One of the biggest draws to the Animal Crossing series is how gameplay is affected by real world events. The games celebrate most of the major holidays, like Christmas and Halloween, as well as a few minor ones. One of the holidays Animal Crossing has focused on has always been April Fools’ Day, which happens on April 1st and coincides with everyone on the internet losing their minds. Nintendo has decided to bring that celebration to Animal Crossing: New Horizons by adding farts to the game.
OK, so not exactly “farts.”
A huge new update is coming to Animal Crossing: New Horizons and it includes one item that piqued my interest: a whoopee cushion. According to Nintendo’s website, the whoopee cushion will come in four different colors and can be used to pranks the animal islanders. It will be available to order through the in-game Nook shopping service starting on March 26 and disappear after April 1, so be sure to log in and grab one while it’s around.
Nintendo will also celebrate New Horizons’ first anniversary with a special cake item. The anniversary cake will be sent to players’ in-game mailboxes automatically, so no need to worry about having enough bells to order one.
Prom season is almost upon us, and Animal Crossing is celebrating in style. Through April, players can purchase prom-themed outfits and accessories from their Able Sister’s shop, the clothier that resides on each island. There will also be a few prom-inspired decoration items available from Nook to allow players to deck out their homes to relive the raucous bash from their teenage years (or to throw yourself a prom if you were denied one because of a certain global pandemic).
But the main focus of the update is the new characters. Through the use of Amiibo cards available from Target, players will be able to unlock Sanrio-themed characters and invite them to live on their island. These animals are all unique to Animal Crossing but each of them sports a look inspired by famous Sanrio characters, like Hello Kitty, My Melody, and Pompompurin. The cards, available starting March 26, will be sold exclusively at Target. Each pack comes with six cards and will retail for $5.99. The cards were initially released back in 2016 and have been out of print for years. Fans have been clamoring for these cards to be released since New Horizons launched, and it seems Nintendo Has heard their cries.
This upcoming New Horizons is huge and offers a ton of new stuff to keep the game fresh and interesting, which after a full year it would need. But I have to hand it to the Nintendo team; they’ve managed to keep me interested in Animal Crossing: New Horizons for well longer than any of the previous games, and that’s all due to these periodic updates. Of course, being able to create farts with cute little animals helps as well.
