Balloons. These magical balloons are full of wonderous gold. They are the key to any seasonal recipe that you're looking for. But man, oh man can they be your worst enemy. Balloons tied to presents have existed in the Animal Crossing world since the GameCube version. Back then you had to follow the present through the different acres and hope it lands in a tree so you could then shake the tree and receive the present. Since Wild World, we've gotten our hands on a slingshot making the balloon hunting adventure that much more exciting. And fruitful. So how do you defeat these beautifully wrapped, flying monsters? 

First, you have to learn what makes them tick. In New Horizons, balloons spawn over the east or west ocean every 5 minutes on the 4th and 9th minute. The presents float in the direction that your wind is currently blowing. You can look at the smoke coming from the chimneys of villagers in their homes to see which way your wind is currently blowing. It will blow one way during the day and the opposite way at night. The presents only float east and west rather than north or south. Those are the basics. Pretty simple once you understand how the floating presents' brains work. As you've probably noticed, these presents are each held by a balloon in one of four different colors: red, blue, yellow, and green. These colors aren't random. Nothing is random in Animal Crossing. It's all there for a reason. You can get almost anything from balloon presents. The five categories are crafting resources, bells, clothing (including shirts, hats, accessories, etc.), furniture, and seasonal recipes if we are currently on a specified date where seasonal recipes exist. An easy way to guess what is inside the present is based on the balloon color. The chances of finding an item from a specific category are listed on the Animal Crossing wiki. The wiki has all of the specific changes, red balloons have a better chance of containing clothing, blue have better chances at crafting resources, yellow, bells, and green, (contrary to what the wiki says) furniture. Seasonal recipes, when available, can be found in any balloon color. Crafting resources can only appear in blue balloons, and bells can only appear in yellow balloons. And the blue balloon was the most common by far. 

Recipes seem to be the most sought-after item from balloons since the only other way to get them is villagers crafting in their houses. There's a 15% chance of receiving a new recipe and a 5% chance that you'll get a duplicate recipe. The wiki also lists percent chances for specific items, like bells, gold, and iron, to drop from balloons. the percent chance of certain items appearing depends on whether or not you have already seen 10 floating presents for the day. The percent chances also change based on whether or not seasonal recipes are currently available and if you have yet to learn those new recipes. It's the game's way of giving you a better chance to find new recipes and as a result, decreases the chances of finding other items flying through the sky. These percentages for an item to show up are not based on a specific color of balloon. They are the percent changes that the game spawns in general. So, it's not a 25% chance that if the balloon is yellow, it will be 1,000 bells. Instead, it is for every balloon spawn, there is a 25% chance that the item drop will be 1,000 bells. 

Now that we know about the spawn rates, what's the best way to find them? There are a couple of tricks that can aid you in successfully spawning and popping as many balloons as possible. The first is the Balloon Timer. This website will show you where your presents will be on your island. All you have to do is compare where the flashing line is located on the gridded island template to your own map to find where the balloon is on your island. Keep in mind, while balloons spawn on the 4th and 9th minute, they take almost a full minute to actually reach your beach. The timer is a fantastic gauge of when the balloon arrives at your beach. The website allows you to change your wind direction as well, so make sure you're looking at chimneys to see which way your wind is blowing. There is an assumption that you must reset the map by entering a building in between balloons to get them to spawn consistently. In Animal Crossing, whenever you enter a building and exit, all the randomly spawned mechanics, like fishing, bug catching, creatures, and yes even balloons, reset. It all changes. Keep in mind that the balloons spawn on the 4th and 9th minutes. So, if you are entering buildings, make sure you exit before the 4th or 9th minute to make sure your balloon doesn't disappear on you. And if you stack a straight line of climbing walls or jail bars, the presents are unable to fly over them. If you create a gap, the present will travel north or south to the gap and will then proceed to fly across the island. It's a little difficult for those of us with an east or west river mouth. Even when creating a temporary bridge, there's a large gap that is pretty much impossible to eliminate, so keep an eye out for this specific area when you are present hunting. It's a great way to ensure a present doesn't fly by you without you noticing. So if you're missing a few seasonal recipes and it's the end of the month, it's totally worth setting up. It also allows you to chill in one spot and let the presents come to you. On a side note, balloons do not spawn when you have friends over at your island, and balloons sometimes would have a hard time spawning when your gates are open. They still spawn, but inconsistently. Seeing a balloon float by is one of the most exciting parts of Animal Crossing.

So that’s that all for the secrets of ballons, if you want to stay relevant with all the news of animal crossing, make sure to check mtmmo.com! We also provide services for you to buy cheap ACNH items, ACNH bells, ACNH Nook Miles Ticket!