Shining soil

The Glowing Spot is a patch of ground that appears in, , , and. It shines with a ripple of golden light and appears in a random area of town once per day. The player can dig up the glowing area with a shovel, which will usually unearth 1,000 Bells, but there is a rare chance to dig up 10,000 or even 30,000 Bells.

Burying Bells in the glowing spot will plant a money tree sapling; this is the only way to grow money tree in games prior to, and in. The chance of the tree bearing Bells is slim, but increases with the amount that is buried. If the money tree successfully blooms it will bear three bags of Bells, each one containing the same amount as the amount of Bells the player had buried up to a maximum of 30,000 Bells.

In the original games, a Katrina fortune that increases luck with money can increase the chance of finding 30,000 Bells. Burying a second shovel in the glowing spot may result in a golden tree growing in that space, which will bear a Golden Shovel once it blooms. However, the glowing spot does not always appear in a space that will allow trees to grow, so care must be taken to ensure the spot is suitable before burying the shovel.

In, a glowing spot that is left as an open hole will persist even if the game is closed and launched again that day. Once the player has planted their Bells, the resulting bell tree can be dug up and relocated somewhere more convenient.