Hori has just unveiled a new batch of Animal Crossing New Horizons Switch 2 accessories that are so cute they've brought a twinkle to my eye. Announced on the official Hori Japan page, they're set to launch in Japan on June 30th and center around the star-gazing Celeste and Tom Nook.

There's an aptly named "Celeste and the Starry Night" line for those who prefer the best Nintendo Switch 2 accessories to have a bit of sparkle, and the "DIY Life" range for those who prefer a cottage core aesthetic instead. The Celeste products are definitely what first caught my eye, as they include a purple translucent Horipad Turbo wireless controller and a matching case that look just as magnificent as the meteor showers New Horizons they're based on.

It's the brand's Horipad Turbo controller that's been transformed with the sparkly Celeste-themed look for this new product line. Thankfully, unlike the Gengar and Mimikyu Hori accessories, Hori has ensured it's the wireless version of the controller that's been used, which means there's no distracting (and somewhat ugly) wire to get in the way.

Though even if there was an ugly wire attached, it would be a challenge to pull attention away from the stunning upcoming gamepad. Besides its deep translucent purple chassis, Celeste can be found sitting on the left grip. She looks cute enough, but it's the meteor shower print with its lovely white sparkles that steals the show. The design feels super fitting too, as Celeste will be on your island in New Horizons each time there's a meteor shower, giving you a chance to grab some star fragments to create a range of cute star-themed items.

The matching case is just as stellar. It features the same imagery of Celeste on the front, as well as the white sparkling meteor showing print, but Hori went the extra mile to include star fragments for the zippers. But if I could make a wish on a star to make the line better, I would have wanted the inclusion of a headset, just like the DIY Life line.

The DIY Life range of Switch 2 goodies includes a wired Nintendo Switch headset, which is overflowing with cute details. Images of Timmy and Tommy Nook can be found inside the earcups, and the pair of cups gives off a look as if it were crafted using the in-game workbench and logs of wood.

Judging from the 'DIY Life' name and the rest of the line, this definitely feels like a deliberate design choice. This range also includes a wood-effect controller, which includes engraved images of a ton of characters, including Tom Nook, Isabelle, and even Blathers. I can't be certain if Hori has used actual wood for the pad, as the official product page at the Hori Japan Store is in Japanese, but even if it's not real, it still looks pretty convincing.

Just like the Celeste and Starry Night line, it's another wireless Horipad Turbo controller that's been used. So you'll not only get a unique design, but TMR thumbsticks, an up to 10-hour battery life, Bluetooth, and support for the older Switch, Switch OLED, and Switch Lite handhelds. There's no amiibo compatibility or HD rumble to be found however, which could be an issue if you like to frequently use your Animal Crossing NFC figures.

The DIY Life line also includes a quilted case. It features Timmy and Tommy Nook sitting on a white and orange plaid pattern, and swaps the star fragment zippers for little leaf details that look exactly like the 25-year-old game series' logo. This design is also found on the Switch 2 Shoulder Pouch, which goes a step further to include a tiny bell bag motif.

Both the DIY Life and the Celeste and the Starry Night accessories are officially licensed from Nintendo, and are available from Amazon Japan on June 30. If you don't feel like dealing with import fees, you can join me in keeping my fingers crossed that Hori will release these products in the US and UK soon, too. I'll maybe make a wish on a star if that'll help get them here sooner.

• View all Hori Animal Crossing accessories at Amazon Japan
• View all Animal Crossing accessories at Amazon

Our team has rounded up the best Nintendo Switch 2 microSD Express Cards, the best Nintendo Switch 2 cameras, and the best Nintendo Switch 2 controllers if you're looking for more Ninty accessories.

Animal Crossing just celebrated the big 2-5, if you can believe that. It's been 25 years since the original game debuted on the N64 in Japan, and to celebrate, Nintendo has sent a free Leaf Statue to your in-game mail box. Of course, you'll need to actually own a copy of New Horizons to get the villager-sized display item, and fortunately, Woot has arrived with the most opportune discount if you have yet to give it a whirl.

Animal Crossing New Horizons Nintendo Switch 2 Edition is down to $54.99 at Woot today, which is perfect timing if you ask me. This Switch 2 boxed version includes a cart with the full Switch game and access to the $4.99 Switch 2 Edition upgrade pack. That means you can experience New Horizons for the first time with the speedy load times and smoother performance, while making me jealous in the process. Not only that, but today's price is lower than the physical original Switch copy at other US retailers - a bargain that even Tom Nook would struggle to ignore.

PSA - If you own the Switch version, just grab the Switch 2 upgrade pack

Unless you have cash just lying around and are desperate to own every physical Switch 2 game that exists so far, you don't have to pick up this version of New Horizons.

Those of you who have a physical version of the older Switch game on the shelf can save more by grabbing the Nintendo Switch 2 upgrade pack for $4.99 from Nintendo, or directly from the handheld's eShop app instead. This will grant you the exact same benefits, including the new 12-player online sessions, compatibility with the best Nintendo Switch 2 cameras, the new megaphone item, mouse controls, and of course, those new performance upgrades.

If you're wondering about the Happy Home Designer DLC, that's sadly not included with the Switch 2 upgrade, physically or digitally. Instead, you will have to buy it separately for $24.99 (Nintendo) online or from the eShop. If you're new to the Switch 2, I recommend you grab a Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack membership instead, as the New Horizons DLC is included in its $49.99 annual cost.

You'll also get the Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom Switch 2 upgrades included with the annual membership, which is more than enough to keep you busy on your new handheld. Though, do be prepared for New Horizons to zap up all your free time.

• View all Nintendo Switch 2 games at Amazon

Our guides to the best Nintendo Switch 2 cases, the best Nintendo Switch headsets, and the best Nintendo Switch 2 controllers are full of accessories that can expand your new handheld horizons.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons saw a bit of a revival with its big 3.0 update early this year, as it hadn't exactly received much attention from Nintendo for quite some time – but it seems like developers still aren't done with the cozy gem, as a new patch is upon us now.

With 3.0 came a slew of new Zelda-themed items, a hotel resort, and more – it was no minor update by any means, packing quite a punch of content considering the fact that most of us figured Nintendo was finished with New Horizons for good.

Thankfully, we were wrong, and the devs continue to work on the 2020 banger. In fact, they've just dropped another little patch, bumping the game up to version 3.0.2.

Nintendo unveils its most recent Animal Crossing: New Horizons update and patch notes on its official support website, detailing what we can expect out of it – and y'all, this isn't just your run-of-the-mill hotfix.

This one includes a free goodie in celebration of the Animal Crossing series' 25th anniversary (because yes, we're all really that old): an adorable green leaf ornament to decorate our islands with.

It's available to claim via the in-game mail system, and I'm already obsessed. As for the bug fixes themselves – you know, the real meat of 3.0.2 – Nintendo remedies everything from persistent dungbeetles to villagers appearing in "unnatural locations" inside of our houses. Creepy, right?

The update also addresses problems with the Happy Home Paradise DLC, like disappearing animals. All in all, it's a smaller patch – but that's okay.

Between this new Animal Crossing: New Horizons update and the ever-exciting Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream release later this week, we cozy gamers are undeniably eating good.

Even though this isn't a big 4.0 patch or something of the sort, it still shows Nintendo is dedicated to the (let's face it, massive) New Horizons community – and I, for one, am quite thrilled to receive a free leaf lamp myself.

Although I'm not convinced that I'll drop Pokemon Pokopia to fully devote myself to Animal Crossing's shenanigans once more, I do think this is the push I needed to at least check on my villagers… and perhaps do a bit of decorating while I'm at it, too.

Animal Crossing helped me process grief, and I'm not alone: "Visiting her island has brought me a lot of peace"

Six years ago, Animal Crossing: New Horizons became a global sanctuary amidst the Covid-19 pandemic, offering players a safe, predictable escape from uncertainty and a means to stay connected to loved ones. In the years since, it's become something even more profound: a place to memorialize, and even visit, loved ones who've passed on.

Last November, I lost someone very close to me. I had never suffered such a significant loss before, and so naturally I did what anyone experiencing capital-G Grief for the first time does: I shut down. I stopped exercising, stopped trying to quit bad habits, and cut off most communication with the outside world. I lived in my bed, limping downstairs to feed the cats twice a day. Primordial comforts; eating, sleeping, doomscrolling; were the only activities I had the strength for.

Weeks later, I started crawling out from hibernation. I warmed to my favorite hobbies once more – gradually, like coming in from the snow. Animal Crossing seemed like the gentlest way back into gaming, so I booted it up for the first time in months and was welcomed by my island of anthropomorphic friends. Some had sent me letters with words of affirmation, others wondered where I'd been for so long.

"Hey, I just wanted to say that I'm so happy I met you," reads a letter from my deer, sweet Chadder, sent during one of the lowest points of my journey with grief. "News flash, kiddo—the ocean of life has waves! Now, ridin' down the face of 'em is pretty sweet. But paddlin' to the top? Now that's the tricky part," wrote village elder Walt. I still don't fully know what it means, but it was very sweet.

For weeks, I played nothing but Animal Crossing except where it was required by my job, not as an escape from grief, but as an idyllic, pastel-colored embrace. I built a small memorial with a birdcage. She loved birds. I picked flowers and placed them around my home. Her favorite, a purple tulip, sits above the fireplace. Animal Crossing became a place where I could grieve in steady waters, removed from the emotional tidal waves I was navigating in the real world.

Dream island

I've spent the last few weeks talking privately to members of the Animal Crossing community who've also suffered recent losses, and I'm not alone in using the game as a tool to process grief. Some have even been able to visit lost loved ones in the game, whether by going to their islands or loading up the game on their old consoles. For one grieving parent I spoke with who asked to be referred to by her first name, Rachel, it's a way to stay connected to precious memories with her daughter, Lucy.

"She would spend hours setting up her island," Rachel told me. "It was a bit haphazard whereas mine was more structured. She just liked terraforming randomly. We'd visit each others' islands and she used to post on Reddit for swaps, turnip prices etc. A few times my turnip prices went high and she posted about it and managed the visitors who would come in to sell on my island [...] Her favourite character was Raymond."

Longing for some form of interaction, Rachel started up Animal Crossing on Lucy's Nintendo Switch and saw her island for the first time since her death. She found pictures and videos Lucy had taken while playing the game. "The videos especially were treasured as I was able to hold her Switch and watch her move around the island," she said. "But I haven't done so since that first time as it was too difficult."

Rachel told me she's since managed to tidy up Lucy's island by picking weeds and squashing cockroaches, but she's only changed one thing. "I built a memorial to her featuring yellow flowers and I went to sit with her on that," she said. "ACNH reminds me of a time when we spent a lot of time together. She hadn’t played in a couple of years, but it's one of my lasting memories of her – the simpleness and gentleness of a game that we shared."

I'm so happy I met you

Another Animal Crossing player, who asked to remain anonymous, grieved the death of her sister. Animal Crossing had been a big part of their relationship since their early childhood.

"I remember having to chase her down while she was in my town because she would steal my flowers or fruits, typical little sibling type activities," she told me, adding that "[Animal Crossing] New Leaf is where most of my memories lay.

"We would just go to each other's towns and hang out, drop off bells, items, etc – but this was happening almost everyday that summer. It's funny, I don't remember doing much of anything those days in-game, but I just remember it was with her," she said.

As with any sibling relationship, there was friction between the sisters, but Animal Crossing was always a place where they could settle their differences over the in-game stalk market.

"We used to fight like cats and dogs but then would ask the other to open their gate so we could come over and play, fish, catch bugs, sell turnips, chitchat, whatever we wanted to that day," she told me. "Animal Crossing really was the bridge in our relationship. It allowed us to just be little kids again."

The person I spoke with hadn't played Animal Crossing in years when her sister died, so when she visited her island, "had no idea what was in store" for her. "It was difficult to walk around because it felt like I had missed so much," she said. At the same time, the Animal Crossing player told me she was "amazed" by her late sister's island.

"It was whimsical, fantastical, and just very pink. She still had her flag as [Japanese plush toy character] Korilakkuma eating a strawberry – she hadn't changed it since we both played together." She told me visiting her sister's Animal Crossing island brought out "a mix of emotions.

"It was nice to see her standing there but it's not her. She's not her and it just fucking sucks."

Farming for memories

For me, grieving has been an excruciatingly slow journey in which I cling to the tiniest crumbs of comfort, even the most jagged, in hopes that one day it won't hurt quite so bad. For the Animal Crossing player grieving her sister, one of those morsels of relief came in the form of an adorable, rosy-cheeked frog.

"Lily had been her favorite character since Wild World and I am happy to report she was still on the island! It's the little things," she said. "In a way, visiting her island has brought me a lot of peace because it allowed me to pause and think of all the good times we had together."

Researching for this story, I found dozens of social media posts from grieving parents, children, grandchildren, friends, and even pet parents who play Animal Crossing as a means to process grief. For many in mourning, Animal Crossing is a warm hug, an invitation to work through painful feelings on their own time, and in rare cases, an opportunity to revisit someone's memory, in all of its unique expressiveness.

After swapping teary stories with grief-stricken members of the Animal Crossing community, I learned it was never about any one game. Animal Crossing is a vessel to express your individuality; a canvas to leave your singularly unique impression via custom flags, musical jingles, outfits, hairstyles, land formations, home decor, and gardens. Whether a bereaved person is able and willing to sit with an expression left by someone who's no longer here, or seeking to create a new dedication using the tools available in Animal Crossing, there's solace in being able to do so within such a nurturing environment.

Closing with a quote from my in-game mom sent at the dead of my personal winter: "As I battle through the bitter cold, I think of you and sew through the night."

Animal Crossing has some of the best toys you can collect, but not all of the cute collectibles make their way outside of Japan. For example, I've been gazing longingly at photos of Re-ments Mini Figures Happy Room Collection Blind Boxes for months now, wishing I could grace my gaming room with its adorable miniatures.

The toy set features up to six different Animal Crossing rooms you can put together and display, but they've been exclusive to Japan for a while now. Just when I was about to give up owning these adorable toys, Nintendo came to the rescue. The official UK storefront now has the Re-ment blind boxes available for £12.99 (Nintendo) each, where they'll send you one at random of these adorable little rooms.

You can't buy the entire set, which I would have gladly done if Nintendo had given me the option. But I'm just happy to see these available in the UK and out of the greedy hands of resellers on second-hand sites.

Blind boxes can be a bit of a pain, as you never know quite what you're going to get. However, it must've been my lucky day as when my Happy Room box from Nintendo UK arrived, I got the exact set I was eyeing up online all those months ago. I opened up my blind box to reveal a tiny plastic version of Brewster, my (and my co-worker and fellow massive Animal Crossing Fan Benjamin's) favorite Animal Crossing character.

Not to make Benjamin extra jealous, but this little version of the Roost cafe is the cutest piece of Animal Crossing merch I've ever owned. I was fully expecting the walls of the room to be lazily made up of stickers, but the rows of coffee grounds and cups are actually 3-dimensional. There's a lot of detail that's been crammed in this little toy set, as even the exterior walls feature the halls of the museum, exactly where you can find Brewster and the Roost cafe when you unlock them in New Horizons.

Setting up this little toy set is pretty easy. There's a bracket that snaps the two room walls in place, and a tiny translucent plastic stand that prevents the mini Brewster from falling over. The best detail was that there's a minuscule bit of brown plastic that you slide into the coffee cup to give it the illusion that there's really coffee inside - something I found it impossible not to fawn over as I put the whole thing together.

I actually own the full-sized replica of the Brewster coffee cup, which I've included in an image down below for scale. If that doesn't show you how cute and tiny the Happy Room toys are, I don't know what will.

If you aren't as big into Brewster like myself or Benjamin, don't worry. You can also grab a Timmy and Tommy room which showcases some of their shop items, Isabelle as I mentioned earlier, Marshall and his piano, Bob and his playroom furniture, and even Whitney, too.

As they're all in scale with one another, the more you get, the more you can mix and match the furniture and characters. It's why I was hoping Nintendo UK would allow you to grab the entire set of Re-ment figures in one go, but alas, you can only grab one singular box at a time.

If you're a US Animal Crossing fan and you're desperate for these adorable toys, I'm afraid they aren't yet on the official US Nintendo storefront. Nintendo updates merchandise available at the US online store pretty frequently, so I wouldn't be surprised if the Re-ments Mini Figures Happy Room Collection blind boxes appear in the future.

They are at least available for $19.99 at Amazon if you don't mind shopping outside of Nintendo for all your Animal Crossing merch. You won't get that fabulous Super Mario-branded box when it arrives, but who needs fancy-printed cardboard when you can get access to some of the cutest Animal Crossing merch around?

• View all Animal Crossing merch at Nintendo UK
• View all Animal Crossing merch at Amazon

Want more Nintendo-themed goodies? Our team has also rounded up the best Nintendo gifts, the best Super Mario merch, and the best Legend of Zelda merch, full of more cute collectibles.

The original Animal Crossing is now on PC, and while the unofficial port is labeled as a non-final "playtest," early indications suggest it could already be the best way to play the 24-year-old cozy game. And given the advancements that other PC ports of classic console games have brought to the table, I'd wager that it won't be long before a massive pile of impressive mods and new features arrive, either.

Hackers have been decompiling the source code for Animal Crossing – that is, specifically the North American GameCube release – over the course of the past several years. The decompilation isn't 100% complete, but it's close enough to have provided other modders the resources they need to build a native PC port.

The Animal Crossing PC port is available on GitHub. "The game's original C code runs natively on x86," creator FlyingMeta explains, "with a custom translation layer replacing the GameCube's GX graphics API with OpenGL 3.3." Like most projects of its kind (which have largely avoided the ire of Nintendo's notorious lawyers), you'll need to provide your own copy of the original GameCube game in order to build the port.

FlyingMeta acknowledges that there is some vibe coding involved here, noting that "AI tools such as Claude were used in this project," and it's currently labeled as an 0.8 version "playtest," so don't be surprised if you see some bugs and glitches along the way. But as early footage from folks like Video Game Esoterica shows, the game absolutely works well enough in its current state to provide a good experience.

Some notable features, like the NES emulator, GBA connectivity, and the option to visit other towns are not currently implemented. But in turn, you're getting the benefits of widescreen gameplay, resolutions up to 4K, and the ability to slot in custom texture packs. Save files are also stored in the "standard GCI format," which means you can transfer saves back and forth from the Dolphin emulator, if the fancy takes you.

Decompilation is the process of taking apart the code of a piece of software. That code can then be used to port the software to new platforms. We've seen this process bring us fantastic native PC ports of classics like The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, and it looks like the development community pushing these projects forward isn't slowing down any time soon.

The best GameCube games of all time still hold up.

A fresh Animal Crossing: New Horizons patch is here, bringing some bug fixes to Nintendo's coziest life sim in the aftermath of its recent 3.0 update and Nintendo Switch 2 Edition upgrade.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons version 3.01 rolled out yesterday (thanks, The Gamer), with some fixes applying to both versions of the game while others are Switch 2 exclusive.

I'm not sure who out there might have been trying to duplicate fences, but if that's you, I have some bad news: "Fixed an issue where, when asking Resetti to clean up the island, fences that were put away or in storage could change into different customizations or be duplicated, and some cleaned-up items could disappear," the patch notes state.

Otherwise, "an issue where the game would run slower than normal after exiting the island hotel to an outdoor area" has been fixed, along with a bug "where, after playing with another player on a slumber island, home remodeling or relocation could become unavailable on the slumber island."

Items can no longer break free from rocks before they're actually hit with a shovel, and perhaps most amusingly, shopkeepers Timmy and Tommy – who, after the 3.0 update, could "sometimes stop following the player inside Nook's Cranny" – will go back to giving you precisely zero personal space while browsing their wares. They're going to watch your every move, and you're gonna like it.

As for the Switch 2 exclusive issues, the intensity of controller vibration has been adjusted to "match the level when playing on Nintendo Switch," and an issue where "clouds near the horizon could appear misaligned outdoors on the island, causing parts of the sky to show unnaturally" has been ironed out. I've only been able to find one instance of this being recorded online, so it doesn't appear to have been the most common bug, but regardless, clouds should behave themselves now.

In addition to other fixes across both platforms, there's also a very vague line at the end of the patch notes to acknowledge even more changes to improve the gameplay experience.

Obviously, don't expect to turn on your game to find any new content like the hotel added in 3.0, but you're still going to want to download this to ensure things are running as smoothly as they can be.

Animal Crossing players can't agree whether the new hotel tourist feature is a laggy, vibe-killing mess or "the best thing that could have happened to the game."

Nintendo kicked off 2026 with huge updates for popular games that launched years ago on the original Switch. Animal Crossing: New Horizons' transformative 3.0 update added a new hotel feature that brings offshore strangers to your island as tourists and juiced up visuals on Switch 2, while Splatoon's unexpectedly meaty 11.0.0 update made some major gameplay changes, like the new Flow Aura mechanic for kill streaks and health bars displaying approximate HP for allies and opponents.

During Nintendo's latest investor presentation, president Shuntaro Furukawa explained the company's philosophy on releasing such big updates for legacy Switch titles. It's worth noting that we ran this quote through machine translation, so Furukawa's precise wording is unclear:

"To promote the adoption of a new platform, it is essential to release new titles on a regular basis. Furthermore, as we progress with the transition from Switch to Switch 2 over the coming years, we consider it extremely important to maintain our connection with customers who are already familiar with Nintendo hardware," said Furukawa.

"In this sense, we aimed to update major Switch titles like Animal Crossing: New Horizons and Splatoon 3 at this juncture. This allows more people to continue playing on Switch while creating a pathway for customers to migrate to Switch 2 at their own pace, particularly when new titles of interest launch. From this perspective, we see value in updating software for the widely adopted Switch to sustain its operational base and encourage players to revisit these titles."

Relevant here is the fact that both Animal Crossing: New Horizons and Splatoon 3 were both recently updated with content that works on the original Switch hardware, as well as upgrades specific to Switch 2. It sounds like Nintendo's strategy is to pull back lapsed players on OG Switch with some cool new stuff only to remind them that, hey, it just so happens this game is even better on Switch 2. Wink, wink.

Speaking of: If you just got a Nintendo Switch 2, here's everything you need to set it up

Amiibo cards are back, and I'm not talking about the Street Fighter 6 cards released alongside the Switch 2. Nintendo UK has restocked Animal Crossing amiibo card packs Series 1, 2, 3, 5, and even the mega-adorable Sanrio packs are available again.

These aren't brand-new releases, and instead, the Switch 2 accessories are the same old packs as before, if that's not obvious from the old 3DS and WiiU inclusions on the packaging, but that's still a big deal. There are a ton of fake versions of these cards around, and sealed packs continue to be sold at inflated prices at retailers like Amazon. Now, they're available straight from Nintendo for just £3.49 (Nintendo) each, and the timing couldn't be any more perfect.

Animal Crossing New Horizons Switch 2 Edition and the Version 3.0 update launched last month, and it awoke the obsession I have in the series and amiibo card collecting. Nintendo actually produced a set of official ringbinders for these Animal Crossing cards, and I own every single one, but each is missing a ton of cards as buying the packs got more difficult over time.

The speed at which I added these restocks to my Nintendo shop basket to fill those missing spots yesterday was unprecedented, but I'm not sure how long they will remain in stock. I got a couple of packs of each available series, and one singular pack of the Sanario cards, which are priced a little higher at £4.99 (Nintendo) each. I fully expect these to be snatched up by resellers, especially as the English Sanrio packs are difficult to come by.

A week ago, I was thinking of grabbing some new cards to invite new villagers to my updated island, but only the Japanese Sanrio packs were on UK Amazon. They were also priced at £9.93 each, which is almost double that of their MSRP. It's been many years since they were originally released as they were intended for Animal Crossing New Leaf, so I get it. The prices of older packs of the best card games, like Pokemon TCG, go up all the time. But that's exactly why it's such a relief to see any of them in stock at the official online Nintendo store.

While they were intended for the older game, they work fine with New Horizons, if you were curious. Some characters won't be of much use, especially ones like Sable who already exist on your island. When using the Nook Stop, tapping those cards will bring up a they "can't be invited to the campsite" warning. Villagers like Tiffany are fine, and these cards can be a great way to invite your favourite characters without having to fork over any Nook miles.

The Sanrio cards sadly don't invite Hello Kitty and friends to your island, much to my dismay. However, they do unlock cute Sanrio-themed items that you can grab via the Nook Stop machine in the Residents' Services building.

The Animal Crossing amiibo card packs are only back in stock at Nintendo UK, so US players will have to make do without them for now. Some series, like the Series 5 and Sanario packs, are also on 'back order', so the delivery times might be slower than normal. But I'd much sooner deal with slower delivery times than inflated costs or fake cards.

• View all amiibo at Nintendo US
• View all Animal Crossing amiibo at GameStop

Our guides to the best Nintendo Switch headsets, the best Nintendo Switch 2 microSD Express cards, and the best Nintendo Switch 2 controllers are bursting at the seams with more accessories to use on your return to your New Horizons island.

Animal Crossing New Horizons has managed to consume my life for a second time, so it was inevitable that I'd be after some new merch. Enjoying the new wares found in the Version 3.0 Update and the Switch 2 Edition was not enough, and instead I had to visit the Nintendo online store for some new goodies featuring my favorite villagers' adorable little faces.

Nintendo must have known I was coming, as shortly before all the new content dropped, a line of Nintendo gifts and merch (early contenders for our best toys list) appeared as part of the brand's "Pop-up Store" products. This Animal Crossing merch is usually reserved for the official Nintendo Tokyo store found in Shibuya, Japan, but the UK storefront has released a ton of key items from the line, including a Brewster Cup and Saucer set that I snatched quicker than you can say "coo".

I'm pretty happy with my cup and matching Brewster Standable Rubber Strap Keychain, which encompasses the line's use of striking pastel greens and beige colors, but the rest is calling my name. If you're equally finding it hard to ignore more merch like I am, I've gathered my top picks from it down below. Just beware, this is reserved for UK fans only for now. The moment they appear on the Nintendo US store, I'll be sure to add them below so the rest of you fans can drop all your bells on as much of the New Horizons merch as you see fit.

Check out our guide to the best LEGO sets for even more adorable Animal Crossing collectibles.

After downloading the Animal Crossing: New Horizons 3.0 update, a little character called Luna now greets me in my sleep, asking if I'd like to take a dreamy journey over to Slumber Islands. This new world will let me practice my wildest design fantasies, she explains. Or, so I was led to believe.

I've been wishing for a sandbox mode in Animal Crossing: New Horizons since the beginning, because while I love to get creative with terrain and 'scapes, I'll admit, it absolutely does not come naturally to me. And that feels a little embarrassing to say, especially when I've seen what some players are capable of.

But, when I first got a look at Slumber Islands during the update announcement, I was full of excitement. Maybe if I practice enough without the fear of ruining my main island, then I can do better. So, after I figured out how to unlock Slumber Islands, I was ready to go, tucked up in my Animal Crossing bed and ready for the glamorous tapir to give me an opportunity to solve my design woes.

Three new islands

With Slumber Islands, you can upload your main island for people to visit and play with online. Anything they do there doesn't affect your actual island, phew. Same goes for other players uploading theirs, and then with either with a code or as a surprise, you can go exploring.

This is an excellent feature on because while I love to look up designs and lurk around social media on the hunt for ideas to take over to my own island, it's a lot easier when you can walk around it and get fully immersed. I'm a visual learner, what can I say?

Then it comes to the big part of the Slumber Islands 3.0 update and that's being able to create your own set of islands. Three, to be exact. Totally independent from your main island, it opens up a whole new world of opportunity.

You can pick small, medium or large, and I chose small because I have a tendency to get totally overwhelmed if there's too much to do. You can decorate it however you want, terraforming with full permission and taking full advantage of the cliff and waterscaping permits. But, after about 15 minutes on my first island, I let out a little disappointed sigh when I realised it has its limitations.

More buildings, please

Straight off the bat, my heart hurts a little bit because I can't place any buildings, including villagers houses, apart from own home. Without buildings I can't make any fun cityscapes or themed neighbourhoods, and I'm also doubly glad I didn't pick a medium or large island to begin with. Buildings are a huge part of my main island, so why aren't they here?

Trees, decorations and items of furniture, absolutely, but no buildings? It's a major bump in the road for me, but with the whimsical music and serene dreamscape, I can adapt and change. Although if I think about the fact I can't do interiors for a second longer, I might need to take some deep breaths.

Reframing, I consider that the thing I'm worst at is terrain ideas, which can be a costly mistake on my real island. Here, in Slumber Islands, I can practice with my terrain without fear of making a huge no-no.

But, then here comes another feature I wish they'd included, the ability to transfer my ideas over to the design portal and back to my own island. Yes, I've put the practice in so theoretically I can do the same again, but firstly, I'm feeling a little lazy after all my hard work and secondly, what if I make a mistake?

Turns out Slumber Islands is a bit like Fight Club. The one big rule – what goes down on Slumber Islands, stays on Slumber Islands. And I'm not mad about it, I just wish there was a chance to take some of my work back so I can enjoy it.

A girl can dream

I do get it, if you're inviting friends onto your Slumber Islands and they start messing with your work, it doesn't matter. You can start again. Clean up is a lovely feature that gives you a chance to disappear all the items you've dropped down. Or, just delete the entire Slumber Island and go again.

But, while I mentioned that you can place down items on your island, you only have access to ones you've personally collected already and I was really hoping they'd give me access to everything. Again, it's my dream state, so let me dream! Luna promised that I could let my imagination run free and if that means throwing a load of furniture around without a care in the world, then so be it.

And since I'm making a wishlist, the last feature I wish Nintendo had included was being able to change the season. Slumber Islands reflects the season currently happening on your main island and while you can change the time of day and weather, you can't quite get the vibe for seasonally themed designs.

With changing seasons, it'd be a lot easier to set up my design on Slumber Islands than throw my whole main island into disarray, especially if I want to take some cool screenshots. But, alas, whatever I'm creating in Slumber Islands is staying put. So, I guess I'll just keep happily squirrelling away at the terrain in peace. A 4.0 update with some added features? I'll dream about it.

If the upcoming Switch 2 games still to come in 2026 aren't doing it for you, why not check out the best games like Animal Crossing to scratch that Tom Nook-shaped itch?

When they first announced the Animal Crossing: New Horizons 3.0 update in 2025, my starry eyes were immediately drawn to the entirely new building - the Kapp'n’s family resort hotel. It’s a big deal bringing in a new place after six years and let's also not forget, it’s entirely free. Luckily, while there are some stipulations on how to unlock the Animal Crossing hotel, I'd already passed them with a three-star rated island and access to the all-important pier.

So, as the hotel doors to possibility opened to me, I wasn’t sure what to expect, but Tom Nook greeted me with his usual jolly demeanor and a troop of Kapp’n’s family; wife Leilani, daughter Leila, and Grams. My part to play in the hotel’s success was to become the chief fixer-upper, donning my interior design hat and decorating guest rooms for visitors to come and stay. Sign me up!

It's not about the grind

Leilani stand front of house inviting me to decorate a room in exchange for 200 hotel tickets. All I have to do is use the recommended items she gives me along with any items I already have to make a room worthy of a guest's stay. Once she's happy with my design, I can spend the hotel tickets on hotel merchandise and other interior design items at Grams’ shop, situated in the lobby of the resort hotel.

I’ll be really honest: when I heard it was hotel tickets, I was a little bit disappointed that my Bells weren’t useful to me here. But that would be too easy. Introducing a new realm of money turned out to be pretty intriguing, harder to come by, and earning all the hotel souvenirs for my island home became more of a collectible endeavour.

But, there’s a limit on how much you can do a day and that's because you can only decorate two rooms before being asked to return the next day for another two. Suddenly, I realised I can only earn 400 hotel tickets a day. Easy money, but not so easy to grind.

What I'd been given with the 3.0 update was another reason to log in every day to get those two new guest rooms up and running and earn my reward. Like getting in my daily Duolingo, Animal Crossing: New Horizons now has me in an entirely new chokehold.

Time to think

Fortunately, that’s not the only way to earn hotel tickets. Out on the pier, I've since been lured into crafting DIY items for the DIY donation box. As long as I fulfil an order, another one takes its place, then every Monday, they refresh altogether. It’s not a huge earner, but luckily the crafts aren’t too strenuous and I quite enjoy the easy achievement and extra tickets.

So, with my hard-earned tickets, there’s items to buy at Grams’ shop and if I get either of the two on display in the lobby, they’re a markdown price. The more I decorate, the more Grams puts into her catalog, the more I want to buy. A perpetual hotel ticket spending vortex. But, here comes the rub.

I was putting a lot of effort into my rooms, channeling my creativity, and it grew a little tiresome. So, I thought I’d see just how much I could get away with to still get my room past Leilani’s critical eye. It turns out, quite a lot.

As long as I used the recommended items, she was pretty pleased. And then, I took it to the extreme. I put down a double bed and called it a day. Yes, Leilani called it ‘simple’ which hurt my soul a bit, but she also gave me 200 hotel tickets and didn’t bat an eye. I started circling the hotel lobby, exasperated, asking myself: "What's the point?"

A turning point

Less dramatically, I've just sat at home having a think about this very question. Why have I spent hours working on the resort hotel? Well, because I wanted to. Ultimately, it was my choice to play with the hotel and it's also entirely my prerogative to spend ages decorating the rooms – and isn’t that a big part of what makes Animal Crossing great?

I have control over my island and what I do there and if I choose to spend it making lovely rooms for guests and spending my hard earned tickets then that’s on me and I've actually had a really nice time doing it. And, not forgetting, again, that this extra experience has been given to me entirely for free.

Yes, there's new guests roaming around my island, but I'm not mad about that, especially when I get a chance to choose their outfits for them (via the two mannequins in the hotel lobby). Believe me, I'm taking full advantage of that. So, if Stinky, Hans, Rolf and Tutu want to enjoy the time I’ve put into my island and the rooms I've lovingly decorated and probably taken far too much time doing so, so be it. I’ll be enjoying it, too.

Once you've checked out all the upcoming Switch 2 games still to come in 2026, we also have a selection of the best games like Animal Crossing to try next

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is both six years old and also brand new. The iconic cozy life-sim we all became obsessed with back in 2020 has accumulated several refreshes that have added in new content, with the huge Update 3.0 joining a whole new Nintendo Switch 2 Edition. It's still the same game, with your same town (should you choose to keep it), but with all-new activities to tackle.

What better way to start the year than relaxing in your very own island paradise, making it your own, and hanging out with friends both real and animal-shaped alike? We've taken a chill pill for January, and have been spending this month revisiting Animal Crossing: New Horizons for a deep dive into a game that's never been far from our hearts.

Keep reading to discover our Animal Crossing: New Horizons On the Radar for Nintendo Switch 2 and Update 3.0, the best place to get more out of one of the most relaxing new games of 2026.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons - On the Radar

01 | Third update's the charm

02 | It's a living

03 | Sleeping it off

04 | New beginnings

05 | Time together

06 | Something new

07 | Neigh-borly spirit

08 | Animal Crossing: New Horizons guide

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is the kind of game that can suck away hours upon hours, so who you spend that time with is important. Traditionally somewhat random, the characters who end up populating your village throughout the series can always feel unique and personal, whether you're goading some of them to move out in order to build your perfect collection, or growing closer to those that have been thrown together by chance.

Games like Animal Crossing are at their best when you feel like you're living in your own space not quite like anyone else's. Which means that coming up with a list of the best Animal Crossing villagers is tough. Rather than try to be completely objective, we've gone the other way, inviting the Animal Crossing obsessed from across GamesRadar+ to chime in with why their favorite pals on their own islands have stuck with them across the years. Your list might be very different (let us know in the comments)! But for now, join us as we run down some of the best Animal Crossing villagers we can't (koala) bear to live without.

10. Hamphrey

This permanently frowning hamster is the face of evil, but there's something to be said about how he's always wearing it on his sleeve. He has a hatred of all children, and is perhaps a little bit too into history to the point you get the sense you'd better not ask him too many details about why. Adding to the vibe, he craves smoke and fire. But, at least his bat umbrella is heckin' cute. I have to admire a villager that takes cranky to the next level and is proud about it. - Oscar Taylor-Kent

9. Chester

Chester is my best friend. He's a lazy and subsequently rotund blue and white panda frequently found running around with his arms to his sides clutching a can of soda or lollipop. Like any self-disrespecting panda, he likes bamboo so much he built his entire house out of it, but he still has the determination not to gnaw away at his couch. In all seriousness, Chester has been there for me through thick and thin, and I simply could not let this list be published without his inclusion. Love you, sweet Chester. - Jordan Gerblick

8. Shep

Anyone who comes to my New Horizons island will quickly notice that there's a surprising number of dogs wandering around and leaving their pawprints in the sand. 90% of my residents are actually of the canine persuasion (and for Julian, of course). But the top, ahem, dog spot will always go to Shep, the old English sheepdog. His fringe completely obscures his eyes unless he's surprised, at which point just one eye will pop out between his fluffy bangs. It's adorable, especially as he will still wear glasses over his hairdo. He's a funny old chap, with surprisingly deep thoughts and an ability to always stop and smell the flowers. I just can't have an island without his silly face. - Sam Loveridge

7. Hazel

After watching people going feral over Raymond and Marshal from the sidelines, I wasn't sure what to think as an Animal Crossing newcomer when one of my starter villagers was a squirrel with an audacious monobrow – "Not the best, but we can make this work", I thought. However, as more villagers joined my island, Hazel rapidly shot up in my estimations, largely thanks to her Big Sister personality which let her easily outshine the awful Smug and Snooty types that used to plague my island. My friends may call her ugly, but Hazel is a ride-or-die resident of Okeydo Cay! - Will Sawyer

6. Julian

Julian the unicorn might be one of the most popular Animal Crossing villagers, but when we first crossed paths in New Leaf, long before I knew what a celebrity he was, he quickly became my all-time bestie for no reason other than his delightful personality. He's stylish, sassy, and self-assured, and he knows it, leading to some of the funniest villager interactions I've ever seen, but he's all about instilling that same confidence in you, too. After all, his sage advice is "Never trot when you can prance." What's not to love?

Needless to say, one fateful day when I returned from a New Leaf break only to find the spot where his house was completely empty, I'm not ashamed to say I listened to his signature song Stale Cupcakes and cried. Thankfully, we're now reunited in New Horizons, where we can hang out in his starry house all day, every day while he gossips about his fellow island residents. Never change, Julian. - Catherine Lewis

5. Al

Al is seemingly a gorilla of contradictions. He's 'lazy', but he's into fitness. He guzzles treats and boasts about snacking 24/7 but could bench press my villager as if I were a snowboy. He claims to love lying around watching TV, but is frequently found exercising around the island in his trendy athleisure. But there's no real contradiction here – Al is just unashamedly who he is. He might be fitter than I'll ever be, but he'll never judge anyone for being less into working out, able to munch out and go gremlin mode with you at a moment's notice. That's a true friend. - Oscar Taylor-Kent

4. Ozzie

I've had many teachers over the years, but few have imparted so much wisdom as quickly or as generously as Ozzie. This ol' bear was one of my first villagers in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, and as a newcomer to the series, Ozzie taught me to take things slow. Some call him lazy, but I see only a koala who values the sacrality of contentment. Ozzie doesn't measure life by the second, day, month, or year. Ozzie doesn't keep track – and we could all learn a thing or two from that. – Andy Brown

3. Dobie

I've always had a soft spot for cranky villagers, but out of all the grumpy neighbours that I've had, none have stolen my heart like Dobie. Despite playing the series for 20 years now, I only met Dobie for the first time in New Horizons. However, the elderly wolf has made a massive impact, and now I feel empty inside if I don't hear him call me "kiddo" at least once a day.

Dobie may seem rough around the edges (especially if your friendship level with him is low), but he really is the grandpa of my island who reminds me to enjoy the simple joys in life. He gives worldly advice, loves watering flowers and has a wholesomeness that makes me kick my feet in glee whenever I see him. Dobie doesn't need or want flashy things; he is content with life, and having that kind of energy in my game feels like a reassuring hug after a stressful day. - Emma-Jane Betts

2. Raymond

I'm not even particularly fond of Raymond, but as Animal Crossing: New Horizon's first bona-fide celebrity, he had to be included. Back in 2020, a snappy dress sense and an even snappier vocabulary sent Raymond so giga-viral that his very presence was enough to net an economically-minded islander millions of bells if they could find the right buyer. His financial value might have faded over the years, but there's no doubt that Raymond remains a standout villager, able to brighten your day - or ruin it with a single cutting remark. - Ali Jones

1. Punchy

As soon as I met Punchy in the original Animal Crossing on GameCube, he stole my heart. In fact, I still count him as a childhood friend – so deep was my love for the black and white cat and his comforting, friendly personality. With sleepy eyes, a penchant for food, and a laidback lifestyle I can only aspire to, he's the best Lazy villager out there in my book. Did I put down cold hard cash (aka £20 / $26) to get him for my island in Animal Crossing: New Horizons? Yes. Yes I did. And I'd do it again! - Heather Wald

Need to chill more? Take a look at our best relaxing games ranking! Or, our list of the best farming games for a touch more busy work.

Mineru and Tulin are new Animal Crossing Zelda villagers you can invite to stay on your island using amiibos, but you need specific amiibos for each villager. They behave like any other Animal Crossing New Horizons amiibo in that you need to pay a visit to the Nook Stop to get them scanned, letting you invite them to your campsite. But both characters have 16 compatible Zelda-themed amiibos, so if you're an amiibo aficionado, hopefully you've got at least one for Mineru and one for Tulin. Below I've explained exactly how you can invite these Zelda villagers to your New Horizons island as well as which amiibos you need.

Animal Crossing Mineru and Tulin amiibo list and how to invite them

To invite these Animal Crossing Zelda villagers to your island, you need to activate a Legend of Zelda amiibo in your game, but the amiibo you tap determines which villager you get. Start by heading to Resident Services and logging into the Nook Stop terminal. Select the 'Invite amiibo Camper' option, then follow the instructions to tap your Legend of Zelda-themed amiibo on the control stick of your Switch's right Joy-Con.

Check the list below to see which amiibos you can use to invite snooty deer Mineru or jock bird Tulin:

Mineru Amiibos

• Breath of the Wild Link (Rider)
• Breath of the Wild Zelda
• Guardian
• Link's Awakening Link
• Mipha
• Ocarina of Time Link
• Riju
• Sidon
• Super Smash Bros Ganondorf
• Super Smash Bros Sheik
• Super Smash Bros Zelda
• Tears of the Kingdom Zelda
• The Legend of Zelda Link
• Twilight Princess Link
• Urbosa
• Wolf Link

Tulin Amiibos

• Bokoblin
• Breath of the Wild Link (Archer)
• Daruk
• Majora's Mask Link
• Revali
• Skyward Sword Link
• Super Smash Bros Link
• Super Smash Bros Toon Link
• Super Smash Bros Young Link
• Tears of the Kingdom Ganondorf
• Tears of the Kingdom Link
• The Wind Waker Toon Link
• The Wind Waker Zelda
• Tulin
• Yunobo
• Zelda and Loftwing

Depending on the amiibo you tapped, you'll then see a message pop up that gives you the option to invite Mineru or Tulin to your island's campsite. Allow them to visit and they'll camp like normal, giving you the chance to speak to them and potentially invite them to stay if you're persistent. Furthermore, by tapping one of these amiibos, you will unlock a whole range of Animal Crossing Zelda items to order at the Nook Stop.

However, just in case the option for inviting Mineru or Tulin isn't popping up, make sure you've got the Animal Crossing New Horizons 3.0 update installed – here's how to update Animal Crossing New Horizons if it isn't automatically updating.

There's plenty more to the 3.0 update if decorating is more your thing than villager hunting, with Animal Crossing Slumber Islands letting you create entirely new islands to decorate in your dreams and the Animal Crossing Hotel letting you furnish hotel rooms to attract island visitors.

© GamesRadar+. Not to be reproduced without permission.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is, somehow, almost six years old. Releasing in 2020, the constant passage of time has only benefited from giving me a little island village second home I can escape to throughout the years. But, with both Animal Crossing: New Horizons – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition's upgrades, and Update 3.0 bringing new features, modes, and activities across both old and new hardware, there's never been a better time to play. For games like Animal Crossing, that staying power is incredibly important.

Additions are too numerous to go over in exacting detail, but even after just a couple of days exploring the new features for myself, it's clear that we're already so back. The new hotel and slumber islands feel like such earth-shattering new modes that I'm surprised Nintendo aren't charging for them, to be honest. Meanwhile, the Switch 2 upgrades make one of the best Nintendo Switch games even better. Join me as I run down the five biggest Animal Crossing: New Horizons additions and changes that have me hooked already.

5. Happy hotel helper

The only thing better than a room you've spent hours decorating and perfecting in Animal Crossing: New Horizons is a completely empty one – as that's a canvas for you to let your creativity run rampant all over again. The biggest new mode to drop in Update 3.0, at least for me, is the Resort Hotel owned and operated by the kappa-inspired Kapp'n family.

Taking cues from the (underrated) Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer on Nintendo 3DS, and the (pricey) Animal Crossing: New Horizons – Happy Home Paradise DLC, working at this hotel distils the essence of being asked to decorate to specific themes into a new expansion to your own island paradise. Each room is unique, so you'll need to balance the right types of furniture to please visiting villagers, and doing well can earn you unique rewards. So far, it's been a great way to direct my creativity into something new, keeping me interested each time.

4. A gorgeous paradise

This one is pretty self-evident and exclusive to Animal Crossing: New Horizons – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition, which costs a small upgrade fee. But, boy, do I love seeing this already gorgeous game blown up with even crisper visuals – the technical improvements make this shockingly beautiful to take in.

It's really noticeable when it comes to jaggies if you look closely at the many screenshots you can't help but take. In this new version, it's super smooth. The improved load times are greatly appreciated as well. Though it would have been nice to have seen improved framerates, it currently strikes a balance that I can't really complain about. On Nintendo Switch 2, Animal Crossing looks better than ever.

3. More players means more fun (as long as you follow my one simple rule)

This point combines two features. Firstly, the Slumber Islands, available on both consoles, allow Luna to take you into new dream islands within which you can customize more freely than you can on your main island (from setting the weather to just plopping down bridges), and to do so together with friends, which can be as cathartic as it can be chaotic. It's pretty much a sandbox mode, without taking away the more rules-oriented approach of the main game, which is a great compromise for me.

On Nintendo Switch 2, though, you can have 12 players in total across any multiplayer mode. My one gripe? The webcams. I get that video call features are a big part of Nintendo Switch 2's greater multiplayer focus, and all my friends have lovely faces – but when in the world of Animal Crossing: New Horizons I am my avatar. Do not break the fantasy. Soon, there's a chance that all GamesRadar+ meetings will be taking place within Animal Crossing: New Horizons. If I don't show up for a video call – assume I'm here. And, yes, I'm considering this single paragraph in this one feature as my official notice, so you can't report me this time.

2. (Some of the) crossovers

We've had brand crossovers in series before, but the Animal Crossing: New Horizons version 3.0 update brings some of the best, and in a load of different forms. For starters, you can now play retro games on your console furniture – these may be on Nintendo Switch Online anyway, but it's neat to see the feature return. New furniture and costumes are also great, with some rad The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom outfits and gear, and some really chic Lego additions to your home.

Crossover villagers remain the most sought after (unlocked via Amiibo). Cece and Viché, inspired by Shiver and Frye from Splatoon 3, are really nice additions. However, I'm a little disconcerted that the Zelda ones literally just add Mineru and Tulin. I love those Zelda characters, but directly putting them in the game rather than new villagers inspired by them feels a bit off to me, clever though the adaptation may be. Animal Crossing is best when it's its own world, and this feels like a step towards turning it into a kind of life-sim Fortnite, where a Peter Griffin villager is a possibility. I'm chasing shadows, maybe, but – like the Sanrio villagers – I much prefer the brand-inspired villagers to actual cameos.

1. Mousing over

If you've read my Drag x Drive review or my Metroid Prime 4 review, you know I have some complicated feelings about the Nintendo Switch 2's mouse controls that are now possible with the Joy-con 2 controllers. Often I find the feature a fun gimmick at their best, or clunky and redundant at their worst. Yet, now it makes sense. It's so much easier to get custom designs looking just right when you can actually grab it with a click and interact directly with the picture.

Which isn't to take away from the already impressive pixel-by-pixel style work the community has already made in the original version of the game. But, with this new level of control, I'm ready to be really blown away by the results. If the entire mouse control feature for the console was implemented solely to allow finer control in creating patterns or refining room decorations in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, then that's good enough for me. It's especially useful here, given the Resort Hotel is all about decorating, and the Slumber Islands are all about customizing new spaces. It all clicks into place!

Need to chill more? Take a look at our best relaxing games ranking! Or, our list of the best farming games for a touch more busy work.

The biggest addition in Animal Crossing: New Horizons' new 3.0 update is the new hotel feature, which lets you design guest rooms for visiting tourists and collect new items in the hotel's souvenir shop. What many players weren't expecting, it seems, was for tourists to actually show up.

I won't lie, I also dove right into decorating hotel rooms without thinking too much about the implications, like the fact that if I spend hours creating the coziest rooms I possibly can, people will probably want to come stay in those rooms and that, despite my interior design prowess, they probably won't want to be confined to those rooms their entire stay. When I first saw an unfamiliar bug-eyed monkey wandering around my island after completing a hotel room, I admittedly felt a little intruded upon, but then I realized I explicitly invited it to my island by opening up a hotel for visitors. 'Neat, more villagers!' is now my current thinking on the situation.

Others aren't so welcoming.

"I hate the tourists walking around feature," reads the title of a Reddit post from one such islander. "My island is fully decorated and already laggy as is. Now with the hotel and tourists walking around, it is even more CROWDED," they said.

It's worth noting that you don't have to do anything with the hotel, meaning random villagers on your island is an entirely optional feature. That said, it seems that once you decorate your first hotel room, the flood gates are open for good. There doesn't appear to be a toggle to open or close the hotel for visiting.

"Already sick of the randos walking around," said someone with a Halloween-themed island who feels the random villagers are throwing off their carefully curated spooky vibe. "Sure they have outfits that go with my spooky theme, but so far they are just... wrong. It's frustrating after having carefully chosen all my residents."

Already sick of the randos walking around. from r/AnimalCrossing

Some folks like the idea of having visitors, but wish they had more agency in deciding which villagers those are. The game doesn't give you an option in who shows up at your hotel, which means you might get villagers you don't vibe with or even ones from your past that you worked hard to get rid of, like Beardo.

"When the trailer dropped i imagined we'd have the option to choose who to invite to the hotel if we wanted - seeing as we are allowed to choose *everything* else about our islands, that seemed like a fair assumption, i'd really like the option to disable the guests wandering around," said one Redditor.

Still, plenty others are more than happy to open up their islands as tourist destinations. "I'm honestly shocked there's a lot of people on here saying they're against the hotel when I'm actually happy more villagers get to play or interact with my island," reads a Reddit post with more than 3,000 upvotes, suggesting this is the more common sentiment among the community. "It makes me feel like I didn't waste all that time for nothing since they actually appreciate it. Plus they have nothing but good things to say which is encouraging."

"I don't understand the hate. It's the best thing that could have happened to the game! Having different villagers—the same villagers are boring—having new ones that change every day is the best thing. I don't see any problem here," said another big supporter of the hotel feature.

There are also many players who've been emotionally moved by reunions with visiting villagers who used to live on their islands. "Seeing my OG villager visit my island made me cry," said one player who shared a very sweet moment with their old pal Peanut, who remembered living there.

"The thing I like the most about it is that apparently if villagers that used to reside on your island visit the hotel they remember you," said another player. "It's a nice touch," they added, pointing out that former residents appearing in the Happy Home Paradise DLC don't have this same memory, which is always a sting when you run into a former neighbor who completely forgot you existed.

I think that's definitely my favorite part of the new hotel stuff. I'm almost always very reluctant to let villagers go when they give me the choice, but letting me possibly see them again and reminisce on old times is hugely comforting and will make it easier to say goodbye when the time comes. Unless it's Chester. He's my best friend and I'll never let him go.

Time ticks on in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, and I'm both reassured and sometimes overwhelmed that this series never sits still whether I'm obsessed with playing or taking a break

Animal Crossing Slumber Islands let you decorate completely new islands using all the items you've gathered in New Horizons without affecting your main island. It's effectively a sandbox construction mode that you might want to use to test out building ideas for your main island or create elaborate projects. Since you can immediately pull items you've previously obtained, it's much quicker to decorate on a Slumber Island, but there are also plenty of limitations to be aware of. With that in mind, I've laid out everything there is to know about Slumber Islands, including how to unlock them and what you can do on them.

How to create a Slumber Island in Animal Crossing

To start making a Slumber Island, you need to lay on a bed in your house and choose 'It's slumber time' from the list of options that pop up.

However, there are quite a few requirements to meet for this option to actually pop up, which are as follows:

• You must have the Animal Crossing New Horizons 3.0 update installed.
• An active Nintendo Switch Online subscription.
• Your console must be connected to the internet to create or visit a Slumber Island.
• Access to Luna, which also means your island must have a rating of at least three stars, and you must have visited one of her Dream Islands.

Assuming you meet all the above criteria, you should have a letter in your mailbox from Luna that tells you to go to sleep to access a new area of dream space.

Back to slumber time. You'll then nod off to meet Luna, who will then help you create your Slumber Island, which involves picking its size and layout. For sizes, your options are small, medium, or large, where small is the same as a mystery island, large is the same size as your regular island, and medium is in between. As for layouts, there are always four options, with three of them being a somewhat random arrangement of terrain and rivers while the fourth is just a plain, flat island with a minimal amount of water or none at all.

Once you've chosen those two things, you'll be taken to your newly generated island and can start building and decorating. Remember that your regular inventory is gone while on a Slumber Island, replaced with a set of basic tools, but all your gear will come back to you when you wake up. That obviously means you can't take anything with you to a Slumber Island, but you'll have access to anything you need via the island's item collection anyway.

In future slumber time sessions, you can choose to visit your existing Slumber Island or create a new one, which will take you through the above island creation process again. Bear in mind that you can have up to three Slumber Islands, so you could have one of each size or even three large ones. When choosing which island to visit, you can also delete and copy your islands if you wish.

What you can do on an Animal Crossing Slumber Island

Now that you're on a clean-slate Slumber Island, here’s a rundown of the sorts of things you can do to make it a dreamy, deserted island:

• Name the island: Speak to Luna to give your Slumber Island a proper name.
• Place any item you've previously obtained: Press D-Pad Right to open your item collection, letting you see every furniture item, plant, fashion item, and creature you've ever owned. You can then select from the list to place them on your Slumber Island as decorations. You can also place residents, which includes your current and former villagers (which might make for an awkward reunion). Sadly, interacting with them just causes them to wave at you.
• Decorate your house: Every Slumber Island gets a duplicate of your house from your main island. The exterior is identical, but the interior is completely blank. You can decorate it with all your obtained furniture items, wallpaper, flooring and more, just like the Hotel's rooms and Happy Home Paradise rooms.
• Terraform the land, lay paths, and put fences: Exactly like using the Island Designer app on your main island, you can press the + button followed by X to switch to fence-placing mode to put up fences or the Island Designer menu, letting you use the land Waterscaping Permit and Cliff-Construction Permit spades as well as the usual path laying options. Note that if you try to use the Island Designer app on a Slumber Island, it will instead activate the cleanup service, which removes trees, furniture, fences, and rocks that are next to you, similar to the Animal Crossing Resetti Reset Service.
• Construct bridges and alter your house: Speak to Lloid and you'll be able to use his building knowhow to quickly construct bridges and inclines, move or renovate your house, and get pitfall seeds and gold nuggets. The best part is these construction projects happen instantly and cost nothing.
• Invite friends to your island: Speak to Luna and she can help you invite friends to your Slumber Island or create a Doze Code to share, exactly like a Dodo Code on your normal island. As usual, having company means you won't be able to use some of the features on this list.
• Change time of day and weather: Press D-Pad Left to open a small menu that lets you choose which hour of the day you want your Slumber Island to be and whether there is sunshine or precipitation. The island's season is based on your main island's season, however.

When it's time to leave your island, head back to the bed next to Luna and go to sleep. Your island will be saved, and you'll then wake up back on your normal island. As mentioned, if you want to get back to your dream island, you only need to go to sleep and choose 'It's slumber time'!

The 3.0 update also introduced some new Animal Crossing Zelda items to unlock. You can also invite some Animal Crossing Zelda villagers to live on your island!

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If a tree is chopped down in a forest, and nobody is around to hear bees getting to work with their stingers – does it make sound? Likewise, if it's New Year's Eve and you don't boot up Animal Crossing: New Horizons to celebrate the countdown with your villagers, does the event happen? Logically, I know that it didn't, but over the years Animal Crossing has crafted such a vibrant world that my heart can't accept that. I know that even when absent, Animal Crossing goes on without me, whether I like it or not. Even though the code might not be running, that feeling it creates within me is still a true one.

Ever since falling in love with Animal Crossing: Wild World on Nintendo DS, I've gone through phases of enjoying the series, dipping in and out of certain entries, skipping others altogether. Animal Crossing fits the definition of a cozy game – relaxing life-sims, games like Stardew Valley are welcome escapes from the drudgery of the real world where you can impose your own order and time. They might come with their own time pressures, but largely fit into chunks of play time in your real life. But, unlike many imitators, it feels like Animal Crossing resists bending to the player's will – it's there to welcome you and totally can be one of the best relaxing games out there, but it doesn't exist solely at your whim.

Butt heads with this structure and Animal Crossing can feel oddly punishing – and I don't just mean Mr. Resetti screaming at you if you didn't save properly before turning off the game (now a relic of the past, but he lives on in my nightmares). Constantly encroaching weeds build up in your village over time, neglected villagers will move out, and the turnip market – the best way to make money to fund my decorating habit – requires you to both rise early, and to coordinate with other players' market prices. Even beyond the bounds of your own island paradise the world of Animal Crossing: New Horizons moves on, other players' experiences now more important than ever.

New game, new me

While each Animal Crossing game still exists, and you can go back to play in your older villages, new entries help to feel like the universe has moved forward in time. Starting out in a small village, we've flirted with dreams of the big city, of a home designing business (a little random but it works), and now we've moved back to an idyllic island village a little older, a little wiser, able to put those life lessons to work. It's either a little player journey if you've played each one, or simply, for newcomer, a reflection of the times a-changing. This is what Animal Crossing is now, and that's that.

Likewise, individual villagers get new details – both in their character models and behaviours – but rather than feeling like simple refinements, it adds to the feeling that these characters have grown and changed a little between each entry. Wolfgang, for instance, the cranky and grumpy wolf who wore a colorful sleeveless top in older games, has donned a leather jacket by Animal Crossing: New Horizons and taken up intellectual pursuits like reading – his personality has matured and mellowed a bit. Punchy still likes to laze around, but has now gotten into canned tea and frog-decorated accessories (same).

Even non-villager Mr. Resetti has gone through it ever since auto-saving when he – according to the developer – lost his job. In Animal Crossing: New Horizons, his rescue service can yank you back to safety. In the game's 2.0 update, he can be encountered wiling away his new spare time at The Roost coffee shop. And now, in the Animal Crossing: New Horizons update 3.0, has embraced the power he once so reviled – his Reset Service business clearing either your entire island or specific sections of decorations and flowers. There's a risk this adds to features that sand down some of the rougher edges that has given Animal Crossing its charm historically, but for now I'm equally charmed to observe Mr. Resetti's journey and to help my mole bestie out.

It's big additions like the Animal Crossing: New Horizons 3.0 (the first in four years) that keeps the spirit of this progression alive for me in the series. Significant updates like this – which also add new multiplayer modes, and a whole hotel – make it feel like Animal Crossing continues to evolve.

Even so, on some level I'm still a bit unsure how to feel about getting Animal Crossing: New Horizons – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition rather than a full new game in the series. On one hand, I appreciate extending the life of such a special game, but on the other I do worry about the series going in live service direction, rather than the cumulative, radical shifts each new entry has brought in the past. Is each villager now trapped in their final form forever as new ones join the mix? Will we shun the old to simply befriend new faces? Just when is KK Slider's mid-life crisis going to hit?

I'm not sure how it will go in the future, but I have to acknowledge the power that comes from Animal Crossing: New Horizons, released in 2020, having been a part of my life for such a huge span of time, and across so many difficult moments. Whether I'm running around, bug catching net at the ready, or my Nintendo Switch 2 remains docked, Animal Crossing, so far, keeps moving on. The world outside of the game keeps moving on too. Finding our place in it is what makes it special.

Take a look at our games like Animal Crossing list for more to chill out with! Or, just want to touch grass (and cultivate it)? Check out our best farming games ranking!

Animal Crossing: New Horizon's 3.0 update and Nintendo Switch 2 Edition are both out, putting a smile on the faces of villagers everywhere who feared the game had long been abandoned. But the new content isn't a total slam dunk as some fans aren't too smitten with the Slumber Islands.

Slumber Islands are essentially a freeform sandbox or 'creative mode' for Animal Crossing: New Horizons, introduced in this week's free 3.0 update, letting players freely decorate an empty island stuck in an alternative dreamworld. You can't take or use up any resources while in the Slumber Islands, either, so fixing them up is purely a creative pursuit.

Villagers are a little disappointed about two things, however. First is the fact that Slumber Islands require a persistent-online connection and are basically paywalled behind an active Nintendo Switch Online membership, as are the shoddy collection of retro games. Second are all the building limitations Nintendo have imposed, which raise a few eyebrows in a mode that's supposed to be a low-stakes decorative endeavour.

Multiple Reddit posts and several more on other social media sites all complain of Slumber Islands' restrictions, which don't let you place any buildings other than your own house, and don't let you change seasons to create, let's say, a Christmas-themed getaway.

"I am so disappointed by this update," one Redditor writes. "The lack of those basic features is astoundingly bad. All they've added is that I can change the weather and the time of day and that bridges and inclines are insta-built, otherwise everything is exactly the same as changing my own island."

Actually, things can be considered even more limited than on your base island, given the lack of buildings you can place. After all, you can only have one house (your own), so anyone hoping to make a fresh residential area for their villagers is out of luck.

"When I realized you couldn't change the season or add buildings I lost all interest in the update. What’s the point of the slumber island then??" another player questions.

Of course, being able to test designs and ideas and layouts on a separate island is still better than nothing. Even still, having friends decorate their own homes on the same island or being able to make seasonally-themed areas would've helped to turn Slumber Islands into more than just a testing ground.

Deleting my Animal Crossing: New Horizons island has changed the way I play, and it feels like returning to 2005's Wild World

The Animal Crossing New Horizons hotel is now open for business on the pier to the south-east of your island. Yes, the same pier you can also take Kapp'n's boat tours from. But, the resort needs your help. In order to get guests to visit, the rooms are in dire need of decorating and once you've decorated said rooms, you'll earn hotel tickets which can be spent on exclusive items and furniture. Here's everything you need to know about unlocking the Animal Crossing New Horizons resort hotel, earning tickets and, most importantly, spending them.

How to unlock the Animal Crossing New Horizons hotel

To unlock the Animal Crossing New Horizons hotel, your island must have a 3-star rating and Kapp'n must also be on your island - if you've got 3-stars but no Kapp'n, you probably need to donate more to your museum! And it should go without saying but make sure you know how to update Animal Crossing as the hotel is specifically part of the free Animal Crossing New Horizons 3.0 update.

If you meet those requirements, you'll be informed of the hotel's opening the next time Isabelle does her morning announcements. For us at GamesRadar+, it opened automatically, so hopefully it will for you, too.

After it's opened, you can visit Resident Services and Tom Nook will suggest a celebration for opening the hotel, though this isn't necessary to get to work decorating the rooms inside.

How to decorate Animal Crossing New Horizons hotel rooms

Once the hotel is open, you'll be able to visit it on the pier where you'll be introduced to Kapp'n and his wife, Leilani. But, while the hotel is open, guests can't actually stay there yet because the rooms haven't been decorated – and this is a job for you.

Each day, you'll be tasked with decorating two rooms. The first room, Leilani will tell you should be seaside-themed. For this, she'll give you an inventory of recommended items to decorate it with and using these will impress her. You can also use items you already have.

Similar to the Happy Home Paradise DLC, you'll need to harness your inner interior designer to make rooms that Leilani is proud to offer to guests. Head into decorating mode by pressing down on the D-Pad, and press right to open up your items. If you've bought the DLC, you'll also have access to extra design features that others won't have. Although without it, your rooms will still pass Leilani's vibe check as long as you use her recommended items.

When you're all done, you need to take a photo using the Camera app on your NookPhone. Grab a snap and head to Leilani waiting at the door. She'll pass judgment and, hopefully, open up your room to guests. After the first room though, it seems you don't have to take any more photos to get your room approved.

After room one, Leilani lets you choose between two theme options. Room 2 is Japanese or Modern, Room 3 is Simple or Ranch, Room 4 is Kiddie or Dreamy, Room 5 is Skyscraper or Diner, and Room 6 is Lodge or Japanese-Retro. At time of writing, we've only been able to decorate six rooms, but it seems like you get two rooms to decorate each day.

Also after decorating your first room, you'll be able to use the two mannequins in the lobby to create custom outfits. Hotel guests can then borrow the outfits and wear them around your island. You might want to use the Animal Crossing New Horizons megaphone to call our to any visitors too.

How to earn Animal Crossing New Horizons hotel tickets

Every time you decorate a room, you'll earn 200 hotel tickets and can move onto decorating more rooms. There are only two rooms to decorate each day meaning you can earn 400 hotel tickets daily.

But, if you're keen to earn more, you can also craft DIY items for the box on the pier. Each day, you can visit the box and find out what items are needed in exchange for tickets. For example, when I checked the box, handing in two traditional straw coats, two wooden-block beds, two pots, and two wooden buckets would provide a total of 220 hotel tickets. And, as you fulfil requests, a new request will take its place. The full list resets every Monday.

How to spend Animal Crossing: New Horizons hotel tickets

After all your hard work, you probably want to know how to spend these Animal Crossing: New Horizons hotel tickets – and it seems like the only place to spend them is at Gram's Souvenir Shop.

Kapp'n's Grams has her very own little stall based within the lobby of the resort hotel. Here, she sells souvenir and branded items from the hotel like a snow globe and towel rack, or design items you've used in rooms from mug shelves to a kiddie house.

While she's got a catalog full of items you can purchase from, each day she'll also have a couple of pieces on display that can be bought for a discounted price to the catalog.

As you decorate more rooms, she'll explain that the more guests that stay at the hotel, the more items she'll be able to sell in her catalog and from what I've noticed these new items correlate with the design of room you pick. So, it's worth coming back and designing more and more. Consider it your new daily task.

The 3.0 update also included new Animal Crossing New Horizons Zelda items and the Animal Crossing New Horizons Resetti Reset Service.

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2026 marks the 25th anniversary of Animal Crossing, and with the new update for Animal Crossing: New Horizons also having just been released, now is the perfect time to test your Nintendo knowledge.

While we wait for news of a new game featuring Tom Nook asking for more Bells to be added to the upcoming Switch 2 games roster, this ultimate Animal Crossing quiz is going to put your villager brains to use. Here we've gone through all the mainline games in the franchise so far (sorry, Pocket Camp players) and gathered some questions that will make even the most seasoned players scratch their heads.

Be sure to share your score in the comments section below if you want to share with your fellow Animal Crossing enthusiasts how you did, and if you are after more multiple-choice trivia pages, or a variety of other quizzes, you can also head over to our GamesRadar+ quiz collection page.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons' big 3.0 update is finally here, bringing the new hotel feature to everyone's islands as well as Zelda and Lego collabs and plenty of clutch updates to make island life that much more inviting.

One of those smaller, but nonetheless greatly appreciated, quality of life updates is the ability to increase your home's storage all the way up to 9,000, a pretty huge jump from the previous limit of 5,000 items. Sounds great, right? And, you can also now store trees, shrubs, and living flowers in your home storage. Pump the brakes, though, because the combined cost of the two storage expansions is an eye-watering 3.3 million bells - 1.5 for the first and 1.8 for the second - and that's only if you're going into the situation having already settled all possible home expansion loans with Tom Nook, itself an incredibly pricey affair.

I never got heavy into the whole turnip market thing, mostly because I much prefer the slow pace of catching and selling fish to Animal Crossing's version of a stock market, but I may have to temporarily change that. I still haven't paid off the final 2.5 million loan I have from Tom Nook, so if I want the full 9,000 storage slots, I would need, in total, 5.8 million bells. As far as I know, the quickest - although not very reliably - way to get that is to buy a bunch of turnips and hope the bells are in my favor, and then do that over and over and over again. Thankfully, I'm not the only one looking at my current storage situation a lot more favorably after learning how much the upgrades cost.

I think I might pass on expanding my storage lol from r/AnimalCrossing

"Time to turnip prophet," quipped a punny Redditor in the thread's top response with more than 450 upvotes at the time of writing.

It's also worth pointing out that Tom Nook wants his money up front for this, so adding on to your existing loan or opening another isn't an option. And, just for some extra salt in the wound, you can't pull the money straight from your bank, you have to actually go to the ABD machine, or whatever, and withdraw the full amount into your pockets and then hand over that 50-pound sack straight into Tom Nook's ridiculously deep pockets.

Of course, I'm not surprised to find plenty of Animal Crossing players in the above thread with more than enough bells to cover their own storage expansions and everyone else in the comments. Some are even offering to donate, which is very cool, but judging from upvotes heavily favoring the less fortunate, they're the outliers. The rest of us are going back to the turnip mines and staying thankful we don't have to sell feet pics.

Deleting my Animal Crossing: New Horizons island has changed the way I play, and it feels like returning to 2005's Wild World

There's a whole range of Animal Crossing Zelda items to buy, including clothing to let you dress up as Link or Zelda, but you need an amiibo to unlock it. Thankfully, any Legend of Zelda Series amiibo will do, so you just need to give it a tap after activating the relevant option at the Nook Stop terminal, then everything fit for a champion of Hyrule will be available to order. Full details on what you need to do to unlock these Zelda items in Animal Crossing New Horizons are below, as well as a list of all the items and their price in Bells.

How to unlock Animal Crossing New Horizons Zelda items

To unlock all Zelda items in Animal Crossing New Horizons, you just need to activate any of the many Legend of Zelda amiibos in your game – any version of Link, Zelda, or any The Legend of Zelda Series amiibo will work. You should have it already too but you need to have the Animal Crossing New Horizons 3.0 update installed – just in case you haven't here's how you update Animal Crossing New Horizons too.

To do so, head to the Resident Services building on your island's plaza and log into the Nook Stop terminal. From here, select the 'Invite amiibo Camper' option, then follow the instructions, ending with you tapping your Zelda-related amiibo on the control stick of your Switch 1 or Switch 2's right Joy-Con. At this point, all the ACNH Zelda items will now be available to buy from the Nook Stop, but you'll also have the option to invite either Mineru or Tulin to your island's campsite – this is not required to get the Zelda items, but it does allow you to potentially invite them to become permanent residents of your island.

To buy the Zelda items, log into the Nook Stop again and select the 'Nook Shopping' option. From here, you need to select 'Special Goods', then switch to the 'Promotion' tab. Here you'll see a list of all 28 Zelda items available to order, but remember that orders are limited to five per day and they'll be delivered to your mailbox the following day, so you'll have to choose carefully and be patient as you amass your triforce collection.

Full Animal Crossing New Horizons Zelda items list

If you've got the Switch 2 upgrade, you can check out the Animal Crossing New Horizons megaphone to shout at your villagers. The 3.0 update also saw the introduction of the Reset Service, so make sure you know about Resetti in Animal Crossing New Horizons.

© GamesRadar+. Not to be reproduced without permission.

One infamous adult-themed Animal Crossing: New Horizons island has closed its doors as its creator claims Nintendo has deleted its Dream Address, stopping visitors from seeing its raunchy secrets.

As reported by Automaton, Twitter user @churip_ccc is the player behind the so-called adult-only island, which has been alive and kicking since 2020. As shown in an old video tour, it includes everything from its own red-light district to a love hotel, strip club, and casino. It might just be the opposite of the wholesome experience Nintendo had in mind when creating the game.

Well, now it's claimed that Nintendo might not have taken too kindly to the island, even if it's taken more than five years to do anything about it. "Actually, just a day before the update, the Dream Address for the Adult Island was deleted by Nintendo," churip_ccc claims in a tweet (translated by Automaton). "To Nintendo, I apologize from the bottom of my heart. Or rather, thank you for turning a blind eye for more than five years."

The player extends their thanks to "everyone who visited the island," as well as "all the streamers who showcased it in their videos."

Searching for the island's Dream Address now (which usually allows folks to connect to the internet and take a tour of someone else's island without its owner having to let you in like they would if you were joining them in multiplayer) there are no results. For research purposes, I tried it out myself, and was informed "there is no dream filed to that Dream Address." That's no firm confirmation that Nintendo decided that things were a little bit too risqué for its family-friendly game, thank you very much, but for whatever reason, it's no longer accessible.

Of course, the user only says this removal applies to their Dream Address, which is a separate thing to their actual save data, so the island almost certainly still exists in its base form, it just can't be visited by the masses anymore. And, given churip_ccc's apology, it doesn't seem likely that they'll be attempting to re-open any time soon.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons 3.0's new Slumber Island feature has bad news for anyone who became mortal enemies with their "ugly" villagers: "Chops coming back from the dead to get revenge on me."

The Animal Crossing New Horizons megaphone lets you call out to specific villagers to help you find them on your island. Thankfully, getting one is very simple, as you just need to pay a visit to Nook's Cranny with some Bells in your pocket. But there's a pretty big caveat in that it's exclusive to the Switch 2 version of the game as it relies on you being able to easily use a microphone. So, assuming you've got a Switch 2 and the upgraded version of the game, here's everything you need to know about buying and using a megaphone in ACNH.

How to get and use the Animal Crossing New Horizons megaphone

To get a megaphone, you need to buy one from Nook's Cranny, specifically from the green cupboard on the right, just next to the till. One megaphone costs 3,500 Bells and there's no limit on the number you can buy, although you will likely only ever need one as it doesn't degrade through use like other tools.

To use the megaphone, stand outside with it in your villager's hand and hold A. While you're doing so, you can say the name of any islander NPC to get their attention, be it one of your regular villagers, a visitor like Flick or CJ, or a special resident like Kapp'n. If you've got a headset with a microphone, the game should pick up what you're saying through that, otherwise it'll use the Switch 2's onboard microphone – you can of course configure your microphone settings by scrolling down to the Audio tab in the Switch 2 System Settings menu.

If the NPC is outside, they will let you know where they are with a speech bubble that appears somewhere on the edge of your screen, indicating in which direction they are from you. However, if the NPC is in a building, such as their own house or the museum, you'll get a message that says, "No reply… Maybe they aren't nearby?", and no indication of which building they're in, so you'll have to search manually.

I've also found that the game can be massively inconsistent when it comes to understanding whose name you're saying – it's like Nintendogs all over again! Just be warned that the megaphone can be quite annoying to use for that reason.

If you don't have a Switch 2, don't worry as there are plenty of useful features in the Animal Crossing New Horizons 3.0 update! For example, you can recruit Resetti for his Animal Crossing New Horizons Reset Service.

© GamesRadar+. Not to be reproduced without permission.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons' major new 3.0 update is here – alongside the paid Switch 2 Edition – and players have been running into some unexpected, familiar faces in one of its free content additions.

Update 3.0 adds the Slumber Island feature, allowing folks to create an additional three Dream islands completely separate from their main island – you can choose a layout, size, and decorate it however you please. It's a pretty amazing new option for anyone who's been yearning to overhaul their main island and try out new ideas without erasing all their previous hard work, and you can even have your villager friends walking around in there, too.

Well, that's where things get interesting. We already knew that we'd be able to hang out with our current residents on Slumber Island, but it turns out that any villager who's previously lived on your island will be selectable, too. For some fans, this is a welcome reunion with old friends, some they've not seen since 2020. For others… not so much.

Remember those poor, poor villagers who were just trying to live their best life before someone decided that they were too ugly to be welcome? They moved in, excited to meet their neighbors, only to find themselves repeatedly hit with a bug net, sent rude letters, and generally tormented by the esteemed Resident Representative, who made it their mission to make them leave for good. Others found their company auctioned off online for Bells and Nook Miles Tickets as players used them as part of their get-rich-quick schemes. Well, some players might have done their best to forget, but clearly, Animal Crossing: New Horizons won't let them.

"This is diabolical all the villagers I got just to sell on nookazon are going to hunt me down and kill me," one player reacts, suddenly very aware of the list of residents who might not be best pleased to see them again.

"Chops coming back from the dead to get revenge on me (for literally making a moat around his house and putting clown emojis around it to, so he couldn't come back) on my slumber island," another writes, before sharing screenshots of the admittedly very funny clown wall they may live to regret.

"Please no, I don't mind Jakey but I don't ever want to see Knox again in my life," another pleads.

Another sums up the situation quite nicely with a Simpsons meme, saying: "The villagers you kicked off your island for being ugly coming back on slumber island because the game save data remembers them but you don't."

Again, some are actually thrilled about the feature: "Oh my god i had two villagers leave recently and i was really sad about both of them this is amazing news," writes one. "I got so happy to see my former residents with my current residents," says another. I guess the reaction probably depends on how many mortal enemies you've made in your time playing one of Nintendo's sweetest, most wholesome games of all time.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons 3.0 update is here, and cozy game fans are going feral over one quality-of-life change: "MY POCKETS ARE FREE!!!"

Animal Crossing fans were excited to discover that the New Horizons 3.0 update brought back one of the original's most beloved features… only this time it's hidden behind a Nintendo Switch Online paywall.

Animal Crossing for the GameCube included one of the absolute best things in the series' history – especially in a pre-Virtual Console world – when it allowed you to collect NES consoles and play the likes of Super Mario Bros, Donkey Kong, and Punch Out in the game. And after disappearing from the series in every entry since, Nintendo confirmed that the feature would return with Animal Crossing: New Horizons update 3.0, with SNES and Game Boy joining the party.

Unfortunately this comes with a catch, as players will need to have a Nintendo Switch Online membership to play the games – all of which are already available in their respective Nintendo Switch Online apps. This was confirmed when the 3.0 Update was announced, but a post from Twitter user @AndreSegers has reignited the backlash somewhat. Nintendo decided it needs to grab that subscription from you if you want the opportunity to play Ice Hockey for NES.

Naturally fans are upset, with one calling it "fucking pathetic." Meanwhile another says, "Yeah. It looked like it would've been such a cute nod to the GameCube game but requiring NSO just makes it stupid."

Another writes: "One of the things that upset me the most after the original game allowed you to. I wasn't surprised because they finally figured out how to monetize it via Virtual Console stuff, but still super disappointing."

But even without that subscription issue, it's a disappointing addition anyway. Not only are there fewer games than the GameCube edition had, but the game selection itself is not up to snuff. The Game Boy and SNES consoles have Dr. Mario, F-Zero, and Panel de Pon (released as Tetris Attack outside of Japan), which, granted, are all bangers, but when it comes to the three NES games available, it's frankly embarrassing. Rather than include actual classics like Super Mario Bros, Metroid, or The Legend of Zelda, you're treated to the bottom of the NES barrel with one of the worst first-party games, Ice Climber, and the extremely middle-of-the-road Clu Clu Land and Ice Hockey.

At that point I question what the point of this addition even was. It would make some sense – both in the lack of major hits in the game collection and the small amount of available games – if these didn't require a Switch Online subscription, but with that barrier of entry, these just feel absolutely useless outside of having the consoles as decor. Nintendo turned one of the coolest things in the series into one of the most disappointing.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons 3.0 update is here, and cozy game fans are going feral over one quality-of-life change.

Updating Animal Crossing New Horizons works just like any other Nintendo Switch game, where the option to update should appear when you try to launch the game. However, with ACNH's 3.0 update going live surprisingly early, it seems like it's being a bit finnicky for some players. Also bear in mind that the premium Switch 2 upgrade is not out yet, so if you're wondering why that isn't installing, you just need to wait! But if the game is refusing to upgrade to version 3.0 at all, the following steps and advice should help you update Animal Crossing New Horizons.

Before you get started, please make sure you've done everything you need to transfer your Animal Crossing New Horizons island to Switch 2 if you've just upgraded!

How to download the Animal Crossing New Horizons 3.0 update

The Animal Crossing New Horizons 3.0 update should install automatically, or you'll have the option to start the update as soon as you try to boot up the game, as with all other Switch games. To manually check for game updates, hover over the ACNH tile on your Switch's home screen then press the + button, scroll down to the 'Software Update' tab, and select 'Via the Internet' to download any available updates.

However, if those update methods aren't working, there are a couple of things to check:

• Make sure your Switch or Switch 2 is connected to the internet, otherwise you won't be able to install the update at all – make sure it's not in Flight Mode or otherwise disconnected from your network.
• Make sure your Switch or Switch 2 is update to date. Open the 'System Settings' menu, scroll all the way down to the 'System' tab, then select 'System Update' and your console will begin installing any outstanding software updates if there are any. While you're in this menu, scroll down to find the 'Automatic Software Updates' setting and make sure it's toggled on so that any game updates can install themselves as soon as possible.
• Try restarting your Switch by holding down the power button for a couple of seconds, then choosing 'Power Options', followed by 'Restart'. This might be enough to jog your Switch into recognizing the update, as confirmed by a fellow GamesRadar+ writer!

Now that you've got the update installed, you'll be able to check out the new island hotel on the pier, slumber islands, and a whole host of quality-of-life changes.

If you're new or returning after a long vacation, here are 30 Animal Crossing New Horizon tips to help you get into island life. Or you might want to redecorate your island with some help from Resetti in Animal Crossing New Horizons.

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Animal Crossing: New Horizons' big 3.0 update is here – a day sooner than expected – and cozy game fans are already going feral over one of the life sim's new quality-of-life improvements.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons 3.0 makes some crucial changes to the crafting system. For a start, you can now craft things in bulk rather than one at a time (huge for stocking up on things like tools and fish bait), but on top of that, you no longer need to carry crafting materials around to use them. Despite being one of the biggest improvements of the update, Nintendo only quietly revealed that latter point with very little fanfare, but to say fans are thrilled about the change in action would be an understatement.

"OH MY FUCKING GOD," one fan on Reddit calmly reacts. "MY POCKETS ARE FREE!!! FREE I TELL YOU!! FREEEEEE!!!!" declares another.

Others are more relieved than anything, with one writing that "I almost cried when this popped up," while another calls it their "favourite thing about the update."

As you might expect, some can't help but wonder why it's taken so long to implement such a highly requested feature in the first place. "Finally! It only took 6 FUCKING YEARS!" Overall though, folks are just happy the option has, at last, materialized: "This is the best quality of life improvement they could have done for the game," says another.

Although plenty of people have been reporting getting into the 3.0 update earlier than expected, it looks like we'll still have to wait until January 15 for the Switch 2 Edition, which adds 4K support, mouse controls, the Megaphone item, and more.

After a huge Animal Crossing: New Horizons patch was announced out of nowhere, Nintendo says it's "constantly considering" the balance of new Switch 2 games and big updates.

Moving your Animal Crossing: New Horizon save from Switch 1 to Switch 2 is, fortunately, pretty simple. But, you have to make sure you follow the steps otherwise you could risk losing your entire island, your villagers, and the hundreds (nay, thousands) of hours you've spent building up your game.

Before you follow along with the steps below though, it's important to mention that once you've done this process, you'll no longer be able to access your island on the Switch 1. So, make sure you're happy to pack up and get moving. Oh, and if you're moving over any Animal Crossing: New Horizons Happy Home Paradise DLC content, make sure you've downloaded it on your Switch 2 first if you want to access it. Right, let's get into it.

How to transfer your ACNH save from Switch 1 to Switch 2

1. Turn flight mode off on both consoles and ensure Wi-Fi is enabled on both consoles.
2. Transfer save data from Switch 1 to Switch 2 using the built-in System Transfer feature (this will appear when setting up Switch 2, or go to System Settings > System > System Transfer to Switch 2).
3. Make sure Animal Crossing: New Horizons is downloaded and fully updated on both consoles.
4. Download the Island Transfer Tool from the Nintendo eShop on both consoles.
5. Link your Nintendo account between both consoles.
6. Open the Island Transfer Tool on each console.
7. Follow the on-screen instructions.
8. On the Nintendo Switch 1, select Source.
9. On the Nintendo Switch 2, select Target.
10. When the Nintendo Switch 1 detects the Switch 2, select transfer data.
11. On the Nintendo Switch 2, select proceed.
12. When the transfer is complete, a message will appear on both consoles to let you know it's done.

For transferring other data, games, and accounts between Nintendo Switch consoles, you can also check out our guide on how to transfer games to Switch 2 from Switch 1.

And with that, your ACNH island will now be accessible on your Switch 2. If you're picking up the game for the first time in a while, our Animal Crossing New Horizons tips should serve as a good refresher.

Otherwise, if you're picking up where you left off, you might want to finish off your Animal Crossing New Horizons fish collection or your Animal Crossing New Horizons bugs exhibit in your museum. Alternatively, if neatening up your home is a priority, make sure you know how to improve your Animal Crossing: New Horizons island rating.

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Animal Crossing: New Horizons Update 3.0 dropping in January has gotten us all nostalgic over the hundreds of (cough over a thousand) hours we've spent living island life. So before inevitably heading back in to try out new features like dream islands, mass crafting at last, and the new hotel, we thought we'd test our ACNH knowledge by creating a quiz.

So let's see if those hours spent terraforming, earning bells, and trading turnips meant we actually retained any information about the game after five years. Don't forget to let us know how you did in the comments below too!

The new Animal Crossing: New Horizons update's best feature wasn't even included in the announcement video; instead it's a throwaway line on the Nintendo website.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons was an interesting departure in some ways; namely, the game had a ton of crafting and building elements in the early hours for players to get through before they arrived at what can be considered the traditional Animal Crossing experience. And one of the biggest issues there was it wasn't exactly the most intuitive game when it came to crafting, requiring players to carry materials in their limited inventory space and craft items one at a time.

And after 4 years of silence, Nintendo confirmed Animal Crossing: New Horizons will be getting a major new update for the original Switch version alongside the release of a Switch 2 edition. And while the trailer did spark a glimmer of hope with a split-second look at bulk crafting, there was no confirmation of other changes in the same vein. But as it turns out, Nintendo didn't think it was interesting enough for a shoutout.

As spotted by Twitter user Chase247, Nintendo has confirmed that Animal Crossing: New Horizons' upcoming update will in fact allow players to craft items straight from their storage, instead of having to manually place everything in their on-person inventory before heading to the crafting table. This, mixed with bulk crafting, is a game changer for building things for your island, so how did Nintendo highlight such a massive change? Why, a throwaway line on its website, of course.

On the store page for Animal Crossing: New Horizons – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition upgrade pack, the game's description reads: "The free update is available to all Animal Crossing: New Horizons players and includes a few more additions to make crafting items and managing your island a little easier. You can now craft items in batches, pulling materials directly from your storage."

With Nintendo so nonchalantly confirming one of the most requested features for the game ever, one user took to Twitter to note, "That’s the number one thing I've been asking for and they just don’t mention it????" Another sums things up nicely: "Holy crap, it's about time."

I'm deleting my 1000-hour island in Animal Crossing: New Horizons to play the Switch 2 update from scratch, and I never thought I'd be so excited to owe Tom Nook bells again.

The Animal Crossing: New Horizons Update 3.0 is officially here, which also means the Nintendo Switch 2 Edition is too. There's quite a lot to explore as the update delivers several quality-of-life changes, as well as an entirely new resort hotel, Slumber Islands, and the Reset Service. The best part is, while you have to pay for the Switch 2 upgrade and it's improved resolution, the 3.0 update is free to all Animal Crossing New Horizons players! If you want to make sure you don't miss out on any of the big additions and changes as you return to your island, here's a helpful breakdown of everything you need to know about Animal Crossing New Horizons Update 3.0.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons Update 3.0 and Switch 2 Edition release date and price

The Animal Crossing: New Horizons Update 3.0 and Nintendo Switch 2 Edition upgrade are both available now.

The 3.0 update is free and just in case you need some help, here's how to update Animal Crossing to get it installed. However, the Switch 2 Edition upgrade is a premium Switch 2 game upgrade, so you need to buy it in the Nintendo eShop for $4.99/£4.19.

In fact, if you're upgrading to the Switch 2 Edition, make sure you know how to transfer your Animal Crossing New Horizons save to Switch 2. You'll also get to buy the Animal Crossing Megaphone to shout at your villagers.

Help run the Resort Hotel

Your pier got an update with 3.0, and Kapp'n's family has moved in. Update 3.0 adds a whole new Animal Crossing Hotel to your island, which Kapp'n's family needs your help to decorate - think Happy Home Paradise, but hotel rooms.

You'll be given a theme to follow for each guest room, where you'll have to add furniture, wallpapers, lights and everything else you'll need to make a nice getaway space. Random villagers will then come and stay, and even walk around your island as the ultimate vacay spot. Rewards for your hard work come in the form of hotel tickets, which you can exchange at the Hotel Souvenir shop for new items and furniture, which will seemingly rotate like Nook's Cranny.

Resetti is finally here and he can help you clear your island

Our old 'pal' Resetti makes his official debut in Animal Crossing: New Horizons Update 3.0. He offers a new Animal Crossing Reset Service, letting you tidy up areas of your island, removing all the items you've left on it and safely storing them for you - rather than you having to do it all manually.

Slumber Islands give you additional islands to design

Going to sleep just got a whole lot more exciting in ACNH as we've now got access to new Animal Crossing Slumber Islands, which you can get to by having a lie down on your bed.

Slumber Islands let you get access up to three totally empty islands - either small, medium, or large in size - for you to completely redesign as you please. We're talking terraforming, bridges, slopes, and all the furniture you've unlocked (without having to craft anything). You can even add trees or flowers at different stages of growth for serious creative control over how your Slumber Islands look. You can also control the time of day and season too. It's essentially a sandbox mode for Animal Crossing New Horizons, where you can also let your villagers roam, too, by adding them to it.

Zelda, Splatoon and other awesome collabs are here

Update 3.0 also goes Nintendo-wide with some new furniture collaborations for New Horizons. Firstly, there are some classic Nintendo consoles, including the Famicom, NES, and Game Boy. If you've got a Nintendo Switch Online membership, interacting with these consoles in-game will let you play 'selected classic games' on these consoles too.

LEGO is also bringing some excellent official items into the game, including a whole load of furniture and some clothing items. Seriously loving the LEGO arcade and flowers.

And if you've got compatible Legend of Zelda amiibo you can get some pretty sweet Animal Crossing Zelda items.There are iconic outfits, rupees, the Tri-Force itself, and other items up for grabs. There are also two new Animal Crossing Zelda villagers to unlock - Tulin and Mineru - who can camp at your island or even become residents if you wish.

It's the same deal with Splatoon amiibo too. There's two new squirrel villagers to unlock called Cece and Viche, who are based on the Splatoon TV hosts Shiver and Frye. Of course, there are also Splatoon outfits, hairstyles and furniture to unlock too.

Animal Crossing update 3.0 quality of life updates

A couple of other additions to Update 3.0 involve your home storage capacity. Home storage capacity has two new upgrade options of 7,000 and 9,000, which can be unlocked via Tom Nook. And, you can also store trees, shrubs and flowers in your home storage.

There are also improvements to crafting, with one major upgrade that Nintendo didn't even put in the trailer. You can now, at long last, craft straight from your storage, rather than having to move everything into your pockets.

You'll also be finally able to craft in bulk, using any crafting bench. What a relief!

See what else is ahead with our roundup of upcoming Switch 2 games and upcoming Switch games.

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Animal Crossing: New Horizons is officially coming to the Switch 2, but that's not all – it's also getting a surprise new update four years after Nintendo's last big patch… although the big news isn't proving so exciting for some fans.

Major Animal Crossing: New Horizons content updates came to a halt in 2021 with 2.0 (not counting bug fixes and more minor patches), with Nintendo explaining at the time that it'd be the final significant release for the cozy sim. That's what makes the upcoming 3.0 update so thrilling – it, as well as the Switch 2 edition of the game arriving alongside the patch, wasn't expected by players. Most (including me, if I'm honest) gave up hope years ago.

While I, and many other hardened Animal Crossing stans, are unsurprisingly overjoyed at the news, there's also a sizeable portion of the community that's understandably been left wanting more. The addition of the resort hotel, run by Kapp'n and his family, does sound fun – but it's also admittedly very reminiscent of the existing Happy Home Paradise DLC. It's all about decorating rooms in the resort to help Kapp'n out and keep guests happy, basically.

I miss when AC wasn't just a decorating simulator from r/AnimalCrossing

As one disappointed player asks on Reddit, "Isn't this just more Happy Home Paradise?" The comments see fellow fans agree. "Yeah, it does share a lot of similarities," reads a response. Another person says, "It really is, just without being able to decorate outside." Others point out, however, that there is a key difference between the update's resort and the DLC: price. "It means people who can't afford the DLC can now play something similar."

Elsewhere, a separate thread shows a fan admit, "I miss when AC wasn't just a decorating simulator." Attached is a meme expressing frustration at getting "more shit to decorate" rather than a more substantial update – one that perhaps could've featured the return of tours. "After you finish the tutorial, there's nothing to do except decorate." Someone amusingly chimes in, "You will take your doll house simulator and you will like it!"

I definitely get where they're coming from as an Animal Crossing lover myself – but if I'm completely honest, I'm just content with the fact that we're getting an update at all. The Switch 2 edition is nice, too, with both dropping next year on January 15.

"In Breath of the Wild, they give you a little golden turd": Animal Crossing: New Horizons fan spends 2 years designing every DLC vacation home, gets nothing

Once upon a time, Animal Crossing wasn't just a cute life sim – it was also a pretty sick compilation of retro NES games. At least, that was how I treated it when the first game localized in English made its global debut on GameCube. Nintendo eventually excised the retro games from the series, much to the disappointment of old-school nerds like me, but those old-school titles are finally returning in the upcoming free update for Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

Once the update lands on January 15, you'll be able to collect an array of retro Nintendo consoles in New Horizons. In the announcement trailer, we see an NES, Famicom, Famicom Disk System, Game Boy, Super NES, and Super Famicom sitting on various shelves. It's unclear whether there will be multiple games to play, but it sounds like each system will have just a single game available.

If you're wondering why Nintendo would give away retro games for free when they're also part of the Switch Online subscription price, there is a catch: you will need "an active Nintendo Switch Online membership" to play these titles. You'll still be able to collect the consoles regardless, but you'll need the subscription to be able to actually play the games.

The fact that you'll also have access to these titles through the usual Switch Online apps maybe softens the impact of this returning Animal Crossing feature, but for me, the novelty of once again being able to play old games through Animal Crossing is a powerful draw. Nintendo's also adding an array of its real-life, pre-video game oddities to collect, including stuff like the Ultra Hand, Ultra Machine, and Love Tester – items you might've seen make cameos deep inside other Nintendo titles.

Looking at the brief gameplay clips in the trailer and squinting at the cartridge art just barely visible in the consoles, it looks like the lineup will be as follows:

• Famicom – Clu Clu Land
• NES – Ice Climber
• Game Boy – Dr. Mario
• Super Famicom – Panel De Pon
• Super NES – F-Zero

The only mystery is what the Famicom Disk System will hold, since there's no gameplay footage of that title, and the disk is hidden within the console itself. Personally, I'm hopeful for Nintendo's Japan-only Zelda-like The Mysterious Murasame Castle. With the rest of the selection made up of simple, arcade-style games, it'd be nice to have at least a little more meat in the selection.

Those pixels may be chunky, but the best NES games still hold up today.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is officially coming to the Switch 2 as a brand-new edition of the beloved 2020 life sim gem – but that's not all, as Nintendo has an update in store for the game, too, years after fans thought they'd seen the final big patch.

Major Animal Crossing: New Horizons content updates came to a halt in 2021 with 2.0 (not counting bug fixes and more minor patches) – or so we thought. Alongside its announcement regarding the Switch 2 edition, Nintendo has also revealed new features for both the OG Switch version as well as the more recent console's upcoming one.

The first big highlight is the addition of the resort hotel, run by Kapp'n and his family. To attract guests to the island, you'll be able to help Kapp'n by decorating rooms in the resort – think Happy Home Paradise, but in the base game.

There will also be new clothing and furniture at the souvenir shop, and the ability to dress its mannequins up with outfits for guests to wear. Additionally, Resetti is making a return with his handy Reset Service to help tidy up your island (let's face it, most of us could use a reset at this point).

We can soon upgrade our houses even more, too, allowing storage to hold a whopping 9,000 items – including flora like flowers, trees, and shrubs as well.

The most exciting feature, in my opinion, isn't Kapp'n's resort, Resetti, or the storage upgrade, however – it's Slumber Island. With a Nintendo Switch Online membership, we'll be able to design and save up to three new islands and collaborate on them with friends.

From the layout to the size, it's entirely customizable, and can be built and designed alongside pals with shared decorations and inventory. Plus, you can invite residents from your home island. No island is complete without Raymond, after all.

There are plenty of new items to look forward to as well, from LEGO (yes, actual LEGO) to classic Nintendo bits and bobs.

As for the Switch 2 version of the game, it's packing quite a few upgrades: improved resolution (shiny 4K while docked, baby), mouse controls with the new Joy-Con 2 controllers (allowing for hand-written messages and more), 12-player online sessions, and others.

My personal favorite new Switch 2 feature is the megaphone – an item that we'll be able to use to call specific residents over. Gone are the days of circling my island to hand over a lost item, it seems.

The Nintendo Switch 2 edition of New Horizons is set to release on January 15, right at the beginning of next year, for $64.99. Fans who already own the original Switch copy can purchase an upgrade pack for $4.99, with preorders live on the eShop now.

The free update – which both Switch and Switch 2 players can anticipate – is arriving on the same date as the new edition. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some island planning to do…

Looking for new games to play while waiting for an announcement from Nintendo? Here are great games like Animal Crossing to check out.

In case you're going for a completionist run in Animal Crossing: New Horizons' Happy Home Paradise DLC... maybe don't.

I've recently returned to Animal Crossing: New Horizons after about four years away and am finding it exceedingly comforting in these turbulent times, and in fact, just days ago I downloaded the Happy Home Paradise DLC that's free with a Switch Online + Expansion Pack subscription. I've been having a great time kitting out vacationers' homes and unlocking in-game rewards, but apparently there's a limit to the return on investment.

As documented by Reddit user Beautiful-Support-56, there seems to be a sad and lonely fate waiting for intrepid vacation home decorators wanting to design every home in the DLC, which apparently exceeds 350.

"After countless hours of designing hundreds of homes, I think I finally did it.. I've made all of the vacation homes," said the player, noting that after the achievement for 350 homes designed "the number of animals needing vacation homes was dwindling. And then there were none, and I was alone on the beach.. :("

Well I think I did it :( from r/AnimalCrossing

For the uninitiated, Happy Home Paradise whisks you off to a base island where you talk to villagers and learn their "vision" for their ideal getaway house, and then populate and arrange said homes with themed items and furniture. In exchange, you get Poki to buy items and unlock all sorts of cool stuff like wall partitions, customization options, and ultimately, the ability to redesign homes on your base island. I have completed nowhere near 350 homes, but it seems that number is when Nintendo officially stops giving a crap.

"I'm almost disappointed that there is absolutely no acknowledgement, like congratulations you've designed all the homes woooh," added Beautiful-Support. "I've been going back to re-design homes for the extra poki, but I'm so lost now!"

In a comment, the player says it took them about two years to complete every available home, which indeed would be pretty disappointing for all of that to culminate in nothing at all. As the top comment on the Reddit thread points out, at least "in Breath of the Wild they give you a little golden turd for finding all 900 koroks." Oh, Nintendy.

This ridiculously blatant Animal Crossing somehow made its way onto the PlayStation Store, but I have a hunch it won't be there long

That image... ^^^ ... yeah, that one. That isn't Animal Crossing. It's Animal Village Online, a seemingly real upcoming game that somehow managed to sneak its way onto the very real PlayStation Store. Frankly, I'm shocked.

There are a ton of video game ripoffs out there that exist on a spectrum of legality from slightly dubious to deliberately nefarious all the way to, 'holy crap, I can't believe they're getting away with that.' This one might be the most blatant clone I've ever seen, judging from the single available image and game description.

I mean, starting with the image: that is just an Animal Crossing New Horizons screenshot and you can't convince me otherwise. The art style, the character design, even the cliffs, trees, and flowers in the background... it's identical.

And then there's the description. "Design and expand your own charming house, craft furniture, grow crops, catch fish, and decorate your surroundings to match your personal style," it reads.

"Invite friends to visit your village, explore theirs, or hang out together in real time. Help each other gather materials, trade items, and build beautiful spaces."

Yeah, that is just Animal Crossing. I mean, to be fair, it sounds like a lot of cozy games, but paired with the title Animal Village and that promotional image, I can only imagine Nintendo's lawyers are hovering over this game like a hawk on a rabbit.

According to Wisnu Sudirman, who's listed as the developer, the game's coming out in 2027. Yeah, we'll see about that.

Here are the best Switch 2 games you can play right now.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons arrived in a COVID-ridden 2020, taking the world by storm with its cozy charms and comforting gameplay loop – but now that the recent Nintendo Direct rumors were officially confirmed, fans are ready for a new entry in the wholesome series.

It's that time of year again, folks. The Nintendo Direct is going live today at 2pm BST / 9am ET / 6am PT, which means that we desperate fans are doing our best to manifest titles we'd love to see finally come to fruition – which, of course, must include a new Animal Crossing game. Five years have passed since New Horizons, after all, with major content updates coming to a halt in 2021 with 2.0 (not counting bug fixes and more minor patches).

How will we make it happen, though? While I'm not sure myself, some fans are taking more *ahem* drastic measures to conjure up a new Animal Crossing entry. As seen on Reddit, user Woodz0123 is one such fan, going as far as jokingly making a little summoning circle to prompt an announcement from Nintendo – and it's not the first time they've done so, either, apparently. Talk about dedication…

Tomorrow 🤞 from r/AnimalCrossing

"Please work… this is the second summoning circle I've made," writes the hopeful fan. The attached image shows a Nintendo Switch 2 surrounded by four Animal Crossing games: New Horizons, Wild World, City Folk, and the original GameCube title. The comments under Woodz0123's thread are almost as hilarious as their original post itself, with one pointing out that the so-called "summoning circle" isn't exactly up to snuff.

"I do not want to disappoint you," writes the responder, "but that's a Summoning Square. You may get Dragon Quest Builder 3 out of it, though." Woodz0123 replies, "Just imagine there is a circle that crosses the games." I, for one, wouldn't mind seeing either announcement – both Animal Crossing and Dragon Quest Builders fit the cozy, creative niche I so crave to see new games come out of.

I'll be keeping my fingers crossed for today's Nintendo Direct showcase – although I'm not sure I'll set my own summoning circle up myself, as tempting as it seems. Here's hoping that Woodz0123's is powerful enough to channel all of our Animal Crossing-shaped desires.

Looking for new games to play while waiting for an announcement from Nintendo? Here are great games like Animal Crossing to check out.

It's fairly common knowledge that localizing the original Animal Crossing for the West was a massive undertaking, but now we know the prospect was daunting enough to make Nintendo legend Satoru Iwata erupt in a fit of laughter.

Animal Crossing, released as Dōbutsu no Mori+ in Japan (Animal Forest in English) on N64 and later on GameCube, famously required English localizers to translate thousands of lines of text, create new items and entire holidays in place of Japan-specific ones, and rename every character and their unique catchphrases.

Then-Nintendo of America localization manager Leslie Swan told Time Extension the entire process took somewhere between six months and a year to complete. She also said that when then-producer Takashi Tezuka approached her about the project, he explicitly warned her that it would be a sizable undertaking.

"He basically said to me, 'We'd like to have you localize it' and I said, 'Sure'. But then he said, 'No, Leslie, I'm not sure you understand, it's going to be difficult'. And I kept having to assure him that we would make it happen," said Swan.

And make it happen, they did, but not before Iwata laughed in their faces.

"I was in a meeting with Mr. Iwata and some other heads of the development group, and we were just kind of going around saying, 'Here's what we're going to be working on', and I just said, 'Well, Mr. Tezuka is asking us to work on Animal Forest' and he just burst out in laughter," Swan said. "He just laughed and said, 'I don't know how you're going to do this.' And it's true, just everything in that game was so specific to Japan."

Animal Crossing's many Japan-isms aside, one only need look at Tom Nook - the anthropomorphized tanuki who loans out a house to the player character and runs the nearby shop - to understand what Swan's saying here. And while that's a big reason we all love Animal Crossing to this day, I don't envy Swan and her team for having to translate it in a way that makes sense and appeals to us Westerners.

These days, Animal Crossing is one of the best Switch games you can play.

Nintendo's former marketing lead Kit Ellis has dumped a bit of cold water on Animal Crossing frenzy, saying that, in his experience, it would be weird for Nintendo to do a Switch 2 edition this early.

If it wasn't before, Animal Crossing definitely became one of Nintendo's most important franchises after how overwhelmingly popular Animal Crossing: New Horizons was. The Switch edition became one of the best-selling games ever made, beating out the series' previous record holder, Animal Crossing: New Leaf, by over 30 million copies. So, naturally, you think Nintendo would want to get a Switch 2 sequel out ASAP, but according to the company's former marketing manager, that would be unlike Nintendo's usual approach to the series.

Responding to the recent fervour around an Animal Crossing Tweet, former Nintendo marketing lead Kit Ellis explains that when Nintendo launches a console, the first few years after launch are typically focused on the hardcore Nintendo fans, as these are the people who are actively hunting down consoles.

Whereas with Animal Crossing "there was a recognition that after we release this game, we're going to be entering a new kind of era for the system, where the audience we're going to be speaking to is completely different." Ellis points out that when New Horizons released, Nintendo started using mainstream celebrities like Brie Larson to help advertise the game, for example.

While he obviously doesn't know for sure as he left Nintendo in 2022, Ellis thinks "it's maybe a little bit early in the life cycle of Nintendo Switch 2 for Nintendo to be introducing the next Animal Crossing game." He says, Nintendo has an opportunity to make the most of the more hardcore Nintendo fans, then use Animal Crossing to bring a new wave of more casual gamers in for their favourite series.

Twink Link is being freed: Nintendo apparently backtracks, says you are allowed to call yourself Twink Link as it works to unban a Switch 2 it "flagged by accident."

Hot off the launch of Switch 2, Animal Crossing fans have been waiting for some news regarding the beloved series, and some believe Nintendo might have just cryptically dropped it in the form of a simple tweet.

As spotted by Automaton, Nintendo of America casually dropped a short video of a player chilling with a laptop at a desk on Twitter yesterday with the caption "Vibing." Animal Crossing fans have been quick to speculate what this could mean, if anything, for the series.

One fan asks Nintendo if an Animal Crossing announcement is due soon, while another suggests it could mean the GameCube version will be added to Nintendo Switch Online. Theories have even gotten as far as a music making game. "Are you trying tell us something?" one reply asks.

The tweet itself seems to be a reference to Lofi Girl and might not have any deeper meaning, but that won't stop Animal Crossing fans from hoping that some big news is on the horizon.

Most recently for the series, Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp moved to a paid, offline version at the end of last year, though fans missed the social elements from the online version. Meanwhile, it sounds like fans also won't get to see Animal Crossing icons like Isabelle return in Mario Kart World, as the developers felt it "didn't seem necessary" to add them to the game.

If you're in need of some cozy life sim action, here are more games like Animal Crossing to check out.

Gaming has always been a social hobby for me. I totally understand those who enjoy jumping into something like The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and getting blissfully lost in the world around them, but that sounds like my personal hell.

My favorite part about gaming is playing with others – whether that's people I've met through games themselves, reconnecting with old friends or even playing with strangers. A prime example of this is Animal Crossing: New Horizons, a game which managed to connect people from all corners of the globe during a time of unparalleled isolation.

All peachy

As a first-year estranged student during the first Covid-19 lockdown, I didn't have a home to retreat to like the rest of my university friends did. I was in a city I barely knew, living in a dingey studio apartment, with practically no support system – until a chance text from a friend. "Have you got Animal Crossing: New Horizons?"

Up until that point, my Nintendo Switch had done nothing but collect dust during lockdown. I normally used it to play party games like Mario Kart or Super Smash Bros when I had friends over – which was now out of the question – but I absolutely adored Animal Crossing: New Leaf, so figured I may as well give it a try.

I bought the game and began setting up my island. Another text. "What fruit did you get?"

"Peaches," I respond.

"Great, I have apples, I'm coming over to take some peaches and you can have some of my apples," she texted back. Within minutes she was on my island, trading fruit with me, something I didn't even know people did. Boy, was I in for a surprise. She followed me around as I did some landscaping, and for the first time in a while, I felt like I was actually hanging out with a friend.

As I spoke to her more while finding my feet in the game, she suddenly needed to leave – stating she had to go to someone else's island to sell her turnips as it was her turn in the queue. I made the mistake of asking what on earth she was talking about, and she opened my eyes to a whole new world of Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

I hadn't a clue that a game about setting up an island could have so much going on behind the scenes. Yet here I was, scrolling on r/acturnips - a community made subreddit where players share their turnip prices, allowing others to visit and sell their own at extortionate prices for major profit. I was messaging strangers hoping to make some serious bank off of my turnips. As I waited for my turn to visit these islands I would often chat with the Island owners, and while I typically despised small talk, being alone during lockdown had actually made me miss it.

Come for the turnips, stay for the people

As I delved further into the Animal Crossing: New Horizons rabbit hole, I found a whole new side to the game. Across the globe, entire communities were being formed around every facet of Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

For starters, you have online marketplaces like Nookazon, a whole website dedicated entirely to buying, selling and trading items within the game. Strangers would join voice calls with one another to discuss visiting each other's islands to exchange gifts in the website's dedicated Discord server.

People would place call outs on social media as they hunted for a specific item or recipe and others would come to their aid, willing to hand over the goods. Everyone was in this together – players wanted to help how they could, and we all just wanted to have a nice time during a rough situation.

It was clear that this game, which was seemingly about quietly rebuilding an island, actually wasn't about that at all. People spent hours in voice calls with complete strangers keeping them company and making friends with other players from opposite ends of the globe. Everyone missed human connection, and Animal Crossing provided that.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons fostered a community that provided people with relief at a time where everyone was isolated. Players hosted events like game nights or dress up parties on their islands, giving those who felt isolated an escape, even if only for a short while. Meeting people through games is by no means a new concept, but Animal Crossing: New Horizons tapped into that with a kindliness like no other game I've experienced before. The world came together over turnips, but stayed together for a sense of belonging and connection which was missing from the planet during the pandemic.

While the game may not be as popular as it once was, the community has by no means disappeared. People continue to post daily in different subreddits, Discord servers. and on social media about the game. That drive to help others, to make friends, continues. Even today, if you need an island to sell your turnips at a high price, you're sure to find one.

Nintendo hit the nail on the head with Animal Crossing: New Horizons. While some elements were initially missing (don't get me started on the Brewster debate), the series' sunniest entry resonated with so many people in its peak. Given its heartwarming charm and unique place in time, it's hard to imagine what a potential follow-up may look like on the Nintendo Switch 2. I'm still eagerly awaiting to see what Nintendo gives us next – and with the upcoming console's all-new GameChat feature being the perfect way for players to meet and chat with new and old friends alike, I'm on the edge of my seat.

There's no Animal Crossing in sight (just yet), but here are all the Switch 2 launch games confirmed

Now that work on Animal Crossing: New Horizons has wrapped up, many fans are looking to the future and the series' new games Nintendo might have in store - but others are focusing on the past, and boy, was the first-ever entry different before it was localized.

In a new excerpt on Polygon taken from Boss Fight Books' recent book on Animal Crossing, the gap between the original game's Japanese version and its localized release in the West is explored in depth. "It's standard for a game to tone down or change cultural references in the localization process," reads author Kelsey Lewin's text, "but the original Dōbutsu no Mori is painted especially thick with Japanese elements."

There were so many Japanese elements, in fact, "that even its own Japanese players might not catch all the references." Lewin highlights various examples, including clothes like the Static Shirt and Painter's Shirt which originally referenced traditional Japanese textiles and styles. "These are obscure references," continues Lewin, "so it makes sense that they were localized out completely." Localizing was a big task, however.

"I'll never forget [producer Takashi Tezuka] coming to us and saying, 'If we're going to [sell the game outside of Japan], you guys have to change everything,' because they had designed it so specifically for the Japanese market,'" said Leslie Swan, former localization department head at Nintendo, in an interview for Lewin's book. She then recounts an older 2014 Kotaku interview in which director Katusya Eguchi spoke.

"When we first started working on Animal Crossing for N64, we really [...] weren't even thinking about having it localized […] for an international market," stated Eguchi. As Lewin explains, "It wasn't just a matter of changing the names of clothing. Animal Crossing is so saturated with Japanese culture - everything from holidays to little jokes in the dialogue - that translating the text would hardly scratch the surface of the work to be done."

She describes it as "the most daunting localization project that Nintendo of America had ever taken on" - but it seems to have been well worth it. From the tedious translating to changing around details that Western fans might not get like the swap from Animal Crossing's shrine in Japan to the wishing well in the West, I'd say that Nintendo's work has paid off. New Horizons' sales alone prove as much, and as a longtime fan myself, I am incredibly grateful.

Looking for something new to play? Here are great games like Animal Crossing to check out.

There may not be any new Animal Crossing: New Horizons updates coming from Nintendo, but the community certainly isn't dead - and it's recently caught wind of what looks to be a pretty close copy of the beloved 2020 life sim.

Anime Life Sim isn't at all what it sounds like. It's not an anime-themed game featuring some fan-favorite protagonists or settings, but rather a series of ideas drawn substantially from Animal Crossing - from the gameplay detailed on its PlayStation Store page to the colorful visuals, Anime Life Sim screams New Horizons through and through. It features no mention of Nintendo's own title, however.

"Create your perfect anime life in this charming social simulation," reads the eerily similar project's description. "Build your dream home, befriend quirky animal neighbors, and live out endless adventures in a vibrant world inspired by your favorite life sims." In other words, it plays like New Horizons as much as it looks like it - it's all about bug catching, building, crafting, collecting, fishing, and befriending animal-esque villagers.

Anime Life Sim also isn't the first controversial title to come from developer and publisher Maksym Vysochanskyy, who trades under the alias "IndieGames3000." Just two months ago, eagle-eyed Monster Hunter fans spotted a suspicious game on the PlayStation Store dubbed "Monster Hunters." A post on Reddit highlights the now-removed Monster Hunters and its clear similarities to Capcom's legitimate, long-standing series.

They’re not even trying to hide it being a ripoff from r/MonsterHunter

Upon browsing through Vysochanskyy's library of releases on PS Deals, it becomes obvious that pretty much every single game operating under his name is a near-identical clone of another title.

It's all questionable, to say the least. Anime Life Sim likely won't come to fruition and launch in 2026 as it's supposedly meant to, however, judging by the fate of Monster Hunters. After all, it's not as though Nintendo takes such situations lightly. Palworld and the lawsuit filed against its developer Pocketpair for infringing "multiple patent rights" prove as much - and Palworld is arguably much tamer in comparison when considering similarities.

Looking for something new to play? Here are great games like Animal Crossing to check out.

The new "paid" version of Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp has finally arrived, kicking all of the old app's microtransactions to the curb in favor of a one-time purchase model without online capabilities or multiplayer functionality - and even though fans are excited, they're also missing some of the axed features.

After announcing the new Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp app, Nintendo clarified that there would be differences between the paid version and its free predecessor. Now that the game is rolling out, players are experiencing some of these differences firsthand - and not all are impressed. There aren't any pesky microtransactions to worry about anymore, which my own wallet is content with, but there's also no way to play with friends now.

As players discuss in a recent Reddit thread on the matter, things are feeling pretty lonely in the new Pocket Camp. "I get sad when I see the empty spaces the other players used to hang out in," writes one fan. "I wish there was still an option to visit their campsites and vans, at least." Another describes how even though they're happy to decorate, they're "just alone with all the cool stuff I've always wanted to brag about."

Ah yes, the together event. The together event for a now single player app. The app that specifically had the multiplayer removed. The single player multi player together event... That together event. from r/ACPocketCamp

"I'm feeling both overwhelmed and underwhelmed all at the same time," admits a player - and as a fan myself, I personally understand where they're coming from. When it comes to games like those within the Animal Crossing series, getting to visit your friends and share designs makes up a good chunk of the fun. One suggestion amid the replies speaks to me most: "I wish we could 'invite' our friends if we had their QR code to our campsite… I want some people to hang out with."

It's not all doom and gloom, however. For just "10 bucks" while Pocket Camp is half off until January 31, as a player puts it, you get "everything with no microtransactions." Aside from the loss of online functionality, it's also almost entirely the same game - and if you're like me and have spent an embarrassing amount of money on the old app, everything you bought via leaf tickets carries over into the new version.

Looking for something new to play? Here are great games like Animal Crossing to check out.

As Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp nears the end of its service, Nintendo unveils more about the beloved app's paid replacement, Pocket Camp Complete - and unsurprisingly, it's not cheap.

It's a tough time to be an Animal Crossing stan - we're not getting any more New Horizons updates, and Pocket Camp is ending later next month. While the light at the end of the tunnel should be Nintendo's new app, the paid follow-up to Pocket Camp, it's difficult to feel excited after learning its price. As Nintendo reveals in its recent post on the upcoming game, it's apparently set to cost a whopping $20 - with "no discount" for longtime players.

Thankfully, however, there is still an early bird-esque discount for those purchasing the app before January 31, 2025. For anyone snagging the game early, the price will be halved to $9.99 - a far more reasonable ask for a mobile release, in my opinion. Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp Complete arrives on December 3 and will at least not have any sneaky "additional in-game item purchases" - a feature I'm personally tired of in the old app.

If you're like me and have also spent a good chunk on the old game and its in-app purchases, though, fret not. Nintendo says that you can keep your save data from the OG, along with any "furniture, clothing, and Bells you've collected as well as Friendship Levels with animals," although certain things like Leaf Tickets can't be transferred. It's also important to note that if you purchase the new Pocket Camp on one mobile device, it won't carry over to another of a different operating system.

Looking for something new to play? Here are great games like Animal Crossing to check out.

The Steam Next Fest is here, which means plenty of wholesome demos for cozy game lovers like myself to explore - and Galactic Getaway might just be one of the best I've played yet.

Akrew's debut life sim started as a Kickstarter project, and boy has it blossomed into so much more since then. Upon hopping into the demo, I'm instantly reminded of games like Animal Crossing. From the little chibi-style characters to the relaxing vibes akin to those you'll find within Nintendo's beloved sim series, Galactic Getaway undeniably draws inspiration from Animal Crossing for its visuals - and also much of its gameplay.

The first thing I did in-game was gather plants, befriend animals, and collect materials from nodes like rocks. I felt like I was back in New Horizons, plucking the weeds off of my island and shaking trees. Stardew Valley came to mind, too, especially after I received seeds to plant and farm. While the features feel familiar, especially as I've played my fair share of sims, the game isn't quite like any other title alone - it's a mashup of many.

Sure, there's the building, crafting, decorating, fishing, and gathering typical of most farming games, but there are other elements to Galactic Getaway sprinkled in that almost make me forget its advertised identity as a life sim. The minigames are just one example of something that should feel out of place, but they somehow fit seamlessly in between all of the collecting and tending. Think Mario Party - if its minigames existed within Animal Crossing instead.

You can engage in space races, zoom around in go-karts, compete in laser tag games, solve puzzles, and more. Everything is as colorful and vibrant as it is in Mario Party, too, which made me feel like a kid playing with my family after school on the Wii all over again. The Nintendo-esque mood Galactic Getaway manages to put me in doesn't end with Animal Crossing or Mario Party, though - there's even a bit of Pokemon flair in there.

While animals are your villagers in Animal Crossing, they're companions that you can collect in Galactic Getaway. When you approach one, a familiar line straight from Pokemon pops up letting you know that a "wild" creature "appears." From there, you can befriend it by feeding it and telling it silly jokes. It's a cute twist on Pokemon's iconic monster-collecting mechanics, and it's just the cherry on top of the genuinely entertaining, wholesome cake that Akrew's game is.

The best part of all of this, however, is the fact that it's enjoyable in multiplayer with up to 30 friends - and yes, you read that number right. Think of all the chaotic, cozy fun you could have with your pals, and give the demo a go on Steam. I personally can't wait to experience the full game when it finally releases later down the line, but for now, I'd recommend trying Galactic Getaway while Valve's seasonal Steam Next Fest is still kicking.

Check out these other upcoming indie games for even more to look forward to.

As Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp nears the end of its service, Nintendo announces some of the new paid items that are coming to the game - and fans aren't exactly thrilled.

It's quite a time for Animal Crossing stans - we're not getting any more New Horizons updates, and Pocket Camp is ending this fall. While there is indeed another mobile game coming soon after support for Nintendo's free-to-play gem ends, it won't be the same. The new app will be entirely offline and fans won't have to pay for in-game purchases with real money anymore - but that doesn't mean that Pocket Camp is done with microtransactions just yet.

In an announcement, Nintendo reveals a "sneak peek" of paid items coming to Pocket Camp - and clarifies that it "will continue distributing new events and items until service ends." Any purchases made will carry over to Pocket Camp's successor alongside a save data transfer, but that doesn't mean that the community is happy. Some fans call Nintendo "greedy," saying the company wants players "to buy tickets and new cookies right up to the last minute."

Others express how the preview of new Pocket Camp items is "bittersweet." A Reddit thread highlighting such voices showcases as much: "This is everything I’ve wanted for so long but not knowing what the new game will be like definitely leaves me unsure." Another fan states that their "excitement is slightly dampened" due to Pocket Camp's coming end. "I don't even know what the best use of my time and money is without info on the future of the game."

With just a few months left before Nintendo closes the doors on Pocket Camp, there are three themed item drops and events to look out for - in September, October, and finally, November. I personally feel down about the entire situation myself, but I'd be lying if I said I'm not going to be hoarding every item possible before service for the app ends. Those of us spending our hard-earned money can only hope that it'll all carry over.

Looking for something new to play? Here are games like Animal Crossing to check out.