I've played Animal Crossing games since the GameCube, so I'm going to start a thread of helpful tips/info the game doesn't tell you
May contain spoilers
May contain spoilers
If you want to know if a villager is home, you can obviously knock on their door
You can also look at their house and tilt the camera up. If there's smoke coming from the chimney, they're home
You can also look at their house and tilt the camera up. If there's smoke coming from the chimney, they're home
You can become better friends with resident animals by talking to them and giving them presents (especially on their birthdays, which get announced on the message board/by Isobel/animals talk about it)
Obviously you can just give them cheap generic presents like fruit, shells, or picked flowers
But if you tailor the present to their personality, you get faster friendship and they might give you gifts of stuff that's not in your catalog yet
But if you tailor the present to their personality, you get faster friendship and they might give you gifts of stuff that's not in your catalog yet
The animals also have favorite colors, but tbh I never keep track of that my brain fog can't keep up
So like, an example is the jock animals really like sporting equipment, baseball jerseys, etc
If one of these falls out of a tree or whatever, I hang on to it and give it to an animal that likes it
(You can also mail them presents!)
If one of these falls out of a tree or whatever, I hang on to it and give it to an animal that likes it
(You can also mail them presents!)
When you know an animal well enough, you can give them a present every day with the dialogue option "this is for you" or something like that
If you can't do this yet, mail is the way to go
Beware, they might show off your letter to visitors, so don't write anything personal
If you can't do this yet, mail is the way to go
Beware, they might show off your letter to visitors, so don't write anything personal
Obviously if you want a particular animal to move out, do not give them presents
I'm going to assume people know about money trees?
When you dig up bells from the glowy spot, you can bury money and a tree will grow that (one time only) yields triple what you buried up to an initial investment of $10,000 bells
When you dig up bells from the glowy spot, you can bury money and a tree will grow that (one time only) yields triple what you buried up to an initial investment of $10,000 bells
Sometimes it's a really inconvenient spot, though
You can dig up the sapling and replant it! (Mine live right by my house)
And also you don't need to eat fruit to dig up a bb tree
You can dig up the sapling and replant it! (Mine live right by my house)
And also you don't need to eat fruit to dig up a bb tree
Let's talk balloons:
There are 3 ways to know balloons might be coming
- the wind picks up / tree leaves move
- that whooshing noise
- a weird shadow on the ground (the number of times I thought this was a special fish
)
There are 3 ways to know balloons might be coming
- the wind picks up / tree leaves move
- that whooshing noise
- a weird shadow on the ground (the number of times I thought this was a special fish

Balloons move east-west or west-east depending on which way the wind is blowing
So if you know they're coming from the East, you can hang out on the left side of your island and also look for balloons
So if you know they're coming from the East, you can hang out on the left side of your island and also look for balloons
If you look up (tap up on the right joycon), you can see where balloons are
Don't shoot them down over water or you'll lose them
You can position yourself in the balloon's path, hold down A, and release it when the balloon is overhead
Don't shoot them down over water or you'll lose them
You can position yourself in the balloon's path, hold down A, and release it when the balloon is overhead
AFAIK, The color of the balloon does not determine what's inside the package (other than like Easter balloons) despite some memes claiming otherwise
If you dig a hole and want to fill it in, you can always use the shovel
You can also press Y and your character will kick dirt into the hole (unless you are standing on flowers, in which case you will pick the flowers)
You can also press Y and your character will kick dirt into the hole (unless you are standing on flowers, in which case you will pick the flowers)
If you're growing flowers in a particular pattern and don't want them to spread, the easiest way to deal with this is to not water them
But sometimes the animals will, so you can also put a stone path/custom pattern around the border. If you can't dig it, flowers can't grow
But sometimes the animals will, so you can also put a stone path/custom pattern around the border. If you can't dig it, flowers can't grow
Once you have terraforming unlocked, you can lay a dirt or sand square and plant flowers in that
Which can make for some nice garden beds
Which can make for some nice garden beds
If you use a custom path pattern, stand on it and press Y when there's nothing to pick up, your character will kick the custom pattern off the ground
This doesn't happen with terraformer patterns except the custom ones
This doesn't happen with terraformer patterns except the custom ones
This may seem obvious but it wasn't to me:.
If you need to creep up on a bug, equip your net and hold down A, this will make you move slowly
If the insect starts fidgeting, pause until it stops before moving again
Release A to catch it
If you need to creep up on a bug, equip your net and hold down A, this will make you move slowly
If the insect starts fidgeting, pause until it stops before moving again
Release A to catch it
I have trouble gauging distance, so you might want to practice gauging how long your net is on sea shells or something
If you want hermit crabs to spawn, it helps to pick up the shells on your beach
If you're standing behind a building/trees and need to see the ground, tap down on the right joycon
If you can't find an animal and you've looked everywhere, they're probably in the museum
So previous Animal Crossing games used furniture placement to determine things like luck, how many bells you get from balloons, how many rare fish spawn, etc
It kinda sucked because it meant that certain very fun furniture designs would actually penalize you in game, so I think Nintendo has...relaxed some of the Feng Shui/lucky items stuff
But no one knows exactly how it works in ACNH
But no one knows exactly how it works in ACNH
This is a very basic primer on Feng Shui in Animal Crossing https://segmentnext.com/2020/03/30/animal-crossing-new-horizons-feng-shui-guide/
So like in general, if you put a lot of plants within 2 spaces of the wall closest to your door, that will probably increase overall luck
If you have things like trophies and you put them within 2 spaces of your right wall, it should increase luck with bells
If you have things like trophies and you put them within 2 spaces of your right wall, it should increase luck with bells
I think Wild World? Or City Folk idk, had a lot of lucky items so like if you put the green frog statue in a particular corner it would really affect game play
But then it made it so people never rearranged their furniture? And many people had the same items in the same places
But then it made it so people never rearranged their furniture? And many people had the same items in the same places
New Leaf made a lot of lucky items seasonal, so like during cicada season having a pet cicada displayed would up your luck, etc
So if you feel like putting a seasonal fish/insect in your house, probably on the south wall (or a corner), it *might* increase luck
So if you feel like putting a seasonal fish/insect in your house, probably on the south wall (or a corner), it *might* increase luck
Again nobody knows what (if any) the lucky items are for ACNH
If you're wandering around outside and hear this trilling but don't see a bug... it's a mole cricket
AKA the inaccessible insect, because AFAIK there's no visual cues deaf/HoH gamers can use to find it
I hate them
AKA the inaccessible insect, because AFAIK there's no visual cues deaf/HoH gamers can use to find it
I hate them
Basic mole cricket strategy:
Drop all tools except shovel + net a little bit away
Find the spot where the trilling is loudest
Dig
When you see the bug, press right to immediately equip your net and catch the dang thing
Drop all tools except shovel + net a little bit away
Find the spot where the trilling is loudest
Dig
When you see the bug, press right to immediately equip your net and catch the dang thing
So hopefully you know that if you talk to animals using a DIY bench, they'll give you a recipe (even on friend's islands)
If they don't, talk to them again
Often there's an obligatory dialogue option they have to do first, like say "omg you were stung by wasps!!"
If they don't, talk to them again
Often there's an obligatory dialogue option they have to do first, like say "omg you were stung by wasps!!"
Unless all your animals are asleep or celebrating an event, there's generally one at a DIY bench at a time
This changes throughout the day, so if you logged off for a bit or have just been playing for awhile
It's worth checking to see if there's a new animal doing DIY (recipe!)
This changes throughout the day, so if you logged off for a bit or have just been playing for awhile
It's worth checking to see if there's a new animal doing DIY (recipe!)
If you really want a tree to go in a particular spot, sure you can just stand in front of the spot and hit plant but I have had errors doing this, and then I've got to waste fruit
So you can just dig a hole, and know exactly where the tree will go
So you can just dig a hole, and know exactly where the tree will go
Your island should spawn five fossils a day
If you can't find one, some places to look include:
- behind buildings/trees
- on the small grassy areas next to the beach
- a narrow clifftop, like along the sides of your island
- in an empty space surrounded by flowers
If you can't find one, some places to look include:
- behind buildings/trees
- on the small grassy areas next to the beach
- a narrow clifftop, like along the sides of your island
- in an empty space surrounded by flowers
If you want moar fossils, then mystery islands sometimes have them (and also sometimes they have an extra DIY recipe in a bottle on the beach)
Spawns seem to be random
Spawns seem to be random

Ok so with fossils it might be 3-5 per day on your island? Idk! https://twitter.com/aroluna_/status/1250208386307616768?s=19
You probably know this, but if you're playing at night and your shops are all closed and you don't want to take the 20% penalty for using the drop box, you can just make a giant pile of items outside the store
If you can get Nook Miles for spending bells but there's nothing you want to buy, highly recommend just buying customization kits