Summary
- Resident Services location is crucial for island layouts in ANCH, impacting entryway space for creativity.
- Certain features like Resident Services and river mouths are permanent, affecting island design options.
- Players have at least 95 island layout options in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, and can restart for a new selection, focusing on customization.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons arguably has the most customization options of just about any installment in the Animal Crossing franchise, but there's a big debate among players about which starting island layout is actually the best. When beginning a new save, Timmy and Tommy will help the player decide between a selection of four different island layouts to start with, and each island will have one of five starting fruits (apples, peaches, oranges, pears, or cherries), as well as four possible colors for the island's airport.
From there, the layout of each starting island can vary greatly - but what is the best island layout in New Horizons? There are a lot of factors a player can consider before making their selection, and there are a handful of features about an island that can't be changed once it's selected, so pick carefully.
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There's Plenty Of Debate Over The Best Island Layout In ACNH
But Which Island Layout Is The Best?
In total, there are at least 95 different island layouts players may be presented with at the start of their game. According to a post on Reddit from gamingchibix, the river feature specifically has a variety of routes it can take throughout an island, and they compiled their research together so players could see the range of options they have when starting a new island.
For the most part, the best island layout is one where Resident Services isn't too close to the airport, giving the player enough space to play around with different entrance options. When Resident Services is too close to the airport, it often makes for a scrunched entryway, leaving little room for the player to be creative with their design.
Can You Change Your Island Layout After Starting?
There Are Certain Permanent Features
Certain features can't be changed once a player has decided on their starting island layout. For starters, wherever Resident Services is located on the island is where it will stay, as there is no option to move it as the player terraforms and does other renovations to their island.
The mouths of the river that runs through the island also cannot be changed. Though players have the option to adjust the bends and path of the river, there is a good chunk of space at the openings that cannot be adjusted, making them a permanent fixture of the island. The mouths of the river will be placed on some combination of the east, west, and south sides of the island, though there will never be a river mouth on the north. Players also cannot change the location of the secret beach on the north side of the island.
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This in particular has thrown off plenty of island builds, and though it's often something players have learned to workaround, those who have a specific layout plan in mind will want to factor this into their final decision for their island. That said, the four options presented to a player are not the only ones to pick from. Players can close the game and restart should they not want one of the four options Timmy and Tommy present to them, and another random selection will be presented upon restarting the game.
The number of times a player restarts to get the perfect island layout is entirely dependent on their goals for the New Horizons island, but plenty of hardcore players have spent hours restarting the game to get exactly the selection they were hoping for. Thanks to the game's massive customization options, there's a lot a player can do to adjust their island's landscape -- but the location of Resident Services is usually the biggest deciding factor in when picking a player's starting island.
Source: gamingchibix/ Reddit
Animal Crossing: New Horizons
- Released
- March 20, 2020
- ESRB
- E for Everyone: Comic Mischief
- Developer(s)
- Nintendo EPD
- Publisher(s)
- Nintendo
- Engine
- Havok
- Multiplayer
- Online Multiplayer, Local Multiplayer
- Cross-Platform Play
- no
- Cross Save
- no
- Expansions
- Animal Crossing: New Horizons — Happy Home Paradise
- Franchise
- Animal Crossing
- Steam Deck Compatibility
- no
- Platform(s)
- Switch
- How Long To Beat
- 100 Hours
