1. Choose your hemisphere 

Upon starting the game, you'll be prompted to choose a layout for your island. it's also important to select which hemisphere since the game will adjust the in-game seasons accordingly. this is a big departure from previous games since only the northern hemisphere was enabled by default.

2. Seasonal bugs and fish 

Fishing and catching bugs are some of the more relaxing pastimes in Animal Crossing. and that remains true in New Horizons. as time goes by you'll see that certain bugs and fish can only be caught during specific days or times of the year. make sure to keep checking around and consulting your nook phone for fish and bugs that you've already collected.

3. Donate fossils to nook 

Fossils are discovered by locating different spots on the ground, denoted by an X, and digging them up, while bladders Museum won't be present from the get-go, you can still donate any fossils discovered to Tom Nook beforehand. and if you're wondering how to get bladders to come to the island, it happens after crafting a fishing rod and net for nook. after this, you must bring him a total of five fish and/or bucks. bladders should be in touch soon after.

4. Nook miles plus

Among the many things that Tom Nook will give you at the start is the Nook phone. its new program nook miles allows you to claim rewards for completing different tasks. if you're looking for something to do right off the bat, check out the nook miles plus section. these are essentially dailies that offer quicker objectives that can be completed for extra miles. it's well worth it though since they only become accessible after you get a house loan.

5. Tool breakage 

Crafting is doubly important. because every tool can now break. yes, even your fishing rod can break from too much use and there are no indicators for when a tool is going to finally kick the bucket. always make sure you have enough crafting materials on hand to create replacements. you'll also want to unlock recipes for stronger tools since these break down at a much slower rate, but if you're low on more premium materials like iron it is still possible to craft a weaker version of a tool and get by with it.

6. Collect everything

When you first start on your islands, there won't be a bustling town in place. so you're encouraged to go around, collecting as much as possible. sell off just about anything, that's not of use for some early bells. the game introduces crafting so even if you find junk, it can be useful in some way. just remember not to sell off too much of your crafting materials, since those will be necessary for building homes later. also try to avoid selling items through dropbox next to nooks cranny, since you won't get full value from the sale. 

7. Dropping items

The pocket Organizer and tool wheel should be unlocked as soon as possible with nook miles. since they make inventory management and source selection much better. however, if you're running out of space, go ahead and drop any items on the island, it will remain there indefinitely and pretty much remain safe until you pick them back up again

8. Museum donation tip 

The process for setting up the museum does take some time. first, you have to choose a spot, then you have to donate 15 or so exhibits, and so on. however, check the critterpedia app on your nook phone for items that you've already donated to bladders beforehand. if you have multiple items and even one of them has been donated before, bladders will refuse the whole lot. this means going through the whole process again, it is an inconvenience that will hopefully be ironed out in the future quality of life change. 

9. Crafting furniture

As the game progresses, you'll quickly begin to craft furniture decorations and other items to fill out your home from various recipes. if you want to further customize any items, then look into purchasing kits from Tom Nook. You can also customize the look of different items with a workbench to give them a more personal touch. 

10. Floating packages 

At certain points in the day, you'll see packages floating about in the sky on balloons. keep a slingshot handy, to shoot them down and claim the rewards within. also, be careful when you happen to bring set packages down. if they fall into any water body,  then the package will be lost.

11. Glowing spots

Glowing spots returned in Animal Crossing New Horizons and they serve the same function as previous games. digging one up will usually provide a thousand bells but they can sometimes provide an even higher amount. it was ten thousand and thirty thousand in previous games, which should be the case here as well. glowing spots can also be used to grow money trees, just bury a bag of bells in that spot. a money tree isn't guaranteed to sprout though, so keep that in mind.

12. Unlocking the island designer app 

The island designer app is an endgame piece of content. it's what helps for creating paths, demolishing cliffs, water scaping, the whole works. you'll need to increase the island's population, get more visitors, build more houses for residents, complete some other events which we won't spoil, and eventually, the island designer app will unlock. but wait, first you need to purchase different permits for different editing tasks, water scaping and cliff construction permits are 6000 miles each and easily the most essential. if you want to start tearing the island up quickly then get those first. 

13. Streamlined house arrangement 

Editing and arranging one's house is made a lot easier in New Horizons. if you press into the left joy-con. you'll gain a better view of your house. it's also possible to move several items at once, by holding down the R button, which helps when arranging. overall if you've ever felt like decorating your house was a chore in previous games, it should be much more streamlined here. 

14. ISLE tour cost

Once you've accrued enough nook miles, you can go on an ISLE tour. purchase a ticket and you'll be able to visit a randomly generated island, collecting items and whatnot. here's the kicker though, it costs 2000 nook miles for an ISLE tour ticket. if you've got the miles to spare or really want to see what's out there, then go for it.

15. Don't leave anything on random ISLEs

Another note when visiting random islands via the Isle tour, be careful not to leave anything, you won't be able to return to the same island again. so any items dropped will be lost forever. make sure you have enough inventory space before embarking too. on the flip side, you'll have carte blanche to take anything you want from the island, if there are any fruits fish, or other items that aren't on your island, feel free to collect them. fruits especially will help for growing more varieties back home.