Winter in Animal Crossing

The Magic of Winter in New Horizons

Again, apologies to Seaside players, as this is the second post about New Horizons I have made on this site.  Since my accounts was hacked, however, I have been unable to access my other sites, which is frustrating and unconscionable.  I would like to be able to help players of New Horizons, however, with a few tips.   I do feel any Seaside player would enjoy New Horizons immensely.  For those Seaside players who complain about the ever-increasing number of premium items in the game, the wonderful thing about Animal Crossing is that, once you purchase the game itself, Nintendo adds an extraordinary number of updates with new items and the player never had to pay again.  To me, this is wonderful.

This post is about Winter in New Horizons.  It is Winter now, but only if your Island is located in the Northern Hemisphere.  If in the South, the Summer season has begun.

The game runs on real time, but a really enjoyable and helpful aspect of the game is the ability to alter your system clock to travel back in time, whether it is a matter of hours,  days or months.

The fact is that many players have day jobs.  If they do not change the time, they may find themselves able to go to the game  in the dead of night when all the shops are shut.  Time travel cam make the difference between utter frustration and true enjoyment.

Winter involves a number of special options.  The biggest event of the Season is Toy Day.  From 1 December, Nook will offer a special Toy for future gift giving on Toy Day which is like Christmas really.

On the 11th of December, your landscape will change to snow, and you will begin to see falling snowflakes that you can catch with a net.  These are used to create items.

On 12th December, Isabelle will make reference to the snow and tell you that you may find snowballs on the ground.  You should find two each day.  These can be rolled into Snowboys who, if made properly, will give you special recipes and large snowflakes in gratitude for bringing them to life.  You can make a new Snowboy every day.

Note that if you make a Perfect Snowboy and have more than one character, you can load each to go to the Snowboy for a quick chat.  Each player will receive a random Frozen recipe DIY and a large snowflake from the same Snowboy.

On the 15th, Christmas multi-coloured lights will appear on the Trees and if you shake trees, you randomly can find Ornaments of different colours.  Like the Pine cones and Acorns of Autumn, these can be used to create special seasonal items.

More to follow!  Tips on creating a perfect Snowboy as well as the appearance and uses of the Dung Beetle.

Festival DIYs

You may obtain the festival DIYs that use ornaments in a couple of ways.  Ordinarily, you find them by shooting down balloons of any colour apart from dark blue.  Dark blue always contain materials.

Another way to obtain these is from an Animal in his or her house at the crafting bench.  It is very useful to visit your Anulimals in this season.   If you have the DIY, the Animal will offer you ornaments rather than than a duplicate.

One Animal will have a DIY in the morning, and another at night.

Perfect Snowboy

This is something you have to learn, but two snowballs will appear daily.  The first one you touch becomes the body.  Rolling both to a point where they are not tok far from our another before they reach the desired size is prudent.  Every roll increases the size.  The body should be maximum size.   The size requirement for the head is very precise.  What I did was take a photo of the first Perfect Snowboy I made with my character beside it.  It is a good reference.  The head should be 2/3 the size of the body.  Too small or too large and you receive nothing but complaints.   Actually, your first attempt may result in rewards by a Snowboy feeling generous despite your lack of expertise but after that, the requirements are rigid.

Every character on your island can speak to a Perfect Snowboy to receive a random DIY.  They all may be different, so if you hate the activity, simply talk to the Snowboy with each character.  Only the individual who makes the Snowboy will receive a large Snowflake as well, until the characters who speak to him have received all the recipes.

The Dung Beetle will be driven to snowballs and if not stopped, will roll them into the nearest body of water.  Try to catch it with a net.  They make wonderful models.

Remember that the first snowball touched is the body, even if that touch is by a Dung beetle.

If a snowball falls into the water or is smashed, quit and reload.   You will find two snowballs again.

The Snowboy gives Frozen DIYs but sends them directly to the Nook phone.  I only received one new recipe thzt uses Snowflakes this year.

Toy Day

Toy Day is 24 December.  It is not the last day when you can shake ornaments from the decorated Cedar trees but it is the last day toys will be sold at Nook's and it is the day when Jingles appears at the plaza.

Speak to Jingles:

1.  He gives you a DIY to make special festive wrapping paper  and asks that you craft three.  Remember it is a DIY card.  You need to learn it before you can craft it.

Bring him the paper and he will give you a Magic Bag with gifts for all the animals.  Equip it and speak to each of your animals to complete Jingle's quest.  It has to be equipped when you speak to any animal or you will be unable to give the gift.

When all of the animals have received a gift, report to Jingles.  He will give three rewards:

Set of Toy Stockings

Diy for a Gift Pile

Toy Sleigh

He will take back the Magic Bag as well.

This is where many new players make the error if thinking Toy Day is done.  If you have been buying Toys throughout the season, wrap 10 and give one to each of your Animals to receive a gift in return.  The gift will be a Toy.  You may have received three gifts from Animals when you were handing out Jingle's presents, but this is the way to obtain Toys that were not sold at your Nook's or different colours.  You actually can regift a Toy given to you, but you must wrap it first.

On Toy Day, no Animal will be found crafting at a bench, but between 25 December and the end of the year, you still may obtain a Festive DIY randomly from an Animal at home.   

Remember there is one DIY available before noon and another after noon.  I never have obtained two Festive diys from Animals on the same day,, but you will receive two different recipes if you visit every one both in the morning and evening.

They still may be obtained randomly by shooting down a balloon but the odds are poor.

Remember that if you have created more than one character,  each can obtain the (same) DIY from.an Animal and each can talk to a Perfect Snowman for a different random DIY.  Each can experience Jingle's event as well.

Set of Stockings

Hang it on the wall and use the A button the next day to receive a secret gift of Jingle's photo.

New Festive DIYs

New to this year I believe:

Festive Top Set*

Ornament Crown

Giant Ornament

Ornament Tree

Ornament Table Lamp

*I believe this is for Hanukkah

Special Goods

In the seasonal menu, the special food items appear only through the 31st.  The New Year items, including Lunar New Year items will continue to be sold for some time.

New Year Silk Hats

You can purchase four different colours from Tortimer on New Year's Eve.  Each Island has different sets of colours.  You cannot order these from your catalogue afterwards.

Tips for Animal Crossing New Horizon

I apologise to Seaside players, but since my accounts were hacked, I no longer have access to my other blogs, which is really awful.  I wanted to share a few tips for Animal Crossing players.  For Seaside, the new Quest can be found in the next post.

Since the huge update on 5 November, we now have access to a cooperative market on Harv's Island.  To bring any new stall costs 100,000 Bells.

The most unique of these is the llama pair who can change the colour of your items.  Where previously,  you were limited to the colour of an item you found in Nooks or on Redd's trawler, now you can take an item to them and choose any colour.   They cannot customise every item, but almost every item!  This is a real gamechanger.

There is a veritable host of new items both on sale in the shops and available for Nook Miles.  For me personally, two of the most exciting were the merry-go-round and dress-up doll.  The doll is a shop item and has a multitude of customisation options.  The carousel moves with music, much like a real one.

Today, the beautiful Samurai Suit appeared in the shop for 150,000 Bells.  This is a decorative item, not an outfit, and is a complete suit of armour.

In Nook Special items, there is a Castle Set consisting of Tower, Gate and Wall.  The most expensive is 250000 Bells I think.

Castle prices:

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I have seen so much misinformation about these that I am posting here :

Castle Set:

Castle Turret: 250,000 Bells

Castle Gate: 160,000 Bells

Castle Wall: 56,000 Bells

Construction Items:

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Bulldozer: 39000 Bells

Excavator: 69000 Bells

Jackhammer: 9300 Bells

Ttansport

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Luxury Car: 300,000 Bells

Minicar: 26000 Bells

Truck: 120,000 Bells

New Plants

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Some of these plants are available at Nook's.

Pine Tree: 15,000 Bells

Evergreen Ash: 3100 Bells

Pitcher Plant: 3100 Bells

Potted Starter Plants: 720 Bells

Schefflera: 1100 Bells

More Nook Special Items

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Dormant Volcano: 97000 Bells

Yacht: 260,000 Bells

The Pine Tree is spectacular. Very Japanese.

Shop items:

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Note that some of these were in older Animal Crossing games, like the Bow.  I am hoping to find some other Japanese items that were in other Animal Crossing games

Bow: 96,000 Bells

Samurai Suit: 150,000 Bells

Porcelain Vase: 7900 Bells

Tunomi teacup: 550 Bells

Cards: 1800 Bells

Card Tower: 2200 Bells

Science Pod: 95,000 Bells

Stacked Shoeboxes: 730 Bells

Stair Dresser: 19,000 Bells

Stepladder: 1100 Bells

Storefront: 7200 Bells

Strapped Books: 350 Bells

Tokonoma: 23000 Bells

  N.B.  convenient for placing two gyroids side by side

Drapery: 1600 Bells

Fancy Bathroom Vanity: 96000 Bells

Floral Sconce: 1200 Bells

Dual Hanging Monitors: 5400 Bells

New series and sets

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Some new series (many in older AC  games) that are showing up randomly at Nook's Cranny include:

Elegant

Patchwork 

Vintage

Dreamy

Ranch

Simple

Nordic

Moroccan

Lab*

*I am fairly certain the Lab Chair is new, although the Lab Experiments set was available from the start

Other New Items

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New musical instruments include:

Clarinet

Trumpet 

Lily Pad Table

Ceiling items:

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There are a multitude of these, but I particularly like:

Chandelier: 30000 Bells

Moroccan Lights:  9800 Bells

Round Light Fixture: 4100 Bells

Ornithopter: 5700 Bells

There is a disco light that might be fun.  It has different colours.

Disco Ball: 6200 Bells

Other items include a fun Piggy Bank where you can withdraw money. 

Owl Clock: 3400 Bells

Piggy Bank: 740 Bells

Food items and furniture:

There are a lot of dishes and beverages that will be sold at Nooks.  There are furniture items as well, including:

Ice cream display: 11,000 Bells

Animal Visits

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Animals will invite you to visit them.  They will ask if any item appeals to you, but will refuse to let go of many of them.  They play the High Low Game.  When you leave, they give you a song.

What can be annoying is an Animal potentially knocking on your door whenever you go into your house.  They will bring a gift, often a fruit, play the High Low Game, and then either speak to you in the main room or ask for a tour of every room.  You can terminate the visit by trying to walk out the front door.  I do not think it reduces friendship to cut a visit short, but I am not certain.

One reason I am writing this post is to publish the effect of opening a stall for Redd on Harv's Island.  First of all, once open, he sells two works of art, and they can be counterfeit.  Legitimate art dealer is not an accurate description.  It is the same old Redd.  On the island stall, I believe he will offer the sane two art pieces for a week.

I was disturbed initially to discover that, instead of selling two items at the Stall, he has the same sort of grab box he has during festivals.  Here it produces random food items.

My concern was that anchored now on Harv's Island, he no longer would appear in his trawler on my island.  Fortunately,  this is not the case.  In his trawler,  he still offers two items as well as four works of art.

I have more tips.  I will add them as energy permits. 

New Islands

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I have found at least one Gyroid fragment on any island I visited by boat, and  on one occasion at least, two.  After rain, one sometimes can dig up a Gyroid instead.

Islands so far have shown you can travel to a different climate or season.  On one, all the Sakura were in bloom and I could catch Cherry blossoms.   On the beach, a DIY for a cherry blossom rug.

Islands where all the trees are Coconuts often have vines and

Glowing moss.  On these Islands, you should find a DIY bottle on the beach with a recipe that uses vines.

One of the most interesting islands had rocks that delivered different seasonal star fragments.  There were shooting stars in the sky, and Gemini Closet DIY although it is November on my island.

I have discovered an island can be any season.  This means that an island that has autumn trees may deliver pinecone and acorns.  I found cherry petals on another.

I found an Island with Summer Shells on the beach.  The DIY in the bottle was a Summer Shell item.  The insects and fish were Summer varieties.  Thus, Kappa trips can allow you to visit different seasons.

Crops can be purchased in season from Leif or found randomly on an island to which the Kappa takes you.  Note rear Planting the crops as starts earn you Nook Miles.  Transplanting crops does not count.

Crops include:

Pumpkins

Tomatoes

Sugarcane 

Wheat 

Potatoes 

The following can be found, but not replanted:

Glowing Moss

  N.B.  You will find a DIY that uses Glowing Moss or Vines on any Island where it is found with the Vines.

Planting Crops

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There are three ways to plant Croos.  One is by purchasing the starts from Leif.  The second is by uprooting a ripe plant on one if the islands you visit by boat, taking it home, and replanting it.  The third is by taking the actual harvested Crop and choosing the 'Plant' option in the same way you would plant a Fruit.

Crops and Cooking:  

As with Pumpkins, watering is not required but allegedly brings a better harvest.  Crops probably are seasonal, but I have to prove this.  Leif came to sell Wheat in July in the Southern Hemisphere, but whether that was random or seasonal will be disclosed as time passes.

Cooking requires special stoves, and you will not unlock Cooking until you redeem the app using Nook Miles.  After that, you can purchase some basic recipes at Nooks from the cabinet.

Incidentally,  although you will receive a receive a recipe for a beautiful stove,  the old clay furnace will allow you to cook as well.

The new kitchen stove is the Stonework Kitchen, made with 30 Stone, 15 Clay, 10 Iron Nuggets.  It can be customised and can be placed anywhere.  

There are other Kitchens that can be used that can be purchased from Nook's.  You can walk into the house of any animal that has a Kitchen to cook there as well.

Now you may open a message bottle to find a recipe or when you visit an Animal's House, find her Cooking instead of crafting.  Without having bought the app, you will be unable to obtain the recipe from the animal.  I sent a second character for a duplicate and the Animal told me to learn to cook first.

You can obtain recipes by catching specific fish like the Sea Bass.  I expect there are sea creatures that cause your character to think of a recipe as well.  I will add these.

Knowing the ingredients needed for a dish does not allow you to make it.  The only reason I am listing these is for values.

Storage 

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Among the new items that can be redeemed using Nook Miles are two Storage items:

Wooden Storage Shed: 6000 Miles (DIY)

  Requires: 30 Softwood, 30 Wood, 30 Hardwood, 10 Iron Nuggets*

Storage Shed: 6000 Miles

The Storage Shed is incredibly useful.  It does not add to your existing storage, but allows you to access it.  When you open the door, you have the option to store an item or take an item our of storage.  I have my Stonework Kitchen outside, and now have a Wooden Storage Shed next to it so that I can access ingredients for cooking instantly.   It can be useful to place a Storage Shed next to your crafting bench as well.

*Remember that, if you use a Flimsy or Stone Axe, you can knock out three random pieces of wood from any tree daily without destroying the tree.

Values of Cooked Dishes:

I do not intend to list all recipes, but you can see the logic of the values.  Fruit is worth less than Crops.  

Crop values:

Tomato: 350 Bells

Carrot: 350 Bells

Sugarcane: 350 Bells

Wheat: 350 Bells

Crop dishes:

Juices and Smoothies

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Tomato Juice: Tomato x 2: 840

Bells

Tomato Puree: Tomato x 3: 1260 Bells

Apple Smoothie: Apples x 2: 300 Bells

Pear Smoothie: Pears x 2: 300 Bells

Note that a Smoothie value does not change depending on whether native or foreign fruit.

What this means is that you finally make a good profit on your native fruit!  You make a loss, however,  if you turn foreign fruit into Smoothies.

Cherry Jelly: Cherry x 2: 300 Bells

  N.B.  I was a little shocked to see the low value here.  It is obvious crop dishes are more valuable than fruit drinks or dishes.

NOTE THAT MAKING A JUICE OR SMOOTHIE WITH YOUR NATIVE FRUIT NOW GIVES YOU A CHANCE TO SELL NATIVE FRUIT FOR 300 Bells essentially.  As the recipe requires two of the fruit, foreign fruit is reduced in value.

About Flour and Sugar:

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You will need 5 Wheat or 5 Sugarcane to process the raw material, but you can choose to make any type of product, and you obtain 10 Bags

Flour: Wheat x 5:  210 Bells

Wheat Flour: Wheat x 5: 210 Bells 

Sugar: Sugarcane x 5; 210 Bells

Brown Sugar: Sugarcane x 5: 210 Bells

Carrot Cake: Flour, Sugar, Carrot: 1160 Bells

Apple Pie: 3 Flour, 2 Sugar, 2 Apple: 1880 Bells

Orange Tart: Flour, Sugar, Orange: 780 Bells

Pancakes: Flour x 2, Sugar x 2: 1260 Bells

Plain Cupcakes: Flour, Sugar: 630 Bells

Brown Sugar Cupcakes: Whole Wheat Flour, Brown Sugar: 630 Bells

Coconut Cookies: Flour, Sugar, Coconut: 1010 Bells

Pickled Veggies: Tomato, Potato, Carrot, Orange Pumpkin: 2100 Bells

Tomato Curry: Flour x 3, Tomato x 3: 2520 Bells

Organic Bread: Whole Wheat Flour x 3: 950 Bells

Carrot Potage: Flour, Carrot x 2: 1370 Bells

Tomate Al ajillo: Tomato x 3: 1260 Bells

Gnocchi di patate: 2210 Bells

Mushroom Pizza: Flour x 3, Round Mushroom x 2, Flat Mushroom x 2: 

Pizza Margherita: Flour x 3, Tomato x 2: 2000 Bells

Tomato Bagel Sqndwich: 2 Flour, 3 Tomato: 2210 Bells

Spaghetti Napolitan: 3 Flour, 1 Tomato Purée: 2210 Bells

Fish Dishes:

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You learn most fish dishes when you catch a fish that is used in the dish.  Other recipes are obtained in Message Bottles or when you visit an animal, but the Fish recipes tend to be a result of obtaining the fish in question and becoming inspired.

Sea Bass Pie: Flour x 3, Sea Bass:

Aji Fry: Horse Mackerel, Flour

Grilled Sea Bass with Herbs: Sea Bass, 5 Weeds: 540 Bells

Karei No Nitsuke: Dab

Pesce al'acqua pazza: Red Snapper, Tomato, Manila Clam: 4140 Bells

Squid Ink Spaghetti: Flour x 3, Squid;

Squid ink Curry: Flour x 3, Squid 

Cooked Dishes from Nooks and Balloons:

Like the Festival Dishes that are sold as Special Items seasonally, you can find Cooked Dishes for sale at Nooks and in Balloons.  These, once added to your Catalogue, can be ordered.  They include:

Hearty Ramen: 800 Bells

There are many, which I shall not list.  If you choose to consume them, they will give you extra energy.  Not certain if the effect lasts longer than a Fruit.   I do not eat often in this game.  I do know that Animals do not always give you a gift in return if you give them a Crop or Coffee , or something like Hearty Ramen.   Colton exclaimed 'Gasp! Swoon!  How did you know I was craving a Hearty Ramen?', but simply bagged it and walked away.  On the other hand, I gave a wolf named Audie a Tomato, and she gave me a Plover Dress.  It may be that, as in other games, each Animal type has its own preferences.

Special DIYs:

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Ruined Arch

Suspicious Cauldron

Rope-net Flooring

Vine Hanging Chair

Glow in the Dark Stickers

Glowing Moss Pointed Cap

Glowing Moss Dress

There are others that are made using the Vines or the Glowing Moss.

Other Building items:

Medieval Building Side: 9800 Bells

  Appears randomly at Nooks.  I expect there are other Medieval items that can be joined to the Castle Set to create a Medieval village or landscape.

DIYs in Balloons

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Many of the seasonal DIYs are found only by popping balloons.  It is very difficult to collect them often as Balloons can contain other items as well.  This is a tip for new players.  Keep your game open and stand on the beach near the top of your island, turning the volume up so you can hear the Balloons before you see them and can shoot them down over the beach.  

Gyroid

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Instead of different sizes, they cone in different colours and each type has its unique sgape and sound.  Here are some:

Boioingoid

Bwongoid

Doctors

Sproingoid

Tremoloid

Arfoid*

* Barks like a dog!

There are many more.  They come in different colours, but you can customise them yourself as well.

Brewster Progressions

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Blathers initially will give you a picture of Brewster and tell you he is a gyroid collector.  This is a hint to take the Kappa boat to a new island where you will find Blathers exploring.  Speak to him after digging up the gyroid and fragment.  He then opened the Roost in the museum.

1.  Sit at the counter to order coffee.

2.  He will tell you that you can order coffee to go from the other counter.

3.  He will stop you on the way out and give you a recipe for cookies.

4.  He will begin to add pigeon milk to your coffee.

5.  He will stop you on the way out and give you coffee beans, an item.

6.  Blathers will visit and tell Brewster how much the Roost has boosted museum attendance.