30 Essential Tips for Getting Started in Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Animal Crossing: New Horizons tips are essential for making the most of your island adventure. Whether you’re just starting out or seeking ways to enhance your gameplay, these 30 tips will guide you through your journey.

Before you dive into the sandy shores, take a moment to check out this guide, packed with all the strategies and insights you’d want if you were beginning your island life anew. This is especially relevant if you’ve upgraded from Switch 1 to Switch 2. From tool usage to earning bells efficiently, here are our top tips to maximize your experience in Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

If you’re new to the game or it’s been a while since you last visited Tom Nook and friends, remember that this is not a game to rush through. Progress unfolds gradually, with access to certain activities, items, and buildings tied to the number of real-world days you’ve spent in the game. So, take your time—there’s no need to hurry through island life.

However, if you want to pick up the pace a bit, there’s a simple trick to move faster. It might seem obvious, but it’s easy to overlook. I played for longer than I care to admit before realizing you can run by holding the B button. This makes traversing the island much quicker and helps with various tasks. It’s a straightforward mechanic, but if you forget, no worries—you’re not alone.

When you come across a recipe card, you’ll need to learn it before it shows up in your crafting options. Just access the item in your inventory by pressing X, then select “learn.” Once you do, it’s yours to craft whenever you want!

On your first full day on the island, Tom Nook will present you with a hefty bill for your moving expenses. Fortunately, you can pay this off with 5,000 Nook Miles, which we recommend doing right away. Once you settle up, you’ll unlock a host of new options, including the ability to take out a loan to upgrade from a tent to a house. This loan is 98,000 bells, but your new home will be ready by the next morning, allowing you to start repaying it. This upgrade also gives you access to your home’s storage, which is incredibly useful.

Additionally, you’ll unlock Nook Miles Rewards at the Nook Stop terminal in Residents’ Services, opening up a treasure trove of items, recipes, and more.

Once you’ve taken out your home loan, you’ll gain access to Nook Miles+, which offers a set of five simple tasks that refresh regularly, allowing you to earn Nook Miles more efficiently. Tasks can include catching five fish, selling ten shells, chatting with three neighbors, or planting a tree. So many rewards await!

You won’t have access to all the tools right away in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. On your first full morning, Tom Nook will provide you with recipes for a flimsy fishing rod and flimsy net. However, you’ll need to meet Blathers at his pop-up museum tent to get the recipes for the shovel and vault pole. You can purchase the watering can recipe and the slingshot from the Nook nephews, but they may take a day or two to appear in their inventory.

Since iron nuggets are scarce at the beginning, make the most of your flimsy tools. They’re crafted from materials readily available on your island. You can shake tree branches loose all day, hit rocks for stone, and gather softwood, hardwood, and regular wood by using a flimsy or stone axe. It’s much easier to replenish these materials than to find iron nuggets early on, so stick with flimsy tools for now.

When you’re ready, you can purchase the Pretty Good Tools Recipes from the Nook Miles section of the Nook Stop, which primarily require iron nuggets.

Crafting recipes for better tools will come your way quickly, but you’ll need better materials—specifically, iron nuggets. To find them, hit the small light grey rocks on your island with a stone axe or shovel. These rocks yield various materials, including stone, clay, iron nuggets, and sometimes even money or bugs. Since iron nuggets can be hard to come by, consider saving up Nook Miles to buy Nook Mile Tickets, which let you visit remote islands rich in resources—often netting you at least four iron nuggets per trip.

Nook Miles Tickets are a game-changer. For 2,000 Miles, you can purchase a ticket to travel to randomly generated deserted islands. Each island features its own unique fruits, flowers, and trees, allowing you to gather sellable items and crafting materials. Since your island only grows one type of fruit, this is a great way to diversify your island’s ecosystem.

Sometimes, you might even encounter a new friend on these islands, whom you can invite to your own island if you wish.

While it’s tempting to skip through dialogue to get to your next task, remember that Animal Crossing: New Horizons is all about taking it slow. Not paying attention to the speech bubbles could mean missing out on valuable information. Take your time to absorb the tips and advice from villagers and other characters; it could save you some hassle later on.

Did you know that trees are excellent sources for free items and rare bugs? Just give them a shake! Press A near a tree to shake it, and you might find bells, furniture, or even bugs like spiders and bagworms. Just be cautious of wasps!

As you upgrade your tools, you’ll notice they become more powerful, especially the axes. You’ll start with the flimsy axe, then the stone axe, and finally, the regular axe. The regular axe is particularly effective, as it can chop down trees entirely, while the flimsy and stone axes only gather wood without harming the tree. If you want to clear trees, the regular axe is your best bet, but for gathering wood, stick with the stone axe.

Blathers, who runs the museum, will pay you for bugs and fish to fill his exhibits, but you need to summon him through Tom Nook first. When Nook gives you the net and fishing rod recipes, he’ll express interest in what you catch. If you bring him five creatures, he’ll receive a call from Blathers, who will then set up his museum tent the next day. Keep donating, and you’ll eventually unlock the full museum.

Keep an eye out for two regular items that wash up on your beach: message bottles containing letters and crafting recipes. These are random, so you never know what you’ll get, but if you already have the recipe, you can sell it for some bells or gift it to a neighbor.

Another great source of items, recipes, and bells is the presents that float by attached to balloons. You’ll hear a whooshing sound when one is nearby. Use the right joystick to look up and spot the balloon, or check the ground for its shadow. You’ll need a slingshot to pop it, which you can get from Nook’s Cranny or Tommy in Residents’ Services. Just be careful not to let it fall into the river—though there is a Nook Mile Reward for that!

Mastering how to catch all the sea creatures in Animal Crossing: New Horizons is a valuable skill that can earn you plenty of bells. While it starts simply with donning a wetsuit and diving in, you’ll need to consider the time of day and season for the most lucrative catches. For instance, the Gigas Giant Clam sells for 15,000 bells but is only available from May to September, while the Spider Crab fetches 12,000 bells but is only around from March to April.

Every day, you can dig up glowing spots on your island for free bells. What you might not know is that you can replant bells in the same spot to grow Money Trees. You can plant up to 10,000 bells for the best returns.

In addition to traditional bells, there’s a new currency called Nook Miles. Your Nook Phone has an app that tracks your progress toward the next Nook Miles Rewards milestone. You can exchange Miles for rewards, recipes, furniture, and more at the Nook Stop terminal in Residents’ Services.

Initially, you’ll earn Miles quickly for various activities—catching bugs, planting flowers, selling fruit or seashells, and more. Keep an eye on your progress, as sometimes you just need to complete a few more tasks to hit the next milestone.

When you unlock Nook Miles+ after paying off your moving fees, this becomes even more important.

There are many useful items you can get with your Nook Miles, but we recommend prioritizing the inventory upgrade. Look for the ‘Pocket Organization Guide’ at the Nook Stop terminal for 5,000 Nook Miles. This upgrade adds extra inventory slots, making daily island life much easier.

Later on, you can unlock ‘Ultimate Pocket Stuffing’ for 8,000 Miles, which expands your inventory to four rows.

Another essential Nook Mile Reward to unlock as soon as possible is the ‘Tool Ring.’ For just 800 Miles, this feature allows you to quickly access and switch between your tools by pressing up on the D-Pad. It’s a game-changer for managing your inventory without constantly diving into menus.

While shopping at the Nook Stop, consider purchasing a couple of Mario pipes from the Special Goods section. These allow for fast travel across your island. I have one in my home for quick returns, but you can place them wherever you like. Each pipe costs 5,000 Nook Miles, so save up!

Your inventory system has also seen some upgrades in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. You can pick as many weeds as you want without them taking up individual slots, but be mindful that different item types stack differently in your inventory.

Eating fruits found around your island grants you temporary powers. For example, consuming fruit allows you to uproot trees or smash rocks without damaging them. However, be cautious—while you can eat up to 10 pieces of fruit, you only need one for each super-powered action. Overindulging can lead to unintended consequences on your island, and the effects take time to wear off. You’ll see a counter indicating how many pieces of fruit you’ve consumed, which will decrease as the effects fade.

While there’s no quick way to organize your pocket inventory, you can hold down A on individual items to rearrange them.

If you’re keen on filling the museum, keep track of the bugs and fish you’ve donated to Blathers. The Critterpedia app on your Nook Phone shows which entries have a little owl icon next to them, indicating they’ve been donated. This way, you can avoid accidentally selling creatures you meant to give to Blathers.

The bugs you can donate include some aggressive critters now roaming your island. In addition to wasps, you’ll need to watch out for bees, tarantulas, and scorpions. Wasps will sting you, causing a painful reaction, while being attacked by a scorpion or spider will knock you out, leaving you to wake up outside your home.

However, you can catch these critters to avoid any negative effects. Our advice is to create some distance, whip out your net, and when you’re ready, turn around and swing your net to catch them. Hopefully, you’ll add some new critters to your collection or sell them for bells.

As you settle into island life and the days pass, you’ll notice familiar faces visiting your island. For instance, Sahara the camel appears every Monday to sell rugs and mysterious wall and floor coverings. Daisy Mae shows up on Sunday mornings to sell turnips, which function like a stock market in the game, with varying buy-back prices from the Nook nephews. Keep an eye out for CJ, the fish collector, and Flic, who collects bugs. Plus, don’t forget about castaways and ghosts! There’s a whole cast of characters you’ll encounter regularly, so stay alert.

Instead of selling raw materials, use DIY recipes to craft them into items that fetch higher prices. Selling is a breeze—just visit Nook’s Cranny and sell to Timmy and Tommy. You can even ask them about the day’s hot items to maximize your profits.

Outside of Nook’s Cranny hours, you can use the drop box to sell items. Simply toss them in, and watch your bells accumulate. However, keep in mind that you’ll only receive 80% of the item’s value when using the box, and the profits won’t be available until the next day.

Adapting to island life in Animal Crossing: New Horizons means embracing a slower pace compared to other sim games, especially if you’re used to the frantic pace of something like Stardew Valley. Things take time—building projects usually require around 24 hours, bamboo only grows in spring, and coconut trees need to be planted on the beach. Fish and bugs vary by region, time of day, and weather. All these elements are part of the island experience, so remember that this is not a game to rush through.

After investing so many hours into Animal Crossing: New Horizons, it’s rewarding to reflect on your progress. Be sure to take plenty of screenshots along the way. You can use the Camera app on your Nook Phone for zoom and effects, or simply press the capture button on your Switch. Think of it as your island photo album!