Animal Crossing: New Horizons has become one of the top-selling Switch games since it released in March. A new feature that has kept fans hooked is the Mystery Island Tour, which allows players to explore uncharted islands in search of items, villagers, and fun. The feature has spawned a new trend in the Animal Crossing: New Horizons community: island hopping.
Island hopping is the act of visiting several islands in rapid succession, often with the goal of obtaining a specific item or villager. One of the most popular uses for the island hopping strategy is to search for specific villagers, as opposed to purchasing Amiibo cards. Players that want Raymond or Audie on their island should just keep island hopping until they find them. Players also island-hop to search for resources that are scarce on their own island. This can range from specific fruits to gold nuggets to rare critters.
Each island you encounter on the Mystery Island Tour is unique. The islands are randomly generated, but follow a predetermined templet that decides what kind of resources and landscape the island will have. This means that while some islands will be similar, no two will be exactly the same.
Some of the islands are considered rare islands because of the rare resources they offer. These locations have been given conjectural names by fans to hint at the resources they harbor. They include Hardwood Island, Rugged Tree Island, Arachnid Island, Scorpion and Money Rock Island, Fin Island, Big Fish Island, and Gold Rock and Scorpion Island.
Island hopping is not cheap, however. In order to travel to an uncharted island, players must purchase a nook miles Ticket from the kiosk inside Resident Services. The tickets are pricey, setting the player back 2,000 nook miles for each ticket, so make sure to keep doing those Nook Miles island challenges. But it’s usually a worthwhile investment, as the resources and critters players find on an island hopping adventures can be brought back to Blathers to complete the museum or sold to Nook’s Cranny for bells.
Be prepared before going island hopping. After stocking up on Nook Miles, make sure to bring the necessary tools you need to extract resources. Players can always purchase new tools from Wilbur if the ones they brought break, but it will cost them. It’s also a good idea to bring a ladder and vaulting pole, as all the islands are undeveloped and do not have bridges or inclines. Remember to empty inventories as much as possible. The more space players have, the more resources they will be able to haul back home, and the more bells players will make by selling them.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is available on Switch.
Source: Nintendolife.com