There's really no such thing as 'completing' Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Part of the appeal of the game is that players can potentially put hundreds and thousands of hours into their Switch and still have more to do as the game expands and develops, and they change around their island.
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But the closest thing to a point of completion is when K.K. Slider makes his arrival. Tom Nook finally stops giving you tasks when Slider shows up to perform his concert, which will only happen after your island reaches three stars. The credits finally roll, and the game is sprawled out in front of you, ready for you to do whatever you like rather than have to run around after Tom Nook.
What next?
Updated February 10th, 2021 by Meg Pelliccio: Even after players have worked hard to ensure that their island is good enough for K.K. Slider to visit, there's still plenty to do and keep them busy in everyday island life.
New Horizons is coming up to its first birthday and Nintendo has treated players to plenty of content updates throughout the past year, with permanent as well as seasonal updates to enjoy. Check out these 15 different things that players can work on after K.K. has performed on their island.
15 Take Part in Seasonal Events
New Horizons likes to celebrate plenty of holidays throughout the calendar year, whether they're based on big holidays like Christmas — with the island hosting "Toy Day" instead – or smaller holidays that celebrate the changing of the season. With so much going on month in and month out, there's always something new for players to try out and do.
Taking part in seasonal events is a great way to keep island life interesting, as well as adding to your collection of DIY recipes and furnishings since most events incorporate new crafting recipes or items as rewards.
14 Get To Five Stars
K.K. Slider visits your island once it reaches a three-star rating, but you can actually get up to a five-star rating! It's time to start working your space up to that coveted rating.
Talk to Isabella at Resident Services to find out what your island is missing. Place items around that are a combination of bought and made using DIY services, put up plenty of fencing, and plant as many flowers as you can. A five-star island can take time because it requires so much attention to detail.
13 Finish Your Fossil Collection
Don't abandon Blathers! Keep looking for those fossils. Five fossil dig spots will appear on the island every day, even after K.K. Slider plays, and others can also be found by traveling to mystery islands using Nook Miles Tickets.
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If players want to get really efficient, they can organize fossil swaps on their island where people can drop off fossils they have multiple of and pick up fossils they need. That's a faster way to finish the collection.
12 Collect All Bugs & Fish
It's going to take a while to collect all bugs and fish, which means there's plenty of hours of play to get out of the game. Certain bugs and fish are only available during certain seasons, which means you're going to have to wait a while to get all of them (unless you time travel, of course).
Each month, the availability of the fish and bugs change, encouraging fans to keep playing all year round for completion's sake. Additionally, some bugs and fish are a lot rarer than others, so it can take some hard work to get them all.
11 Complete Your Sea Creature Collection
Though bugs and fish were present since the launch of New Horizons, sea creatures obtained via ocean swimming and diving weren't added until a later update. Fans were delighted to have this feature back, as it debuted in New Leaf but wasn't included in New Horizons at launch.
This new category of collectible means there's even more exhibits in the museum for players to fill, prompting them to collect each and every creature to keep their museum looking perfect.
10 Upgrade Your House Fully
The house upgrades are something that many people prioritize when they start playing, and others leave their house to the side and only really finish it after the rest of the island is complete. What you prioritize is up to you but essentially, players can keep taking out loans for their house in order to expand the size of it, with more rooms and floors being added.
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When a house is fully upgraded, it consists of six rooms over three floors, allowing players plenty of space to do whatever they want and decorate however they want.
9 Finalize Your Villagers
Some players may never finalize their friendly animal villagers, but it's worth trying! Villagers can eventually move out if they're feeling neglected or fancy a change, and when the island only has a maximum of ten spaces, there are often villagers who are welcomed more in favor of others.
If players have an active space, they can hunt through mystery islands using Nook Miles Tickets and invite the animals they meet back to the island. Additionally, they can keep an eye on who visits their campsite or use amiibo cards to invite new villagers and force out old villagers.
8 Get Your Favorite Villager's Photoframe Item
Villagers are able to gift players with a special memento of their shared friendship — a photo of themselves. These adorable little furnishing items can be hung on the walls or displayed atop furniture.
These items are hard to source, even more so than in earlier Animal Crossing titles. Players must have a really high friendship level with the villager, most easily done by gifting them rare or exotic items in wrapping paper daily. Even then, the chance of them gifting players a photo in return is low.
7 Play With Friends
Keep the game fresh by visiting your friends! New Horizons is a very social game, but it doesn't just have to be with virtual animals, but real people too. It's fun to introduce them to your island and see what they've done with theirs.
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It can also be beneficial by exchanging invitations every time someone has a meteor shower, good turnip prices, or something else on their island that might benefit others. Sharing is caring!
6 Collect all DIY Recipes
New Horizons added a new collectible for players to obsess over called DIY recipes. These little cards can be a hot commodity depending on whether they are rare or a highly-sought-after recipe, and they're also great at encouraging players to get together to swap doubles.
As most seasonal events tend to add new DIY recipe cards, this is a seemingly-endless task that will keep players busy for the foreseeable. Collecting different DIYs and customizing them in various ways is also a nice way of crafting special gifts for friends.
5 Visit Dream Islands
Another feature that was added in an update sometime after the initial launch of New Horizons was Dreaming. Similar to the Dream Suite of New Leaf, players are able to upload and share their islands as dreams for other players to visit, without there being any risk of permanent damage done to their island.
Likewise, the player can visit the dream islands of others and explore them to their heart's content, getting inspiration for their own island or just appreciating the change of scenery.
4 Keep Shopping
Every day, Nook's Cranny has new items and if players want to collect all of the furniture in the game, in all colors, they'll have to keep visiting. Keep going back every day and you might find cute things that will improve your home and island, even when you eventually think you're happy with everything.
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Let's be honest — is any Animal Crossing player ever truly happy with their work? Additionally, the shop gets new items depending on the season, and it's always worth checking to see if new DIY recipes have been added to the items on sale.
3 Terraform Your Island
Terraforming is unlocked when players are given the Island Designer App after reaching three stars and it means cliffs can be edited, rivers can be installed or taken away, and paths can be put down. Playing around with terraforming can be frustrating, but it's rewarding if you take the time.
There have been some absolutely fantastic island designs that players have created by utilizing the terraforming tool, which allows fans to really make their island unique to them.
2 Look For Design Inspiration
Looking around online can provide a lot of inspiration for islands. Online communities such as Reddit and Youtube often have users who share their island ideas so if you're feeling a bit uninspired, you can browse and decide if there's anything you want to do with your island.
Some players have gotten incredibly creative with their islands and although it can take a little bit of skill, enough people are usually happy to share custom designs that can jazz up your island.
1 Get Flower Hybrids
Flower hybrids are often coveted by players, especially the rare ones. Planting and watering flowers in certain patterns can result in rare breeds and colors springing up. It's easy to look up the information on how to get the rare ones, or if you want to be pleasantly surprised, just plant random flowers in a checkerboard pattern and consistently water them to see what pops up.
Well-crafted flower beds or flower gardens always look lovely on islands, but of course, flowers have other uses too. Many can be used in crafting various items or placed as a display item.
NEXT: Animal Crossing New Horizons: Every Way To Get Non-Native Fruits On Your Island