Having to live on an isolated island seems like a great idea, so we are giving you some tips on how to enjoy your new life.

With Animal Crossing: New Horizons already available, players have already started their adventures on their own island. For newcomers or long-time fans who need a refresher course on how to efficiently progress in the game and be able to develop your tiny island into a paradise.

Pay your initial debt early

At the start of your game, you will be provided with a tent by Tom Nook as your starter kit where you can pay the debt through Nook Miles points, a currency that you accumulate through achievements in the game. You’ll be able to accumulate a lot of Nook Miles points by harvesting materials once you get your tools. Once you managed to pay your loan, you’ll be able to unlock more features for your island.

Once you have your own house (and another loan to pay), you can save up enough Bells to pay off the loan immediately.

Harvest materials once you get your first tools

When you get your first set of tools through DIY recipe, you can start fishing, chopping, catching and digging around your area. Take note that your tools can break easily so it’s important to gather up materials early on. Once more items are available for crafting, you have an ample amount of materials to build them and lessen the hassle of running back and forth to replenish wood or ores.

While you’re at it, be sure to catch fish and bugs and deliver at least 5 to Tom Nook and Blanthers will arrive on the island to settle, wait for the next day for him to be available. There give Blanthers 15 new fish, fossil and bug species to unlock the museum, wait for another day for it to open.

Use your tools efficiently

When using your tools, there are some different approaches when gathering materials. When chopping for wood, always use the Flimsy Axe or Stone Axe, in that way you won’t chop down trees when hitting them three times. Use the Axe when you need to chop down trees. Instead of using an axe to gather iron ores and stones on a large rock, you can use a shovel instead, and one trick to prevent any recoil when hitting rocks is by digging two holes behind you so you can continue hitting the rocks without readjusting your position.

When fishing, be sure to bring fish baits when you find a spot with fishes. Using fish baits increases the chance to attract some of the rare fish that would appear in certain spots and time, so dig up some Manila Clams and start crafting them into fish baits.

And avoid eating fruits when chopping trees as you can cut down one even with a flimsy axe, since eating fruits will make you stronger.

Sneaking while catching bugs is also effective, especially with Tarantulas and Scorpions, directly approaching them will result in knocking you out and respawning you back to your home. Approaching them slowly increases your chance of them not noticing your presence and making it easier to catch them, as for catching Tarantulas, make sure to stop when it becomes hostile and sneak again when it settles down.

Be on the lookout for lights emitting on the ground, you can dig it to find a bag of Bells, you can keep it or bury a certain amount of Bells (we recommend burying 10,000 Bells) on the same spot and come back a few days later to see a tree sprouting with Bells.

Go for Island Hopping

Once you have enough Nook Miles points, you can redeem for other items, and one of them is the Nook Miles Tickets, you can use the ticket to fly to a randomly generated island once you unlock the airport. This is a great place to harvest for materials and if you’re lucky, another kind of fruit that you haven’t own. And if you are really unlucky, you might stumble upon the infamous Tarantula Island.

If you have friends playing Animal Crossing New Horizons, you can visit their island or invite them to your place. You can initiate the Dodo Code when inviting friends for the first time, but once they’ve added you as their Best Friends, you can hop in and out of their island when they are online. Just take note that you cannot sell any items while you’re at friend’s island, so be sure to have a lot of inventory space when visiting.

Complete a couple of Nook Miles + Achievements everyday

This is a good way to earn Nook Miles faster, once you paid your initial loan, your Nook Miles will be upgraded to Nook Miles +. Here you can earn points for accomplishing small tasks like catching fish for a certain amount, selling items or even taking a photo. Your progress for the Nook Miles will carry over when you accomplish tasks from Nook Miles +, so it’s more of a win-win for you

Everything happens in real-time

Every event happening inside the game are dependent on what is set on your system clock, from store hours, fish appearance, all are on real-time, so if you missed out something, you can come back the following day. So be sure to remember when certain NPCs will appear on your island or for rare bugs/fish would appear, so be sure to take note of it.

Alternatively, you can cheat yourself by adjusting the system date a couple of days backwards when you start your game and you can fast forward by adjusting the system clock on your Switch. But won’t recommend it unless you want to unlock more features faster.

Organize your island

Once you managed to unlock most of the features in the game, you can start organizing the place. You can chop down trees and plant new ones in a specific location to make more organized, you can categorize certain fruit trees for easy harvesting. When placing new neighbors, you can put them next to the other neighbors so you have one place to visit houses. Then you can place some of your crafted items around the island and personalize it to your liking.

Now have your friends visit your island and enjoy your shenanigans.