Ultimate Guide to Rare Islands and Tips in Animal Crossing: New Horizons

In Animal Crossing: New Leaf, players could venture to a tropical island filled with various fish, bugs, and fruits, but the experience could become repetitive. However, with New Horizons, things have taken a fresh turn. The Mystery Tour feature introduces a range of deserted islands to explore, each reflecting your current hemisphere and season. While these islands are smaller than your main one, they offer opportunities to meet new villagers, gather resources, and potentially rake in some serious bells.

To embark on a Mystery Tour, you’ll need to have your airport operational, which becomes available on the second day of gameplay. You can purchase Nook Miles Tickets for 2,000 Nook Miles each at the Nook Stop in Resident Services. Once you have a ticket, chat with Orville at the airport, select “I wanna fly!” and then “Use Nook Miles Ticket.” This will transport you to a randomly generated island for your adventure. Each time you use a ticket, a new island is created, so you can’t reset the game to get a different one with the same ticket.

You might have heard rumors about using Reactions or other tricks at the airport to influence the type of island you land on, but unfortunately, that’s just a myth. Your best bet is to rely on luck or stock up on Nook Miles to keep trying for that perfect island.

When you arrive on a deserted island, it’s wise to empty your pockets of everything except your tools, as you can’t take back more than your pocket capacity. These islands are fantastic for resource gathering. You can clear out all the resources without any consequences since you won’t revisit them. Just like your main island, you can collect weeds, branches, wood, fruit, clay, stone, and iron, as well as catch bugs and fish. You might even stumble upon a buried fossil or a DIY recipe in a bottle. Eating fruit gives you the strength to uproot trees, including coconut trees, which you can plant back home. Mystery Tours are an efficient way to gather materials needed for building Nook’s Cranny, which requires a hefty amount of iron and wood.

If you’re looking to expand your village, deserted islands are a great place to find new villagers. You can invite specific villagers to move in, but they will only appear if you have space on your main island. If your island is full, you won’t encounter any new faces.

The weather on Mystery Tour islands can differ from your main island, which can be advantageous for catching different fish or bugs that prefer specific conditions. Some islands are also packed with money-making opportunities, so keep an eye out for those.

There are various types of Mystery Tour islands, each offering unique resources and experiences. Regardless of the island you land on, make sure to hit all the rocks for valuable resources and check the shores for DIY recipes before you leave.

**Standard Islands** are the most common, featuring your native fruit, flowers, and a typical assortment of trees and rivers. These islands usually have a few rocks with resources but no money rocks.

**Spiral Islands** have a river that spirals around a central rock, offering a standard experience but with a unique layout that might inspire your island design.

**Cliff Islands** are primarily elevated, making it easier to fish for clifftop species, while **Rock Islands** are centered around a cluster of rocks, all containing crafting materials.

**Foreign Fruit Islands** are a bit rarer, featuring trees with a different fruit than your native one. You can harvest this fruit to sell or plant back home, with the potential for profit.

**Bamboo Islands** are characterized by bamboo growth, lacking freshwater but providing a great opportunity to gather bamboo for crafting.

**Hybrid Flower Islands** are even more elusive, showcasing rare hybrid flowers that can attract unique butterflies. These flowers can be taken home to breed even rarer varieties.

**Money Rock Islands** are a treasure trove, featuring a cluster of money rocks that can yield a significant amount of bells if you dig strategically.

**Tarantula Islands** are filled with tarantulas, each worth 8,000 bells, making them a lucrative but creepy destination. Similarly, **Scorpion Islands** offer scorpions with the same selling price, depending on the season.

Lastly, **Trash Islands** may look normal at first glance, but their waters are filled with trash, yielding only junk items when fishing. However, catching trash can unlock DIY recipes, adding a silver lining to the experience.