‘Animal Crossing: New Horizons’ is here! (Okay, it has been for a while, but I’ve been on a slight hiatus, alright?). I am completely and utterly addicted to this simple little game. From filling up my museum to decorating my island, I can’t put it down.

Here’s a few ‘Animal Crossing: New Horizons’ tips and tricks I’ve picked up over my playtime to enjoy the game to its fullest.

Take your time

After playing ‘Animal Crossing: New Horizons’ for over sixty hours (how on earth did the even happen?!) my #1 tip to enjoy this game is to take your friggin’ time. This game isn’t a race, it’s meant to be a chill little escape from everyday life. Don’t get intimated by all of those 5 star islands you see plastered all over Twitter – those players (as much as I’m sure they’ve enjoyed their time with the game), probably don’t have much left to do!

If your island looks like a hot mess with random pieces of furniture sprawled everywhere, messy paths and a theme that is all over the place – that’s okay! You’ve got plenty of time to figure it out. Just chat to your villagers, catch some fish, and take it easy, man.

Make some bells

If you’ve chatted to all of your villagers until you’ve expended every convo piece for the day, decorated your home to heart’s content and are left scratching your head – make some bells! Catch fish and sell them to CJ if he’s in town, or plant a money tree and reap those rewards. Spend some Nook Miles and venture forth to islands unknown – there’s plenty of foreign fruit, tarantula islands and unusual bugs to bag and sell at Nook’s Cranny. There’s also turnips that you can buy from Daisy Mae – sold every Sunday, which, if you play your cards right, can net you some serious cash.



My preferred way of making bells is through catching bugs or fish, or digging up fossils that have already been donated to dear old Blathers and reaping in that sweet, sweet cash.

Play with friends

Hopping over the airport and getting a Dodo Code is pretty easy, and it’s a great way to open up your town to your closest pals. I’ve played with two of my IRL friends, and it’s so much fun exploring their islands and getting inspo for your own. Meeting their villagers, chatting to them, experimenting with all the cool furniture in their houses – it’s a chill way to spend some time, and the hours just fly by.

It’s also pretty sweet to being able to ‘hang’ with friends during this lockdown! If you don’t have any pals to connect with in real life, make some on Reddit! The community is pretty friendly and it’s an awesome way to snag some island inspo.

Don’t build bridges or inclines – not yet

If you’re still in the early phases of the game and haven’t unlocked terraforming yet – hold off on building those bridges and inclines. Yup, that’s right. It might be a pain in the ass to constantly be getting your pole or ladder out to traverse your island, but your fictional bank account will thank you for it later. Once you do eventually unlock the ability to change your rivers and cliffs, the entire shape of your island may change, which will mean waiting a whole day for a bridge to be destroyed (plus 10k bells), and yet another day to rebuild the bridge. Holding out means you’ll save on bells and, ironically, time.

Be inventive

With that said, once you do unlock the ability to change your island, get creative! Build ten thousand waterfalls. Leave some fossils on display outside of your museum. Build an orchard, make paths, build a shrine to Tom Nook – the possibilities are endless on your island, so make use of them!

Dumping furniture and items left, right and centre is a great way to spice up any island, so get decorating!

Relax! You do you, boo

Despite all of my advice, the best way to play ‘Animal Crossing: New Horizons’ is to do whatever the hell you want. Wanna rush through it and play for 12 hours a day, selling everything you can get your hands on? Go for it. Wanna time travel every single day, discovering events that are yet to pass? Go wild! My preferred way to play as it a slow pace, taking it day by day, checking in every morning with my first cup of tea of the day – but the beauty of the game is to play it however you want!

There are plenty of things to do in this game, which is probably why it’s taken the internet by storm. I, for one, am utterly obsessed with it – and I cannot wait to get my island theme going: a witchy, magical, fairytale-inspired landscape. Eventually, I’ll get there!

What about you guys? How are you finding the game? And what advice would you give to any first timers? Let me know in the comments below!

For more on video games, check out my journey to getting the elusive platinum trophy for ‘Dragon Age: Inquisition’. Or, take a peak at what books I think need to be turned into video games! There’s also the endless slew of perfect locations in video games.