New players are wondering what to do in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. It’s a fair question — the sandbox life simulator gives you free rein over how you choose to spend your time in it, so if this is your first crack at the Animal Crossing whip, you might be left a little stumped as to how to progress in New Horizons.
Fortunately, while you’re free to live out your time on your island as your please, there are a number of objectives you could be getting on with.
What to do in Animal Crossing: New Horizons | Talk to Tom Nook
Tom Nook is your go-to tanooki if you want to find out where you should focus your attention. Going to the Resident Services tent (or building, if you’ve upgraded) and asking him “What should I do?” will get him to give you some direction.
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While Tom Nook is basically focused on taking all your Bells and resources to upgrade the island, if you want some direction, he’s the place to start. Early tasks include paying off your moving-in fee with Nook Miles, upgrading the store to Nook’s Cranny, and paying off your loan.
What to do in Animal Crossing: New Horizons | Earn Nook Miles
One of the earliest tasks in Animal Crossing: New Horizons is to pay off your moving in fee. This is achieved with 5,000 Nook Miles, which you can track using your NookPhone’s app.
Nook Miles are points you receive from completing objectives while playing. These encompass mostly all activities in the game, from fishing through to picking up weeds, and later on in the game your Nook Miles can be redeemed for better items and recipes.
Check through your Nook Miles app in order to see which objectives need completing in order to unlock them. When the app receives its first upgrade, you’ll unlock the Nook Miles+ mode, which will give you access to a rotating series of tasks that will reward you with different amounts of Miles.
What to do in Animal Crossing: New Horizons | Unlock recipes
Crafting is a big part of Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Building new items using workbenches is one of the most enjoyable early tasks you can do in the game, so you’re going to want to unlock more recipes.
You can do this by purchasing them from Resident Services, or from using the ATM machine and trading in your Nook Miles. The island’s inhabitants will also give you recipes every now and again, so be sure to check in with those you’re “stranded” with to see if they’ve got a new recipe for you.
