Fêng shui
Fêng shui[1] (pronounced ˌfʌŋˈʃweɪ, "fung-shway"), also formatted as feng shui, is a game mechanic in which the player's Happy Home Academy score and luck regarding items and money are increased based on the arrangement of furniture in the player's house.
Fêng shui in the Animal Crossing series is based on a practice originating from ancient China in which housewares are arranged in a certain way to increase the flow of positive energy throughout a house.
Item colors and house layout
Every furniture item has a color assigned to it.[nb 1] Colors that affect fêng shui are red, green, and yellow. Each side of the player's house (west, east, and south) has a corresponding color, and fêng shui increases if items of that color are placed there. Red corresponds to the east end of a room, green corresponds to the south, and yellow corresponds to the west. In Animal Crossing only, there are two more fêng shui colors: orange and special. Orange corresponds to the north end of a room and special items can be placed anywhere in a room and still increase fêng shui. The more items of the correct color are placed in the player's house, the stronger the luck effects of fêng shui are.
Below are graphics representing the layout of fêng shui in a player's house.
Small room
Medium room
Large room
Appearances
In Animal Crossing
In Animal Crossing, there are five types of fêng shui: red, green, yellow, orange, and special. Each type affects one or both types of luck: item luck and money luck.
- Red fêng shui increases item luck by 8 points per item.
- Yellow fêng shui increases money luck by 4 points per item.
- Green and orange fêng shui increases both item and money luck by 4 points and 2 points respectively.
- Special fêng shui increases both item and money luck by 8 points and 4 points respectively. These items can be placed anywhere in the player's house to provide the points and duplicate items count.
Item luck affects the probability of items from the town's rare or uncommon group appearing, the probability of Redd-only items appearing at Crazy Redd's Furniture Emporium, and the rate at which balloons appear. The value of item luck from fêng shui, however, has a limit of 20. Therefore, only 3 red or special fêng shui items are required to max out item luck. Katrina's fortune may provide an additional 30 points, making the total maximum 50 points.
Money luck affects the amount of time money rocks dispense Bells, the amount of Bells obtained from a shining spot, and the probability that Bells buried in a shining spot grow into a money tree. The value of money luck has no limit other than the amount of items the player can place in their house. In normal gameplay, this is 192 items. Katrina's fortune may also provide an additional 100 points.
Certain items facing the wall deduct points from both item and money luck. Each item facing the wall deducts 5 points of item luck and 10 points of money luck. Katrina's fortune may also reduce money luck by -50 points and item luck by -30 points. The minimum value for money luck is -80 and the minimum value for item luck is -30.
In Wild World
In Animal Crossing: Wild World, there are three types of fêng shui: red, green, and yellow.
- Green fêng shui increases the chance of items from rare groups appearing at Tom Nook's store.
- Yellow fêng shui increases the number of Bells given by villagers as a reward, increases the number of Bells paid by villagers when buying an item from the player, and decreases the price of items sold by villagers.
The Happy Room Academy awards a 100 point bonus for each item placed correctly in the feng shui layout.
In City Folk
In Animal Crossing: City Folk, there are three types of fêng shui: red, green, and yellow.
- Red fêng shui increases the probability of items from the Mario Theme appearing in balloons, genuine paintings appearing at Crazy Redd's, and Redd-only items appearing at Crazy Redd's.
- Green fêng shui increases the probability of spotlight items appearing at Tom Nook's store, genuine paintings appearing at Crazy Redd's, and Redd-only items appearing at Crazy Redd's.
- Yellow fêng shui increases the number of Bells given by villagers as a reward, the amount of time money rocks produce Bells, the probability of money trees bearing Bells, and the probability of genuine paintings appearing at Crazy Redd's.
The Happy Room Academy awards a 100 point bonus for each item placed correctly in the feng shui layout.
In New Leaf
In Animal Crossing: New Leaf, there are three types of fêng shui: red, green, and yellow.
- Red fêng shui increases the probability of the player receiving prizes from Fortune Cookies, receiving genuine artwork from villagers, and receiving exclusive wallpaper and flooring from Saharah.
- Green fêng shui increases the probability of spotlight items appearing at Timmy and Tommy's store, genuine artwork appearing at Redd's Gallery, the player receiving genuine artwork from villagers, and the player receiving exclusive wallpaper and flooring from Saharah.
- Yellow fêng shui decreases the price of items sold by villagers, increases the probability of money trees bearing Bells, and decreases the price of artwork sold at Redd's Gallery.
The Happy Home Academy awards a 300 point bonus for each item placed correctly in the fêng shui layout.
In New Horizons
In Animal Crossing: New Horizons, there are three types of fêng shui: red, green, and yellow. The Happy Home Academy awards a 500 point bonus for each wall with at least one matching color. Unlike in previous games, fêng shui has no effect on the player's luck.
Notes
- ↑ In Animal Crossing, items do not have colors aside from those that affect fêng shui.
References
- ↑ "Well, that's just good fêng shui, <player>!" — Happy Home Academy, Animal Crossing: New Horizons
- Find out what red fêng shui does in Wild World.
- Find out what red fêng shui does in Wild World.
