Nintendo LifeUnlike previous games in the series, Animal Crossing: New Horizons was very ‘incomplete’ when it launched in March. In a move that upset time travelers around the world, Nintendo decided to roll out annual in-game events throughout the year via updates.
While this had the advantage of having the game circling sites and social media on a monthly basis, it also prevented guide and video creators from sniffing out the events and spilling the beans months before their calendar-dictated debut.
But what was your favorite New Horizons event of 2020? Well, there is a survey that will ask you exactly that question at the bottom of the page, but first, let’s briefly summarize all the events – big and small – that came to deserted islands on Switches around the world.
First up after the game’s launch on March 20, 2020 was Bunny Day, a 12-day event where Zipper T. Bunny sent you on an egg hunt. For many players, too many eggs came way too soon after the game launched. We were still in the rhythm of things, trying to catch fish and dig up fossils and ended up with a bloody egg half the time.
To be fair, younger players loved hunting eggs, although we were happy to see the back of it.
The following week in April was the return of Leif the sloth and his bushes for the Nature Day Event – another ‘day’ that lasted nearly fourteen days. At the center of that was the May Day Event, which saw the return of the brave villager Rover (okay, ‘return’ might be a bit strong – ‘cameo performance’ is closer) on the one-off May Day maze tour.
The second half of May was taken up by the International Museum Day Event, which tasked you with collecting stamps around the museum to collect three plaques related to fish, fossils and insects. Very nice they were too, although completing the Stamp Rally on other days only got you identical plaques. The walls in our bathroom were filled with it.
The entire month of June was all about Wedding Season, and while it was great photographing ReTail lovebirds Cyrus and Reese on Harv Island for the first time, 30 days of essentially doing the same thing diminished our enthusiasm. The four Bug-Offs and Fishing Tourneys throughout the year were much less demanding.
Sunday evenings throughout the month of August were brightened by the fireworks displays arriving in the July update. You can create custom fireworks to fill the night sky with your custom designs and participate in Redd’s raffle to win prizes not available anywhere else.
During the October Halloween event, Jack, the Halloween Czar, returned in the Fall Update that also added new makeup options, costumes, and pumpkins. Franklin returned to the series in time for the Thanksgiving-themed Turkey Day in November, with Toy Day on Christmas Eve recently.
There are of course more events to come in the new year and March 20, 2021 will mark exactly one year of events. It will be really interesting to see if next year’s reruns are changed in any way – perhaps to offer returning players new rewards, or to make adjustments based on last year’s feedback. We would certainly welcome a small equippable item that automatically mixed up all the eggs in the water while trying to catch fish!
So, which of the annual Animal Crossing: New Horizons events above was your favorite? Let us know by picking your two favorites in the poll below (we’ve also added in the Cherry Blossom, Maple Leaf and Mushroom ‘seasons’ if you enjoyed collecting those items for DIY Recipe sets):
Let us know below what you liked above your favorite event (or what made your least favorite shine) and tell us what you look forward to in 2021.