The lovable little cactus/fire hydrant-looking things known as gyroids have been a part of the Animal Crossing franchise since its inception. They have always been collectible in the series, until the most recent entry, Animal Crossing: New Horizons. But the official strategy guide for the game suggests that that may soon change.
Gyroids are inspired by ancient terra-cotta figures known as haniwa that date back to the 3rd and 6th century A.D. Haniwa were made for funeral rituals to represent the deceased and were then buried with them, hence why gyroids are primarily found underground. Terracotta is made from water-based clay, which is why they often appear more after rain, leading to the common Animal Crossing villager expression, “Gyroids must like rain.”
As of right now, gyroids only appear in Animal Crossing: New Horizons in the form of the sentient construction-donation collector, Lloid. A video from GameXplain, though, recently shared that a fan photographed the official strategy guide, in which appears a reference to gyroids, outside of just Lloid. Normally this would be reading far too into things, except for the fact that it tracks from the April 19 datamine from Ninji on Twitter that said gyroids were in the game's data. The museum appears to have two more upgrades possibly coming, one of which will include a gyroid designated section.
Some of the other information Ninji has released, like Redd returning with his paintings, has already come to fruition, so it adds even further to the plausibility of gyroids being in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Still, the content could just be a placeholder or content that has already been cut, which would explain why gyroids were mentioned in the strategy guide. Strategy guides are often written at least partly during the development of a game and therefore might not reflect all the changes in the final release of the game.
Hopefully the only reason gyroids haven’t shown up in New Horizons just yet is that they were not finished in time for the game’s March 20 release date. Gyroids are an iconic part of the Animal Crossing franchise and an awesome tie to Japan’s ancient history. Hopefully, Lloid won’t have to be lonely for that much longer.
In the meantime, players should be sure to participate in the Stamp Rally Event celebrating Museum Day in New Horizons before the end of this month. Players that find all the stamps in the museum can get museum plaques from Blathers to use as decorations in their homes.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is available now exclusively for Nintendo Switch.
Source: GameXplain
