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In typical Animal Crossing, fashion, Tom Nook obscures quite a few key details– whether they end up straight up unexplained, or see some focus at seemingly random intervals. Unlike earlier entries in the franchise, however, New Horizons is absolutely teeming with content. This is the densest Animal Crossing game by a mile, so it goes without saying that not everyone is going to figure out what exactly they can do right away. 

10 Speed Through Crafting

Anyone complaining about New Horizons’ UX and penchant for “wasting” time simply didn’t do enough research into the franchise. Animal Crossing is all about living in the moment and allowing these smaller, methodical details, to play out in fruition. At the same time, it would be silly to act as if everything in the game is carefully considered. 

Crafting seems to have some big oversights– notably the fact you can only craft one item at a time initially– but it’s the crafting speed that tends to rile up most players. Thankfully, there’s actually a way to speed right through it. Simply double tap A while crafting, and your villager will blitz through the process. 

9 Instantly Jump To Redeemable Nook Miles

At first glance, Nook Miles seem to replace Bells as the de facto currency as far as New Horizons is concerned. While this does not end up being the case, with Bells more or less adopting their typical role within a few short hours, this doesn’t mean the Nook Miles system doesn’t see a lot of play. 

By completing specific challenges, villagers can earn Nook Miles– more than a replacement, a second source of currency altogether. Once completed, villagers can then hop onto their SmartPhone and redeem the miles through their app. Simply flick the right stick whenever there are Miles to be redeemed, and the cursor will jump to whatever’s next in the quere. No need to slowly search. 

8 Stack Tanks On Top Of Each Other

In the olden days, those villagers who wanted to display their fish or bugs had to settle for one tank per spot. It makes sense to some degree– especially for the earlier entries on the Nintendo GameCube and Nintendo DS– but just as technology calls for advancement, so does the need for quality of life features. 

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With the power of the Switch, villagers can now display all their critters and creepy crawlies to their heart’s delight. Stack tanks on top of each other until there’s nothing left to stack. The terrarium and aquarium potential at play within New Horizons is the best of any of the Animal Crossing games. 

7 Store Items In Your Home

This isn’t actually something New Horizons lets players make use of right away, unfortunately, so don’t get your hopes up. That said, gaining access to in-home storage is as simple as upgrading your tent into a proper home. Once Nook has been paid his initial 5000 Nook Miles, villagers can then take out a 98,000 Bell loan to upgrade their house. 

Wait the traditional day and your brand new house will be built. Once inside, pressing right on the D-Pad will access the in-home storage. Frankly, it’s incredibly generous and makes it very easy to horde. Not just that, storage has practical purposes like actually storing away materials you may want to use for crafting down the road. 

6 Pulverize Rocks

The first major roadblock most villagers will face is more than likely going to be the first shop upgrade. While it’s simple enough to gather Wood, Softwood, and Hardwood, Iron Nuggets pose a considerably more daunting challenge. By hitting rocks, players can unearth Bells, bugs, Stones, Clay, and Nuggets used for crafting. By eating a fruit, villagers actually gain the strength to outright destroy rocks, potentially finding even more goodies underneath. 

Keep in mind, however, that the rock will be destroyed– gone. If you want to keep farming off the rocks, make sure you understand what you’re doing. As far as actually getting the Iron Nuggets on your island, make sure to equip a Stone Axe as they trigger Nuggets to spawn with a higher frequency. 

5 Cycle Through Tools With The D-Pad

As the latest (and arguably greatest) entry in the Animal Crossing franchise, New Horizons brings with it a host of tools. It only makes sense given how full on customizable the island is in comparison to more traditional villages of past games, but this also means potentially needing to go in and out of the menu quite a bit. 

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Thankfully, the D-Pad makes scrolling through tools… not easy, but possible. By pressing left and right on the D-Pad, the villager will cycle through any tools they have in their pockets. This can only be done outdoors, and is at its most useful when carrying just a handful of tools at a time. 

4 Upgrade Your Pocket Space

“Resource” management isn’t exactly a part of Animal Crossing’s gameplay loop, but the concept lends some of its aspects towards the franchise’s knack for inventory management. While players will never need to ration any resources, pocket space has always been an important factor worth considering. There’s only so much you can hold at any given time. 

New Horizons already ups the default inventory space from 16 to 20, but upgrades exist within the game to push pocket space to at least 40 spaces. Needless to say, this is a humongous game changer and fundamentally removes quite a bit of the compromising otherwise inherent to the Animal Crossing experience. Any upgrades can be redeemed with Nook Miles at the ABD. 

3 Relocate Buildings

In addition to being home to more tools and pocket space than any prior entries in the franchise, New Horizons also allows for customization on a much deeper level. Beyond your villager’s appearance, it’s possible to move buildings entirely now. While the square will always be set in place (make sure to design around this,) you have free reign over where everything else goes. 

Don’t like where you placed Blathers? Relocate him. Don’t like your home? Move it to the top of the island. It’s quite expensive, but it’s certainly worth it to get a better view of the land (and some privacy.) Worth noting, you also choose where exactly your villagers move. No more random houses mucking up town. 

2 Cuss (For Now)

With great power comes great responsibility, just remember that. Animal Crossing is a franchise designed for all audiences, but with a focus on being accessible to a younger crowd. It goes without saying that when playing online, especially with strangers, you should resemble a grown adult and show some tact. All the same, who doesn’t like goofing off with friends? 

Bizarrely, there is no profanity filter in New Horizons (yet.) It’s possible to swear like a sailor with the in-game chat. Of course, using naughty language on Mr. Nook’s island can still result in a report, which can in turn lead to a ban. Cuss responsibly. While you can. 

1 Landlock Yourself 

One of the more interesting features present in New Horizons is the seeming ability to landlock yourself. On your Smartphone, there’s actually an app that requests rescue services should– for whatever reason– the player no longer be able to get back to their home. This can be due to dropping tools, them breaking, or for any number of reasons. 

Back in the day, potential landlocks would be avoided through playtesting and considerate game design that prevents such a situation happening… but we live in a different world as far as video games go, and a game as large as New Horizons is better off for having a feature that removes any landlocking. 

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