That spooky time of year visits us once more: Halloween! When the holiday begins in full swing in our world, its specter also haunts the world of Animal Crossing. The Animal Crossing franchise—published by Nintendo, which has American subsidiaries in Washington—features many events corresponding to our real-world holidays. Halloween contains exclusive gameplay mechanics and unique items for players to collect. Here is what you need to know about Halloween in Animal Crossing.
History of Halloween in Animal Crossing
Halloween has been present in Animal Crossing since the series’s inception. First introduced in 2001’s Doubutsu no Mori for the Nintendo 64, the holiday has appeared in every mainline title of the franchise, with the only exception being Wild World for the Nintendo DS. Its exclusion from the DS title was typical, as all the previous holidays in the first-generation titles were also removed. Halloween was initially absent in New Horizons until it was reintegrated into the game with the September 30, 2020, 1.5.0 Fall Update. This same update introduced pumpkins to the series, which players later discovered were the first of many new produce items. Pumpkins also play a pivotal role in Halloween in association with crafting.
The overarching mechanics of the frightful holiday have largely remained the same between games. Jack, the mysterious pumpkin-headed maestro of scares, hosts the event and has a hunger for candy. Villagers will wander around town wearing costumes and chase you. They will shout “trick-or-treat” and demand candy, or else they will pull a trick on you. This usually consists of them altering your clothing or changing an item in your inventory to a Spooky Series item. New Leaf for the 3DS changed the formula slightly, as your goal was to scare villagers using special Halloween-themed masks that tapped into their fears. New Horizons maintains the base formula for the holiday, with some interesting twists.
Preparations for the Event in New Horizons
When the first of October rolls around, Isabelle will greet you with a message that gives a brief overview of Halloween and the month as a whole. She states that Nook’s Cranny will sell candy, a vital item that you should stock up on before the holiday begins. Isabelle will also briefly discuss pumpkins and note that both the Nooklings and Leif will sell starts for the crop during October. Your mailbox will contain a letter from Jack declaring his intentions to visit your island on the day of the event. Attached to the letter will be an exclusive item that cannot be bought or reordered: Jack’s portrait, a wall-mounted picture displaying the czar of Halloween himself.
As mentioned, candy will be sold at Nook’s Cranny, costing 120 Bells a piece. However, candy can only be purchased once daily, so you must visit the shop regularly to stock up. The Able Sisters begin offering limited edition costume-themed items such as witch’s hats and devil horns at their clothing store. Special body paints and colored contacts can be unlocked using the Nook Stop terminal in Resident Services, costing 2,400 Nook Miles each. Throughout the month, villagers crafting recipes can bestow you DIY cards for the pumpkin-based Spooky Series. Starting on October 28, 2 Spooky towers will appear outside Resident Services. Some special characters, like Isabelle and Tom Nook, will wear Halloween headgear starting at this time.
Halloween in New Horizons
Halloween will officially start on your island at 5 P.M. on October 31. The event will run until midnight, giving you enough time to gather all its creepy rewards—assuming you have stockpiled candy. Villagers on your island will be decked out in Halloween-appropriate costumes and usually linger around the Resident Services plaza. Jack finally appears during this time frame and wanders around the same space as your villagers. While the event is ongoing, a special theme unique to the holiday will play as you traverse your island. The sky will also change during this time, conveying a creepier atmosphere.
Your goal during Halloween is to exchange candy with your villagers and Jack. Villagers may notice your presence and approach you directly. Unlike previous games in the series, they won’t initiate conversations. If you give a villager candy, they will reward you with a Spooky Series item or DIY card, assuming you have not learned all the Spooky recipes yet. In addition to the item or recipe, there is also a chance that your villager will provide you with a valuable lollipop. Lollipops can be exchanged with Jack to collect rare items. You can also learn 2 Halloween-themed reactions: Haunt and Scare. The Haunt reaction is gained through exchanging candy with Jack while Scare is learned from villagers.
Spooktacular Rewards
It may be wise to seek out and speak with Jack before giving any candy to your island’s villagers. When you give Jack 2 pieces of candy for the first time, he will reward you with unique clothing items: Jack’s Face and Jack’s Robe. Donning these clothing pieces lets you mimic the Halloween maestro’s look; they also allow you to scare your villagers into giving you a free piece of candy. Furthermore, if you scare them while lacking any candy in your inventory, they will instead provide you with 3 pieces. This provides a great method to restock candy if you find yourself running short. You can perform this scaring technique once every roughly 5 minutes or so.
The grand prizes of Halloween become available once you have garnered at least 3 lollipops. When you exchange one of these lollipops with Jack for the first time, he gifts you the massive Spooky carriage furniture item. The second lollipop will net you the DIY recipe for the carriage, allowing you to craft it indefinitely. The third and ultimate reward Jack gives you for bestowing him lollipops is the recipe for the Spooky wand. These DIYs and other Spooky recipes you acquire during Halloween will require pumpkins to craft their items. The following is an exhaustive list of the different Halloween DIY items and their requirements:
- Spooky Chair: Requires 3 orange pumpkins and 3 softwood
- Spooky table: Requires 14 orange pumpkins and 10 softwood
- Spooky standing lamp: Requires 3 orange pumpkins, 5 hardwood, and 1 clay
- Spooky lantern: Requires 4 orange pumpkins
- Spooky lantern set: Requires 4 orange pumpkins and 4 clumps of weed
- Spooky candy set: Requires 1 orange pumpkin and 3 candies
- Spooky table setting: Requires 1 orange pumpkin, 1 iron nugget, and 1 clay
- Spooky scarecrow: Requires 3 orange pumpkins and 4 wood
- Spooky tower: Requires 7 orange pumpkins
- Spooky arch: Requires 10 orange pumpkins, 10 hardwood, and 3 clay
- Spooky carriage: Requires 30 orange pumpkins, 20 hardwood, 20 wood, 20 softwood, and 10 iron nuggets
- Spooky trick lamp: Requires 4 orange pumpkins and 4 iron nuggets
- Spooky tree: Requires 5 orange pumpkins and 10 hardwood
- Spooky garland: Requires 1 orange pumpkin, 1 iron nugget, and 1 clay
- Spooky fence: Requires 3 orange pumpkins and 5 iron nuggets
- Spooky treats basket: Requires 1 orange pumpkin and 2 candies
- Spooky wand: Requires a spooky lantern and 3 star fragments
Happy Halloween
Halloween is a festive time of year, and Animal Crossing: New Horizons ups the stakes compared to previous titles. Pumpkins, a necessary crop for the Spooky series, can be grown in different colors. With these assorted colors of pumpkins, you can further customize the Spooky items you obtain during the event into different color variants, providing tons of variety. Halloween is a fan-favorite holiday in the game for its general atmosphere and fun mechanics. Many will decorate their island to celebrate the holiday and display haunting items for visitors. Once you see the czar of Halloween creeping about, you know it’s time to ramp up the scare factor. The witching hour approaches, so get ready boys and ghouls.
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