Upon its March 20 release, Nintendo’s “Animal Crossing: New Horizons” Switch-exclusive video game has seen tremendous success among demographics across the globe. The game sold 1.88 million copies worldwide in its opening three days, still selling strong today. Yet, as game popularity grows among SSU students, different approaches to the game—tips and tricks included—are as useful as they are timely for users across a quarantined America and nations alike. 

IGN video game and media contributor, Samuel Claiborne, explains the start of the game in his overview piece, “Animal Crossing: New Horizons Review.” 

“At the outset, two brave villagers and a very industrious raccoon family are the island’s only residents. Cut off from any mainland,” he continued, “it’s just you, trees, water, rocks, and slow accumulation of buildings and animal villagers over the course of several (real time) days,” said Claiborne. 

“New Horizons” starts slowly, but, after a couple of days, the game expands—whereby bells, the currency in the game, become a real problem.

One of the quickest ways to earn bells is by visiting Mystery Islands. The player can exchange miles (a different currency received when completing achievements) for a “Nook Miles” ticket and travel to a deserted island.

The game’s “Nook Miles Tickets and Islands Guide,” presented in writing by Julia Le, discusses ‘Nook Miles’ tickets: “With 2,000 Nook Miles, you can buy a Nook Miles Ticket from the Nook Stop at Resident Services,” Le continues, “take the ticket to the airport, and you can fly off to a Mystery Island to harvest resources like wood, stone, or Iron Nuggets,” she said. 

Le also discusses various islands that can generate resources and what to look out for when on each island.

When visiting the “Mystery Islands,” look for exotic fruit, rocks and rare animals. Exotic fruit that is not native to the player’s starting island will sell for 500-bells-a-piece. The fruits can also be planted to sprout a fruit tree of the same type three days later. 

All islands have rocks that, when hit with a shovel or axe, will drop different items of high value. These items are usually iron, clay or rock pieces, which can be useful for many players crafting recipes. Some islands will also spawn rare fish or insects that, when collected, can be sold for a high profit.

One of the most profitable insects is the tarantula.

A tarantula island is an island where tarantulas will spawn regularly. This, while very difficult to find, is quite easy to create. If the player uses a Nook Miles ticket past 7 p.m. and gets an island that is relatively flat with small amounts of inland water, they can create a tarantula island. The player needs to spawn on the island, cut down all the trees and remove all of the plants. By making an island where there is only grass, only a few different types of insect will be able to spawn: spiders, wharf roaches and tarantulas. 

Once the island is cleared, the player needs to scare or catch all insects that spawn and eventually tarantulas will appear. After 30 minutes to 60 minutes, the player can have a full inventory of tarantulas, which sells for about 300,000 bells.

Another great way to make money with little-to-no work in the game is through buying turnips on Sunday morning from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m.; buying turnips in “Animal Crossing: New Horizons” is similar to buying stock in the stock market.

In Lottie Lynn’s article, “‘Animal Crossing’ money-making: How to get bells fast in New Horizons explained,” she describes the process by saying, “If you’re looking for a high-risk, high-reward investment, then the stock market in New Horizons is for you.”

Largely, earning bells is not a problem if the player does a few different things on the island. Visiting Mystery Islands and collecting the resources there can increase the player’s profits substantially. The fruit collected on these islands should be planted on the main island and harvested for money as well.

If enough trees are planted (around 300 fruit trees), then every week the player can collect at least one million bells from fruit alone. If the bells earned from the islands and fruit trees are then invested into buying turnips on Sunday, the player can generate millions of bells every week.

While approaches like these, beyond growing and playing in one’s island, will take some time to get into, every user from SSU students to impassioned players alike can become rich when following along diligently, as lucrative rewards await!