Secrets, Tips, Tricks and More for the Video Game Animal Crossings

I've been playing Animal Crossings on Nintendo DS for a while now, and I thought I would share some of my favorite game hints and tips! I paid for the official guide, but found I learned much more through actually playing and joining various communities online, so here is my knowledge. I hope it will help you with your game!

1. Bank on it!

When you have a huge mortgage to pay, don't pay it off in small amounts every day. Put your bells in savings. Every month you actually earn interest on your bells, so you are making money that way. I only keep about 4,000 bells on me, and the rest is in the bank (unless I am going to another town!).

2. Rock it!

Want some free bells? Once a day you can get free bells from one rock in your town (it changes every day). Just walk around your town, and hit every rock with a shovel until you find one that gives you a bag of bells. Keep hitting that one! It should give you bags worth 100, 200, 400, and 800 bells! It's a great way to make money! You can also get bugs for your museum by hitting rocks, so watch carefully!

3. Get insurance!

You know that creepy guy, Lyle? He usually comes to bug you once a week, right? Get the insurance from him. It may seem expensive since it's 3,000 bells, but it will come in handy for another tip I will share with you. Anytime you fall in a hole or get stung by a bee (up to once a day for each), Lyle will send you a letter with 100 bells.

4.Shake it!

You probably already shake your trees to get fruit off of them, right? Well shake the trees without fruit! You can score bells and random furniture and other objects this way. The downside to this is getting stung by bees, but that isn't so bad if you have insurance! You can take the furniture you get from tree shaking and sell it to Nook to maximize your bells total for the day! You can also catch spiders for your museum this way, so keep your eyes open!

5. Bee stung face? Save it!

Don't waste money going to Nook's and buying medicine when you get stung by bees. Just finish what you are doing, then go and save your game. Once you restart, your face will be back to normal and you will still have that 400 bells you would have spent on medicine!

6. Take care of your animals!

Speaking of medicine, I usually always have 3 or 4 bags in my cabana wardrobe. Animals get sick, and they are always grateful if you give them medicine. And if you store it, you don't have to go Nook's, buy the medicine, and then wait until the next day for more to restock. I have heard that if you open your gates for wifi, your animals will automatically be better when you shut them, but this only works once in a while for me.

7.Keep your animals!

I hate when I go to visit my favorite animals, and they are all packed up to move. This really irks me when I haven't gotten their picture yet! So here is a surefire way to keep your animals around as long as you want them there. When you see that one is going to move, keep talking to it until it says it will reconsider. Then go and write it two letters, and attach presents to both letters! They can be fruit and seashells, so you don't need to go break the bank at Nook's. The next day they should be unpacked and walking around again!

8. Get pictures faster!

Make sure you wave at your animals everyday, every time you see them! Also, send letters everyday. If they challenge you for fishing or bug collecting, accept the challenge, even if you aren't going to do it. And always run errands for them!

9. Don't run out of room!

Is your dresser or wardrobe full? Try creating another character! You can mail them letters with items. Also, you can store letters at town hall with items attached to them!

10. Time travel!

Time traveling is simply when you pull out your cartridge, change the date on your ds, and then pop your cartridge back in. You can do tons of things (like make a lot of money off of fruit and what not), but there is also the disadvantage of a TON of weeds. So do this with caution. I do it once in a while (but only by a day or two), and haven't had serious problems.

I hope these helped you (or someone you know) get more out of their game! Happy playing!