Animal Crossing: New Horizons update lets you use reactions from your phone

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No more having to choose from the limited in-game reaction wheel

(Image credit: Nintendo)

A new update to Animal Crossing: New Horizons' NookLink feature lets you perform reactions straight from your real-life smartphone. 

The update comes on the heels of the broader Animal Crossing Halloween update, which lets you make Halloween costumes, grow pumpkins, exchange candy, and generally engage in spoopy, playful mischief around your newly Halloweenized island. Now that you can use the Animal Crossing app on your smartphone to react, you can use any reaction you've picked up so far without having to replace reactions on your in-game dial.

While it's not super cumbersome to use reactions in Animal Crossing, it can be a pain to have to decide which ones to include in the reaction wheel. This new update is a small convenience that lets you have your entire catalog of reactions at your fingertip. All you need to do is tap the one you want to perform and hit send, and voila - you're emoting! The update comes just in time to try out the new Halloween reactions: haunt and scare.

The Animal Crossing Halloween event runs the whole month of October, coming to a chilling crescendo on the big day itself, October 31. That's when Jack, Animal Crossing's resident Halloween fanatic, will be roaming around the island tricking and treating players all day. If earlier Animal Crossing games are any indication, you'll be able to trade candy you buy from Nook's Cranny for Halloween-themed items.

Remember that lovely Animal Crossing: New Horizons Switch that you wish you could trade your old Switch for? It's back in stock at Amazon.

Jordan Gerblick
Jordan Gerblick

After earning an English degree from ASU, I worked as a corporate copy editor while freelancing for places like SFX Magazine, Screen Rant, Game Revolution, and MMORPG on the side. I got my big break here in 2019 with a freelance news gig, and I was hired on as GamesRadar's west coast Staff Writer in 2021. That means I'm responsible for managing the site's western regional executive branch, AKA my home office, and writing about whatever horror game I'm too afraid to finish.