Last month, Animal Crossing: New Horizons released its new update. The main addition was adding the hotel, which sits on the ocean alongside the pier. With the hotel, players can now decorate hotel rooms and see different villagers visiting their island. The update has invigorated my love for Animal Crossing, as I have been playing the game every chance I can. I have gone through a recent slump where I went eight months (the game reminded me of this) without playing. With the update, I have been playing Animal Crossing regularly, and I feel motivated to go back and accomplish things that I was missing.

Starting with the hotel, I like being able to decorate the rooms. I find the task itself to be relaxing. When beginning to decorate a room, you can choose two different themes. From there, each room has various furniture items, flooring, and wallpaper, so you can choose how you want the room to look. I find that I do this every time I log into the game. The more rooms that are decorated, the more items are unlocked in the hotel’s souvenir shop. One of my favorite items I unlocked is a cat plushie that sits in my LEGO-themed room. I’m not sure how many more items I could unlock, but it’s been fun to see what else is included in the update. Another task that’s kept me busy is crafting items. Outside the hotel is a box where you can craft items to put into the box that are shipped off the island. It’s an easy way to get more currency to spend at the hotel.

Speaking of the update, another feature I like is the multi-craft feature. Before the update, you could only craft one item at a time. Now, you can craft multiple of the same item. For example, I’m trying to complete my fish encyclopedia, so having fish bait on hand can help attract the fish I need. Before, I could craft one fish bait, but now I can craft seven at once as long as I have the materials needed. Another way that I’m using the multi-craft feature is to craft flimsy tools, so I can break them to earn more Nook Miles I was missing. The last thing I will say about this is the ability to use items from your home storage. This is so slick! I don’t have to carry everything in my pockets anymore. As long as it’s in my home’s inventory, I can pull it to craft with it. Crafting has been made so much better thanks to this update.

The final thing I have done is create a guide to everything I still need to unlock in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. I have a table of all the fish, sea creatures, and bugs I need to catch, along with the Nook Miles I haven’t unlocked yet. I have highlighted certain creatures that are available this time of year and what time I need to play to unlock them. This has been super helpful! Since I created the guide, I have caught at least two fish and two insects I was missing. My husband asked me if I could change the date and time on my Switch to the times of year I need, and I could, but that’s cheating! I want to unlock this fair and square.

The new update has made Animal Crossing: New Horizons fresh again! I’m glad that this update was made for both Switch and Switch 2. I don’t think I would have upgraded to the Switch 2 solely because of this update had it not been made available on the Switch. I’m not sure how long I will keep playing Animal Crossing: New Horizons, but I know this update will keep me busy for the next month at least.