Before Your Flight: Day One 2

Learn how to customize your character, choose your island's hemisphere and layout, and make the best first decisions in Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

As you begin your Animal Crossing: New Horizons journey, you'll be greeted by Timmy and Tommy from Nook Inc. This initial phase is where you'll set your character's name, birthday, and appearance. Unlike previous Animal Crossing games, New Horizons allows for extensive appearance customization from the start, with the ability to change your hair, face, and gender at any time using a mirror.

Beginning the Game

Picking a Name

The first step is choosing a name. This cannot be changed after confirmation, so select a name you like and that is appropriate for playing with others.

Birthday

Next, you'll select a birthday. In Animal Crossing, birthdays are celebrated with parties and gifts from your residents. You can use your actual birthday or create a new one.

Customising Your Appearance

Don't stress too much about your appearance at this stage, as you can change your hair, face, and gender anytime later by using a mirror. You can customize hair, skin color, and even cheek rosiness.

Choosing Your Island

After character creation, you'll proceed to select aspects of your island.

Choosing a Hemisphere

Timmy and Tommy will ask for your general location (e.g., Europe, North America) to recommend a hemisphere. It's advised to choose the hemisphere that matches your real-world location for a more immersive seasonal experience, as seasons are reversed between hemispheres. However, this choice is not mandatory.

Choosing an Island Layout

You will then choose your island layout from four variations. If none appeal to you, you can restart the game before saving. All islands share common features: a river connecting to the sea at two points, lakes, a river source, a secret northern beach inlet, and three terrain levels.

When selecting an island, consider unchangeable features like beach rocks (some are large and flat, others small and craggy) and the location of estuaries (river-sea meeting points), as these will impact future terraforming plans. The position of Nook's Plaza (marked by a leaf symbol) relative to the airport (represented by grey rocks on the southern beach) is also crucial. A good distance between the airport and the plaza is recommended for creating an impressive island entrance later on.