In Town

Getting out and seeing the sights is a big part of life in Animal Crossing. Whether you’re strolling through town or browsing around Main Street, you’ll find plenty of shops and destinations worth exploring. This chapter exposes every shop and point of interest in town, including secret shops that require special efforts to unlock.

The following shops and destinations are all found in town.

Your House

Be it ever so humble, there’s no place like home. And boy, at first, is it ever humble! But if you work hard and save your Bells, you can hire Tom Nook to upgrade your home in a variety of ways. See the “Home Sweet Home” chapter for details on home renovations, organization, decor, and scoring big points with Lyle and the Happy Home Academy.

Town Hall

The town hall is open 24 hours a day, but there isn’t much to do here unless Isabelle’s around. She runs the day-to-day business at the town hall, ensuring that all of your mayoral duties are being met.

Front Desk Duties

Stand in front of the counter and speak with Isabelle to change the town theme song, redesign the town flag, or to check on the citizen satisfaction rating. If you choose the latter, Isabelle will give you feedback on what your neighbors are saying about your town. You can also report problematic citizens to Isabelle; this option causes those citizens to change their shirt (in the event of an offensive custom design, etc).

Big Chair Tasks

The mayor player can get more out of the town hall by taking a seat in the big chair behind the service counter. This is the mayor’s chair, and Isabelle is always happy to assist the mayor with special tasks, such as establishing new town ordinances or commencing new public works projects. See the previous “Mayoral Mirth” chapter to learn all about playing as the mayor.

Plaza

The plaza is a small clearing that’s held in special regard. It is here that the town tree is planted in honor of the mayor’s first arrival.

It pays to visit the plaza each day, for you never know what you might find. From small tents set up by traveling merchants to important ceremonies and seasonal events, the plaza is the place to be for social activity.

Re-Tail

Re-Tail is a thriving recycling shop that’s beloved by the locals. Goods can be bought here at bargain prices from the flea market, and the selection changes regularly. You can also sell unwanted items here to the shopkeeper, Reese, in exchange for quick Bells.

Special Buys

Each day, Re-Tail offers to buy one special type of item. It could be a particular piece of furniture, or maybe a certain article of clothing. Check the sign out front to see what’s wanted by Re-Tail today, then sell those types of items for huge profits. You won’t find a better deal anywhere else!

The Flea Market

The items for sale at Re-Tail are actually refurbished goods that have been put up for sale by members of the community. You can take advantage of this service, too—just speak to Reese, and she’ll help you set items up for sale at the flea market. Reese suggests a fair price for each item—just verify the value, and your item will be put up for display.

You might also see fellow shoppers pining over something at Re-Tail. If you wish to buy the item yourself, speak to the shopper and dissuade them from making the impulse buy!

Turnip Prices

Re-Tail also partakes in the local turnip trade. Purchase turnips from Joan during her Sunday morning visits, then check in with Reese each day thereafter to see the going rate for these rare root veggies. (There’s a morning price and an afternoon price.) When Reese offers you more than you paid Joan for the turnips, go ahead and sell them. That’s the trick to the turnip trade: Buy low, sell high!

Cyrus’s Customizations

Reese’s husband, Cyrus, is often found hard at sleep near Re-Tail’s customization counter. But if you sell lots of items to Re-Tail, you’ll eventually find that Cyrus remains awake during the days, and is ready to handle all of your furniture customization needs!

For a small fee, Cyrus can customize many pieces of furniture in special ways. For example, you could have him change the furniture’s color to better fit with your home’s decor. This is a great way to customize your home and create some truly unique rooms. It takes just 30 minutes for Cyrus to complete his work.

Hand Cyrus some gold ore, and he’ll offer to build you some luxurious golden furniture. This is the only way to assemble pieces from the golden furniture series! Each piece of golden furniture requires three gold nuggets and 10,000 Bells to build.

Train Station

The town’s train station is tended by a friendly monkey named Porter. You briefly pass through the station when you first arrive in town—after that, you only need to visit the train station when you are traveling to other players’ towns (via online or over wifi), or when opening up your town’s gate to receive other players as visitors.

Using Animal Crossing’s online and wifi features is simple and straightforward. Just talk to Porter, and he’ll happily prepare you for online or wifi play. And if you don’t feel like playing online or over wifi, simply keep out of the train station after you ensure that your town’s gate is closed (talk to Porter to do so).

Tortimers Island

While exploring the beach, you’ve surely noticed a small wooden dock stretching out to sea. There isn’t much to do at this dock until you receive a visit from Tortimer—finish paying off your first home loan (in full) to trigger Tortimer’s appearance the next day.

Tortimer greets you right outside your home, informing you of his lavish retirement on a distant tropical island. He suggests that you speak to Kapp’n on the boat dock and come visit the island sometime. Sounds nice!

Revisit the dock after speaking with Tortimer, and you’ll find a friendly frog named Kapp’n tending a small motorboat. Pay the modest 1,000 Bell fee, and the good Kapp’n will shove you off to the tropical island. Flip ahead to the “Island Action” chapter for details on everything you can see and do when you get there!