A bold new era lands in Animal Crossing: New Horizons with the 3.0 update, reshaping your island one secret at a time.
A Nintendo Switch 2 version (requiring a paid upgrade)
The Nintendo Switch 2 version of Animal Crossing: New Horizons introduces performance and visual improvements, offering smoother frame rates and enhanced detail across the islands. Players can upgrade from the original release through a paid option, allowing them to transfer their progress and access new system-exclusive features. Although the core gameplay remains the same, the higher processing power gives villages, weather effects, and interactions a fresh sense of depth and polish.
If you have a Nintendo Switch 2, you can upgrade your Nintendo Switch version for $4.99. This upgrade features enhanced graphics, Joy-Con 2 mouse controls, GameChat compatibility, as well as the ability to host up to 12 people on your island at once.
There’s also a new Megaphone tool that allows you to speak into the microphone to call out to your villagers around your island.
Everything else listed below is part of the free update, so don’t feel like you have to upgrade if you just want to play around with the new resort.
Help out Kapp’n’s family at their new pier resort
Kapp’n and his family have opened a charming new pier resort, offering players fresh activities and rewards. You can help the family by completing small tasks and errands around the docks, such as collecting shells, delivering items, and decorating the cabins. These efforts earn you special tokens that can be exchanged for nautical furniture, clothing, and exclusive tunes sung by Kapp’n himself, adding new life to the coastal setting of your island adventures.
You’ll likely be prompted immediately during Isabelle’s morning announcements to go check out the pier, which is sporting a brand-new hotel that seems to have popped up overnight. Here, you can decorate hotel rooms for visitors to come stay in, similarly to how you decorate homes in the Happy Home Paradise DLC. You’ll be rewarded with tickets, which you can spend at Gran’s shop – which deals in exclusive items you can only nab from the resort.
You can also submit DIY items to the board in the front of the hotel to earn more tickets.
New Nook Miles objectives
The 3.0 update adds fresh Nook Miles objectives that send players on tasks like gathering specific fish or bugs, customizing islands with new furniture, and completing archipelago tours. These missions reward miles for upgrades and rare items, encouraging exploration across Pro Designs and Kapp’n’s boat trips. Track progress in the NookPhone to earn badges and redeem points at the Nook Stop terminal.
With the addition of the resort, there’s a few new Nook Miles objectives you can fulfill, if you’re into completing missions and achievements.
Quality-of-life updates for crafting and building
Players can craft and customize more freely than before, with expanded recipe options, quality materials, and streamlined interfaces that make building and decorating faster and more satisfying.
You can now craft items using the materials from your storage, as well as craft multiple items at once! Thank Nook, our prayers have finally been answered, and you can easily mass craft without having to clog up your inventory with wood and iron. You can also now store trees and other plants in your storage and pay to upgrade your storage even more than before.
Additionally, you can now move from tile-to-tile, allowing you to tweak your island more accurately.
Clear your island with Resetti’s Reset Service
Resetti’s Reset Service clears clutter and resets your island, giving you a fresh start with a clean slate and a brighter landscape.
If you went too hard in the past, and you want to clear off some space on your island, or even start completely new, Resetti can help you do this. You can find the mole man himself wandering your island to teach you how to use this nifty feature, though there are a few limitations that he’ll explain to you when you talk to him.
Decorate even more on Luna’s Slumber Islands
Players can now personalize their dream islands with new decorative options on Luna’s Slumber Islands. The update introduces additional furniture sets, lighting effects, and seasonal themes that appear during dream visits. Visitors can admire updated layouts, while creators can experiment with terraforming changes and expanded placement freedom. These additions make dream sharing much richer and more expressive than before.
If you’ve run out of space to gussy up, you can take a nap in your bed to get to Luna. Slumber Islands are essentially sandbox islands that you can decorate as much as you want, using items you may not necessarily have – as long as they’re registered in your catalog. You can use this to make mini-game type islands for your friends to play around on, without desecrating your main island, or just to make a fun chill spot with your friends. Friends you invite to your island can also give a hand, helping you decorate or terraform in real time.
However, you’ll need to get a letter from Luna in the mail before you can do this, and it does require having access to Nintendo Switch Online.
Crossover amiibo functionality
The 3.0 update expands amiibo compatibility by introducing crossover functionality with characters from other Nintendo series. Players can now invite special guests from franchises like Splatoon, The Legend of Zelda, and Super Mario to visit their islands, offering exclusive design items, furniture, and photo opportunities. Scanning these new amiibo cards or figures allows fans to bring a wider range of personalities into their villages, adding fresh interactions and creative possibilities to daily island life.
Yep, you can now scan amiibo featuring The Legend of Zelda and Splatoon characters to unlock not only special items in Nook Shopping, but also villagers inspired by these games. You can invite these villagers to your island to live, as long as you have open plots.
New items to decorate with
The 3.0 update brings fresh decor options like color-changing aquarium pipes, glowing mossy bamboo, and stackable firewood bundles. Place the new balloon lamp for a floating light effect or the sturdy cart to haul items around your island. Kites in various patterns add whimsy to fences, while the ramen bowl serves as a cozy table centerpiece. These pieces mix rustic and modern vibes, perfect for revamping paths, gardens, or indoor spaces.
How do I access the resort and earn tickets
To access the resort in Animal Crossing: New Horizons’ 3.0 update, ensure your island has a 3-star rating and Kapp’n is present (invite him via boat tours if needed); Isabelle will announce its opening at the southeast pier near Resident Services.
Unlocking Steps
Head to the pier after the announcement-Tom Nook may suggest a celebration, but it’s optional. Speak to Leilani at the hotel desk to start decorating rooms (two available daily, with themes); take a NookPhone photo of your first design for approval to unlock more features like custom outfits on lobby mannequins.
Earning Tickets
Decorate rooms for 200 tickets per room (400 daily max, plus 200 extra for initial full set including VIP); submit DIY crafts to the pier box (requests reset Mondays, with daily bonuses for first completions); guide wandering tourists to available rooms for 50 tickets each.
Spending Tickets
Use tickets at Grams’ Souvenir Shop in the hotel lobby for novelties, items, and rotating daily discounts-more room designs expand her catalog.
How to unlock the Resort Hotel on my island
To unlock the Resort Hotel in Animal Crossing: New Horizons’ 3.0 update, your island needs a 3-star rating, Kapp’n unlocked (via prior boat tours after museum upgrades and K.K. Slider concert), and the game updated to version 3.0.
Prerequisites
Achieve 3 stars by improving island aesthetics (fences, flowers, no trash). Unlock Kapp’n if missing: donate 15 museum items, host K.K. Slider, then check his pier. Isabelle announces the hotel opening the next day after requirements.
Activation Steps
Visit the expanded southeast pier (Kapp’n’s dock). Enter the hotel, talk to Tom Nook and Leilani, agree to help. Decorate Room 1 using familiar tools (furniture, patterns like Happy Home Paradise).
Finalizing Unlock
Take a Nook Phone photo of the room, tell Leilani “I’m done.” She approves it, hotel opens, rewards 200 tickets, and unlocks daily rooms/outfits at lobby mannequins.
