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Animal Crossing: New Horizons' new DLC announcement came as a huge surprise to fans. The Happy Home Paradise expansion was released in early November and brought many players flocking back to their islands.
The new DLC costs $24.99 and is essentially a sequel to the pivotal Happy Home Designer on the Nintendo 3DS. The expansion includes hours upon hours of new content centered around building themed getaway houses for the animals, along with new design features, furniture, and more for Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Get ready to sit back and get lost in building and decorating homes for the island residents.
Updated November 10, 2021, by Holly Alice: Now that the Happy Home Paradise DLC is available for Animal Crossing: New Horizons fans to play, it has become necessary to make some some tweaks and changes to this list. There is a huge amount of updates and added content, some of which were actually part of the 2.0 update (which released early). This is likely to be the last large update from Nintendo, and the only paid expansion. Here's a refreshed, up-to-date list of what players can expect to see in the DLC.
10 New Villagers Can Request Houses
Within the huge 2.0 update to Animal Crossing: New Horizons, eighteen new villagers were added. Eight of the characters are actually from Dobutsu No Mori E+. Nintendo has decided to bring back characters like Ace the bird, Zoe the anteater, and Roswell the alligator, as well as some brand-new designs. The new villagers cover a variety of animals. Each new arrival represents a different species, bringing even more diversity to the game's animal kingdom.
These new villagers can also be found in the Happy Home Paradise expansion requesting holiday homes from players' newfound professional side. The Direct showed this off with Shino, Azalea, and Marlo pictured in customized sets in the DLC.
9 Mountains Of New Furniture
Something that Animal Crossing New Horizons sorely needed was a refresh to the available furniture. And boy, is it here now! Happy Home Paradise holds hundreds of new furniture options, from high chairs to pretzel baskets, and even fluorescent ceiling lights.
This is not the biggest surprise, as Happy Home Designer also introduced new furniture to the 3DS options available. In addition to these, though, the Switch game will be receiving customization options and ceiling items on top of the new ranges. The expansion is bringing back a lot of favorites, as well as brand-new items.
8 Walls Can Be Used
Within the interior design aspect of Happy Home Paradise, players can now utilize walls. This includes fabricated partition walls (in different heights) and support pillars to complete the look. These will add a huge new dimension to room designs. No longer will players need to use Simple Panels to make fake walls in their homes.
So far, it is not clear if these items will translate over to the main island homes, but they are an appreciated tool nonetheless. With these walls, players can make homes for more than one animal, by adding roommates!
7 More NPCs Are Coming
Not only are Kapp'n, Brewster, and company back, but some new island staff has even joined the cast starting November 5th. Fans have been introduced to Wardell and Niko, the adorable duo assisting Lottie with the happy home creations.
NPCs residing on islands is nothing new for Animal Crossing. In New Leaf, Kapp'n's family ran the gift shop, and Happy Home Designer introduced Lottie herself. The manatee and monkey mates will be on hand to help players on their archipelago adventures. It is assumed that Wardell, probable son of Wendell, will be helping with designs and patterns, while Niko is a surprise.
6 Themed Archipelago Islands
Happy Home Paradise is, essentially, a sequel to Happy Home Designer. Another feature brought over from the 3DS title is themed areas to build on. Players can choose from forest clearings, icy islands, or even dusty desert plots to build their creations on.
Some of the villagers have preferences as to which geographical setting their vacation homes are on, so players must choose carefully where to place their home after listening to their wants. There is a whole new level to the gameplay, and residents can feel more at home in an environment suited to their species.
5 Design The Outdoors
Leading on from the last point, along with choosing a setting that has a certain biome or instilled weather pattern, players can build uponthe entire outside plot of the vacation homes. Not only does this include furniture, but there is also the ability to place paving, trees, bushes, and flowers.
The outside portions are like a whole new town being added to Animal Crossing New Horizons. Even if they don't connect together, each area can be turned into whatever the player desires. Paths can easily (and quickly) be plopped down on the ground, and gardens perfectly scaped, meaning that the ground level of the plots can be spruced up.
4 Adjustable Custom Room Sizes
Here's something that sadly won't translate over to the main section of New Horizons: the ability to change the size of the room that is being designed. Instead of being stuck with the usual six-by-six square room, players can adjust the width and length of any blank canvas.
Happy Home Designer paved the way for this; there were choices for what size and shape players wanted some rooms to be, but there wasn't a particularly wide selection. With this upgrade in Happy Home Paradise, players can really branch out in their design careers.
3 Community Buildings Can Be Made
Happy Home Paradise does not just focus on the vacation homes for the animals — it also has a main street of community buildings available for renovation. The available projects shown in the trailer were a school, restaurant, and hospital, but these structures can be built into whatever the player decides.
This is another feature from Happy Home Designer that has been brought back to the new installment. It is assumed that, like the DS game, there will only be a small number of requested items in the community builds, so players have free reign over the themes.
2 Change The Time And Weather
That’s right, in Happy Home Paradise, players can essentially imitate God — even if it is just for the sake of pictures and atmosphere. Along with the interior and exterior furniture and design options (and the gardening aspect), players can tweak the weather, the time, and the season on a plot.
This can really make the designs fit, and turn any old house into a proper home that suits the villager who owns it. Indoors, the brightness of lights can be adjusted, too, to perfectly capture a villagers’ mood.
1 Lottie Makes A Return
There is another returning character coming with this DLC, as Animal Crossing New Horizons is wont to do. Lottie the otter, niece of long-running insurance broker Lyle, is included as the manager of the Paradise pack.
Lottie was first introduced into the series in Happy Home Designer, so it makes perfect sense that she would return with the remodeling expansion. She acts as manager of the design agency, and is the first point of contact for players when they take on the job! She also runs the Happy Homeroom section of Pocket Camp.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons was released on March 20th, 2020, and is available on Nintendo Switch.