Time travel in Animal Crossing simply means altering your Nintendo Switch’s date and time settings to experience different days or times within the game. This allows players to revisit missed events, fast-track progress, and collect items at an accelerated pace. But how does it all work, and are there any downsides?
To time travel, navigate to your Switch’s System Settings, then to System, and finally to Date and Time. From there, you can manually adjust the date and time to your desired point in the Animal Crossing world.
Understanding the Risks of Time Traveling
While the benefits of time travel are appealing, it’s crucial to understand the potential consequences. Fortunately, the risks are relatively minor:
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Increased Weed Growth: Time traveling far into the future can result in a significant increase in weeds on your island.
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Spoiled Turnips: Traveling past the following Saturday or time traveling backwards will cause any turnips you possess to spoil. This is a crucial consideration for players invested in the Stalk Market.
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Lost Item Issues: If you have a lost item in your inventory and travel backwards in time, the item will become unusable. You’ll only be able to drop it on your island.
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Slight Friendship Score Reduction: Your friendship level with villagers might decrease slightly. However, you can easily regain their affection by interacting with them. If you time travel weeks or months, they will comment on your absence.
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Cockroaches: Time traveling more than a month into the future will spawn cockroaches in your house, which you’ll need to stomp on to eliminate.
It’s worth noting that some players have reported excessive flower growth after time traveling or not playing for extended periods. This is often attributed to rainy days triggering flower propagation.
Time Travel Boundaries and Limitations
The good news is that Animal Crossing offers virtually no boundaries when it comes to time travel. You can journey as far into the past or future as you desire. You can even visit a date before you even started your island! This flexibility allows you to experience any event or season at your convenience. Although some events were initially time-locked, all events are now accessible regardless of your Switch’s internal clock. Feel free to jump to Halloween, Christmas, Bunny Day, or any other event that sparks your interest.
Will You Lose Items or Villagers by Time Traveling Backwards?
A common concern among players is whether time traveling backwards will result in the loss of items or villagers. Thankfully, this is not the case. All your items, whether placed, stored, or dropped, will remain on your island. Similarly, all your current villagers will stay put, regardless of how far back you travel.
Time Traveling Perks
Time traveling offers numerous benefits for players looking to accelerate their progress:
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DIY Recipes: Each day, a DIY recipe bottle spawns on the beach, and you can obtain new DIY recipes from crafting villagers.
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Bell Trees: A new glowing spot appears on the ground daily, allowing you to plant a bell tree for a profit.
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Redd’s Visits: Redd will have new art and items available if you time travel between two days.
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Celeste’s DIYs: Celeste will gift you a new DIY recipe each time you encounter her.
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Construction Speed: Building ramps and bridges, and moving houses can be completed more quickly.
A Time-Saving Flower Trick
A clever trick to avoid excessive flower growth involves time traveling back to a rainy day. Even if the rain has already triggered flower growth later in the day, traveling back to clear skies and saving the game will prevent new flowers from spawning the next day.
This guide aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of time travel in Animal Crossing, empowering you to make informed decisions about your gameplay experience. Whether you embrace time travel to accelerate progress or prefer real-time play, the choice is yours.
