One year later, Animal Crossing: New Horizons keeps on giving

Posted March 2021

By Graciela Del Rosario

Staff Reporter

March 20 marks the one-year anniversary of the release of Animal Crossing: New Horizons, an initial quarantine staple and the game that keeps on giving, but along with the Island-Getaway Package, why was the black-market most notable in this “E for Everyone” game?

Developed by Nintendo and teased September of 2018, New Horizons was officially announced at E3 2019 for a March 20, 2020 release. Marketed as the “Island Getaway” package, players are thrown onto tropical islands and left to make it their own from the ground up. It allows MASS amounts of customization, from reworking the island geography to choosing the avatar's appearance on the basis. From the passive debt-collector Tom Nook, to the ever-so-cheery Isabelle, to the cheeky sales-tanūkis Timmy and Tommy, this game stands as an excellent fifth addition to the main series for veterans and newcomers with no previous experience with the series. It’s completely beginner-friendly.

Animal Crossing relies on real-world time for progression. To compensate, Nintendo frequents seasonal updates to keep players engaged. However, players can still be dissatisfied and thus they start taking matters into their own hands.

One of the most disastrous industries players undertook has been “villager hunting.” Each island inhabits 10 different animal villagers at the maximum, each with their own fashion and catchphrases. This can range from dogs to octopi to wolves, and arguably the most popular type of villager: cats. Each installment has brought along new villagers and New Horizons has included; Audie the Wolf, Sherb the Goat, and Raymond the Cat.

Raymond has been one of the most sought out villagers since release. Whether for his smug personality or his heterochromia appearance, he’s been a hot topic amongst players. Due to the sheer number of available villagers, the game’s algorithm and RNG are not as kind to most players as they go hunting for Raymond, or any specific villager. So, players go for the next best option, online markets.

“The result is that folks will now do whatever it takes to get Raymond,” states Polygon.com. “For some, that might mean spending actual money on eBay, where millions of bells (in-game currency) can go for a few dollars.”

Websites like Nookazon.com and Nook.market have been created for players worldwide, and hot commodities like Raymond are frequent toppers to wishlists. Raymond alone can be bid at a beginning amount of one million bells, with even some additional rarer resources like iron ore thrown in too. It’s also important to note that these bids were created merely weeks after release, whereas most players have yet to even reach the ten villagers maximum. Unfortunately, the prices don’t stop there.

In 2021, Raymond and more select species of villagers are still up for bid at even higher prices. As of January 24, Raymond alone tops bids at 8.31 million bells according to ScreenRant and ￡35 ($49) in real life according to Evening Standard. Additional prices for villagers include Marshall the squirrel for 2.17 million bells, Judie the cub for 6.25 million bells, and Diana the deer for 1.33 million bells.

To say the Animal Crossing community has become creative since release is quite the understatement. Although bidding off animal villagers for ridiculous prices can be seen as literally inhumane, it doesn’t completely overthrow the impact Animal Crossing has had since quarantine of 2020. Animal Crossing allows for mass amounts of customization, and there isn’t a “bad” time to pick it up. Just maybe consider when buying the game, don’t spend an additional $50 on a cat that says “crisp” on a daily basis.

Additional Notes

• Released March 20, 2020

• I personally have 300+ logged in

  • I've reworked my island twice

• First major holiday was Bunny Day (Easter)

• It can really feel like a chore the more you play

• Exploiting money bags, selling nook tickets was also very popular for in real-life currency

• Nov 8, 2012 was Animal Crossing: New Leaf’s release, the previous installment

• Time-travel was very popular

  • Debate between if its good to time travel or not

    • Could've defined you as a player

  • I personally did time travel, I am very impatient (not sorry)

• Highly customisable with terrain and river managing

• Removing unwanted villagers was quite popular, so much so it’s one of the most searched guides

  • Hitting at them with nets

  • Isolating and fencing off their homes

  • Not talking to them in general

• Most recent holiday was Festivale (Mardi Gras) with Pave, most recent update was the Mario update

  • As of March 17, update 1.9 is in the works for a March 20 release coinciding with the one-year anniversary

    • This includes new pattern designs and storage, new items like prom decorations, new ways to share your island, and a new 'Nook Points' mechanic

• The fashion and avatar customization has a MASSSIVE improvement, surged tiktok trends of showing off looks

• People were selling pattern designs, nook tickets that enabled villager hunting and resource grinding, bells

• People would reset all the time to get perfect villagers and fruit

  • Pears and “ugly villagers” were undesired by most

    • Examples are Coco the rabbit (HOW DARE YOU-)

    • Tabby the cat

    • Hazel the squirrrel

    • Barold the bear

• The game is an excellent stress reliever, it has said to calm down people during their most dire times

• Thanks to the returning dream function, thematic islands are very popular to create, some would create horror styled islands whilst others would create aesthetically pleasing styled ones

• The game is nice for the free updates, but the fact people would pawn off villagers and resources for gross amounts of money made it more into a monopoly than anything

• Villager Amiibo cards and figures were HIGHLY sought after, as you could use them to summon any villager you want as long as you have the corresponding figure, AC cards and figures would sell for a TON and sell out quickly

  • Programmng NFC tags became popular to integrate any villager possible

  • For example, I personally have a custom NFC card dedicated to the villager Kid Cat (my favorite)

• Apps and websites were created for easier gameplay and organization and tracking collectibles

• The museum, once its filled, is a highlight as it still includes true-to-life info on paintings, dinosaurs, fish and insects

• It’s an easy pick-me-up, there is never really a bad time to start and is quite timeless