Animal Crossing is a series about collecting things as much as it is an opportunity to live a second life among cute animal villagers. Animal Crossing: New Horizons amped up this collecting aspect by giving more use to furniture items as outdoor decor, and setting up a DIY system that uses materials collected around one's island. The game's Version 2.0 update and Happy Home Paradise DLC took everything a step further by adding more items like the fan-favorite Froggy Chair. Version 2.0 also made it easier for players to fill out their museum.
Blathers' museum has been a staple of Animal Crossing since the beginning, acting as a hub for players to donate fossils, art, as well as the fish and bugs that rotate each season. New Horizons' museum is the biggest yet, and has only expanded over time. An art wing was added alongside Redd's dubious shop in April 2020, and Version 2.0 included Brewster's cafe. Last month's update also featured a regular way of meeting Redd on Harv's Island, and access to multiple seasons for bug and fish catching through Kapp'n boat tours.
When Kapp'n tours were first announced in the September 2021 Animal Crossing Direct, it was said he would take players to places only he knows about - such as islands with "mysterious flora," or set in a different season or time of day. It was immediately clear Kapp'n aimed to make bug and fish collecting easier, much like Harv's Island benefits art. However, in practice this service would be stronger if players had a bit more control on where Kapp'n brings them.
The Basics of New Horizons' Boat Tours
Kapp'n settles down at each islands' pier after a player gets their island to a three-star rating and unlocks K.K. Slider concerts. It's similar to the mystery tours accessible via Animal Crossing: New Horizons' Dodo Airlines - except only open once a day for 1,000 Nook Miles, as opposed to whenever players have a Nook Miles Ticket (worth 2,000 Nook Miles each).
Dodo Airlines tours are useful to scout new villagers when a space is open, and there are rare islands that help grind out Bells or make some fish or bugs available. However, Kapp'n offers an entirely different set of benefits. Every island players visit through a boat tour has one Gyroid Fragment, and doing this is necessary to find Brewster and open his cafe. Kapp'n's set of rare islands are also more specific, with aformentioned seasonal variants offering everything from a summertime paradise full of Summer Shells to a snow-covered island. Players can also wind up on Star Fragment islands that offer materials otherwise locked behind Celeste's meteor showers.
How Kapp'n Boat Tours Could be Rebalanced
The arrival of Kapp'n boat tours was well-timed, as it offers an opportunity for new and veteran players to catch up on seasonal items they may have missed before Version 2.0 dropped. However, it's a more useful system for players hoping to collect Gyroids than for those who want to fill out their museum. Players will mostly find "normal" islands, ones with a vegetable growing, or ones covered with moss and vines. There's only about a three percent chance of seeing any individual rare island.
It makes sense Nintendo would avoid letting players choose where they want to visit since this would take away the exciting surprise of getting a rare island, and potentially make the museum - a longterm project - too easy to complete. Still, it would be nice if Kapp'n offered players a little more agency to contrast the still-random Dodo Airlines tours. Perhaps he could ask which season players would prefer to see as a means of weighing the odds, as each person will likely be missing more collectibles from one time period over another.
The way boat tours are designed also already balance this power. Only having one tour available per-day means providing more choice in what to look for wouldn't completely break New Horizons' economy. Rare mystery islands could still be random occurrences regardless of season, such as the Star Fragment islands or ones dedicated to specific materials like mushrooms. Either way, it would be a juicy bone to throw players who are itching to collect all of the museum's framed posters.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is available now for Nintendo Switch.
