Full Animal Crossing: New Horizons guide for island life

By Sam Loveridge
published

An Animal Crossing: New Horizons guide for everything!

Animal Crossing New Horizons guide
(Image credit: Nintendo)
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Our Animal Crossing: New Horizons guide has got all of the advice you could possibly need to create your dream island idyll. Whether you're a veteran of the series or a fresh arrival on the scene, there's lots of new systems to learn so you can get up to speed and stay one step ahead of Tom Nook. Whether you're catching bugs, digging up fossils, or something else entirely, there's plenty of hidden depth beyond the simple exterior of an island simulator. We've got a whole suite of walkthroughs to help you fully explore your islands, fill in your glossary, and fine-tune your paradise to perfection, so you're bound to find what you need in our full Animal Crossing: New Horizons guide.

Top Tips

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Animal Crossing: New Horizons tips (opens in new tab)
Our 22 top tips to get you started in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, what to expect, what to do next and more.

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Animal Crossing: New Horizons Nook Miles Rewards (opens in new tab) 
Every Nook Miles Rewards we've unlocked to date, and what you get for ticking it off your list.

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How to get Nook Mile Tickets (opens in new tab) in Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Jump on a jet and fly away, to a land just over the sea, for new fruit, more resources and even a fresh face.

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Animal Crossing: New Horizons amiibo (opens in new tab) support explained 
How to use amiibo and amiibo cards best with Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

Tools

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Animal Crossing: New Horizons vaulting pole (opens in new tab) 
How to get your little paws on the vaulting pole and fling yourself across rivers in order to access your entire island.

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Animal Crossing: New Horizons shovel (opens in new tab) 
How to get the shovel for all your fossil digging, tree planting and flower unearthing requirements in Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

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Animal Crossing: New Horizons ladder (opens in new tab) 
Scamper up cliffs by getting yourself this handy little extendable ladder. Here's how you get it.

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Animal Crossing: New Horizons magic wand (opens in new tab) 
Here's how to get the magic wand recipe, and how to get the star fragments you'll need to make it.

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Animal Crossing: New Horizons golden tools (opens in new tab)
An in-progress guide to unlocking all the golden tool recipes available in game.

Resources

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Animal Crossing: New Horizons fish (opens in new tab) guide 
How and when to catch all the fish, broken down by hemisphere, month, and time of day.

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Animal Crossing: New Horizons bugs (opens in new tab) guide 
Every creepy crawly you can catch, broken down by north / south hemisphere, month, and time of day.

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Animal Crossing: New Horizons art (opens in new tab)
Figure out how to outfox the art fox with our guide to all the fake art and building out your art gallery.

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Best Animal Crossing: New Horizons design codes (opens in new tab)
Get cool clothing, paths, and more created by the wonderful community straight into your game.

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Animal Crossing: New Horizons DIY recipes (opens in new tab) 
Every DIY recipe we've discovered and crafted so far, all here for your reading pleasure.

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Animal Crossing: New Horizons fencing (opens in new tab) 
How to unlock the option to place fencing, and where to buy more styles to adorn your island with.

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Animal Crossing: New Horizons flowers (opens in new tab) guide
How to get all the different types and how to create hybrids for all the colours possible on your island.

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Animal Crossing: New Horizons shrubs (opens in new tab)
Get familiar with the latest flora on your island and get decorating.

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Animal Crossing: New Horizons turnips (opens in new tab)
How they work, when to buy, when to sell and how to find Daisy Mae. 

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Animal Crossing: New Horizons iron nuggets (opens in new tab) 
How and where to find iron nuggets, which you'll need for the better, longer-lasting tools. 

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Animal Crossing: New Horizons rusted part (opens in new tab)
Gather these unusual resources to ensure you can craft everything you want. Yes, I'm talking giant robots.

Facilities

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Animal Crossing: New Horizons museum (opens in new tab) 
How to unlock the museum properly, and reunite with our old owl pal Blathers.

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Animal Crossing: New Horizons tailor (opens in new tab) 
How to get Mabel and Sabel back in your life and build the Able Sisters Tailor on your island.

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Animal Crossing: New Horizons shop (opens in new tab) 
How to upgrade the shop from a corner of Tom Nook's tent to the fully-fledged Nook's Cranny we all deserve.

Characters

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Animal Crossing: New Horizons Isabelle (opens in new tab) 
How to get Isabelle back in your life and pulling some strings for you over at Resident Services. 

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Animal Crossing: New Horizons Resetti (opens in new tab) 
Is Resetti actually in Animal Crossing: New Horizons? Our island clues say yes, and here's why.

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Animal Crossing: New Horizons KK Slider (opens in new tab) 
How to get KK Slider onto your island and playing regular gigs, as should be the way. 

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Animal Crossing: New Horizons Kicks (opens in new tab)
How to find - and keep - the little cute shoe-selling skunk on your island. 

Your Home

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Animal Crossing: New Horizons house move (opens in new tab)
How to move - and upgrade - your home once you've opened up your island.

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Animal Crossing: New Horizons roof colors (opens in new tab)
How to unlock the option to change your roof colour, and further home customisation. 

Your Island

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How to evict a resident in Animal Crossing: New Horizons (opens in new tab) 
Top tips for trying to get rid of a problem resident and get them to hop skip it on somewhere else.

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How to improve your Animal Crossing: New Horizons island rating (opens in new tab) 
Top tips that should help you get your island rating to five stars quicker.

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Animal Crossing: New Horizons Island Designer app (opens in new tab)
How to unlock the app, in order to start terraforming on your island - cliff editing, adding/removing water, and placing paths.

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All the Animal Crossing: New Horizons fruit (opens in new tab) available
Every type of fruit explained, along with how and where to get the full basket on your own island.

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How to grow an Animal Crossing: New Horizons money tree (opens in new tab)
Literally start making money by planting it in the ground and plucking the rewards. Here's how to do it.

Your Character

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Animal Crossing: New Horizons character customisation (opens in new tab)
How to unlock it, where to buy new hairstyles, facial hair and more to really customise your character.

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Animal Crossing: New Horizons reactions (opens in new tab)
How to get them, and use them to really express how you're feeling right now. It's joy, right?

Sam Loveridge
Sam Loveridge
Global Editor-in-Chief, GamesRadar+

Sam Loveridge is the Global Editor-in-Chief of GamesRadar, and joined the team in August 2017. Sam came to GamesRadar after working at TrustedReviews, Digital Spy, and Fandom, following the completion of an MA in Journalism. In her time, she's also had appearances on The Guardian, BBC, and more. Her experience has seen her cover console and PC games, along with gaming hardware, for over seven years, and for GamesRadar, she is in charge of reviews, best lists, and the overall running of the site and its staff. Her gaming passions lie with weird simulation games, big open-world RPGs, and beautifully crafted indies. Basically, she loves all games that aren't sports or fighting titles! 

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