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Animal Crossing: New Horizons Tips & Hints - Earning bells quick and other tips

Animal Crossing: New Horizons Tips & Hints - Earning bells quick and other tips

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Ah, hello hello. Have you been playing Animal Crossing: New Horizons? If so then you probably have a lot of questions, daring questions, silly questions and important questions. You're probably also feeling the crushing weight of Tom Nook's extortionate loans, and reeling a little at the cost of developing a deserted island into an industrialised paradise.

Well, we've been knee-deep in New Horizons for almost two-weeks (at time of release) and we're avid fans of the series, so we're here to give you a hundred (okay, maybe not a hundred) tiny tips that you may or may not yet know about this year's feel-good release. And if we haven't answered your question by the end of the list, drop a comment below and we'll share the knowledge through our comments system.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is the best form of digital escapism to date

Where other Animal Crossing games have started you out in a functioning, established town, New Horizons starts you with nothing. You'll go from tent to manor, and can oversee everything from bridge building to terraforming. You'll oversee the location and growth of the shops and museum, and as you push onward you'll see special visitors come to make your island their home. 

It's not just the journey that you go on which has changed either, many items in the game can be made using DIY recipes, and there's plenty of ways to grab new recipes on a daily basis. Even the tools of previous games are now craftable, but that means that some of them break when used a lot. You'll need to manage resources and know where your nearest crafting bench is in order to keep digging, fishing and more.

So, click on through the big button below in order to head into our tips list - and remember, if there's a question we haven't answered (about Animal Crossing: New Horizons - we can't explain Blockchain or the intricacies of Brain Surgery) then drop it in the comments below and we'll answer it for you.

 OH! And if you're looking for new friends to add on Animal Crossing: New Horizons then head over to our Friend Code sharing page and make some new pals.

Click Here To View The List »

1
How do I get more items like minerals and bells from rocks?

Unlike in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, you couldn't previously gather resources for building items in the series. As a matter of fact, there wasn't DIY recipes or anything... goodness me.

But, you could still get items from rocks. In the previous games, you could knock coins and - if you were persistent enough - bags of bells from rocks if you had just enough timing and luck. And the same techniques work.

The secret to maximising output from rocks is to hit combos. When you hit a rock with a shovel or an axe it'll dispense an item, but it'll also knock you back. If you can keep edging forward and landing a hit within a short period of time then you can get up to eight items from a rock, and the likelihood of the item being rarer increases with each hit.

There's an advanced technique though - and it comes down to how you get moved backwards. If you dig a hole behind where you are standing or place objects there, then your character can't be jostled straight backwards. Better yet, if you place three objects in a row behind you then you won't be sent diagonal either - perfect!

And if this still isn't working, head off to an island with Dodo Airlines.

2
Which tools don't break?

So, you're a few hours into the game and your fishing rod and nets just keep breaking? It's a big problem for sure. Luckily you can upgrade them at the DIY benches, which does add some extra durability. But, you're wondering, do all tools break?

There are actually a couple which don't ever break through use and it's tools which are used for traversal. That's right, the Vaulting Pole and the Ladder don't break, no matter how much you use them.

As for the rest though? Definitely get stockpiling items like minerals in order to make sure that you can upgrade your basic tools as fast as you can.

3
Should I convert my loan into Nook Miles?

The short answer is no. There are many, many more sources of bells than there are of Nook Miles, especially as you spend more and more time with Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

The long answer is a bit more complicated. Your first loan is a paltry amount, and Nook Miles come thick and fast as you fish for the first time, pop floating balloons, craft new milestones and... well, there's a lot of easy ways to get them, especially at the start. The 'daily' five objectives which become available shortly after you start out always seem incredibly easy - and indeed, tasks like catch five fish are easy. But, as the objectives permeate through you suddenly need to sell X weeds, which may be tough as you've cleaned your island, or even catch a specific fish... and fish and bugs work to specific time, day and maybe even weather, constraints.

But, those weeds, bugs and fish can all be sold for bells... so can everything really, including items that you can buy with Nook Miles. So, why not earn the Nook Miles, buy Plane Tickets and sell them for 7000b each? Or... you could head to a random island and easily gather over 7k of value with a quick forage.

4
How do I get more Nook Miles?

There's a couple of different ways to rack up the Nook Miles quickly, but the easiest way is to simply focus on the daily challenges. A percentage of them are always going to be inherently easy, and even if - for some reason - you end up throwing those fish back into the ocean they still count toward the easier goals.

But, there is also a 'long game' option.

When you log in for the first time in an Animal Crossing: New Horizon 'Day', any of the five existing objectives receive a little boost. Normal ones flip to an X2 payout and any X2 ones that are left over jump up to X5.

This is a great way to quickly bank lots of Nook Miles as you start out your day, but be aware that if you don't finish the X5 one then they're cleared down for new ones the next day.

5
What is the best way to make Bells quickly?

There's dozens of ways to make bells in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. More than ever. In fact, we are being spoiled with the options now.

Frankly though, it all depends on your preferred method of play. I know some people who simply lap their island gathering shells and shaking down trees - branches sell for a small about, but they stack incredibly high and a tree can drop an unlimited amount.

My personal best method though? The Tarantula... and no, I don't mean the dance. Tarantulas spawn on islands during the evening, through the Winter and Spring months - they're aggressive and will rarely run away, but if you sneak (by holding down the use-net function) then you won't startle them into attacking. If you net one of those hairy beasties then you'll be able to sell it to the shop for a whopping 8000 bells.

That said, there's only a three-hour window of shop trade while they're out and about, so if you're banking them through the deposit box you'll only be making 6400bells.

6
How do I get over the river? How do I get up the cliff?

One of Animal Crossing: New Horizons' best features is the new terraforming ability. Within about a week of progress-heavy play you'll have unlocked the ability to add slopes and bridges to your island at any point that you wish... until then though you'll need to come up with some clever ways to get around.

Thankfully, there's a cultured owl who has got your back. After you've submitted a few samples of local wildlife to Tom Nook his friend (and ours) Blathers will ask to move to your island. Once this happens he'll be fascinated with the land over the river, and you'll soon find yourself furnished with the DIY recipes to build a vaulting pole and ladder for traversal.

7
How can I hold more things?

Your starting backpack in Animal Crossing: New Horizons is a rather lacking two rows of space for items. This is a big pain if you're a big ol' hoarder, or enjoy heading off on expeditions to distant lands.

Thankfully, the way to get more storage space is incredibly easy. You just have to keep upgrading through Tom Nook. Shortly after you upgrade your house you'll find an object available to be purchased from the bell machine that exists in Residential Services - and once you've upgraded it to a town hall a further upgrade will be available.

Trust me, they're worth every penny.

8
Best ways to get new DIY Recipes in Animal Crossing: New Horizons

So, you don't like DIY recipes - you love them. That's great news, because there are absolutely loads of them and, when you put your mind to it, there's plenty of easy ways to get new ones.

- Every day check your beaches. If you can find a message in a bottle then you'll gain a new, exotic DIY recipe.

- Check the Nook store. At the start of the game you can purchase objects from within residential services, these items are still offered within future stores and more and more DIY Packs are offered as time passes.

- Watch the skies. Balloons are a great way to grab recipes, however, there's no guarantee that it won't be a different type of item. The theory currently stands that the item and recipes within the balloons might be relevant to the question you answer at the start of the game - the one about which item you'd take to a desert island.

- Parade your new items around town. Changing clothes and carrying recently acquired objects (like bamboo) can cause villagers to spontaneously talk about the objects and offer related recipes.

By far the best way to gain recipes though, besides the above and general progress through the game, is to interact with your villagers when they're working on their workbench. This never fails, and they normally have some great chatter about what they're working on too.

9
How do I move trees?

This one is a little known fact, and although it is told to you early on in New Horizons there's little reason to know the information until you've started becoming more particular with the placement of objects around town.

The answer is very simple. Gob down some grub. If you eat a fruit or nut then you'll notice a new counter in your UI showing 1/10. That means that the next time you use a shovel or axe on a tree or rock you will interact in different ways. If you use a shovel on a tree then you'll dig it up, fruit and all. If you use any other combination then things will get broken - chopped down or shattered.

Be careful out there villager.

10
When does the new day begin in Animal Crossing?

I see you night owl. I was the same too. I'm already playing a bit late, let's just see what happens when the time rolls over to midnight... Nothing. Right?

That's because the new day begins at bang on 6AM. So, I tell you what, it's much better to just head off to bed and set an alarm rather than waiting for tomorrow to roll around. Your trees will be fine, and Tom Nook will be up and alert ready to tell you about the new things going on that day.

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Dann Sullivan
Dann Sullivan
A job in retail resulted in a sidestep into games writing back in 2011. Since then Dann has run or operated several indie game focused websites. They're currently the Editor-in-Chief of Pocket Gamer Brands, and are determined to help the site celebrate the latest and greatest games coming to mobile.