will be greyed out, leaving villagers with everything they can sell with no worries.
4 Spot The Sinkhole
Digging has been a favorite pastime of Animal Crossing fans since the very beginning and naturally makes its triumphant return. Although Gyroids are unfortunately absent as movable, posable items, fossils are still in play. Not just that, the beach features slightly hard to spot sinkholes. Once you know to look for them, though, they’re easy to catch.
Every now and again, water will squirt out of the sand on the beach. It’ll happen quickly, and then stop. Wait long enough, however, and villagers can spot where exactly the water is shooting from. Dig there, and villagers will either find Gulliver’s phone parts or Manilla Clams.
3 Hold Onto Those Miles
Bells have been Animal Crossing’s staple currency since day 1, so the inclusion of Nook Miles can be seen as something of a game changer. Instead of replacing Bells, Nook Miles complement them, serving as an alternative currency with its own alternative shop. More importantly, what players can purchase with Nook Miles is a bit more practical than what they can buy with Bells.
While one might feel the impulse to spend their Nook Miles immediately, keep in mind that new purchases get added to the ABD. More importantly, Nook Miles should be prioritized for upgrading pocket space to 40 and getting recipes for tool upgrades.
2 Don’t Sweat Where To Put Buildings (But Save Bells)
Unlike other games in the Animal Crossing franchise, New Horizons notably allows you to decide where other villagers set down their houses (along with placing pretty much every other building in the game.) Early on, without the Pole Vault or the Ladder, finding the right location is either going to be difficult or perhaps impossible.
Don’t worry, though. With time, it’s possible to relocate just about any building on the island (including the player’s home.) To do so requires paying a hefty sum of Bells, 50,000 to be exact. Still, that’s not exactly a difficult amount of Bells to get considering how much easier it is to make money this time around.
1 Leaf Umbrellas Can Make You Rich
Speaking of, flood your pockets with cash pretty much out the gate by selling Leaf Umbrellas. As soon as villagers touch down on their island, it’ll be infested with weeds. Make sure to save as many weeds as possible. Once crafting is unlocked, make as many Leaf Umbrellas as possible with the clumps of weed.
After that, simply sell all the Leaf Umbrellas and rake in the Bells. Now, keep in mind that rich here is relative. There are much better ways to earn Bells, but at the beginning of the game, this is a guaranteed way to get money fast. If nothing else, selling weeds as Leaf Umbrellas does net a consistent profit.
NEXT: How To Get Blathers in Animal Crossing: New Horizons
