“Animal Crossing” was one of the highest-selling games in the last few years, and its new update seeks to draw in old and new players alike.

Many will remember the “Animal Crossing” craze in early 2020, with the newest game, “Animal Crossing: New Horizons,” launching just weeks after the initial Covid-19 lockdown. The game’s easy-going island theme calmed many who were facing difficult times and provided a tropical getaway for those unable to travel.

The game mainly focuses on gathering seashells to sell, fishing for an aquarium and other everyday island tasks. These tasks can also unlock new tools and cosmetics to decorate your island. The player is the mayor of their small town, and their only goals are to provide for their residents through the beautification of their island. They are also invited to form friendships with the animal inhabitants and grow their town’s museum. Essentially, the game is an active Zen Garden populated with cute (and sometimes sassy) animal characters.

“Animal Crossing” has maintained a steady stream of content updates, adding new items to spend “bells” (the in-game currency) on. These updates are usually quite significant to the development of the game’s world, but they did not bring in too many new players after the initial hype.

However, “Animal Crossing’s” the newest free 2.0 update, adds new mechanics and quality of life changes that appeal to players new and old. Like many of the older updates, new items have been added. My personal favorite is the Gyroids, which are small moving statues based on terracotta Japanese Haniwa statues. Some of these new items can be found on desert islands. With the help of the unique character, Kapp’n, the player can travel to these new islands and be serenaded by his delightful shanties the whole way. 

Another fun new feature is the addition of the “co-op,” which serves as a farmer’s market of sorts that allows you to gather merchants who were previously only available on certain days of the month. The market makes finding certain items much easier, but sadly takes a while to get started.

For new players, there are some more minor additions to make their time on the island a bit easier. The player can now enact ordinances that control how late their island's shops stay open and dictate how often pesky things like weeds and trash spawn on their island. This feature is a welcome change for those who like to focus more on fishing and collecting bugs than tedious island maintenance.

For those who love the game's character interactions, there are lots of new ways to interact with villagers. There is a new cafe built into the game’s museum for example. “The Roost” is a place where the player can interact with both villagers and online friends while drinking coffee with loveable pigeon barista, Brewster. The player is now also able to play games with villagers when they come to visit their home, which can result in winning new items. 

These are just a few of the highlights of the game's most recent update. Share your favorite parts of the update with us by tweeting @SlateAE on Twitter. For our review on “Animal Crossing,” check out Zoey Lomison’s review at TheSlateOnline.com.

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