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!

For the past year, the Animal Crossing: New Horizons game for the Nintendo Switch system has offered the ability to transform a deserted island brimming with possibility into your own personal paradise. You have our appreciation for all the creativity and ingenuity you’ve poured into your islands since the game’s launch.

In fact, in the game’s first year, players around the world have uploaded over 12 million Custom Designs to the Custom Design Portal. We hope you continue to enjoy creating and sharing your designs for many more seasons to come, especially since the update will bring 50 additional custom design slots to both the Normal and Pro Custom Design modes!

In addition, the free update on March 18 will add the following features to the game:

• 1st Anniversary Cake – Nook Inc. made a 1st Anniversary Cake to commemorate the occasion. It will be sent to your in-game mailbox after the update is installed.
• Sanrio Sweetness – Add some Sanrio sweetness to your island. Starting March 26, the Animal Crossing Sanrio Collaboration Pack will be available for purchase at Target stores across the U.S. at a suggested retail price of $5.99. You’ll be able use these six vibrantly designed amiibo cards to invite cute and colorful Animal Crossing residents inspired by popular Sanrio characters to your island, including Rita, Chai and Toby. These amiibo cards let you exchange bells for special Sanrio-themed furniture and fashion items in-game, too. You can even invite these characters to Harv’s Island for a fun photo session in Photopia.
• Custom Design Pro Editor + – The Custom Design app on your NookPhone is getting an upgrade!* Use your Nook Miles at the Nook Stop in Resident Services to unlock the feature. It’ll provide a more robust set of features, allowing for the customization of umbrellas, small flags, uchiwa and photo stands. And with a new expansion of 50 slots added to both the Normal Custom Design mode and Pro Custom Design mode, you can truly let your imagination run wild!
• Custom Design Portal – You can now add the Custom Design Portal found in the Able Sisters store directly to your in-game NookPhone app. You’ll be able to use it any time inspiration strikes.
• Seasonal Items – Spring is in the air, and with the changing of the seasons comes a range of new seasonal items! Just in time for April Fool’s Day, a variety of colors of whoopee cushions can be ordered between March 26 and April 1 from the in-game Nook Shopping service. For something a little more elegant, you can prep for prom season with themed fashion items at the Able Sisters shop from April 1 to April 30. You can also order prom-themed items from Nook Shopping during this period, such as a prom night wall, prom night flooring and a prom stash. Never miss a chance to dance!

And in addition to the update, don’t forget to check out:

• Island Tour Creator – A new way to share your island with the world is on the way! The new Island Tour Creator launches on March 23 and is a limited-time web service currently planned to be available until the end of this year. It lets you use screenshots and footage captured in Animal Crossing: New Horizons to create a poster and trailer for your island. Share your favorite spots on your island or commemorate sentimental scenes to show off what makes your personal island so special. Find out more info on the official Animal Crossing Twitter account.
• Build-A-Bear Collaboration Coming Soon – Build-A-Bear Workshop will soon launch an Animal Crossing: New Horizons collection, exclusively online at buildabear.com. More details will be forthcoming, and we encourage fans to visit here to be among the first to get more information.
• Super Mario Bros. 35th Anniversary-Themed Items – You may have noticed new items have been dispatched to Nook Shopping terminals in Animal Crossing: New Horizons this month. You’re now able to order clothing themed after familiar faces such as Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach and Wario. The Super Mushroom and the ? Block can also be ordered in-game as furniture items to spruce up your island with some Mario mirth. You can even use the new Warp Pipe items to travel between locations on your island. Why not try re-creating the Mushroom Kingdom?

The one-year anniversary of Animal Crossing: New Horizons is a great time to jump back into the game and experience new features, as well as seasonal events and holidays later in the year. Here’s wishing you many more blissful days of relaxing island fun!

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.