Skipping time in Animal Crossing, commonly referred to as "time traveling," involves adjusting your Nintendo Switch's system clock. This allows you to experience future days, return to past events, or simply speed up in-game progress in titles like Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
Steps to Time Travel in Animal Crossing: New Horizons
To effectively skip time in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, you will need to adjust your console's internal clock settings. This method directly impacts the in-game date and time, triggering daily events, character interactions, and item availability.
Follow these steps to change the date and time:
- Access System Settings: From the Nintendo Switch HOME Menu, navigate to and select the "System Settings" icon.
- Navigate to Date and Time: Scroll down the left-hand menu and select "System," then choose "Date and Time."
- Disable Clock Synchronization: If "Synchronize Clock via Internet" is set to "ON," toggle it "OFF." This prevents your console from automatically reverting to the current real-world date and time.
- Adjust Date and Time: Select "Date and Time" and manually adjust the year, month, day, and time to your desired setting. You can move forward or backward as needed.
- Return to the Game: Once the adjustments are made, exit the System Settings and launch Animal Crossing: New Horizons. The game will now reflect the new date and time you set.
Understanding the Effects of Time Travel
While time travel offers flexibility, it's crucial to understand its potential impacts on your island and gameplay. Skipping days can have both beneficial and detrimental consequences, affecting your island's progression, villagers, and items.
Key Impacts of Skipping Time
| Aspect | Impact of Time Travel |
|---|---|
| Weed Growth | Weeds will grow significantly on your island, especially when skipping multiple days or weeks. |
| Villager Actions | Villagers may hint at moving out if you skip too many days. New villagers can also move in, filling empty plots. |
| Nook Miles+ | Daily Nook Miles+ activities will reset, allowing you to earn more Nook Miles. |
| Building Progress | Construction projects (like house upgrades, bridges, and inclines) that typically take real-time days will complete instantly when you jump to the day after their scheduled completion. |
| Turnips | Traveling backward in time (even by one minute) or jumping forward to the following Sunday will cause any turnips you own to spoil instantly, making them worthless. |
| You will receive any pending mail, including letters from villagers or special event items, upon loading the game on the new date. | |
| Shop Inventory | Nook's Cranny and Able Sisters' shop inventories will refresh daily, offering new items for sale. |
| Events | You can either skip past or jump directly to special in-game events (like fishing tourneys, Bug-Offs, or seasonal celebrations) depending on the date you set. Be aware that some events require certain preparations or prerequisites to trigger. |
| Resource Spawns | Daily resources like fossils, glowing spots, money rocks, and tree fruit will respawn, allowing for more collection opportunities. |
It's generally recommended to save your game before attempting any significant time jumps to ensure you can revert your progress if unintended consequences occur.
