It’s New Year’s Eve, but it’s also 2020, so we think that many people will be celebrating the arrival of the New Year in the comfort of their own homes. For players who have played Animal Crossing: New Horizons, there is still a way to get out of the city, however. Now and until midnight tonight, Tom Nook and Isabelle are hosting the New Year’s Eve event with free gifts, fun seasonal items and a countdown to the New Year.
Let’s start with the free stuff. Turn on the Nintendo Switch and walk to the town square in front of Resident Services (which is closed for the holiday, by the way), where Isabelle and Tom Nook are hurriedly preparing for the countdown to midnight 2021. Both the characters have fun items useful for the upcoming celebration. Tom will give some Party Poppers and Isabelle will present the players with a Light Stick, which everyone will apparently wave at midnight.
The square is all decorated with balloons, a cart with supplies for the New Year’s Eve party and a huge countdown working towards the great moment when 2020 will mercifully come to an end. Stroll around the city and check on the residents too, who are also making their own preparations for the night. We found more than one resident who needed a little help with the countdown until 2021.
When the dark of night comes and the timer gets close to midnight, be sure to skip to the game, where everyone will gather in the square near the timer. According to YouTuber Crossing Channel, who traveled back in time to see what was coming, everyone will have their light sticks out and count down until midnight together. It’s a really cool touch for the game, which celebrates many holidays, to have a way for players to celebrate together. Players can even fly to other islands through the Dodo Codes so they can share the moment with their loved ones.
To accompany the New Year, Cross between animalsThe Nook Shopping utility at ABD – the Automated Bell Dispenser – or on the game’s smartphone, if you’ve made enough progress, has some special Christmas items for today and tomorrow. These items are available until the end of today:
- Sparkling cider
- Berliner
- New Year’s Noodles
- Plate Twelve Grapes
Starting tomorrow, players will be able to order other items at Nook Shopping until January 15th, including some usual Japanese New Year decorations.
- 2021 Celebratory Arch
- Kagamimochi
- Kadomatsu
- New Year’s Shimekazari
- Oliver Salad
- Zodiac ox figurine
- Yut Nori