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Time travel [1] refers to the player manually changing the time of their game or game system to immediately return to, or advance to, a specific point in time. There are both positive and negative consequences of time traveling across the Animal Crossing series.

• 1 Developers' perspectives
• 2.1 In Animal Crossing
• 2.2 In Animal Crossing: Wild World
• 2.3 In Animal Crossing: City Folk
• 2.4 In Animal Crossing: New Leaf
• 2.5 In Animal Crossing: New Horizons
• 3 References

Developers' perspectives [ edit ]

Time traveling is not considered "cheating" by the games developers, although they do discourage it for the most enjoyable casual experience. Series producer Hisashi Nogami stated that he and director Aya Kyogoku "think that in order for the players to play for a very long time, and also for players to share the experience with their friends or family, we do think that playing without traveling would probably be the ideal way." At the same time, they did not intend for seasonal updates to be a way to "shun away time travel," simply to keep the game enjoyable throughout the year. [1]

Animal Crossing: New Leaf director Isao Moro similarly stated that "I'm sure there are plenty of players who have fiddled with the clock when playing the game, but this is a shame as a really nice aspect of Animal Crossing is the sense of unity that comes from time passing in sync with the real world. It means that everyone gets to share that sense of the seasons and the time passing, so we were keen to retain that element of the game." This was part of the inspiration for him and Kyogoku to implement the town ordinances that change the operating hours of shops and bedtimes of villagers, to still allow the player "to adjust things to fit [their] own lifestyle." [2]

In-game properties [ edit ]

In animal crossing [ edit ].

In Animal Crossing , the player can adjust the time and date using two methods: either by changing the Nintendo GameCube clock, or accessing the in-game clock during the start-up sequence. Changing the system clock provides the least interference with gameplay, as the in-game clock dictates the growth of trees , the way letters are sent, and how the police station and dump restock items. While the furthest date supported by the system clock is December 31, 2099, the highest the in-game clock can go is December 31, 2030, after which the date will reset to January 1, 2030. (In Doubutsu no Mori , due to the Nintendo 64 not having an internal clock, the game uses a battery-powered clock in the cartridge that can only be changed in-game.)

The ability to travel to any date immediately allows the player to attend any event , access any fish or bugs , or purchases any seasonal items that are restricted to certain dates or date ranges. By time traveling forward, letters can be received sooner, but the player's mailbox may fill completely, which prevents incoming mail until the mailbox is emptied. Additionally, the process of a villager moving out from the player's town can be expedited, as well as new villagers moving in. Time traveling forward can also force fruit to regrow on trees and stores to refresh their current item selection.

Time traveling any amount, forward or backward, causes all turnips in the player's pockets or storage to rot. Weeds will grow at a faster rate if time traveling, and too many weeds can harm the town's environment rating until enough weeds are removed (however, all weeds can be removed by Wisp if the player catches his Spirits and asks to "Pull weeds!"). Time traveling forward may result in villagers moving away without asking the player, or cause the player to miss events , birthdays , or One Day Sales from Tom Nook's store .

In Animal Crossing: Wild World [ edit ]

The player can also change the time and date in Wild World through the Nintendo DS system clock or the in-game menu. The furthest date supported by both the system and game is December 31, 2099, after which time will reset back to January 1, 2000.

Time traveling to future months now allows the player to accrue interest on their savings account.

In Animal Crossing: City Folk [ edit ]

Animal Crossing: City Folk also allows the time and date to be changed by changing the Nintendo Wii system time or editing the in-game time during the start-up sequence. While changing the time via the in-game settings will affect fruit and weed growth, flower wilting, and savings account interest, changing the system time does not. The furthest date is now December 31, 2035; after this, time loops back to January 1, 2000.

In City Folk , the player can once again use Wisp to remove weeds. Additionally, time traveling can now cause bed head , which affects the player's hairstyle.

In Animal Crossing: New Leaf [ edit ]

Time and date settings in New Leaf can be edited through the Nintendo 3DS system clock, or through the start-up sequence by telling Isabelle "I need help first...". The furthest date is December 31, 2050, after which time resets to January 1, 2012.

Any processes relating to building, demolishing, or moving infrastructure (such as bridges , Public works projects , or buildings in Main Street ) can be completed immediately by time traveling to a different day. Any facilities that require multiple days of commitment, such as talking to Sable to access the sewing machine , can also be unlocked more quickly.

The Beautiful Town ordinance can prevent weeds from spawning and flowers from wilting, removing these consequences from time traveling. Weeds can also be cleared using Leif 's weed-pulling service if his Garden Shop is available. However, time traveling will cause Phineas to not appear for a while. [ citation needed ]

In Animal Crossing: New Horizons [ edit ]

New Horizons is the first game in the series that does not have an in-game option to change the time. However, by disabling "Synchronize Clock Via Internet" in the Nintendo Switch system settings, the system time can be manually changed, which is reflected in the game. The furthest date supported by the system is December 31, 2060, and while the game can progress into January 1, 2061, going beyond this date will result in an error message, warning the user that the date is unsupported and that they should set their time in between January 1, 2000 and December 31, 2060. [3]

As seasonally restricted content has expanded to DIY recipes and Nook Shopping seasonal events , the associated items can also be obtained at any time via time travel. Time traveling to previous visits by shopkeepers such as Redd will re-roll their stock, allowing the player to purchase new items from them. In 1.9.0 , traveling back in time five days or more resets the visiting special characters for the target week. In all other versions (both before and after), this limit is only in place if the target and present date are in different months. Outside of version 1.9.0, NPC visitors fill up seven slots within a given week after the day moves from Sunday to Monday. Time traveling between specific days in a given week will initiate that specific visitor (e.g., Leif will always be present on Tuesday unless the day moves to another Monday).

Villagers will no longer move out without notice after longer periods of time, now requiring the player's explicit permission to leave. Weeds still occasionally spawn on the island, but they will no longer negatively impact the environment rating unless the quantity of weeds on the island is above 100. In addition, Rafflesia no longer spawn in islands with the worst rating. Bed head has been changed to be only temporary, and is now unlocked as a hairstyle option when it occurs for the first time. However, in addition to turnips rotting after any time traveling, turnip prices will reset if time traveling backwards. Flowers may end up overpopulating the island by either duplicating or breeding if nothing is done to prevent new flowers from spawning in grass or dirt tiles. Overgrowth of weeds can again be dealt with using Leif's weeding service if his commune is available on Harv's Island .

Before version 2.0 , events were more difficult to experience by using time travel, as many events were gradually introduced through updates . Some events were unable to be accessed until their real-world starting date, such as Bunny Day , Nature Day , May Day , International Museum Day , Wedding Season , Turkey Day , Toy Day , and Festivale . Events could also be locked after being unlocked in a previous year, such as Bunny Day's date range of April 1–12, 2020 being disabled in the 1.9.0 Free Update in favor of the new dates of March 28–April 4, 2021. Since version 2.0 , all events can now occur every year; however, as of version 1.9.0 , the Nature Day event is no longer accessible, due to its replacement by the Nature Day Nook Shopping seasonal event .

References [ edit ]

• ↑ 1.0 1.1 Elise Favis (March 23, 2020). "Nintendo explains philosophy behind Animal Crossing’s big changes, such as gender expression and terraforming" . The Washington Post . Retrieved Septe,ber 23, 2022.
• ↑ Nintendo (2012). "Iwata Asks - Animal Crossing: New Leaf" . Iwata Asks . Retrieved September 23, 2022.
• ↑ If you GO to 2061, this happens There is a WARNING message that I 've never seen where I can't go!?
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• Animal Crossing: New Horizons guide

Animal Crossing: New Horizons time travel guide

If the game is progressing a little too slowly, you can speed it up

by Julia Lee

Animal Crossing: New Horizons time traveling on Switch changes a game that plays in real time, meaning that a day in the game is as long as a day in real life. You can time travel to want to speed up your progress.

Rather than waiting until the next real-world day, time traveling lets you and see your new home renovations or new building quickly.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons time travel

To time travel in Animal Crossing: New Horizons :

• Close Animal Crossing: New Horizons by pressing the Switch’s Home button, highlighting the game’s icon, pressing the X button, and clicking “Close” in the dialogue box that appears.
• Go to your Nintendo Switch System Settings (the gear icon on the home screen), scroll all the way down, and select “System.”
• Select “Date and Time,” and turn off the setting that says “Synchronize Clock via Internet.”
• Change the date or the time to whatever you want.
• Reopen Animal Crossing: New Horizons , and the date and time in New Horizons will match whatever you set it to in the Switch’s system preferences.

Be careful about skipping too many days at once, as skipping forward weeks at a time will yield the same results as not playing for weeks at a time: Your villagers may move out, and weeds will move in.

Keep in mind that you will have to connect to the internet to verify the date before you participate in holiday-based events. For example, the Bunny Day event, which starts on April 1, will require you to connect to the internet to verify your time, according to a post on the Japanese Nintendo website . This means that if you do choose to time travel, you’ll have to set your Switch to the normal date to play any of the upcoming events.

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How to 'time travel' in Animal Crossing: New Horizons to speed up time and skip days

• Time traveling in Animal Crossing lets you quickly progress the story, unlock new bugs and fish, and more.
• To time travel in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, you need to change your Switch's date and time settings.
• If you time travel too far ahead, your villagers might move out and weeds will grow throughout the town.

In a lot of ways, Animal Crossing is a game of patience. You need to wait for buildings to be constructed, for special NPCs to arrive in town, and for new fish and bugs to appear. In other words: Few things happen quickly. And when you consider that the game moves in real time, you might be waiting for days, if not weeks.

But what Nintendo won't tell you is that there's a way to skip waiting: Time travel. And you don't need to craft any special items in-game to do it — you just need to open your Switch's Settings menu.

Here's a primer on how to time travel in Animal Crossing, how it works, and what the risks of skipping around too much are.

How to time travel in Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Make sure to fully close Animal Crossing before you do this — don't forget to save and quit first!

1. Select the System Settings option on your Switch's home screen.

2. Scroll down to the very bottom of the Settings page and select System .

3. Scroll down again to select Date and Time .

4. At the top of the Date and Time page, you'll see an option called Synchronize Clock via Internet . Select this to turn it Off .

5. Once it's turned off, select the Date and Time option. Use the options to pick whatever date and time you want to travel to, past or future, then click OK .

Once you boot Animal Crossing back up, it'll be whatever date and time you chose.

How time travel works in Animal Crossing

As mentioned, Animal Crossing works in real time. When it's midnight in real life, it'll be midnight on your island, too. The game is able to tell what time it is by syncing with your Switch's internal clock — so if you change the time and date on your Switch, it'll change in-game too.

You can use time travel to skip days, weeks, even months ahead. Do you need a winter-exclusive fish for the museum, but it's August? Just skip forward six months and snag what you need. You can even then head right back to the present day and keep playing like normal.

Here are some other cool things you can do with time travel:

• When you ask Tom Nook to upgrade your house, skip forward a day to have him build it instantly
• Keep jumping forward day-by-day until a special NPC (Redd, Flick, etc.) appears in your town
• Switch days to refresh what the Able Sisters and Nook's Cranny are selling
• Experience both day and night on your island, no matter when you're actually playing
• Put some money in the bank and then skip forward a decade to collect the interest

Additionally, if you meet any NPC that gives you a single item on the day they appear, like Celeste or Gulliver, you can use time travel to quickly unlock everything they offer. Just get the special item from them, time travel one day forward, then time travel back to the day that they showed up. They'll appear again to give you another item.

Even though Nintendo doesn't support time traveling, you won't be punished for doing it. You can still play online with any other Animal Crossing player, even if your game is twenty years ahead of theirs.

The only thing you can't do is play through special holiday events before they happen, since your clock needs to be connected to the internet to trigger them.

The risks of time traveling in Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Compared to past games in the series, there are less drawbacks to time traveling in New Horizons. But there are still some disadvantages that you should consider before skipping too far or too often.  

• Villagers might move out if too much time passes without speaking to them.
• If you time travel backwards at all, or ahead past the next Sunday, all your turnips will rot.
• The flowers in your town may wilt, and weeds will grow everywhere.
• Cockroaches will infest your home.
• You'll lose your Nook Stop bonus streak, which awards you with free Nook Miles for every day you use the machine in a row.  

If these cons seem worth the pros, go ahead and change your Switch's clock.

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Have the top 5 highest-grossing mobile games of all time aged well, 5 gaming habits you shouldn't copy in real life, quick links, what is time travel in animal crossing: new horizons, setting up time travel.

Time travel can be a messy subject for fans familiar with the Animal Crossing series---it's a game that is meant to be progressed and enjoyed in real time. But what if you could advance forward to speed up the process? Here's how in Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons on the Nintendo Switch plays in real time, meaning that a day in the game is as long as a day in real life. If you want to speed up your progress, you can change the time settings on your Switch console.

Rather than waiting until the next real-world day, time-traveling lets you advance progress in the game for time-related events, such as new construction, growing fruit trees, and making Bells.

However, for seasonal events such as "Bunny Day," time travel cannot be used to activate the event. Your Nintendo Switch must be connected to Wi-Fi to sync with the internet to activate the event---so, time-skipping doesn't work for everything.

First and foremost, you'll want to completely close Animal Crossing: New Horizons on your Nintendo Switch. You can do this by hovering over the game on the Switch's Home screen, pressing the "X" button on your Joy-Con, and then selecting "Close".

Next, from the Switch's Home screen, go to the console's System Settings. The System Settings icon looks like a gear and is located between the Joy-con icon and the Power icon in the bottom toolbar.

Once you're inside the System Settings menu, scroll all the way down and select the "System" menu. Next, select the "Date and Time" option by pressing the "A" button on the right Joy-Con.

This sub-menu is where you change all of your time settings on the Nintendo Switch.

To customize the current time, select "Synchronize Clock Via Internet" to turn "Off" the automatic clock.

Change the date or the time to whatever you want and press "OK".

Navigate back to the Nintendo Switch Home screen by pressing the physical Home button on your right Switch Joy-Con and then launch the game.

When you launch Animal Crossing: New Horizons, the date and time will reflect the settings you changed in the Switch's "Date and Time" menu.

To turn the real-time sync back on, save and close the Animal Crossing: New Horizons game client, and navigate back to the "Date and Time" menu. Select "Synchronize Clock via Internet" to set it back to the "On" position.

Be careful about skipping too many days all at once in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Skipping forward weeks at a time will yield the same results as not playing for weeks at a time, such as losing your daily Nook Miles bonus at the Nook Stop, your villagers may move out, and weeds will move in.

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How to time travel in Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is the game we all needed this year. It throws you into a world of full of personality and practically lets you do anything you want — while sticking to a chill tone, making it easy for nearly everyone to enjoy. One of its quirks is that it follows a real-time in-game clock, meaning you have to wait awhile — sometimes days — for things to go into effect. It mirrors your local time, so if it’s 10 a.m. where you live, it’ll be 10 a.m. in the game. But some players like to reap the game’s rewards instantly and opt to skip the waiting.

Why should you time travel?

How to time travel.

How? By time traveling, which consists of changing your system’s internal clock to manipulate it in-game. It’s somewhat of a controversial practice, with some thinking it takes the fun out of the game, while others use it each play session. We’re not here to debate the ethics of time travel in New Horizons , though. In this guide, we’ll show you how to time travel, why it could benefit you, and some tips to make it go more smoothly.

Further reading:

• How to back up (and restore) your Animal Crossing island should the worst happen
• One woman’s quest to make Animal Crossing better for Black players
• Animal Crossing: New Horizons sea creature guide (August 2020)

In New Horizons , it’s not necessary to time travel. Most players get through the game the way it was intended — by waiting in real time for changes to take place. But some argue it’s much more gratifying to get things right away. Or maybe your work schedule only allows you to play at night, after the game’s stores are closed. With time travel, these worries are gone in a flash, letting you take control of the game’s clock.

You can use time travel for almost anything. Perhaps you’re waiting for a villager to request to leave your island . You can speed this process up by skipping to a new day, as you check into the game to see if the villager is ready to leave. Time traveling can also allow you to change the date to a Sunday, which is when Daisy Mae sells turnips — giving you a way to get rich quickly by taking advantage of the game’s stalk market.

Other players simply use it to skip from day to day to quickly boost their furniture and clothing selection, since stores often have new items each day. There are also certain fish that only spawn during specific times of year, like the Pond Smelt, which is only available between December and February. Time travel will also speed up the growth of flowers and trees.

There are numerous reasons to time travel, but the main idea is that it speeds up nearly every process in-game. The nice thing is that you can always change it back to current time, if need be. You’ll have to do this in order to take part in seasonal events, since these require you to be connected to the internet.

There’s no right or wrong answer when it comes to deciding whether you should time travel. There is something to be said about the excitement of checking in each day to see what new changes have taken place within New Horizons , but ultimately, you should play how you want. Do keep in mind, there are some downsides to time traveling, like breaking your Nook Miles bonus streak at the Nook Stop, and your island will quickly start becoming overrun with weeds (though, you can sell them for a small profit). One of the biggest downsides is that your turnips can rot if you go backward in time, rendering them useless when attempting to sell. At the end of the day, though, whether or not you time travel is up to you, and either option is fine — so long as you’re having fun with the game.

So you’ve decided you want to time travel. Great! Below, we’ll go through all the steps you’ll need to change the system’s clock, which manipulates the time in Animal Crossing: New Horizons . Unlike previous entries, there is no way to change the time in-game — instead, you can only alter it from within the system settings.

Step 1 — Go into settings

Close out of your game and make sure you have a sense of how long you’d like to skip ahead. Whether it’s a day, three days, or a week, keep the time frame in mind. From the system’s main screen, scroll over or tap on the gear icon on the bottom right (to the left of the power icon), to enter the settings menu.

Step 2 — Open the system settings menu

From here, scroll all the way down to System , which has a list of options you can change, like the language, region, and time.

Step 3 — Click on Date and Time

Since we’re time traveling, you’ll want to click on Date and Time to alter the system’s clock. Before you can start messing with the time, you have to turn off the ability to synchronize the clock via the internet. If this setting is on, the system will always check the internet to verify the time, thus making you unable to change it manually. Turn this setting off.

Step 4 — Change the time

At this point, you can change the date and time to whatever you please. Just make sure you hit OK when you’re finished to save the settings. What’s really cool about this is that you can even head backward in time!

Step 5 — Jump back into the game

Now you can jump back into the game and it will mirror the time settings of the system’s internal clock. You can still play online with others, even if your system doesn’t sync with the internet to verify the time. When you’re ready to change the time back, or ahead to a later date, simply repeat the steps from above to alter the system’s clock.

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Time Travel

Last updated: 3 April 2022

What is time travel?

Animal Crossing games are based on real time – for example, things that the game says will take one day truly take one real-life day to complete. “Time traveling” refers to the act of manually changing the time of the game to either be in the future or go back to the past.

Time traveling is not considered hacking. Time traveling also does not reverse/rewind progress. You keep all the progress, items, etc. that you’ve completed/acquired even if you time travel backwards.

How do I time travel?

To time travel, you must either close your game or go to the ‘Save Complete’ screen after doing a ‘Save and End’. You now need to change your date in your Switch settings:

• Open System Settings > System > Date and Time .
• Disable Synchronize Clock via internet if it is ON.
• Go to Date and Time and adjust to whatever time you would like.
• Return to the game and the new date & time will take effect!

What are the general effects of time traveling ( backward or forward )?

• Able Sisters’ mannequin will only change if you go outside of the week.
• Some items from Nook’s Cranny can only be purchased once a week. i.e. if you bought it once, it wouldn’t be restocked when time traveling to that day again in the same week.
• Saharah’s inventory does not change if you stay within the same week when time traveling forward or back. You have to go into another week for it to change.

What are the specific effects of time traveling forwards?

It is important to remember that time traveling forwards is no different than closing your game and then logging in at the new, manually input time. With that said, here are the effects of going forwards.

What are the specific effects of time traveling backwards?

If you time travel backward more than a day, it will be like going back to “fake” yesterday.

What happens to my other games when I time travel for AC:NH?

Time traveling for AC:NH will not affect other time-based games unless you launch them whilst the system time is changed.

Do I have to wait to time travel after someone invites my villager to live on their island?

No, and likewise, you don’t have to wait to time travel after inviting someone else’s villager to live on your island either.

Can I time travel to play events that have passed?

Yes, as of the 2.0.0 update, all events for all years of the game’s lifespan have been unlocked, including all seasonal Nook Stop items.

Player birthdays can only be experienced once every in-game year , and TTing back to the same birthday date won’t restore it. You must go to a future or past year.

I time traveled to Festive season, but why are none of the cedar trees decorated?

Make sure you have time traveled forward into the season (rather than backwards) and you have at least 1 cedar tree. For more information on how cedar trees are decorated, refer to the infographic here .

How do I time travel to farm an NPC visitor?

If the NPC is on a weekday except Monday:

• Toggle the date between the day the NPC is there and a day they are not. If you are farming an NPC that sends you gifts via mail, be sure to go forward to receive their rewards.

If the NPC is on a Monday:

• Time travel forward a day to Tuesday, then go back to Monday (after 5 AM)

Will my villagers move out if I time travel too much?

Nope! Though this was something that could happen in past installments of the game, villagers in New Horizons will not move out unless you give them explicit permission to do so.

Will my villagers dislike me/lose friendship points if I time travel too much?

Nope! They may have some dialogue about your disappearance if you do a big jump forward, but time traveling has no effect on friendship.

Do the developers know I time travel? Will they do anything to me about it?

There is actually a variable turned up by data mining called isTimeSly that determines whether or not the player has time traveled! With that said, there’s no indication whatsoever that the developers care, as there are no permanent in-game consequences or punishments for time traveling. Ultimately, it is your game, and you should play it however you want to!

What are BCAT or NTP unlocks?

BCAT and NTP unlocks are flags that gets flipped when the actual date of the intended release of an event or period has arrived in real time. Collectively, both of these are referred to as “time-locks”. There is no way to manually unlock these flags other than hacking the Switch. The difference between these two unlocks are:

*Note: These will likely not be used going forward as of the 2.0.0 update.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons — Time travel guide

Animal Crossing: New Horizons , like previous installments in the series, runs in real-time. If an hour passes in the real world, it also passes in your game, whether you're playing or not. If Tom Nook says your house will be ready tomorrow, you have to wait until tomorrow for your house to be finished. Then again, you can trick the game into thinking time has passed using time travel. Time travel is not without its risks, and some would even say it's cheating; however, there are lots of reasons you might want to fast forward or rewind your island's clock. We here at iMore have all the details on how to use time travel in Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

Time traveling in Animal Crossing: New Horizons

While early reports suggested that Animal Crossing: New Horizons would not allow for time traveling, it didn't take players long to figure out how to accomplish this feat to some pretty impressive ends. By adjusting the time and date on your Switch, you can move your game forward or backward in time. Before you go jumping into the future, though, it's important to know that you can cause some significant and undesirable changes by skipping time.

Why would I want to time travel anyways?

Because Animal Crossing: New Horizons runs in real-time, there can be a lot of waiting around. Let's say a new villager just moved to your island. Well, you have to wait until they're finished unpacking to interact with them. Usually, this would mean checking back in after a day, but with time travel, you can skip straight to tomorrow and have a new villager to interact with.

While that might seem small, let's say it's something a little more important. Maybe you missed out on one of the weekly visitors. Did you miss ours on buying turnips this past Sunday ? Well, you can skip ahead and buy next Sunday's turnips right now. Maybe you want to skip to a certain time of year so you can catch specific fish or bugs . If you've caught all the fish or bugs available to you right now, you might want to jump to next month and try for something new.

What are the risks?

When traveling forward in time, the game will behave as though you simply hadn't played for the time skipped. If you're only skipping a day at a time, this isn't a big deal, but if you skip two months, you will find your island is overrun with weeds, and your villagers have moved away. You may even find cockroaches in your home! Basically, your island will be a dump if you go too far all at once. If you're trying to sell turnips, skipping to the next week will also make all your turnips rot, and going back in time won't fix them, either.

Time-traveling also won't let you take part in certain events. For example, the Museum Day Event runs from May 18 through May 21. If you jump to May 18 right now, you would not be able to take part in this event. Your Switch console's clock needs to be synchronized via Internet to take part in these types of events. This also means if you're time traveling and an event is happening right now, you cannot participate.

Time-traveling also doesn't make rare events any less rare. Say you time traveled in hopes of catching some finned fish that are only available in the summer. Having tested this myself, I can tell you those fish are pretty rare, and most of the time, you won't be catching the sharks you're looking for, but rather suckerfish or even more sea bass. I spent a few hours and more bait than I care to admit trying for sharks and managed to only come across one. I caught a few schools worth of sea bass, though.

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How does it work?

If you've read through all that and still want to time travel, the process is pretty easy. Just follow these easy steps:

• Press the - button to save and exit Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
• Press the Home button to return to the home screen.

• Press the X button to close Animal Crossing. Hint: this is critical! If you do not close Animal Crossing, the time jump will not happen!

• Tap the sun-shaped icon at the bottom of the screen to open the System Settings.

• Tap Date & Time

• Tap "Synchronize Clock via Internet to turn off time syncing.
• Change the date and/or time.
• Press the B button until you've returned to the home screen.
• Reopen Animal Crossing.

Just make sure you use your new power responsibly!

One last tip from a seasoned time traveler

If you do decide to time travel, the biggest piece of advice I can offer is make a daily checklist. This game is designed to be played daily, with things to do at any time of day. All those things might not be a priority for you, but it's easy to forget about some, especially the sporadic visitors who have no schedule to when they show up.

If you're skipping ahead to catch specific fish only available in the daytime, but aren't looking around at night, you're going to miss out on visits from Celeste . If you're not checking your secret beach for Jolly Redd's Treasure Trawler , your art gallery is going to suffer.

So, make a list of everything you want to do each day. Each day you skip ahead, check off each of those things.

Questions about time traveling?

Do you have any questions about using time travel in Animal Crossing: New Horizons? Want to show off your accomplishments? Drop us a comment below and be sure to check out our other Animal Crossing: New Horizons guides for all your Nook approved goodness!

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The year is 2021 and Animal Crossing: New Horizons has now sold well over 30 million copies, but people are bored.

They've caught all the fish and bugs and found all the fossils. They've got their five-star island and have landscaped it to perfection. Their house is fully upgraded and beautifully furnished. There's just nothing left to do.

Thankfully, Nintendo has announced a ton of DLC will be dropping in the game in just a few days, leaving players clamouring to restart their island to get ready for the new content.

The problem with New Horizons is that the initial few days of the game can be a little slow, requiring you to complete a few tasks and then wait for the next day. Sadly, this could cause problems when it comes to the new DLC.

So, to help you out, here's how you can time travel in Animal Crossing: New Horizons and the impact it can have on your game.

• MORE - All New Animal Crossing New Horizons Villagers Coming In November 2021 Update

How to Time Travel in Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Time travelling is fairly simple in the game. You'll need to make sure you've saved on Animal Crossing: New Horizons and exit the game completely.

This involves coming to the main menu on your Nintendo Switch and pressing X to close the software.

From there, you'll want to click the settings tab at the bottom (the one that looks like a sun) and then head all the way down to the System option.

From System you'll want to select Date and Time. Change Synchronise Clock via Internet from On to Off and change the Current date and time option to one day ahead of where you are.

By selecting one day ahead, you won't skip too far in advance and will be able to complete that future date's activities. This can include waiting for buildings to be built, villagers to move in and more. Very handy for getting ahead of all of the game's early content.

What Impact Can Time Traveling Have on Your Island?

Thankfully, there aren't too many major implications of time traveling in New Horizons .

You'll likely find that a few more weeds are cropping up around the island and any turnips will spoil if you go back in time, however, aside from that, you're golden to travel as much as you want.

Just be sure to keep speaking to your villagers, so they don't get upset, and checking in at the Nook Miles terminal to continue your daily streak.

• Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Time travel

Time travel , often shortened to "TT", is when the player manually changes the time of their game to benefit from seasonal events, bugs , fish , moving villagers out, moving villagers in, upgrading shops, progressing story, etc, in their  Animal Crossing series games. It is also used to manipulate the ABD interest where, by the end of each month, a certain percentage is added to the player's Bell amount in their bank accounts.

It is considered a type of cheating by many but it is not known if it is cheating or not, and is controversial among the community. All players who time travel take the risk of their town becoming populated with weeds , downgrading Tom Nook's Store , the likely possibility of villagers moving out, bedheads, interrupting the growth of trees , and, depending on how far they have traveled, rafflesia growing.

Because the games only track real-world time up to the end of a certain year, said year would rollover after December 31. As a result, time travel would also be necessary to reach a year within the clock's range that is identical to the post-limit year, in order to maintain synchronization with the real world.

• 1.1 In Animal Crossing
• 1.2 In Wild World
• 1.3 In City Folk
• 1.4 In New Leaf
• 1.5 In New Horizons
• 2.1 Positive
• 2.2 Negative

How to time travel [ ]

There are different ways to change the clock time in each console the games were released on. Below addresses how to change the clocks:

In Animal Crossing [ ]

To change the time in Animal Crossing there are two options - the Nintendo GameCube clock or the in-game clock. These are accessed through the in-game options. The ideal option is to change the GameCube's internal clock because the in-game clock affects the growth of trees , the way letters are sent, and how the Police Station and Dump restock with items.

In Wild World [ ]

The clock adjustment feature in Wild World .

Changing the date and time in Wild World is easier than it is in the original Animal Crossing . To change the time in-game, load the game and when at the character select, click the phone and follow the option that goes to the Date and Time settings.

To change the DS time, turn on the DS then touch the screen/press "A". Next, instead of loading Animal Crossing , press the DS icon at the bottom of the touch screen. Click the second menu, the blue one, with the clock and calendar on it. The top button (that resembles a calendar) changes the date, and the right button (that resembles a wall clock) changes the time. Press "B" until the DS says "The system will now shut down," then press "A" to have it turn off. Restart the console, and launch the game again, and the time/date in-game will have changed according to the system time/date.

In City Folk [ ]

Like in the original Animal Crossing , there are two options to change the date and time settings for City Folk . The easier option is to change the Nintendo Wii date and time instead of the in-game date and time settings. This is, again, due to the in-game settings affecting bank interest, plants , and trees.

To change the Wii time settings, go to the Wii Menu and click the 'Wii' button at the bottom left of the screen. Once there, go to 'Setup' and find the menu which opens up the Date and Time settings.

To change the time in the title screen menu, pick 'Other things', and then click 'Set date/time' and change the date and time to the date and time that is desired.

In New Leaf [ ]

Joan mentioning that time travel affects turnips

Most advantages and disadvantages from previous installments are present, although if the Beautiful Town Ordinance is in effect, time travel will not affect the environment, thus, weeds will most likely not appear and flowers will not die.

Unlike previous games, time-traveling has fewer negative effects. Turnips will not rot until the player travels past the next Sunday, and turnip patterns will act normally. The player can use the catalog at any time, and stores cannot downgrade or lose stock. Villagers will also call the player a time traveler in this version as one of their rumors .

The character with a bedhead in New Leaf

A negative side effect of time traveling in New Leaf is grass deterioration . Some players may play the span of 2 or more days in one real-time day. Each time the town is loaded, the grass deteriorates more. Thus, time traveling (e.g, loading the game several times in one real-time day) can be a detriment to the town's grass.

In New Horizons [ ]

There is no in-game option to change the time in this installment of the Animal Crossing series . When talking with Tom Nook in the game menu to discuss settings, there is no option to change the date or time. Time travelling is not considered cheating by the developers, but the game has a flag which determines if a player has time travelled backwards at any point. The flag does nothing.

To change the time in New Horizons , the player must change the time of the console, which can be done by: Entering Settings, scrolling down to System, selecting Date and Time. It is necessary to turn off "Synchronize Clock via Internet" otherwise it will make changing the time impossible. Once you've done that, select Date and Time, and change the date and time to whatever you feel.

Most disadvantages with time traveling in New Horizons are similar to those in New Leaf . Turnips could rot, some islanders may ask to move, and cockroaches may appear in your home. Weeds will appear more quickly and spread in your island, and the player's mailbox may be filled.

One of the disadvantages exclusive to New Horizons is losing your Nook Stop bonus. Each day, you are given Nook Miles for opening up the Stop, whether it is for Nook Shopping, ABD , or to redeem Nook Miles . By trying to time travel, you can lose your streak and be unable to collect some Nook Miles for opening up the Nook Stop .

The game must be restarted when the player has changed the time, so it is recommended you close the software before you change the time. However, it doesn't appear to affect the game until you restart it anyways.

It is still possible to play online even if the clock is not in sync with the real world. There are no effects if the player does so, and the player's turnips will not rot.

In the 1.6.0 Winter update both Turkey Day and Toy Day are locked events that the player could not travel in advance to. However, after the day has passed the player is able to travel back in time to which the event took place.

The effects of time traveling [ ]

As previously mentioned, there are advantages and disadvantages to time traveling. Below are the positive and negative effects on the game:

Positive [ ]

• Allows the player to attend their favorite events.
• Allows the player to receive mail sooner.
• Allows the player to receive bank interest.
• New villagers will move in sooner.
• Fruit will grow on trees sooner.
• Different items available at all stores.
• Ability to catch out-of-season fish and bugs .
• Fast-forward through renovations.
• Grass will regrow. (Grass does not regrow in New Leaf while time traveling.)
• The player can get multiple K.K. Slider songs without having to wait for next Saturday/Sunday/Monday night.
• Allows the player to get the Golden Shovel faster ( Wild World and City Folk )
• Ability to partake in things that would normally be closed at certain hours in real-time.
• Unwanted villagers can be moved out faster.
• Speeds up hybridizing flowers.
• Bushes and trees will grow at a faster rate. (4-5 days)
• Allows the player to participate in their birthday or their villagers' birthdays more quickly.
• In New Horizons, the player can time travel to kick out any villager they want.

Negative [ ]

• There will be more weeds. (Using Wisp by finding his lamp can solve this or Beautiful Town ordinance in Animal Crossing: New Leaf.)
• Flowers will shrivel or die. (Won't happen if Beautiful Town ordinance is in effect in New Leaf.)
• The player will miss out on some items for sale in the in-game shops.
• The player's mailbox may fill up, which will not allow for any more mail until emptied or tossed. (In New Leaf , mail will simply be backed up. Any and all unsent letters will be sent the following day and continue doing so until all scheduled letters are sent.)
• The player will get bed hair if they travel forward in time more than a week.
• Phineas will not appear for a while. (Doesn't include New Leaf.)
• Turnip prices will stay low. (Doesn't seem to happen in Animal Crossing: New Leaf.)
• Turnips will die when a player time travels backwards.
• Villagers will talk about how long the player was away for.
• Cockroaches will appear in the player's home unless the Beautiful Town Ordinance is in effect.
• Tom Nook's Store has the possibility of downgrading in Wild World and City Folk .
• In Wild World , the player will be unable to use the catalog.
• Snowmen in town will melt. This includes traveling backwards, even if the snowman was "alive" on the player's destination day.
• Villagers may feel neglected due to a lack of interaction and move out. This does not apply in New Horizons.
• In New Horizons, time travelling backwards with an open plot past 5AM previous day may cause the plot to fill up.
• In New Horizons, time travelling more than a day forwards or time travelling backwards can cause an already sold plot to glitch out.
• The player can prevent turnip deaths by burying them, time-traveling, and then digging them back up, and the turnips will remain fresh. (This does not work in New Horizons.)
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• 1 Fish (New Horizons)

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How To Time Travel In Animal Crossing: New Horizons

While time travel carries a great deal of reward, it’ll also cause major issues in the game. Here’s what you need to know about Animal Crossing ’s time travel function.

Suggested Reading

How do you time travel in animal crossing: new horizons.

Time travelling in Animal Crossing: New Horizons is fairly simple. Because the game operates on a real world clock, all you’ll need to do is change the time on your Nintendo Switch console.

Related Content

Here’s how to do it:

• On the home screen, navigate to settings
• Select ‘System’ from the dropdown menu
• Select ‘Date and Time’ and choose the date you want to travel to

When you open Animal Crossing: New Horizons , you’ll wake up on your selected date.

What are the risks and rewards of time travel in Animal Crossing?

Time travelling in Animal Crossing lets you skip through the painful wait times of construction works and gain new features like terraforming faster. You’ll be able to breeze through the first few days of Animal Crossing: New Horizons ’ lengthy grind and get to work building your dream town.

You can even take advantage of the game’s banking system to gain millions of bells in interest — to do this, simply travel back in time (40+ years), deposit an amount in the bank and travel forward a few decades to claim your built up interest.

But for all its benefits, time travelling in New Horizons carries great risk particularly, when it comes to calendar events like Bunny Day, which runs from April 1-12.

To participate in the Easter-themed Bunny Day, your Nintendo Switch console will connect to the internet and verify your console’s date. If the dates don’t match up, you won’t be able to participate — but changing them back should be no issue if you’ve time travelled and still want to take part.

While you can easily travel back to the correct date with no consequences , note that your town will likely develop weed problems, any food left out will rot, cockroaches will invade your home and villagers will feel abandoned if you travel forward too far.

For the time poor, Animal Crossing ’s time travel function can be a godsend, but it also takes a lot of the fun and relaxation out of the game.

Should you choose to time travel, use your newfound power wisely.

This post originally appeared on Kotaku Australia .

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Should You Time Travel? | How-To Change Time

★ June To-Do List ★ Wedding Season ★ Flick's Bug-Off ★ Nook Shopping Seasonal Items

Should you time travel? Find out with our complete Animal Crossing: New Horizons (ACNH) guide! Learn how to time travel backwards and forwards, how far you can time travel to, and the penalties for doing it.

List of Contents

Should You Time Travel?

Penalties for time travel, how to time travel, related guides, yes but not neccesary.

Should you time travel? Well, it depends. If you want to experience the game a lot faster, then time traveling is definitely for you! Here are all the benefits you get::

No Significant Penalties

It seems that the game doesn't attempt to significantly discourage time travel. For example, Penalties like flowers wilting and villagers moving away seem to be gone in Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

However, there will still be some changes to your game if you time travel.

Turnips will rot

Don't set the in-game clock back if you have turnips in your inventory. They will rot automatically. Keep this in mind when time traveling!

Cockroaches will appear

Cockroaches will appear if you don't play for more than a month or if you skip ahead in time with Time Travel.

The more time passes, the more Cockroaches will spawn, so check in often to avoid your house being taken over by them!

How to Get Ride of Cockroaches

Flowers will overgrow

Prevent overgrowth by building fences around your flowers!

List of Flowers, Shrubs, and Bushes

Weeds will grow untamed

Be careful when time traveling as weeds increase over time. This can greatly affect your Island Star Rating .

Residents will get lonely

Newer events are time locked

As of version 1.6.0, new events are time locked, meaning you can't time travel to access the events before the specified event date.

Once officially released, you can time travel to them at any time, even after the event has ended.

1. Close and Save the Game

2. Close the software from the HOME menu

Press the X Button on the Switch Main Menu to close the software.

3. Select System Settings

On the Switch Main Menu, select System Settings -> System -> Date and Time -> Set “Synchronize Clock via Internet” to OFF

4. Change the System's Date and Time

After selecting the Date and Time, you'll be able to change the setting manually so you can time travel freely!

5. Start Animal Crossing: New Horizons

You're now able to start the game with the time and date you chose. Happy time travelling!

All Tips & Tricks

>>21 nope, sorry to say it but it doesnt work that way, you also cant go back in time and meet the mother of timmy and tommy nook... may she rest in peace... or enjoy her permenent vacation whatever it may be lol

before holloween event, after update, i time traveled to it ahead of time, you just need update to be made!!!

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Time Traveling in 'Animal Crossing' Has Its Benefits — and Its Shortcomings

Published Sept. 16 2021, 7:47 p.m. ET

Since it was released in March 2020, Nintendo Switch players have dumped hundreds of hours into their Animal Crossing: New Horizons islands, redesigning them and creating custom content for their favorite villagers . The game offered a reprieve for many during the COVID-19 lockdown and was easily one of the defining video games of 2020.

But one of the downsides of this highly addictive game is that it runs in real time, making it hard to rush through the game and complete many tasks or challenges quickly. If this is how you like to play video games, grinding them out as quickly as possible, then you might find Animal Crossing frustrating.

That being said, there are ways to time travel in the game to bypass this feature. If you're impatient (like us), here's how to do it.

Why would you want to time travel in 'Animal Crossing'?

For hardcore Animal Crossing fans, you'll know time traveling is sometimes the only way to quickly and effectively do an entire redesign of your island. There are a limited number of tasks you can complete in one day, severely restricting the redesign process. You can only build one bridge or ramp and move one house or building a day, and you'll have to wait for the following day for the task to be completed. This means to move all eight villagers on your island, it'll take you eight days.

There are also a limited number of certain resources, like fruits and fossils, that will spawn on your island every day. You can only dig up five fossils once a day, and once you shake the fruit off your trees, it'll take three days to regrow.

The rocks on your island can also only be mined once a day. While you can travel to other islands using Nook Miles tickets for these resources, it's much easier when you can collect all of these things from your island.

If Animal Crossing didn’t want me to time travel it would allow me to move more than one house per day. — Tha Ghost of Kyle J. West 🎃 (@VaguelySquare) September 8, 2021

This is part of what makes time traveling so appealing. By bypassing the built-in wait time, you can complete redesigns on your island much faster, or complete collections quickly. There are also certain bugs and fish that can only be found at certain times of the day, so time traveling offers you an opportunity to visit the times you're not usually able to play.

How to time travel in 'Animal Crossing: New Horizons':

Time traveling is actually really simple and has minimal consequences in-game. To change the time in-game, all you have to do is change the time on your Switch.

Go to the home menu of your Nintendo Switch and select the settings button, then navigate to "date and time." Disable "Synchronize Clock via Internet" and then manually enter the date and time you want to travel to.

Once you've done that, just reopen the game and you'll be in that new time! It's important to note, though, that if you plan to buy or sell turnips then you will not be able to time travel, otherwise they will rot and be unsellable. You also will be unable to travel forward to future big events, so don't use this to access a major holiday early or you'll be unsuccessful.

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How to Time Travel in Animal Crossing New Horizons

Home » Animal Crossing New Horizons » How to Time Travel in Animal Crossing New Horizons

Animal Crossing New Horizons time travel is a “mechanic” that you can use in order to jump into the future and the past in the game. It’s not really a mechanic; time travel in Animal Crossing New Horizons is basically just tricking the game by messing with the date and time on your console. That said, it can be used to progress through the game in a manner that’s a little bit cheaty. So, in our How to Time Travel in Animal Crossing New Horizons guide, we’ll show you what you need to do to execute this cheat.

Animal Crossing New Horizons – How to Time Travel?

To time travel in Animal Crossing New Horizons, hit the Home button, then go to System Settings. Go all the way to the bottom of this menu, to System. You’ll find date and time under this option, so click on it. Now that you’re in this menu, turn off the Synchronize Clock via Internet option. Now, just change the time and date to whatever you want. However, when you go back into the game, it’ll still be set to the date and time before you messed with it. So, you’ll have to save and exit the game, then go back in. The date will now be the one you set.

Now, there are some things about time travel in Animal Crossing New Horizons that we have to note. For one, every change that you make to the island, such as picking stuff up and chopping down trees, remains permanent no matter what you do. So, you can’t use time travel to erase mistakes. Also, when you rewind time, you won’t get an announcement from Nook. If you order something from Residential Services, you have to hop forward in time for it to arrive; you can’t get that order in the past.

What’s also interesting is that, if you jump several days into the past, and then one day into the future, the game will still treat this as a new day. And, there seems to be no Mr. Resseti to berate you for messing with time. Last, but certainly not least, time jumping might end up messing with the online play, so exercise caution with that.

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Your turnips also roy if you time hop around.

Perhaps that’s their way of detering people from using it.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons - What Is Time Travelling?

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Have you ever wondered how some players seem to amass great fortunes and elaborate islands in Animal Crossing: New Horizons , while it seemingly takes forever for you to progress towards the same goal? In many cases, the difference lies not in skill, but in the conscious decision to “bend” the rules of the game to Time Travel, allowing for time-gates to be skipped, along with several other benefits.

What Does Time Travel Allow?

Put simply, Time Travel lets your island progress by a day, a week, a year, or whatever amount of time you desire. This is especially useful for when time-gated progress comes up. Evicting a villager, bridge inclines, and building upgrades are common examples of events that only require real time to complete. By changing the time and date on the Nintendo Switch , players can bypass the time requirement and get right into the action.

Skipping back and forth in time can be especially useful for players who have started playing the game only recently and feel as though they are far behind their friends and family. Some players love restarting their islands entirely from scratch, and this also allows for the “boring” parts to be skipped.

Those uses of Time Travel often involve large jumps in time, and for a while players could make large amounts of Turnips from the monthly interest gained from their accounts, until Nintendo nerfed the rate of interest gained.

The final reason that some players use time travel has to do with the real-world clock and how the environment in New Horizons changes between morning, afternoon, and evening. Someone who may work all day and only have time in the evenings to head to their island will be restricted to night-time activities, which is a problem because certain events, creatures, and shops will only be open or available in the day. By manually changing the time, players can access more in the game than if they only played in the evenings.

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Watch Your Turnips!

Right now, there is only one major potential downside to skipping through time, and that is that Turnips are affected differently than everything else. Having Turnips on and island and then skipping ahead and back past the following Sunday will result in the entire stock becoming rotten.

Can I Get In Trouble For Time Travel?

Strictly speaking, there are no official rules against Time Travel, and the developers left the method intact from Animal Crossing: New Leaf . Within the game community, opinions are largely split regarding the ethics of time travel. Some are adamantly against its use, but the leisurely style of the game coupled with the overall design of playing how one wants means that it is largely a personal decision.

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• Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Animal Crossing New Horizons: Complete Bug Catching Guide

I n Animal Crossing: New Horizons, there are three ongoing collection tasks that you’ll be continually working through as the seasons pass in the game.

There are 80 species of fish to catch around the year , and you’ll be tasked with digging up as many fossils as you can each day in an attempt to compile all 35 complete fossil specimens in the museum .

The third quest set by Blathers, much to their detest, is for you to collect every species of bug on the island.

Much like with the island’s native aquatic life, there are 80 different species of invertebrates for you to catch, with the species available to find being dependant on the time of year and time of day.

Here’s how to go about catching bugs and a complete list of all bugs in ACNH.

How to get a net in New Horizons

The net, or rather, the Flimsy Net, is one of the first items that you learn to craft in Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

After completing the opening tutorial day on your new island, Tom Nook will allow you to use his workbench, teaching you how to craft a flimsy fishing rod and a flimsy net.

The recipe for a flimsy net is as simple as it gets: all you need is five tree branches.

It is also possible for you to buy a Flimsy Net and superior forms of bug-catching nets from the item shop, Nook’s Cranny, as the game progresses.

As you can see in the image above, a Flimsy Net costs 400 Bells, while the other example of net on sale here, the Star Net, costs 2500 Bells.

How to use a net in New Horizons

As is the case with all tools in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, using a net is as simple as pressing the A button.

However, there is a knack to using the net perfectly so that you don’t scare away or miss any bugs that you wish to catch.

When you see an invertebrate that you want to catch, you’ll first need to equip your net by either pressing Left or Right on the d-pad, via your inventory (X), or from the tool wheel (which you can unlock with Nook Miles).

With your net equipped, you’ll need to line-up the front face of your character’s body with the insect.

As your character pulls the net directly over their head in its swing, you need to be facing the bug while also in range.

Particularly with bugs like beetles, which fly off when startled, you’ll want to approach them slowly.

Fast movement will scare off some bugs, so be sure to walk slowly and turn slowly towards them before pressing A to cast your net.

Some bugs will require you to be very quick not just to catch them, but also to avoid being bitten or stung. For example, when you disturb a wasp nest, you can avoid getting a wasp sting by netting the wasps.

However, if you’re too slow, you’ll get an unsightly wasp sting that you’ll want to heal .

Animal Crossing: New Horizons invertebrates fishing list

Whenever you catch a bug in Animal Crossing: New Horizons and give it to Blathers for examination and to be displayed, you’ll learn all of the key details about the invertebrate (see above).

So, you can always go back into your NookPhone (ZL) and consult the Critterpedia to find where and when to catch the bug again.

There are 80 species of bugs to catch regardless of if you’re in the Northern Hemisphere or Southern Hemisphere, but the seasonality of most invertebrates is different between the regions.

Unlike catching sharks in ACNH , you’ll invariably be able to see the exact species before you swing a net at the bug, making it easier to keep track of what you’re hunting.

To unlock the seasonally-locked invertebrates, you can use the time-travelling technique to collect bugs in the past and future.

Whenever you venture out, be sure to have a couple of Flimsy Nets or one trusty net on you so that you can capitalise on all of the bugs of the season.

Looking for more Animal Crossing New Horizons Guides?

Animal Crossing New Horizons: Complete Fossil List and Guide

Animal Crossing New Horizons: Complete Iron Nuggets Guide (How to Farm Iron Nuggets and Where to Find Them)

Animal Crossing New Horizons: Complete Fishing Guide and Top Tips

Animal Crossing New Horizons: Complete Controls Guide and Tips

Animal Crossing New Horizons: How to Cure a Wasp Sting and Make Medicine

Animal Crossing New Horizons: How to Time Travel, Skip Days, and Change the Season

Animal Crossing New Horizons: Wallpapers

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Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp Ending Service Could Give the Next Mainline Game the Lion's Share

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New PS5 and Switch Game Has Serious Animal Crossing Vibes

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Since its debut on the GameCube in 2001, Animal Crossing has become a cornerstone of the life simulation genre. With its charming world where players can effortlessly create their own cozy environments, it's clear why the series is so beloved. However, some fans are understandably disappointed with the recent announcement that Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp will shut down service in November.

Although it's reasonable that Nintendo can't support a game indefinitely, especially one released in 2017, the news is still heartbreaking for dedicated players. As a free-to-play, portable option, and the series' only mobile entry, Pocket Camp established itself as one of the best Animal Crossing games. However, despite the disheartening news, there may still be a silver lining ahead.

An upcoming life simulation game revealed during the Gamescom Opening Night Live show is giving off some strong Animal Crossing vibes.

Pocket Camp's End Could Signal Good News for the Next Animal Crossing Title

Pocket camp's closure may be a strategic move by nintendo.

Amid rumors swirling that Nintendo is working on a new Animal Crossing installment , speculation points to a follow-up to New Horizons possibly launching on the company's next-gen console around 2026. Tentatively called the 'Nintendo Switch 2,' this successor is expected to feature several popular and exclusive titles at launch. Though there has been no confirmation, this could potentially include a new mainline Animal Crossing game.

Given this context, it’s plausible that the timing of Pocket Camp 's closure was strategically planned. By scaling back support for Pocket Camp , Nintendo may be reallocating resources and focus on the development of this major entry. Due to the high expectations set by the tremendous success of New Horizons , this shift could be crucial in ensuring that the new title receives the full support it needs to resonate with fans and make a significant impact when it releases.

With speculation that the next Animal Crossing game might aim for ambitious themes , such as outer space or underwater settings, the possibilities appear limitless. Still, despite Nintendo’s proven track record, the series' increasing popularity emphasizes the importance of a successful launch. This achievement will hinge not only on a strong debut but also on robust post-launch support and engaging events to maintain player interest and excitement long after the release.

There's Still Some Good News for Pocket Camp Players

Even though some players have criticized Nintendo for continuing to release paid items in Pocket Camp despite the game's service ending on November 29, it's not all bad news for the community. While support for Pocket Camp will cease in a few months, Nintendo is offering players the opportunity to transfer their save data to a new, offline-only version of the app. According to the FAQ on Nintendo's official website , "In addition to sava-data transfer, the basic gameplay and controls will be the same as Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp . However, this app will allow the player to use the included features with a one-time purchase."

Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp 's online service ends on November 28, 2024, at 3:00 PM UTC. Further details will be released in October 2024.

Notably, the offline version will not support online functionalities such as:

• Market Boxes
• Visiting other player's campsites

Although the offline version of the app will have some differences from the original, it remains a worthwhile option. For a one-time payment, players can keep their saved progress and preserve their collections. Moreover, given fans' demand for an offline version that closely mirrors the online experience, even with some core features missing, there’s hope that Nintendo will ensure players can still enjoy meaningful experiences in this new version.

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