Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is a main installment in the for the Nintendo Switch that released on March 20, 2020. It's the first new installment in the main since 2012's, and the first for a home console since 2008's.

In a departure from previous titles in the series, the player lives on a deserted island rather than in a town (referred to as the "Nook Inc. Deserted Island Getaway Package"). Crafting from has also returned in this installment, in the form of the DIY system.

Development and unveiling
Development on the game began shortly after the Japanese release of Animal Crossing: New Leaf prior to the development team being aware of the Nintendo Switch. As with the previous title, Aya Kyogoku was chosen as the director of the game, with Hisashi Nogami in charge as producer.

Kyogoku notes in an interview that the team chose to be ambitious even despite not knowing anything about the hardware that they would eventually release the game on. The team intended for the game to be welcoming for veteran players and accessible for new players by keeping much of the core gameplay from previous titles while still adding in many new elements. The theme of developing a town on a deserted island was chosen because the developers believed that breaking away from the tradition of players moving into a village would be a fresh and interesting concept for old players. Kyogoku noted that some players of previous entries would have difficulty finding goals or objectives. As a response to this feedback, a sense of purpose was purposely developed by having players develop the village from scratch. The developers felt that as players constructed their village from the ground up, they would grow a more personal relationship with their town.

As a result of choosing a deserted island theme, crafting was added into the game. This was done so that players would have a higher level of interactivity with the deserted island. This would give players a different perspective of the environment that used to be just a visual aspect. Crafting was also developed with the intention of keeping players from running out of things to do during the hours that their shops are closed. Another of these new features, terraforming, was added in response to unexpected behavior from players in previous games such as resetting towns in order to receive a desirable town layout. With the introduction of crafting and terraforming, players are able to be more in control of their island. This flexibility in design extends further onto player design. Unlike previous games which involved players having to answer a series of questions to determine their appearance, players are now able to freely change their appearance whenever they'd like to through the use of mirrors or vanities. In addition to this, several new hair and facial features were added that were not present in previous entries. A gender option is still present, but does not impact the game or the player's appearance in any way other than certain dialogue differences. Kyogoku states in an interview that this level of player customization is not just about gender, but rather more about individuality, which the development team believed was a growing belief within society. Players aren't forced into thinking too much about gender, but the option is still there should they decide to.

The addition of the NookPhone was inspired by the belief that phones are essential tools in everyday life. Kyogoku has stated that the NookPhone serves as a source of familiarity between the real world and the game.

In another shift, the effects of time traveling were made less impactful. This is in part due to the fact that seasonal events and holidays are not coded into the game from launch and are instead going to be added through future updates. Kyogoku notes that this method of adding events was not intended to shun time traveling, but rather as a form of creating unity amongst players. Nevertheless, time traveling is still discouraged, though Kyogoku and Nogami do not consider it to be a form of cheating.

Development for future updates is still going steady, though shifts may have to be made due to the impact of the. The development team hopes that updates will continue even two or three years after launch.

Unveiling and release
The game was teased during a Nintendo Direct on September 13, 2018, and was originally slated to be released in 2019.

During E3 2019 on June 11, 2019, the gameplay (from trailer and Treehouse interview) and title were shown. It was revealed that the game had been delayed to March 20, 2020; it was stated that "to ensure the game is the best it can be, we must ask that you wait a little longer than we thought." Later, President of Nintendo of America, Doug Bowser, said the following: "The crunch point is an interesting one, for us, one of our key tenets is that we bring smiles to people's faces, and we talk about that all the time. It's our vision. Or our mission, I should say. For us, that applies to our own employees. We need to make sure that our employees have good work-life balance. One of those examples is, we will not bring a game to market before it's ready. We just talked about one example. It's really important that we have that balance in our world. It's actually something we're proud of."

An Animal Crossing Nintendo Direct took place on February 20, 2020, announcing the final release date of March 20th, 2020. It showcased multiple new features of the game, such as terrain editing, additional house customization, and more.

This title supports more languages than all previous entries in the series, being the first to support the Chinese language since, which was ported to the iQue Player with simplified Chinese support exclusively for mainland China in 2006. This is also the first main series title since to have two separate localizations for Spanish and French; one for Europe and the other for the Americas, although it has been erroneously reported to be the first title, in general, to do so in the case of Spanish. It is the first title to include all localizations collectively regardless of regional release, and the first main series title to ever include Dutch and Russian languages.

is also the first title in the series to launch worldwide on the same date.

Update history

 * For detailed changelogs see Animal Crossing: New Horizons/Update History

Gameplay
Tom Nook has a new business venture: selling the Nook Inc. Deserted Island Getaway Package, which is sold to the player. The game begins on a nearly deserted island where the player can explore, collect resources, and craft various items (including tools and furniture). The only starting buildings on the island are the player’s tent, two villager tents (after the player places them), and the Resident Services tent. The Plaza in front of Resident Services will feature events and visitors. These visitors will have items and services to offer to the player.

Donating 5 unique fish and insects to Tom Nook will unlock the ability to place Blathers’ tent. Once Blathers’ tent is unlocked, he will give the player a Vaulting Pole to find more creatures and a Shovel to excavate Fossils. Donating 15 more unique creatures and appraised fossils to Blathers will unlock the ability to place his museum, at which the player can donate and assess multiple things at a time. To unlock more tools, the player will need to pay off their tent, help Tom Nook build Nook's Cranny, build one bridge, and start three additional housing plots for animal villagers.

Once the Resident Services tent is upgraded into a building, Isabelle returns as Nook’s assistant and the player is tasked with improving the island's popularity to draw the attention of K.K. Slider. Nook instructs the player to pick a location for a Campsite, then to furnish additional housing plots and increase the island's population, and finally to develop the island to a three-star rating.

In addition to earning bells, the player can also earn Nook Miles, which is a new form of currency that can be exchanged for furniture, Nook-branded apparel, plane tickets to mystery islands, upgrades, and recipes.

As in, the game features the ability to place furniture outside. A new Vaulting Pole tool can be created, giving the ability to vault over rivers, as well as a Ladder, allowing the player to climb up cliffs.

The player can earn the Island Designer app if K.K. performs a song on their island. Once the proper terraforming tools are unlocked with Nook Miles, it allows them to pave roads (instead of having to place patterns on the ground), as well as modify or add rivers and cliffs.

Up to eight players can live on a single island, but only one island can be made per Nintendo Switch. The first player is named the "Resident Representative", which occupies a similar role to the mayor in ; this player controls the pace of the storyline, and is the only player that can initiate placement of villager housing plots and infrastructure such as stores, bridges, and inclines (though all players will have access to the Island Designer app once K.K. performs). Additionally, there is a maximum of 10 animal villagers on the island.

Resources
Resources can be collected through various methods, such as chopping at trees with an axe for several types of wood (including wood, softwood and hardwood), or hitting rocks with a shovel for clay, stone, and ores. Several different types of weeds appear, which can also be used as materials once plucked. Crafting is done through either Tom Nook's workbench, or a bench crafted by the player. With these mechanics, the player is able to build and develop the island over time. Players are also able to dig up clams in the sand, which can then be used as fishing bait or as crafting materials. Additionally, trees and flowers can be shoveled up to be stored in the pocket, flowers can be used as crafting material, and picking them will also leave the stems in the ground.

Player
Players can fully customize their characters at the beginning and during the game without having to answer questions, similar to and. This includes skin tones, gender-neutral hairstyles, and nose shapes. The player characters' overall design is slightly more detailed than in previous titles, featuring a more subdued color scheme and clear hair physics and shaders. The players also appear more expressive, showing a thoughtful expression when selecting items in their pocket, and moving their eyes around to look at nearby villagers and bugs.

The player also possesses a new item called the NookPhone, which features multiple different applications that the player can use such as Nook Miles, Rescue Service, Local Play, and more.

The player can purchase a variety of clothes from the Able Sisters shop and presumably other shops that will appear after doing certain tasks. The Able sisters will set up their shop after to buy a fair amount in bells from them. Able Sisters now includes a fitting room, allowing the player to try on clothes before purchasing.

Multiplayer
An island can support up to eight players. For the first time in the series, four players can play at the same time on a single system, and up to eight can play together through online multiplayer or local wireless. Online play requires a Nintendo Switch Online subscription.

In local multiplayer, the screen boundaries will follow player 1; however, they may transfer their "leadership" to another player at any time. The lead player is the only player able to see notifications after catching bugs or fish. In online play, all players have equal abilities, as in previous games.

This marks the first game where a player's friend cannot modify the island with their shovel or axe unless they are marked as a best friend.

Characters
includes 29 special characters, 5 of which are new to the series:
 * C.J., who runs the Fishing Tourney (replacing the role of Chip) and can purchase fish from the player for 1.5x their normal selling price
 * Daisy Mae, who sells turnips on Sunday mornings (replacing the role of her grandmother, Joan)
 * Flick, who runs the Bug-Off (replacing the role of Nat) and can purchase bugs from the player for 1.5x their normal selling price
 * Orville, the ground control for Dodo Airlines who works at the Airport
 * Wilbur, the pilot for Dodo Airlines

This game has 391 villagers, which includes 8 that are new to the series (one for each personality):
 * Audie, a peppy wolf
 * Cyd, a cranky elephant
 * Dom, a jock sheep
 * Judy, a snooty cub
 * Megan, normal bear
 * Raymond, a smug cat
 * Reneigh, a sisterly horse
 * Sherb, a lazy goat

Connectivity
Players that have and  linked on the same My Nintendo account can redeem rewards via the My Nintendo screen in the mobile app. The rewards are 50 Leaf Tickets to use in and a 16-digit download code for Nintendo eShop used to access special furniture and clothing items orders in.

Differences between Animal Crossing games
''Please note: this list is a work in progress. It only reflects the current version of the game and may change as updates release.''


 * Daily activities now reset at 5 AM instead of 6 AM.


 * Twelve new bugs have been added: the Atlas Moth, Blue Weevil Beetle, Common Bluebottle, Damselfly, Earth-Boring Dung Beetle, Giant Water Bug, Giraffe Stag, Madagascan Sunset Moth, Man-Faced Stink Bug, Paper Kite Butterfly, Rosalia Batesi Beetle and Wasp made their series debut in this game. The Wasp and Atlas Moth replace the Bee and Oak Silk Moth from previous games and serve the same respective roles.


 * In addition to the Bee and Oak Silk Moth, the Fruit Beetle, House Centipede, Lantern Fly, and Petaltail Dragonfly are absent from, despite appearing in.


 * The Drone Beetle and Purple Butterfly have been re-introduced in after being absent from the series since their last appearances in ; the latter is renamed to Great Purple Emperor.


 * Three other bugs have been renamed; the Birdwing Butterfly is now the Queen Alexandra's Birdwing, the Raja Brooke Butterfly is now the Rajah Brooke's Birdwing, and the Longhorn Beetle is now the Citrus Long-Horned Beetle.


 * The properties of the Wharf Roach are changed: instead of scurrying around on the beach, it now congregates in one-square swarms on the beach's rock platforms. Catching one Wharf Roach will cause the rest of the swarm to dissipate, similarly to the wasp and ant.


 * Eleven new fish have also been added: the Anchovy, Barreleye, Betta, Golden Trout, Mahi-Mahi, Rainbowfish, Ranchu Goldfish, Snapping Turtle, Sturgeon, Suckerfish, and Tilapia debut in this game.


 * The Barbel Steed, Eel, and Rainbow Trout are absent despite appearing in all of the previous games.


 * Some fish and bugs have their seasonal appearances changed. Most notably, the Tarantula and Scorpion, previously only available during summer, have their months changed to each be active during a different half of the year depending on the hemisphere.


 * Blue Marlin, Tuna and Giant Trevally have their locations changed from, previously found at Tortimer Island, now can be found exclusively at the pier.


 * The shark is renamed to the Great White Shark.


 * Player's swollen left eye from Wasp stings now stays after saving and quitting. In previous titles, saving and quitting and reloading cures them without the need for Medicine.


 * Bridges (along with Inclines) have increased the maximum limit from three to eight.


 * The wet suit, swimming, and deep sea creature mechanics introduced in no longer appear.


 * The glowing spot from the first Animal Crossing returns and is another way to grow money trees (the other being the golden shovel).


 * Violets, which were introduced in and also appeared in, are absent from this game.


 * The message in a bottle returns, allowing players to learn new DIY recipes from random villagers that do not live on their island.


 * As in when Crafting was introduced in Pocket Camp, Tools are now required to be crafted. With the exceptions of the vaulting pole and ladder, all tools (including golden ones) will break after a certain amount of uses.


 * Consequently, this is the first game in which the golden axe has limited durability.


 * The golden slingshot now shoots one pellet instead of three.


 * Stone, clay, iron nuggets and (rarely) gold nuggets can now be randomly extracted daily from each of the island's material rocks.


 * While Bell rocks remain, gemstones have been removed from rocks.


 * Players can now hop over holes and over bodies of water within a 1 or 2-tile space.


 * Eating fruit now fills up a portion of the player's stomach, and upon filling it they will no longer be able to eat. Sitting on a toilet furniture item allows the player to empty their stomach, presumably through defecation.


 * Players can now break large rocks and move entire trees after eating fruit.


 * Lemons, Mangos, Lychees, Bananas, Durians, Persimmons, and perfect fruit are absent in this game.


 * Items like fruit, shells, and medicine now stack up to 10.


 * Most stacking now occurs immediately upon the player picking up stackable items.


 * Most bells picked up from the ground are now immediately added to the player's wallet rather than their inventory.


 * Holes that been made by the player will now automatically cover up upon reloading the game.


 * Pitfall Seeds no longer appear daily as buried items, though they can still be made by learning a DIY recipe from Villagers, Message Bottles, Balloon gifts, or digging up a Pitfall Seed from the ground if buried.


 * Flowers can only be uprooted by using a Shovel. With the exception of Lily of the Valley, attempting to pick up flowers without a shovel will remove its petals.


 * Additionally; running over flowers will no longer disappear as the petals will fall off.


 * Blathers once again gives lectures on donated fish, bugs, and fossils, a feature previously dropped in, though unlike previous instances, players have the option to opt out of them per donation. Consequently, the informative blurbs found on museum plaques in are no longer present, returning to the pre- standard of simply listing the item and donor. The  standard is retained solely for art.


 * Redd now commandeers a black market ship rather than a tent or alleyway store, and allows customers to examine artwork up close to determine its legitimacy.


 * As was the case prior to, Redd sells furniture in addition to artwork; this time however, he is able to sell furniture in variations not purchasable from the Nook's Cranny on the player's own island.


 * Multiple new paintings and sculptures are added to the game, each with distinctive differences between legitimate pieces and forgeries; paintings that had previously appeared in feature newly-designed forgeries.


 * Players and Villagers can no longer sit on rocks, but the latter can sit on any solid ground.


 * Players now start with twenty pocket slots, compared to previous games' fifteen and sixteen in . There are also two upgrades for the pockets, each increasing the holding capacity by ten and ultimately doubling the player's available pocket space after the second upgrade. These upgrades can be purchased with Nook Miles and are unlocked at the Resident Services terminal over time.


 * Tools no longer free up space when held by the player.


 * If a player has not played for a while or has time traveled, their character's hair will appear with bed hair. Unlike previous installments, they will quickly fix the hairstyle back to how it was when last played, and bed hair will be unlocked as an optional hairstyle upon the first instance.


 * Villagers can now get sick again, a feature that was previously in but was removed in  update due to a bug.


 * Unlike in previous titles, Villagers who receive Medicine from players will recover instantly.


 * Lost items can now be identified by a villager who it belongs to and the player can also investigate the lost item.


 * House Loans can now be paid by the players' savings in the ABD; in previous titles all loan payments had to come from the player's wallet.


 * Gyroids (other than Lloid) are not currently present in the game, but are referenced within the game's files.


 * Balloon presents now yield random furniture from the start rather than initially offering only Balloon Series furniture. They can also contain Bells, DIY recipes, or crafting materials.


 * Saharah now sells carpets in small, medium, and large. She also now sells wallpaper and flooring individually for 3,000 Bells.


 * After a carpet purchase, players now receive Exchange Tickets to redeem for a free wallpaper or flooring.


 * She also no longer asks players to take her to their house in order to place wallpaper and flooring.


 * The catalog is now accessible from the ABD and later as an app on the player's NookPhone; in previous games, it was only available by speaking to Tom Nook (pre-) or Timmy and Tommy.


 * Nook's Cranny can only be upgraded once; prior games allowed it to be upgraded up to three times.

Reception
received positive reviews from critics, with many praising the new entry for retaining the soul of other titles in the series while also providing enhanced visuals and new mechanics.

Ratings include:
 * Famitsu: 38/40
 * IGN: 9/10
 * Metacritic (an average of 109 reviews): 91%
 * Forbes: 100%
 * Telegraph: 100%
 * Nintendo Life: 100%
 * Pocket Gamer UK: 100%

In Japan, the game sold over 2.60 million physical copies in the first ten days of the release.

In the United States, the game became the best-selling in March 2020 and second best-selling in 2020 overall. It was achieved the third highest month physical dollar and unit sales of any Nintendo game and exceeded the lifetime sales of all games in the series.

This game has sold 13.41 million units in the first 6 weeks and surpasses all other titles.

Trivia

 * is the second mainline game in the not to feature K.K. Slider on its boxart, the first being the international release of.