Hemisphere

Hemispheres are a gameplay element in. When creating an island, the player has the choice of choosing either a northern hemisphere island or a southern hemisphere island. By default, the northern hemisphere option corresponds to North America, Europe, and Asia, while the southern hemisphere option corresponds to Australia and South America. However, the player may choose to live on different hemispheres that do not correspond to their region of choice.

The players choice of hemisphere affects various aspects of gameplay, most notably the seasons. For example, when it is summer in the northern hemisphere, it is winter in the southern hemisphere. This in turn changes other elements such as the appearance rates of bugs, fish, and sea creatures. Events and holidays may also vary and have unique dialogue specific for that hemisphere, but they are not tied with the season and can appear in both hemispheres. Turkey Day, for instance, may have fall roots, but is also available in spring for the southern hemisphere. Mystery Island tours, Harv's Island, and the May Day tour are also affected by the choice of hemisphere as those islands will correspond to the respective season that the main island is currently in.

Several unique features for both hemispheres are present as well. Camellia Bushes start blooming on January 1 for the northern hemisphere, but they do not bloom on July 1 assuming each bush in both hemispheres have the same time frame for when each bush blooms. Instead, Holly Bushes end blooming on June 15, and Camellia Bushes bloom the next day, making Camellia Bushes last longer in the southern hemisphere than it would in the northern hemisphere. Weather patterns are also affected. Where the weather patterns favor rain for the northern hemisphere from June 16 to July 5, the southern hemisphere's equivalent dates of December 16 to January 5 favor more in clear weather than it does in rainy weather. This is due to the dates correlating with Toy Day and the Countdown. Additionally, southern hemisphere players from December 24 to December 30 have more days with clear skies with possibility of meteor showers while northern hemisphere players on those same days have more snowy weather.

There is also the unique availability of ornaments. While most of the seasonal materials are tied to the seasons respectively, ornaments ignore the hemisphere rules and are available in both hemispheres from December 15 to January 6. Both hemispheres gain cedar trees with bright lights, and if shaken will drop Red, Blue, and Gold Ornaments.