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Picture: Nintendo (official site)

Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Released 20 March 2020 Developer Nintendo EPD Publisher Nintendo

You move to a deserted island and slowly turn it into a village: gathering materials, crafting tools and furniture, building houses and shops, and making friends with animal neighbours. The game follows the console's real-world clock and seasons, and several family members can share one island or visit each other's online. It suits a wide age range, including young children playing alongside a parent.

Money health FairPay clearly, know the ceiling
Addictive design Low1 of 5 — counts the hooks designed in
Average price A$79.95Nintendo eShop (AU)
Spending ceiling Has a ceilingEverything costs A$117.45
Australian rating ACBGGeneral, online interactivity

How it makes money

Fair: pay clearly, know the ceiling

Bought once for A$79.95 on the Nintendo eShop, with one optional paid expansion, Happy Home Paradise (A$37.50, free for Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack members). Large content updates, including version 3.0, have been free. A Nintendo Switch 2 Edition (15 January 2026) costs A$8.00 as an upgrade pack or A$87.95 as a full edition. There is no real-money currency in the game: Bells and Nook Miles are earned by playing. Playing online with other people needs a paid Nintendo Switch Online membership.

How you pay

  • Editions

    The Nintendo Switch 2 Edition (15 January 2026) adds 4K, mouse controls and larger online groups: A$8.00 as an upgrade pack or A$87.95 as a full edition.

    minor part of the game
  • Paid DLC

    Happy Home Paradise, a resort-design expansion, is A$37.50; it is free with a Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack membership.

    minor part of the game
  • Online sub

    Visiting other players' islands online needs a paid Nintendo Switch Online membership; single-player and local play do not.

    minor part of the game
  • Pay once

    A$79.95 on the Nintendo eShop buys the whole base game; there is no in-game store for real money.

Techniques it uses to keep you paying or playing

  • Daily pressure

    Daily Nook Miles+ tasks, daily shop and event changes and island upkeep reward logging in often; there is no streak bonus or penalty beyond missing that day's events.

    minor part of the game
  • Collect all

    Completing the museum, Critterpedia and furniture catalogue is a long-term goal; it is done with in-game Bells and time, not real money.

    minor part of the game

What it costs

Price: A$79.95 · everything A$117.45

WhatWherePriceChecked
Standard Nintendo eShop (AU) · Switch A$79.95 Oct 2026
Happy Home Paradise (DLC)
Free with Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack.		 Nintendo eShop (AU) · Switch A$37.50 Oct 2026
Nintendo Switch 2 Edition
Full game plus the Switch 2 upgrade; does not include Happy Home Paradise.		 Nintendo eShop (AU) · Switch 2 A$87.95 Oct 2026
Nintendo Switch 2 Edition upgrade pack
For owners of the Switch version.		 Nintendo eShop (AU) · Switch 2 A$8 Oct 2026

Store prices change often and sales are common; we record the regular price on the date shown.

Reviews from across the web

What the critics said

90OpenCritic
Mighty 90Metacritic
Metascore
  • 9/ 10

    IGN

    Samuel Claiborn · 16 March 2020 · Switch

    Sees a bigger, more refined version of a beloved Nintendo series that still manages to surprise.

  • 9/ 10

    GameSpot

    Kallie Plagge · 16 March 2020 · Switch

    Says the game adds creative freedom and more daily activities while keeping what makes the series special.

  • 9/ 10

    Game Informer

    Jeff Cork · 16 March 2020 · Switch

    Enjoys the relaxed, self-paced island life and the new goals that encourage trying every activity, but finds local co-op cramped.

  • Essential

    Eurogamer

    Martin Robinson · 16 March 2020 · Switch

    Considers it the strongest game in the series so far, thanks to better features and a clearer structure.

  • 10/ 10

    Nintendo Life

    Alex Olney · 16 March 2020 · Switch

    Says the series arrives on home consoles with improvements to almost every part of the formula.

Scores belong to the outlets that published them; follow the links to read the full reviews. Summaries are ours.

Age ratings & content

What's in it

Content labels

  • Violencemild

    Fighting, weapons, injury and death, from cartoon bonks to realistic killing.

    From ESRB descriptors
  • Mature themesmild

    Crime, cruelty, death, suicide and self-harm, discrimination, and crude humour.

    From ESRB descriptors

Classification

ACBG

Australian Classification · record

General, online interactivity

ESRBE

ESRB (North America) · record

Comic Mischief, Mild Fantasy Violence

Interactive elements: Users Interact, In-Game Purchases

PEGI3

PEGI (Europe)

Age ratings judge content (violence, language, gambling themes), summed up in the content labels above. They say little about how hard a game pushes spending — that's what the money badges are for. About rating boards

Safety & parental controls

Who can talk to your child, and what can they buy?

  • Text chat
  • Players can interact with strangers
  • Contains user-made content (not pre-checked by the developer)
  • No account needed

Offline play needs no account. Online play (paid Nintendo Switch Online) lets players visit islands through a friend list invite or a Dodo Code, and anyone who has a Dodo Code can enter, so codes shared publicly can let strangers in. Chat is typed with the on-screen keyboard. Custom Designs and Dream Addresses are made by other players and are not checked beforehand. The Switch 2 Edition adds Nintendo's GameChat (voice, optional video with a USB-C camera); Nintendo says children need parent or guardian approval for GameChat in the Nintendo Switch Parental Controls app. ESRB lists 'In-Game Purchases': the only paid extras found are the eShop DLC and upgrade pack.

Who makes it

The company behind it, and its track record

Nintendo

Developer and publisher · Kyoto, Japan · founded 1889

  • Labour dispute

    Labour dispute

    US National Labor Relations Board, 2022: unfair-labour-practice charge by a fired contract tester settled for $25,910 plus union-rights notices.
  • Shut down paid games

    Shut down games people paid for

    Nintendo, March 2023 and April 2024: closed the Wii U and 3DS eShops, then ended online play for 3DS and Wii U software.
  • Competition law

    Competition-law action

    European Commission, October 2002: fined Nintendo €149 million for colluding with distributors to block cheaper cross-border sales (1991 to 1998); reduced to €119.2 million by the EU Court of First Instance in April 2009.
  • Publishes odds

    Publishes drop odds

    Nintendo, August 2019: said it would require drop-rate disclosure for paid random items in Switch games.

Latest on the record

  1. Court case

    Brazilian first-instance court ordered R$5 million in loot-box damages, subject to appeal

    Brazil Ministry of Justice and Public Security (Technical Note 55/2026)
  2. Game preservation

    Nintendo replaced Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp with a paid offline version

    Eurogamer
  3. Game preservation

    Nintendo closed the Wii U and 3DS eShops and later ended their online play

    Nintendo

Nintendo: full profile and track record →

A company's history doesn't change this game's money verdict, which rates only how the game itself makes money. About company track records

Platforms & release

Where you can play it

PlatformReleasedStore
Nintendo Switch 2
Switch 2 Edition; the Switch version also runs on Switch 2.		 15 January 2026 Store page
Nintendo Switch 20 March 2020 Store page

Further reading

Facts last checked 22 October 2026. Sources: www.nintendo.com, www.nintendo.com, api.ec.nintendo.com, www.classification.gov.au, www.esrb.org, www.metacritic.com, opencritic.com, en.wikipedia.org. Spotted something wrong? Send a correction.