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Animal Crossing’s free March update brings the dreaded Bunny Day back

By Giovanni Colantonio March 16, 2021

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is getting a new free update this week that brings several features to the game. The much-maligned Bunny Day event will return to the game as part of the content drop.

Players can download the free update on Thursday, March 18. That paves the way for the game’s Easter event, which takes place on April 4. Bunny Day was New Horizons‘ first big event after it launched last year and it spawned a rush of memes from angry fans who detested its lead mascot, Zipper.

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[Announcement]
Bunny Day is back this year on 4/4! Collect a variety of eggs and craft DIY Bunny Day themed items. You can also visit Nook’s Cranny from 3/28 to 4/4 to grab one item from the Bunny Day series each day. The newly added items are exclusive to Nook’s Cranny. pic.twitter.com/Sj2xlTHJxH

— Isabelle (@animalcrossing) March 16, 2021

This year’s event will play out similarly to last year with players finding eggs and crafting items. In addition to that, Nook’s Cranny will have a collection of new items, which will be on sale from March 28 to April 4.

The update adds a new Custom Design Pro Editor+ to the game. This tool adds 50 more slots for custom and pro designs and can be purchased through the Nook ATM. Players will be able to customize umbrellas, flags, photo stands, and more with the update. Players can also grab a Custom Design Portal, which brings a feature from the Able Sisters shop to their Nook Phone.

Other additions include new seasonal items, a birthday cake for the game’s first anniversary, and a new set of Sanrio-themed items. Players will have to buy the Sanrio Collection card pack to unlock the latter in the game.

Nintendo is also releasing a limited-time screenshot sharing tool called Island Tour Creator. Starting March 23, players will be able to upload photos and videos from the game to a website and create posters for their island. The service will be available through the end of the year.

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Giovanni Colantonio

Senior Gaming Editor

As Digital Trends' Senior Gaming Editor, Giovanni Colantonio oversees all things video games at Digital Trends. As a veteran…

Gaming

Animal Crossing: New Horizons fish guide for November 2022

Catching a fish in Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

One of the nifty features of Animal Crossing: New Horizons is its ever-changing seasons that are a reflection of the real world. When it's summer in real life, it's summer in Animal Crossing, meaning there are always new things to enjoy as you play. As each month goes by, the selection of fish that appear throughout the game changes, so you'll always want to be aware of the selection for any given month.

Sometimes, certain fish are only available for a few months out of the year, while others appear more frequently. It's also important to consider which hemisphere you're in, as this will impact the fish that appear in your area. For the month of November 2022, New Horizons has a lot of changes with its fish selection, and below, we'll cover everything you need to know about the new additions.

Gaming

Animal Crossing Halloween event: costumes, items, dates, more

Animal Crossing Halloween

Just like the real world, your island in Animal Crossing: New Horizons will change with the seasons. With the change of seasons also come the major holidays, which the residents of your island are always excited to celebrate with new events, items, and special rewards that only come around during specific times of the year. With Halloween fast approaching in real life, special spooky and tasty additions are already arriving.

While this isn't the first Halloween players will experience in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, it is the first since the 2.0 update added a ton of new features and items. This makes this year's Halloween festivities the biggest yet. If you're a fan of all things creepy and spooky but always in a fun and adorable way, here are all the events, costumes, and items you can look forward to picking up during the Halloween event in Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

Gaming

Disney Dreamlight Valley and Harvestella make one critical farming mistake

Donald Duck walks through a town in Disney Dreamlight Valley,

Thanks to games like Stardew Valley and Animal Crossing: New Horizons, farming and life-simulation games are back in fashion. They've also dominated September, as Disney Dreamlight Valley launched earlier this month and games like Harvestella, Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life, Fae Farm, Rune Factory 3 Special, and a brand new Rune Factory title all got segments in the latest Nintendo Direct. Harvestella even got a demo after the September 13 Nintendo Direct -- one I immediately downloaded to get my farm on early.
Getting into it though, I found that Harvestella already has a problem I've noticed in many titles that are part of the genre boom, including Disney Dreamlight Valley: they don't get to the farming fast enough, damnit!
While that might seem obvious, recent games in the genre have had long-winded opening before the player has any farming tools in hand. As players come to these games for the farming and simulation elements, developers looking to join in on the trend may want to take some pacing cues from games like Stardew Valley by trimming down their front-heavy lore drops and getting players to the fields sooner.
Let's jump into it
Part of the beauty of Stardew Valley is how quickly it immerses the player in the game's core concepts. The indie hit lets players loose to farm or build within 10 minutes before slowly expanding systems outwards and letting players get more invested in the game's world and story. You'll know whether or not you'll like Stardew Valley within 10 minutes of playing, and will already have crops that give you a reason to stick around if you do like it.
Disney Dreamlight Valley – Gameplay Overview Trailer
In both Harvestella and Disney Dreamlight Valley, it takes at least 30 minutes for any farming elements to be introduced, and even longer before players can get caught up in the gameplay loop of tending to their crops or customizing their home as the game intends. I was eager to try Disney Dreamlight Valley via Xbox Game Pass when it released earlier this month. After getting hit with an immediate exposition dump followed by slowly paced tutorials and a weapon-collecting quest, I got bored with it and dropped out just as it was opening up for me toward the end of the first hour. It didn't entice me and I had other things to do and games to play.
Shortly after, I checked Harvestella's demo out after it dropped during the September 13 Nintendo Direct. I expect I'll end up playing more when it launches, as I'm intrigued by its world and mix of action RPG and fantasy sim. That said, I found myself trudging through the demo as I had to deal with lots of exposition and simple "walk to" objective gameplay before I could actually get to any farming or RPG elements. While I'm glad I didn't stop playing the demo, I almost did due to the glacial pacing.
I wish Harvestella had more quickly gotten me into its gameplay loop before then dumping its intriguing lore on me. That's not to say the story isn't important in these kinds of games. Some of the most memorable parts of Stardew Valley and Animal Crossing: New Horizons are getting to know the residents that you live alongside. The sim elements are what draws the most players in, as well as what will get them into a routine that they can get hooked on.
HARVESTELLA - 2nd Trailer
Devoting over 30 minutes to an hour of extra playtime in a game that can last dozens of hours may seem like arguing over semantics, but the first few moments of the game can make or break an experience. And when you're in a genre with so much competition these days, players can easily move on to something equally as interesting if they aren't immediately hooked. The best simulation experiences cut the fluff, get players right into the action, and save the deeper elements for later. Future farming and life simulations game should take note if they want to potentially take off as Stardew Valley did.