June 9 marked the official release of Nintendo’s Animal Crossing: New Leaf for 3DS, much to the delight of presumably thousands of happy fans eager to dip into such a rewarding game. If you just bought or plan to buy a copy in the near future, these beginner’s tips will get you started.
-Visit Town Hall and speak to your trusty assistant Isabelle. She’ll fill you in on the best ways to bump up your approval rating, as well as describe your new duties as mayor. Just head to the back of the room and hop into your desk chair.
-You won’t be able to do much as mayor without becoming a town resident and buying a home. First talk to Isabelle about becoming a resident, then pay Nook’s Homes a visit on Main Street.
-At first, Tom Nook sets you up with a tent. Pay off the initial debt of 10,000 bells to upgrade to a house.
-Once you have a Town Pass Card that lets you visit other towns, head to the photo booth on Main Street (all the way on the left) to add a picture.
-Talk to everyone. Residents will often share advice and valuable tips. They may even ask you to run errands in exchange for items as payment.
-Purchase a shovel, fishing rod and bug net as soon as possible from Nookling Junction on Main Street. Each one presents you with various money-making opportunities.
-Catching bugs and fish automatically adds these creatures to your encyclopedia, which you can access from the touch screen.
-Hit rocks with the shovel. You may receive valuable rewards for doing this once or even multiple times.
-Notice a star on the ground? Whip out the shovel and dig to make a cool discovery; most likely a fossil.
-If you dig an unwanted hole, you can fill it one of two ways. Press the dig button (A) to shovel dirt back into the space or tap Y to simply kick some dirt onto it. We prefer pressing Y because it eliminates accidentally digging another hole.
-After picking up bells off the ground, be sure to put them away to free up valuable inventory slots. Look at the touch screen and tap the suitcase icon on the top left. Then highlight the bells using either the cursor or stylus, press A and choose the Put Away option.
-Shake trees for bells and fruit. It’s OK if you’re stung by bees. In fact, you can pick up the abandoned beehive and sell it.
-Speaking of selling, head to Re-Tail, where Reese the alpaca will buy just about everything. You can even set your own prices for things and leave them for sale in the shop.
-Before heading into Re-Tail, check the board outside to see which daily item sells at a high price.
-You can sell fossils, fish and bugs to Re-Tail for bells or donate them to the Museum on Main Street.
-Manage your bank account at the Main Street post office, where you can make deposits, withdrawals and repay your home loan to Tom Nook.
-Running too close to water will scare the fish away.
-Buy turnips from Joan on Sundays and sell them at Re-Tail Monday through Saturday. The sell price changes every day. Read our turnip guide to learn more.
-Buy fortune cookies at Nookling Junction. Eat the cookie and hand the lucky ticket to either Timmy or Tommy Nook to receive special prizes. Example: a yellow Pikmin costume to put on your character’s head.
Published: Jun 10, 2013 02:49 pm