The Animal Crossing franchise is a beloved part of video game history and saw an incredible resurgence of popularity with the release of Animal Crossing: New Horizons. The games are incredibly cute life simulators, putting players on their own island that they can customize however they want, as long as they build, forage, grow, and make the materials to do so. From ranking favorite Animal Crossing: New Horizons villagers to celebrating virtual birthdays by throwing a party in the game, fans have truly made the franchise their own, including creating "Unwritten Rules" from hours of play.
While Animal Crossing is designed to be an open-ended game with a variety of ways to play, the game can be challenging when it comes to paying off Tom Nook's hefty debts, foraging for materials across the island, gaining bells and Nook Miles, dealing with villager requests, and more. Players who find the game to be a grind might find the advice and hard-learned lessons from fellow Animal Crossing: New Horizons players to be helpful during their next playthrough.
Pay Attention to Museum Donations for Blathers
An enduring game element in the Animal Crossing franchise is the museum, a space for dedicated artifacts and natural wonders to be put on display. Museum curator Blathers puts the player in charge of collecting items for the museum, but some of them can be quite difficult to obtain.
From digging up fossils to catching rare Oarfish, players come across hundreds of different collectible items during their playthrough, and it can be difficult to remember what needs to be donated. Luckily enough, when the player discovers new fish, for example, the game indicates this, making it easy to tell if it needs to be donated. Some players make it a rule to immediately donate an item the first time they receive it to avoid confusion.
Organization Systems for Animal Crossing Tools Is a Must
Similar to other life simulation games like Stardew Valley or Harvest Moon, Animal Crossing: New Horizons gives players a ton of tools to collect and use. From bug nets to vaulting poles, there are a lot of tools to keep track of, and that's before adding the hundreds of collectible items that all fight for inventory space.
To avoid confusion and frustration, players have developed their own organizational systems for their Animal Crossing inventory, keeping tools, customization items, and sellable objects in their own spaces. For instance, players will put their tools in the top eight slots in their pockets and dedicate the first two columns to tool organization.
Animal Crossing Tools Inevitably Break, Making It Vital To Make and Carry Extra
Unique to Animal Crossing is the game mechanic that makes tools breakable, making it vital for players to be able to anticipate when their tools might break and build replacements. After all, it can be incredibly frustrating to be in the middle of gathering building supplies just to have the flimsy fishing pole, axe, and shovel break at the same time.
To prevent tools from breaking at inopportune times, some players make sure to have room in their pockets for extra sets of tools, making it easy to keep exploring when something breaks. While it might seem like a straightforward hack, the game doesn't overtly recommend this tip, and higher-quality tools are difficult to acquire at the beginning of the game. Animal Crossing customization kits can save tools as well.
Be Wary of Potential Animal Crossing Flower Invasions
Flowers are one of the first and easiest things to plant in Animal Crossing: New Horizons and they can be an easy way to begin customizing your island and home. What the game doesn't reveal is that flowers will randomly generate over time and can completely take over a player's island before they know it. In the older games like Animal Crossing: New Leaf, flowers could be destroyed by running over them or using a tool.
But in New Horizons, running over flowers only destroys the flowering mechanism in the plant, and it will come back with time. What players have learned the hard way, is that once hundreds of flowers have populated an Animal Crossing island, the best way to remove them is to shovel them all, individually. It's an easier process if players invite friends to their island to help, but it's still a frustrating and time-consuming process all the same.
Don't Steal From Other Player's Animal Crossing Islands
One of the coolest aspects of the Animal Crossing franchise is that players are never really alone. While establishing an island village can at times feel like an arduous and isolating experience, gamers can visit each other's islands. Animal Crossing: New Horizons has helped players host virtual events including birthday parties, wedding ceremonies, and more, regularly encouraging fans to create a cooperative experience that's shared with others.
While the multiplayer aspects of Animal Crossing are typically positive, some players take advantage of the system by stealing items from other people's islands. It doesn't help that players can now swim to other islands and steal, as the game does not have overt rules against it. It's important to respect other players' work and property by honoring their island and not stealing. Like in the real world, asking first always works best.
Don't Compare Animal Crossing Islands To Others, It's All For Fun!
From finding the best ways to rake in thousands of bells to navigating the competitive turnip stalk market, it can be easy to forget that the Animal Crossing franchise was originally created to be a fun and creative community simulator. While the immense popularity of New Horizons can create pressure to have the most beautiful and profitable island, there is no in-game obligation to play in any way except what suits the individual player.
With this being said, the in-game pressure to pay off debts and consistently upgrade a player's island can be exhausting, especially when almost every mechanic available in the game requires finding materials, crafting tools, earning bells, and repeating the process all over again. While some players might feel like they need to time travel in New Horizons, there's no race against the clock. While time traveling in the game is valid, it can have consequences, including rotten turnips, neglected villagers, weeds, cockroaches, and more.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is available now on Nintendo Switch.
