Animal Crossing might be a super relaxing game, but that doesn’t stop it from obscuring some important things that you’d have no way of knowing otherwise. Thankfully, they aren’t super hard to explain, you just need to know they exist. That’s why we’ve put together this Animal Crossing: New Horizons tips guide so you can take advantage of every single day on your non-deserted, deserted island.
Nook Miles+ Are The Real Currency
You start off New Horizons by going into debt with Tom Nook. He doesn’t let you pay in Bells though, that’d be too easy. Instead you need to pay him off in Nook Miles, his own currency which he rewards. You get this by accomplishing various tasks around the island.
What the game doesn’t tell you, however, is that this is just a temporary currency. Once you’ve paid off your debt and upgraded your tent into a house (which puts you into Bell debt, mind you), you unlock Nook Miles+. It’s these miles that you actually use to buy from the ATM.
With them you can purchase new customization options, Nook Miles Tickets, and more.
You Can Make Villagers Leave the Island
If there’s a villager on your island that you aren’t altogether fond of, it’s possible to make them leave. To do so, you’ll need your relationship with them to go negative. As such, this is easier to do if they’ve just arrived on the island as you won’t need to spend time whittling away at the relationship you’ve built.
Just stop talking to them each day and go complain to Isabelle at Resident Services. You’ll need to do this multiple days in a row before the villager asks you if they should leave.
You Can Buy A Way to Hotkey Your Tools
Speaking of the ATM, you’re going to want to buy a Tool Ring as soon as possible. It’s a big pain to have to open your inventory to equip, unequip, and reequip tools. Once you’ve unlocked Nook Miles+ go buy the Tool Ring from the ATM for 800 miles. You won’t regret it.
You Can’t Move Your Tent Right Away
When you begin the game, Nook asks you to place your tent, but various parts of the island are likely sealed off. You can’t cross rivers or scale cliffs just yet so you’ll have to settle somewhere accessible for now. What the game doesn’t tell you is it won’t let you move the tent for some time so you’ll need to live with the temporary placement for a week or so.
If you want to move your tent, we have a guide for that.
Dig Up Weird Markings on the Ground
If you see a glowing dot or an “X” on the ground, dig them up! As you might have predicted, Xs usually contain fossils or other buried treasure! Glowing dots on the other hand usually means there are bells to be dug up!
Pull Up the Weeds Around Trees
Some weeds look better than others and you might be tempted to just leave some around for aesthetic purposes. You want to make sure all nine spaces around a tree are cleared, however. If tree fruit falls onto a patch with weeds there’s a chance it will disappear as soon as it hits the ground, getting lost in the weeds.
Trees Can Be Hit With Axes Without Chopping Them Down
When first starting out, you may be afraid of hitting trees with an axe. The good news is they can take a few hits before being cut down. How many times you can do so depends on the type of axe. A normal axe only takes three swings to fell an entire tree. On the other hand a flimsy axe can not cut down a tree, this means you can get three wood without having to worry about accidentally cutting them down!
You Can Buy More Inventory Space
Back to the ATM and Nook Miles+. If you find yourself short on space, which lets face it, you definitely will, you can go to the ATM and purchase the Pocket Organization Guide for 5,000 Nook Miles+. With these you can add an extra row to your inventory space.
Hit Each Rock on Your Island Every Day
At the start of each day, make sure to go around and hit each rock with your shovel. One rock on the island becomes a money rock allowing you to earn up to 10,000 Bells just by hitting it. Hit it as many times as possible before time runs out and it becomes a regular rock again!
