Top 10 Most Infamous Animal Crossing Exploits
Video Games, Adventure Games, animal crossing, video games, animal crossing creations, animal crossing new horizons, animal crossing video game, animal crossing exploits, animal crossing cheats, animal crossing history, animal crossing: new leaf, animal crossing: city folk, animal crossing: wild world, animal crossing tricks, animal crossing series, no more stings, no more resetti, insta-spawn balloons, no meds required, unbreakable tools,
Script Written by Ty Richardson
Why must people try to rig and cheat their way through this adorable franchise? Welcome to WatchMojo, and today, we’re counting down our picks for the Top 10 Most Infamous Exploits in Animal Crossing History!
For this list, we’re looking at a number of exploits players have used to keep their paradise perfect in the “Animal Crossing” series. Not just with the most recent new Horizons, but all main games in the series going back to the original on Gamecube. Be honest, how many of these have you used over the years?
Life can feel a little cruel even in the bright and cheerful world of “Animal Crossing”. Take wasp stings, for example. Sure, they don’t do any harm to your character, but your neighbors will be surprised when they see your face swollen. If you’re someone who got annoyed with finding or buying medicine, then chances are you used this exploit to make your time more enjoyable. Simply open your gate to visitors and you won’t have to worry about hives when you’re shaking down trees! It’s all reward and no risk! But let’s be honest - where’s the fun anymore? You could always just save and reboot the game to cure your stings.
If there’s one thing every “Animal Crossing” fan can agree on, it’s that Mr. Resetti knows how to use his gift of gab. Anytime this cranky mole shows up, we can’t help wishing our ears would pop off. Surprisingly enough, there was a way to avoid his insanely lengthy lectures in “Wild World”. Should you close the game without saving, you can start a new game only to save and exit once you’ve gained control of your new, soon-to-be forever neglected and/or erased from existence villager. Load up your previous file, and you can start recovering what progress you lost without Resetti’s inane garble.
Assuming you have no heart and despise every item being sold at Nook’s Cranny or the Able Sisters’ shop, you’re probably spending a lot of time waiting for balloons to float by so you can get something cooler or more rare. However, this process can take an incredibly long time. Well, there is a way to speed it up (if you’re that desperate for randomized gifts), but you’ll have to act fast. Simply enter Nook’s Cranny or the museum and start dialogue with the Nooks or Blathers. Wait inside until the clock ends with a “4” or “9”. It’ll take a full minute for the balloon to spawn in, but it should be easy to spot if you run around the beach.
Waiting for Public Work projects to be proposed naturally was a pain in the butt, so we can’t really blame anyone for using this exploit. To get projects proposed quicker, dive underwater for five minutes. Oh, and make sure your inventory is full of bells! This will prevent villagers from giving you gifts, or requests to purchase items you’re holding. When you get back on land, let a villager spot you. Because your pockets have their seemingly-endless voids packed, villagers can only ask you for a new catchphrase or propose a new project. Congratulations! You’ve discovered the art of accelerated town-building through the power of taking away whatever free will a scripted AI had!
Okay, maybe medicine isn’t as much of a hassle as we originally thought. Perhaps some players learned to stock up on medicine ahead of time before starting their own “Scarface”-like life and running an underground cartel under Tom Nook’s nose. So it can get quite annoying when a villager suddenly gets sick as you’ll have to give them medicine once a day for three days! Well, “Wild World’s” hidden solution to this was in the same vein as “City Folk’s” hive problem. Just open your gate, and all villagers are cured. No materials needed, no meds wasted, cartel takes no hits. It’s almost as if…*suspicious* they were never sick in the first place…
We can understand the frustration in catching every bug to complete the museum’s collection, especially when there are so many bugs that are harder to find. “New Leaf” had a way of speeding up this process through the use of Tortimer Island. First, clear out every flower and shrub and replace them with fruit trees and palm trees! Once the time hits 8pm, the rare bugs will begin popping up more frequently, allowing you to make roughly a hundred thousand Bells per trip! You’ve basically overtaken Tortimer’s island and turned it into a money printer. Proud of yourself?
Everyone has their own set of favorite villagers, and it can be heart-wrenching when one of them decides to move out. That’s why you gotta use the most powerful tool to keep them in your town - bribery! In some “Animal Crossing” titles, you can prevent a villager from moving by simply sending them a letter with a gift attached. They’ll be so happy that they’ll decide to stay and act like they made a great decision! That’s right… NOBODY leaves! We will all be one big, happy family until the day I delete this save file or move onto the next game!!
In case you haven’t tried out the local multiplayer in “New Horizons”, one player acts as the Leader while the other players are Followers. One of the unique things about Followers is that their tools never break. They’ll take damage, but the tools won’t break until they’re used again while playing solo. With Nintendo implementing button remapping in version 10 of the Switch’s system software, you can map the Follower’s buttons to the same Joy-Con as the Leader’s. Yeah, you basically got invincible tools at your disposal. Just don’t be surprised if tools suddenly start vanishing when you go back to playing alone.
Item duplication has long been an exploit throughout the franchise’s history ever since the original. For example; “City Folk” featured a glitch that involved traveling to a friend’s island and spamming the Wii’s Home button before resetting the console. “New Horizons”, on the other hand, has featured even MORE of these duplication glitches. One discovered at launch consisted of rotating furniture while a friend pockets it, but that was patched shortly after it was exposed. In May 2020, two more exploits were discovered. One involved particular placement of furniture and items while another demands you have at least two players and manipulating the mail system and Call Resident app. It’s all pretty complicated, and you can pull off some of these exploits with Bells, too.
This is the most notorious exploit due to just how many people have abused this exploit. In case you aren’t familiar, players can Marty McFly their way through “Animal Crossing” by changing their system’s dates around. By doing this, players are able to get villagers moved in quickly, accelerate the growth of fruit and flowers, finish construction in an instant, and of course, make a crap ton of Bells. As one would expect, many players employed this exploit as soon as “New Horizons” launched, and it sparked an entire conversation on whether or not it was right. If you do end up using this, be aware that you may end up spoiling turnips in the process and you can’t participate in seasonal events. You have been warned!
Top 10 Most Infamous Exploits in Animal Crossing History
Why must people try to rig and cheat their way through this adorable franchise? Welcome to WatchMojo, and today, we’re counting down our picks for the Top 10 Most Infamous Exploits in Animal Crossing History!
For this list, we’re looking at a number of exploits players have used to keep their paradise perfect in the “Animal Crossing” series. Not just with the most recent new Horizons, but all main games in the series going back to the original on Gamecube. Be honest, how many of these have you used over the years?
#10: No More Stings!
“Animal Crossing: City Folk” (2008) & “Animal Crossing: New Leaf” (2012)Life can feel a little cruel even in the bright and cheerful world of “Animal Crossing”. Take wasp stings, for example. Sure, they don’t do any harm to your character, but your neighbors will be surprised when they see your face swollen. If you’re someone who got annoyed with finding or buying medicine, then chances are you used this exploit to make your time more enjoyable. Simply open your gate to visitors and you won’t have to worry about hives when you’re shaking down trees! It’s all reward and no risk! But let’s be honest - where’s the fun anymore? You could always just save and reboot the game to cure your stings.
#9: No More Resetti!
“Animal Crossing: Wild World” (2005)If there’s one thing every “Animal Crossing” fan can agree on, it’s that Mr. Resetti knows how to use his gift of gab. Anytime this cranky mole shows up, we can’t help wishing our ears would pop off. Surprisingly enough, there was a way to avoid his insanely lengthy lectures in “Wild World”. Should you close the game without saving, you can start a new game only to save and exit once you’ve gained control of your new, soon-to-be forever neglected and/or erased from existence villager. Load up your previous file, and you can start recovering what progress you lost without Resetti’s inane garble.
#8: Insta-Spawn Balloons
“Animal Crossing: New Horizons” (2020)Assuming you have no heart and despise every item being sold at Nook’s Cranny or the Able Sisters’ shop, you’re probably spending a lot of time waiting for balloons to float by so you can get something cooler or more rare. However, this process can take an incredibly long time. Well, there is a way to speed it up (if you’re that desperate for randomized gifts), but you’ll have to act fast. Simply enter Nook’s Cranny or the museum and start dialogue with the Nooks or Blathers. Wait inside until the clock ends with a “4” or “9”. It’ll take a full minute for the balloon to spawn in, but it should be easy to spot if you run around the beach.
#7: Force New Public Works
“Animal Crossing: New Leaf” (2012)Waiting for Public Work projects to be proposed naturally was a pain in the butt, so we can’t really blame anyone for using this exploit. To get projects proposed quicker, dive underwater for five minutes. Oh, and make sure your inventory is full of bells! This will prevent villagers from giving you gifts, or requests to purchase items you’re holding. When you get back on land, let a villager spot you. Because your pockets have their seemingly-endless voids packed, villagers can only ask you for a new catchphrase or propose a new project. Congratulations! You’ve discovered the art of accelerated town-building through the power of taking away whatever free will a scripted AI had!
#6: No Meds Required
“Animal Crossing: Wild World” (2005)Okay, maybe medicine isn’t as much of a hassle as we originally thought. Perhaps some players learned to stock up on medicine ahead of time before starting their own “Scarface”-like life and running an underground cartel under Tom Nook’s nose. So it can get quite annoying when a villager suddenly gets sick as you’ll have to give them medicine once a day for three days! Well, “Wild World’s” hidden solution to this was in the same vein as “City Folk’s” hive problem. Just open your gate, and all villagers are cured. No materials needed, no meds wasted, cartel takes no hits. It’s almost as if…*suspicious* they were never sick in the first place…
#5: Force Spawn Rare Bugs
“Animal Crossing: New Leaf” (2012)We can understand the frustration in catching every bug to complete the museum’s collection, especially when there are so many bugs that are harder to find. “New Leaf” had a way of speeding up this process through the use of Tortimer Island. First, clear out every flower and shrub and replace them with fruit trees and palm trees! Once the time hits 8pm, the rare bugs will begin popping up more frequently, allowing you to make roughly a hundred thousand Bells per trip! You’ve basically overtaken Tortimer’s island and turned it into a money printer. Proud of yourself?
#4: Bribery!
VariousEveryone has their own set of favorite villagers, and it can be heart-wrenching when one of them decides to move out. That’s why you gotta use the most powerful tool to keep them in your town - bribery! In some “Animal Crossing” titles, you can prevent a villager from moving by simply sending them a letter with a gift attached. They’ll be so happy that they’ll decide to stay and act like they made a great decision! That’s right… NOBODY leaves! We will all be one big, happy family until the day I delete this save file or move onto the next game!!
#3: Unbreakable Tools
“Animal Crossing: New Horizons” (2020)In case you haven’t tried out the local multiplayer in “New Horizons”, one player acts as the Leader while the other players are Followers. One of the unique things about Followers is that their tools never break. They’ll take damage, but the tools won’t break until they’re used again while playing solo. With Nintendo implementing button remapping in version 10 of the Switch’s system software, you can map the Follower’s buttons to the same Joy-Con as the Leader’s. Yeah, you basically got invincible tools at your disposal. Just don’t be surprised if tools suddenly start vanishing when you go back to playing alone.
#2: Duplicating Items
“Animal Crossing” series (2001-)Item duplication has long been an exploit throughout the franchise’s history ever since the original. For example; “City Folk” featured a glitch that involved traveling to a friend’s island and spamming the Wii’s Home button before resetting the console. “New Horizons”, on the other hand, has featured even MORE of these duplication glitches. One discovered at launch consisted of rotating furniture while a friend pockets it, but that was patched shortly after it was exposed. In May 2020, two more exploits were discovered. One involved particular placement of furniture and items while another demands you have at least two players and manipulating the mail system and Call Resident app. It’s all pretty complicated, and you can pull off some of these exploits with Bells, too.
#1: Time Travel
“Animal Crossing” series (2001-)This is the most notorious exploit due to just how many people have abused this exploit. In case you aren’t familiar, players can Marty McFly their way through “Animal Crossing” by changing their system’s dates around. By doing this, players are able to get villagers moved in quickly, accelerate the growth of fruit and flowers, finish construction in an instant, and of course, make a crap ton of Bells. As one would expect, many players employed this exploit as soon as “New Horizons” launched, and it sparked an entire conversation on whether or not it was right. If you do end up using this, be aware that you may end up spoiling turnips in the process and you can’t participate in seasonal events. You have been warned!
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