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11 Mistakes You’re Making in Animal Crossing: New Leaf

11 Mistakes You’re Making in Animal Crossing: New Leaf

Are you playing Animal Crossing: New Leaf ? Well, I have some bad news for you. There’s a good chance you’re doing at least one thing wrong. Not that it’s your fault. There’s so much to do in the game, and people get these preconceived notions in their heads of the “right” and “wrong” way to play. And even though I’m the one who’s going to point out things you might be messing up, let me assure you that I’m not perfect either. I’m making these same mistakes, which is why I feel it’s my duty to help you out.

So let’s go make ourselves better Animal Crossing: New Leaf players!

Never, ever sell sloppy or cardboard furniture

Never, ever sell sloppy or cardboard furniture

I know this seems like an odd place to start, but trust me. We’re beginning here because this is a mistake I’ve made twice. See, there are two lines of furniture in Animal Crossing: New Leaf that can only be found by raiding Re-Tail or your local police station’s lost and found. You can also try and drag it out of certain neighbors, such as Marshall, but there’s no guarantee you’ll get his sloppy items. Even though they’re not particularly valuable, these pieces are so rare that you better hold onto them like a hoarder collects… well… everything!

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Get yourself a wetsuit

Get yourself a wetsuit

Playing enough mini-games on the island to earn medals for the gift shop sucks. It’s a tedious affair, made worse if the Bell Boom ordinance is enacted. It’s tempting to ignore the forty (or forty eight)-medal fee for a wetsuit and to just do all your diving on the island: tempting, but wrong. The island is set to permanent summer, so if you don’t grab a wetsuit as soon as possible, you’ll miss out on fall, winter, and spring underwater denizens for your museum.

You paid for flowers?

You paid for flowers?

You never pay for flowers in Animal Crossing: New Leaf . Only suckers pay for flowers! What you do is head to the island, go on a few tours where there will definitely be flowers, such as the ore hunting or bug-hunting tour, and pack your pockets with flowers instead of fulfilling the objective. Once you’re back in the island hut, dump the flowers from your pockets into the bin, so you can take them home and start working on fabulous fields of pansies, tulips, or whatever flora you want growing around your town.

Always have an ensemble

Always have an ensemble

Do you know who starts visiting your town not too long after a T.I.Y. store has been built? Gracie Grace. She’s your ticket to the T&T Emporium, the best store your main street can get. The thing is, she’s not easily convinced to just come to town. She only lives in the most fashionable areas, and your character needs to pass four fashion checks to win her over. Which means Gracie gives you a theme, which could be Basic, Cute, Flashy, Historic, Iconic, Modern, Official, Ornate, Rock ‘n Roll, or Sporty, and you need to have at least two items of that clothing on, without any conflicting styles, to get her approval.

And you’ll be fine, so long as you’ve been stuffing your closet with clothes since you started playing Animal Crossing: New Leaf , as Modern and Ornate items are particularly difficult to find. Oh, you haven’t? Well, Good luck with that!

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  • Library of over 500 titles
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Research Redd

Research Redd

Redd, the fox, is a scam artist. His friendly “cousin” talk is just a way to lure you into buying a painting or statue that’s probably counterfeit. In Animal Crossing: New Leaf , however, you can beat the con. If you adjust the camera just so, really get up in on that painting, maybe pull up a reference guide, you’ll realize that a Nefertari bust isn’t supposed to have an afro, and The Great Wave off Kanagawa is supposed to have just one big wave in it, not two. If you aren’t really paying attention to those pretty pictures, you deserve that forgery, cousin!

Stock up on bugs

Stock up on bugs

You know what happens one Saturday practically every month? The Bug Off. If you’re not preparing for it weeks in advance, then something is absolutely wrong. All Nat wants is one good, succulent, delectable, prime specimen. You don’t have to catch a specific species. Any bug will do. So smart people will be at the island a week or two before, catching and hoarding Goliath Beetles, Agrias Butterflies, and maybe even a Horned Atlas. Stock up on about 10 Goliaths and 5 Agrias or Atlas, and you’ll be set. Just don’t waste any Golden Stags or Rainbow Stags on him. Nat doesn’t appreciate those little Bell factories.

Running

Running

You ran in Animal Crossing: New Leaf , didn’t you? Don’t deny it. Look at your ground. I’d say look at your grass, but there aren’t even any faint remnants or traces of it. I know it’s tempting. Sometimes, you’ve got your inventory full of island bugs, it’s 10:58, and you know if you run, you can make it to Re-Tail in time to sell your haul. I know because, despite my best efforts, I end up doing the same thing at least once a week. Just don’t. Don’t run. It isn’t worth it.

You can’t save your grass

You can’t save your grass

Listen, we’ve already established that you’re running. Maybe you did it when you were young and foolish, back in June when Animal Crossing: New Leaf came out. Perhaps you had store-closing emergencies. It could even have been that Katie was in town and, in your excitement, you ran to the train station to offload her on someone else. The thing to do now is accept that you live in a Fallout -style wasteland. Your grass is gone. It isn’t coming back. You can try and plant tons of trees and flowers, watering everyday, but after a month with no discernable regrowth, you’ll accept that your new town color is “sepia” and move on to more worthwhile endeavors.

You’re a slave to your town

You’re a slave to your town

Seeing the loss of grass and the disorganization of everything does things to some Animal Crossing: New Leaf players. It gets into their heads, and that, combined with the fact that they are mayor and master of their domain , leads them to take drastic measures. They enact the Beautiful Town ordinance in order to preserve the hundreds of flowers that will be scattered around in an attempt to beautify and restore grass. New characters will be created to make room for the patterns needed to create an elaborate roadway system. And to create the right town theme, millions of Bells will be spent on public works projects.

Yet, there’s a price to pay for such organization and beauty. People with these towns can never change the town ordinance because there are too many flowers that would die without it. The villagers can never move because then that would mess up the roadway system. The people who do this are forever tied to their town because missing days could lead to mass flower extinction or a villager deciding to leave town.

Checking your 3DS time records

Checking your 3DS time records

You made a big mistake. You checked your 3DS’ records to see how long you’ve been playing Animal Crossing: New Leaf , and you’ve passed the 100-hour mark. In one month . Maybe you even start thinking about things you could have accomplished in those 100 hours. (You know, such as write a novel. Take care of your kids.) All this leads up to a vow in which you declare you’re going to seriously cut back on Animal Crossing , which is the biggest mistake of all.

Forcing yourself to cut back on Animal Crossing

Forcing yourself to cut back on Animal Crossing

See, Animal Crossing is the kind of series that you play obsessively for a few months. They’ll be great months. Then, you hit a wall. Maybe you paid off your home and got it “just right,” or you participated in almost every major event. There will be a point where it seems like everything has been done, and once that happens, probably about three to five months after buying the game, you’ll just stop playing on your own.

So don’t bother cutting back now when you love the game so much. The end is creeping up on you already, naturally, and then you can go find some other game to sink 100 hours of your life into. (Here comes Grand Theft Auto V …!)

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  • 2x the graphic processing power of Quest 2 with the Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2
  • Mixed reality blends virtual elements and physical space
  • 4K+ Infinite display
  • 3D audio with enhanced clarity and bass
  • Touch Plus controllers deliver a more intuitive experience
  • Library of over 500 titles
We earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.
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