NintendoAnimal Crossing: New Horizons offers hours of fun throughout the year, but as veteran players know, things get even more exciting when the events of the game take over your precious island.
As you can expect, the festive season is a particularly joyous time – this weekend saw many social media users sharing videos from their islands The New Year countdowns when we entered 2021 and Christmas events like Toy Day made the long wait for Santa on Christmas Eve a little more bearable. Players even had the opportunity to enjoy seasonal foods to celebrate.
But, unfortunately, not everyone will have enjoyed these events. It so happens that, for these events to occur in the game, players need to reach a certain point of progression in the construction of their island and in the opening of the Town Hall. Depending on how you choose to play, this can take a long time to complete, and anyone who has not yet met the requirements will not be able to see any of these special events in any way.
Usually, this may not seem like a big problem – unlocking more content by performing tasks in the game seems rewarding, right? – but what about all new players who will have received a copy of the game during the festive period, possibly assuming they can participate in the celebrations that Nintendo has publicity?
For Nintendo Life reader Dennis, this exact situation caused disappointment for the whole family:
“Me, my wife and my two kids love Animal Crossing and we all have a copy of the New Leaf on our 3DS systems. We especially like the Christmas and New Year events. We only had one Nintendo switch, so we didn’t have the game there until the Christmas – where I surprised my wife and kids with a Switch Lite each, including Animal Crossing.
We were really looking forward to playing at New Horizons Christmas and New Year events … We played for hours each day, but at Christmas and New Year, NOTHING was happening on our islands. No gifts, no countdown, not even a mention of it.
It turns out that for any related event to happen, you need to level up your city center. My wife played more every day and managed to do that on January 2nd, my kids and I are still playing. So, for those who won a Christmas Switch and Animal Crossing, it was IMPOSSIBLE to participate in the Christmas and New Year events. What a disappointment. There was nothing for new players, not even a mention or anything. “
A quick chat at Nintendo Life HQ reveals that a young family member also had problems while on vacation, as he had not yet completed the necessary tasks. Progression and content unblocking have been a thing in games for as long as we can remember, so it’s hard to complain about the practice used here, but blocking new players from special and specific events can be considered an oversight on Nintendo’s part, especially around from vacation?
Did you encounter a similar problem with New Horizons this holiday? Have you played enough to see the celebrations? Feel free to share your experiences in the comments below.