Animal Crossing: New Horizons is a wildly popular game, and some of the people who play it seem like it to live in.
But part of what makes Animal Crossing so great (and so frustrating too) is that there’s no real way to play. That’s why you’ll find plenty of beginner’s guides elsewhere to help players catch up on the decades of knowledge that fans have accumulated.
However, this is not a guide for beginners. These are the tips, tricks, and hacks that even the most experienced Animal Crossing players might not know about New Horizons. There has never been a time when so many people obsessively played Animal Crossing at the same time, which has resulted in many fan-made tools and websites.
1. The Turnip market
The Turnip market is one way to make money with prices that keep going up and down, Animal Crossing’s stock market. People hardly sell anything below the retail price of 500 bells. That may be because we’ve never had so many fan-created guides to predict or even exchange the best Turnip prices. How do you predict the best Turnip prices?
First, there is Turnip Calculator, which gives a beautifully streamlined graph showing you the minimum price, as well as predicting your island’s maximum for that week. Note, however, that the maximum is around 400, so it doesn’t take into account random rises that yield prizes higher than 500 bells. If you are a gambler, we recommend the Turnip Prophet which offers a similar service with much more detailed details on predictions of likely prices.
There are also sites on which you can exchange Dodo Codes with random people on the internet who have a high Turnip price.
2. Nookazon
Nookazon is literal Amazon for Animal Crossing. People put their most loved stuff on it, and you can buy them from the (rather slick site). So if you really want that one item but can’t get it, Nookazon is the one place to be.
Talk on your phone
Trying to communicate in Animal Crossing via chat on the Switch is a nightmare. That’s why you should definitely download the Nintendo Switch Online app (on iPhone or Android device). This makes it all a bit easier.
Now you can send messages as you normally would and the messages will appear as bubbles above your head in the game.
4. Create beautiful custom designs
Creating / getting custom design patterns for clothing, paintings or floor patterns can really give your island some personality (for free!) And there are a ton of tools to take advantage of that.
AC Patterns is a one stop shop for the designs of your dreams. On the site you can upload your own patterns or search through patterns from others. In fact, AC Patterns’ editor lets you convert literally any image on your computer into a QR code that you can then upload to the game.
5. With this tool you know exactly which islands to search for
Animal Crossing fans who know a bit about data mining have delved deep into the game to see which ‘Mystery Islands’ offer the best and most materials.
This entire website (built by Ash Wolf in Ninji) offers interactive maps for each island, along with information on what to get from each island. Again, this always comes with a caveat that the game is constantly being updated – and that certain insects and fish can only be caught in certain months or at a certain time of the day. So if there are changes or new islands are added, we need new guides for 100 percent accuracy.
6. You should always bring a workbench!
We’ve all had your tools break one by one and you don’t like that at all Mystery Island could chop. It is therefore smart to always have one Workbench with you, so you can always make new tools, wherever you are. Of course you should not forget the materials with which you make the tools.
7. The weather forecast on your TV
This might be more of a great detail than a life-changing hack. It has limited utility, but is especially useful for those who want to grow flowers or find certain fish and insects that only come out in the rain.
If you have a TV, you can see an accurate weather forecast for your island at 6:15 AM, 7:45 AM, 11:45 AM, 6:30 PM and 10:45 PM. This info comes straight from the official Animal Crossing: New Horizon’s Nintendo guide, so you know it’s legit.
8. Use an island map
Terraforming in Animal Crossing is a tedious job, but it can yield great results. However, save yourself some of the grief by avoiding hours spent on an idea that you ultimately decide you hate or realize is impossible. Instead, use some of the island planning tools that fans make.
So there is Happy Island Planner, which allows you to map a top-down map view of your island. Super handy!
a super early version of the 3d island planner is up!! https://bobacupcake.itch.io/island-planner from r/AnimalCrossing
9. Chase residents away
The phenomenon of driving ugly villagers from your island or even people hunting for the most coveted is quite unique to Animal Crossing: New Horizons. But Nintendo has a bigger heart than most of its players, so there’s no sleek way to ensure your most hated villagers leave.
Online they suggest everything from torturing them with nets, ignoring them, or locking them up in their homes. Others have resorted to reporting these villagers to Isabelle at Resident Services, but then they only get reset. As it turns out, neglect is, in fact, key, but it takes too long to be effective on a daily basis.
So here’s the hack: start by talking to all the villagers you like and want to keep on your island. Don’t talk to those you want to get rid of. Now, time travel (meaning save, close the game application, go to the system settings on your Switch and turn off syncing with your time zone) by setting the clock exactly one month in the future. Restart the game and check if one of your villagers has a thought bubble above their heads, an indication they are considering moving. If it’s a villager you want to stay, make sure you distract them.
If none of the villagers you want to leave have thought bubbles, go forward one more day (again, talk to the villagers you want to keep and ignore the ones you don’t want).
Even if you can’t kick all the ugly people off your island, these hacks will at least help you with some other useful things.
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