March 2021 celebrates the first year anniversary of Nintendo’s Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Just dubbed 2020's Game of The Year by Famitsu’s Game Awards, the life simulation title continues to keep its massive player base active, despite the game being almost a year old. In fact, one Animal Crossing: New Horizons player shared their recent discovery of being able to pop the balloons in-game, without having to use a slingshot.
It seems that there is no lack of creative minds to be found within clever Animal Crossing: New Horizons fans. With the variety of customization options for furniture and terraforming, players have turned their islands into whatever they want, recreating their favorite video game spots, and even making music videos with the game’s built-in photo mode. With fans constantly on the game, it is not a surprise that they still discover something new about how to play Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
In a Reddit post, user ItzStarr86 shared a short video clip that showcased their recent discovery of how to pop a floating balloon in Animal Crossing: New Horizons without having to pull out their slingshot. Updated fans will know that ACNH balloons spawn every so often on either side of the island's beach, depending on the time of day they are playing. In the game, balloons often carry gifts that provide Bells, random pieces of furniture or materials, and even seasonal DIY recipes.
In the video, ItzStarr86’s character sees a blue balloon on the lower-left corner of the screen. The character positions themselves to meet the balloon and immediately pulls up their Animal Crossing: New Horizons terraforming menu. The character then proceeds to build a single detached cliff and climbs up on top of it with a ladder. Once on top, they pull out their net to whack the balloon causing it to pop so that the gift drops on the ground. Though possibly long-routed, this method can provide an alternate way to pop balloons, especially if a player finds themselves without a slingshot in their inventory.
With the game's anniversary happening this month, fans are likely looking forward to what Animal Crossing: New Horizons will have in store for the celebrations. The game is constantly being updated with new content for seasonal events, and even collaborations such as the recent Super Mario items. Given these updates, it is highly unlikely that the development team will let the loyal fanbase down by not preparing anything special for such a significant milestone.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is available now on the Nintendo Switch.