Everything announced in the October 2021 Animal Crossing Direct

Animal Crossing Brewster And Kappn
Animal Crossing Brewster And Kappn (Image credit: iMore)

In the September 2021 Nintendo Direct, Nintendo announced a separate presentation for Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Brewster was confirmed for a November update, but Nintendo promised that more new content would make an appearance as well. We'll be sure to update this space as more information gets announced.

Free update

Animal Crossing New Horizons Free Update

Animal Crossing New Horizons Free Update (Image credit: iMore)

The free update is scheduled to release on November 5, 2021. This will be the last major free update coming to Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

The Roost

Animal Crossing New Horizons Brewster

Animal Crossing New Horizons Brewster (Image credit: iMore)

Multiple players can visit The Roost, a café run by Brewster in the museum's basement. NPCs will come visit the café during their downtime, ever so often. Players can also call characters like NPCs using amiibo cards and figures and invite them to the café, where they may even bring a friend.

Kapp'ns Boat Tours

Animal Crossing New Horizons Kappn Boat Tour

Animal Crossing New Horizons Kappn Boat Tour (Image credit: iMore)

Kapp'n is a kappa who loves touring islands. Players can pay 1,000 Nook Miles to go on tours with Kapp'n to exclusive islands that only he knows about! Visit islands with mysterious new plants, or even encounter an island during a different season or time of day!

Harv's Island Plaza

Animal Crossing New Horizons Harvs Island Harriet

Animal Crossing New Horizons Harvs Island Harriet (Image credit: iMore)

Harv's island is expanding to include new NPCs with their own services on a special plaza. Harriet, Katrina, Kicks, Saharah, and Redd will all be making an appearance on the island which you can help expand by making contributions to Lloid. Reese and Cyrus from Re-Tail can help you customize furniture that normally can't be customized on your own, as well. Katrina's fortune shop can tell your fortune. Who knows what fate lies in store for you?

Group Stretching

Animal Crossing New Horizons Morning Aerobics

Animal Crossing New Horizons Morning Aerobics (Image credit: iMore)

Want to stay fit? It's always good to do so with a buddy! Players can do group stretching at the town plaza with everyone on your island. Just interact with the tape deck at the Town Hall to call everyone over! You can use button controls or your Joy-Cons' motion controls to perform the stretching actions.

Enact ordinances

Animal Crossing New Horizons Ordinances

Animal Crossing New Horizons Ordinances (Image credit: iMore)

If you wished your island were a bit different, you can now enact ordinances! Island Representatives have the power to make shops open at different times and give the island a new lease on life. Choose from the following ordinances:

  • Beautiful Island — Make weeds appear less frequently
  • Early Bird — Make shops open and close earlier, and make villagers wake up earlier
  • Night Owl — Make shops open and close later, and make villagers go to sleep later
  • Bell Boom — Make items worth more bells, though they'll also be more expensive

Upgraded home services

Animal Crossing New Horizons Homes

Animal Crossing New Horizons Homes (Image credit: iMore)

Tom Nook's got more options for those who want to customize their home's exterior! Choose from different house styles and a wider variety of roof, wall, door, and mailbox options.

More storage, bridges, and inclines!

Animal Crossing New Horizons Storage

Animal Crossing New Horizons Storage (Image credit: iMore)

Storage has been increased to 5,000, allowing you to hoard all the new items coming in this update! The max number of bridges and inclines you can have on your island increases from eight to a grand total of 10.

New Nook Mile rewards

Some new licenses can be redeemed with Nook Miles:

  • Pro Decorating License
  • Custom Fencing in a Flash
  • New Reactions Notebook
  • Pro Construction License

Cooking

Animal Crossing New Horizons Cooking Recipes

Animal Crossing New Horizons Cooking Recipes (Image credit: iMore)

Players can now cultivate more crops to make some hearty dishes using instructions from DIY recipes. Wheat, tomatoes, sugar cane, carrots and potatoes will be available for you to make tasty food to display! Eating food also gives you energy to smash rocks and dig up entire trees.

New license freedoms Ceiling decor & accent walls

Animal Crossing Ceiling Decor And Accent Walls (Image credit: Nintendo)

The Pro Decorating License allows you to hang items from the ceiling now. You can use patterns to customize walls and flooring in your house, even adding accent walls for some personality. Navigating tight spaces is now much easier as well! Players can even permanently place ladders on ledges outside.

Animal Crossing New Horizons Pro Construction License

Animal Crossing New Horizons Pro Construction License (Image credit: iMore)

The Pro Construction License allows you to construct up to 10 bridges and inclines, up from the previous eight. Custom Fencing in a Flash lets you customize fences and explore and craft nine new fencing options:

  • Block fencing
  • Frozen fencing
  • Park fencing
  • Corrugated iron fencing
  • Large Lattice fencing
  • Log-wall fencing
  • Bamboo slats fencing
  • Green bamboo fencing
  • Log fencing

Pro Camera App

Animal Crossing New Horizons Pro Camera App

Animal Crossing New Horizons Pro Camera App (Image credit: iMore)

With the new Pro Camera App, you can now take the camera and bring it down to eye level. You can even take pictures in this new perspective, by using the Tripod Camera mode!

More options with custom designs

Animal Crossing New Horizons Custom Designs

Animal Crossing New Horizons Custom Designs (Image credit: iMore)

You can now wear custom designs that were previously locked to customizing furniture. These designs can also be used as flooring, wallpaper, and accent walls as well.

Express yourself with hairstyles and reactions

Animal Crossing New Horizons Hair

Animal Crossing New Horizons Hair (Image credit: iMore)

Eleven new hairstyles are coming to the game, including the ones from Harriet, who will be found in Harv's Island Plaza! Make your character look even more like yourself, or dress them up as other people with these increased customization options.

Animal Crossing New Horizons Reactions

Animal Crossing New Horizons Reactions (Image credit: iMore)

Eleven new reactions are coming via the update as well, such as:

  • Waving goodbye
  • Stretch
  • Jammin'
  • Listening ears
  • Say cheese

Island Life 101

Animal Crossing New Horizons Island Living

Animal Crossing New Horizons Island Living (Image credit: iMore)

The new NookPhone app, called Island Life 101, gives you tips on how to make the most of your island life. Newcomers to the game will be able to ease into island living without any hassle.

New items with Nook Miles

Animal Crossing New Horizons Nook Miles Items

Animal Crossing New Horizons Nook Miles Items (Image credit: iMore)

New items are coming to your NookStop app and to Nook's stores, to make your island even more colorful! New ceiling fixtures can be bought from Nook's Cranny as well.

Animal Crossing New Horizons Sotrage Shed

Animal Crossing New Horizons Sotrage Shed (Image credit: iMore)

A new storage shed can be placed outside, which connects directly to your home's storage space. That way, you don't have to keep running back to your home to clean up when your pockets are full. A new ABD furniture items also lets you access the bells in your bank account without having to run to the Town Hall all the time.

Jam together with K.K.

Anima Crossing New Horizons Kk Slider

Animal Crossing New Horizons Kk Slider (Image credit: iMore)

K.K. Slider's music gets a whole new sound with new songs like:

  • Chillwave
  • K.K. Bashment
  • K.K. Break
  • K.K. Chrinjo
  • K.K. Dub
  • K.K. Fuge
  • K.K. Lovers
  • K.K. Hip-hop
  • K.K. Polka

A new furniture item, the music box, can be placed in your home. You can listen to K.K.'s new beats this way, too!

Gyroids!

Animal Crossing New Horizons Gyroid Drummoid

Animal Crossing New Horizons Gyroid Drummoid (Image credit: iMore)

Players can dig up gyroid fragments, plant them, and water them to make new little musical friends. You can even customize the little guys! Gyroid fragments can be found more often after it rains.

Movin' up with ladders

Animal Crossing New Horizons Permanent Ladders

Animal Crossing New Horizons Permanent Ladders (Image credit: iMore)

Players can craft a wooden ladder set-up kit to place permanent ladders on cliffs around their island. This should make traversing your island landscapes even easier, and help friends who visit your island in their dreams. The DIY recipe can be purchased at Nook's Cranny, and ladders can be customized.

Lemme squeeeeze on by...

Animal Crossing New Horizons Tight Spaces

Animal Crossing New Horizons Tight Spaces (Image credit: iMore)

Tight spaces in your home? Now you'll be able to squeeze through them and interact with furniture like couches! If you're like me and have a packed home, this will make getting around much easier.

More villager interactions

Animal Crossing New Horizons Villager Invites

Animal Crossing New Horizons Villager Invites (Image credit: iMore)

Villagers can now invite you to come over to their house after you become good friends. While you're bustling about in your own home, they may even pay a visit!

New faces

Animal Crossing New Horizons New Villagers

Animal Crossing New Horizons New Villagers (Image credit: iMore)

Huh? It looks like new villagers are making their way into the game! We can't wait to see what kind of friends we can make while out and about on mystery islands.

Happy Home Paradise

Animal Crossing New Horizons Happy Home Paradise

Animal Crossing New Horizons Happy Home Paradise (Image credit: iMore)

Some paid DLC called Animal Crossing: New Horizons — Happy Home Paradise is coming. Much like Happy Home Designer on the Nintendo 3DS, players will be able to customize and create houses for villagers on a brand-new archipelago of islands. These techniques can then be applied in your own home.

Animal Crossing New Horizons Maple Happy Home Paradise

Animal Crossing New Horizons Maple Happy Home Paradise (Image credit: iMore)

As a new Resort Developer, you can work with Lottie from Nook's Homes to help villagers get the vacation home of their dreams. Choose an island in the Resort Archipelago and decorate the interior and exterior of the home according to your client's tastes.

Animal Crossing New Horizons Pillars

Animal Crossing New Horizons Pillars (Image credit: iMore)

Completing more requests leads to more options, such as walls and pillars. New furniture is unlocked over time, and you can even unlock soundscapes to make your client's home even more immersive. Polishing furniture can make items gleam and cause new effects to be added to furniture, as well.

Animal Crossing New Horizons Villager Roommates (Image credit: iMore)

Animal Crossing New Horizons Invite Npcs Amiibo (Image credit: iMore)

Source: iMore

If you decide to remodel a villager's vacation home, they can even share it with a second villager! Even NPC characters can be invited via amiibo cards and figures.

Animal Crossing New Horizons Poki

Animal Crossing New Horizons Poki (Image credit: iMore)

You can earn Poki currency while working as a Resort Developer, which allows you to purchase rare furniture that can't be found anywhere else. Add some new flair to your home!

Animal Crossing New Horizons Restaurant (Image credit: iMore)

Animal Crossing New Horizons School (Image credit: iMore)

Source: iMore

Larger homes like schools, restaurants, and hotels can be built as well, just like in the Nintendo 3DS spinoff game. Make your island unique and worth visiting!

Animal Crossing New Horizons Happy Home Network

Animal Crossing New Horizons Happy Home Network (Image credit: iMore)

Your creations can be placed in the Paradise Planning Portfolio, which is uploaded to the Happy Home Network, where you can follow creators for inspiration. The Happy Home Network can be accessed via the app on your NookPhone. Convenient!

Animal Crossing New Horizons Invite Residents

Animal Crossing New Horizons Invite Residents (Image credit: iMore)

If you bring souveniers to your villagers back on your own island, you may convince them to get their own home on the archipelago as well! You'll even be able to remodel your villagers' homes once you've remodeled a specific number of homes for others.

Happy Home Paradise comes to Nintendo eShop on November 5, 2021 for $24.99 USD. Pre-orders start on the Nintendo Switch eShop on October 29, 2021.

Nintendo Switch Online

Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack Info

Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack Info (Image credit: iMore)

Nintendo Switch Online members who purchase the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack can also get Happy Home Paradise for free. The Expansion Pack releases on October 25, 2021.

amiibo cards

Animal Crossing Series 5 Amiibo Cards

Animal Crossing Series 5 Amiibo Cards (Image credit: iMore)

Series 5 of the Animal Crossing amiibo cards come to retail stores on November 5, 2021. They include NPCs and villagers who haven't had amiibos yet, as well as brand new ones!

Nadine Dornieden
Contributor

Nadine is a freelance writer for iMore with a specialty in all things Nintendo, often working on news, guides, reviews, and editorials. She's been a huge Nintendo fan ever since she got to pet her very own Nintendog, and enjoys looking at Nintendo's place in the video game industry. Writing is her passion, but she mostly does it so that she can pay off her ever-growing debt to Tom Nook. Her favorite genres are simulation games, rhythm games, visual novels, and platformers. You can find her at @stopthenadness on Twitter, where she'll more than likely be reposting cute Animal Crossing content.