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Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Platform(s): Nintendo Switch
Genre: Simulation
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Nintendo
Release Date: March 20, 2020

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'Animal Crossing: New Horizons' (Switch) Free Content Update Arrives This Week, Details

by Rainier on Jan. 26, 2021 @ 10:38 a.m. PST

Animal Crossing: New Horizons lets players take the fun to a deserted island. Collect, craft, set up a home, make friends, and more!

If the hustle and bustle of modern life's got you down, Tom Nook has a new business venture up his sleeve that he knows you'll adore: the Nook Inc. Deserted Island Getaway Package!

Sure, you've crossed paths with colorful characters near and far. Had a grand time as one of the city folk. May've even turned over a new leaf and dedicated yourself to public service! But deep down, isn't there a part of you that longs for ... freedom? Then perhaps a long walk on the beach of a deserted island, where a rich wealth of untouched nature awaits, is just what the doctor ordered!

Peaceful creativity and charm await as you roll up your sleeves and make your new life whatever you want it to be. Collect resources and craft everything from creature comforts to handy tools. Embrace your green thumb as you interact with flowers and trees in new ways. Set up a homestead where the rules of what goes indoors and out no longer apply.

Make friends with new arrivals, enjoy the seasons, pole-vault across rivers as you explore, and more!


Feathers and festivities are headed your way soon!

Whether you recently picked up the game over the holidays, or you’re a long-time island resident, we hope this free update fires up your island with its carnival spirit and new seasonal items.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons periodically receives updates that deliver events and features to the game, and this new update includes a colorful and feather-filled Festivale event, some heartfelt seasonal additions, new Reactions and new items to purchase.

Beginning Jan. 28, the new update will add the following features to the game:

  • Festivale Event – Feel the heat with the colorful Festivale event filled with dancing and flying feathers! On Feb. 15, Dancer Pavé will arrive to your island’s plaza** to usher in some confetti and carnival spirit. On the day of the event you can capture colorful feathers floating on your island with your net and trade them to Pavé to receive a passionate dance number in return. Rainbow feathers seem to be an especially rare sight, so be sure to catch them and trade them with Pavé. Invite friends over to your island or visit theirs to partake in the festivities together.***
  • New Reactions – If you want to express your excitement for Festivale, you’ll now have a range of new Reactions to choose from. The Viva Festival Reaction Set can be purchased with in-game Bells from the shelf at Nook’s Cranny for a limited time and includes Feelin’ It, Let’s Go, Viva and Confetti.
  • New Clothing –Starting Feb. 1, Festivale clothing will be available at the Able Sisters shop for a limited time. Now you can get your Festivale groove on in style with these fashionable looks!
  • Seasonal Items – Make sure to keep an eye out for seasonal items at the Nook Stop in Resident Services and through Nook Shopping. Celebrate the sentimental season with chocolate hearts and heart-shaped bouquets, which will be available for purchase beginning Feb. 1 and running through Feb. 14. There will also be other items related to Groundhog Day and Big Game Celebration available for certain periods during January and February!

Also, starting March 26, the Animal Crossing Sanrio Collaboration Pack will be available for purchase exclusively at Target stores across the U.S. at a suggested retail price of $5.99. The Animal Crossing Sanrio Collaboration Pack contains all six amiibo cards from this unique Sanrio Collaboration Series! You’ll be able to use these vibrantly designed amiibo cards in compatible games.

Further details will be revealed in the future.

Key Features

  • Customize your character and home, and decorate the landscape (with furniture, if you like!), as you create your very own island paradise.
  • Experience a robust new crafting system—collect materials to construct everything from furniture to tools!
  • Enjoy a variety of relaxing activities like gardening, fishing, decorating, interacting with charming NPCs, and more, as classic Animal Crossing experiences come to life in fun new ways within the deserted-island setting.
  • Life on the Island: Nook Inc. confidently recommends a trip to a remote deserted island. And that’s not just because it’s the only company that offers this type of package! On the island, life is as peaceful and relaxing as it gets. Since the island is deserted, you can create your new life from the very beginning – just like a pioneer! Time flows as naturally as in the real world, including seasons and day and night cycles that mirror real time.
  • DIY: By collecting specific materials around the island, you can craft a wide variety of things, including tools and furniture. DIY workshops teach you how to enrich your life by crafting DIY recipes. As you become more familiar with DIY, you can even learn special skills like changing the color of your DIY furniture or decorating them with custom designs.
  • NookPhone: Nook Inc. will provide some basic necessities and services, including your very own NookPhone. It has standard apps, like a camera and map, but over time, new applications will be added to support your island needs. The camera can be used to take in-game photos all over the island – you can even add fancy filters like all the cool kids are doing!
  • Nook Miles: For players looking for more concrete goals, and to help offer guidance and inspiration on the island, you can take advantage of the Nook Mileage program. As you fulfill certain challenges and experiences, you will earn miles to pay off the cost of the getaway package or, eventually, to exchange for in-game rewards. Rewards range from in-game Nook Inc. merchandise and helpful items that can enrich your time on the island, to tickets that you can use to visit distant islands.
  • Island Tours: These “mystery island tours” are at the whim of the pilot, so you never know where you will end up! Once on these smaller islands, feel free to gather as many items as you want – like DIY materials and creatures – and take them back with you to your island.
  • Party Play: With the Nook Inc. Deserted Island Getaway package, up to eight people can live on one island.* In Party Play, you can call up to three other players to explore the island at the same time. Whoever calls the others will be the Leader, making the others the Followers. It’s easy to change out the Leader, letting others quickly take charge. Any creatures or items found by Followers will be stored in a recycle box at the Resident Services building!
  • Land Development: While you can cross rivers on your island by pole-vaulting and climb elevated land using ladders, you can also change the landscape by adding bridges and slopes. Once your island is fully decked out, you’ll receive a permit to freely pave your own paths, as well as perform major construction like changing the paths of rivers or building and demolishing cliffs. With your own maintenance and construction permits, you can flex your creative muscles on the land itself, not just the stuff on it.
  • NookLink: Yes, Tom Nook likes to put his name on everything. But when it’s a Nook product or service, you know you are getting something that’s high quality. With NookLink, which is part of the Nintendo Switch Online app, you can scan a Custom Design QR Code pattern from previous games Animal Crossing: New Leaf or Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer with your real-life smartphone and then download them to Animal Crossing: New Horizons. When connected online, you can talk with friends who also have the Animal Crossing: New Horizons game with the Nintendo Switch Online smartphone app using your smartphone as a keyboard or for voice chat. NookLink will launch in March, soon after the selected departure included in your Deserted Island Getaway Package.
  • New Residents: When you first land on the island you will only have a few animal residents living there with you. But as you develop your island from the ground up, more neighbors will visit and choose to move in. You can even invite some of the new residents to live there yourself! There’s nothing better than a welcoming neighbor.
  • Free Updates: Free updates will be added after the game launches, with seasonal events continually added throughout the year. The first free update will be on launch day, March 20. By installing this update, you can celebrate Bunny Day with a special event in April. If you own both Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp for mobile devices and Animal Crossing: New Horizons, you’ll receive special items in each game. Details will be announced at a later date on the official Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp Twitter account.
  • Additional Facilities: As you grow your island, more facilities will be built. This includes a museum showcasing the rich ecosystem of the island, a shop full of ready-made furniture and goods you can’t craft yourself, a tailor offering clothing and fashion items, and a campsite where you can invite guests for recreational purposes.
  • Tourists & Events: Your island will not only be home to new residents, but also tourists as well! These temporary visitors are always welcome and can offer up items that cannot be crafted on the island. Visitors can also participate in fun events like Fishing Tourneys and Bug-Offs, which will pop up throughout the year. Through free updates to Animal Crossing: New Horizons, new special events and seasonal guests will be introduced.
  • amiibo Support: Animal Crossing: New Horizons supports amiibo figures and amiibo cards from the Animal Crossing series. You can also invite these familiar faces to Photopia, an island that exists in the game, where you can place models in creative photo shoots.
  • Twitter Takeover: Keep an eye out for social media savvy Tom Nook, who is rumored to take over the @AnimalCrossing Twitter account right after today’s video presentation.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is currently available exclusively for the Nintendo Switch.


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