Getting started in here can be numerous things that most players never discover.
Nevertheless, there are some tips on where to focus first in order for the player to make the most out of their playthrough, and it all depends on making the right choices when starting out regarding area clearing, insect and fish gathering, and even visiting other islands.
Talk to Tom Nook Daily
Probably the best tip out there regarding what to do next is to talk to Tom Nook, one of the best-rated Animal Crossing characters, every day. He offers guides and tips while also helping the player progress their story. Just like that, talking to him every day can give players their main task for each day.
The more they progress his story, the better the rewards that he offers after completing his tasks. For fast and efficient progression, talking to Tom Nook should be the first thing players do every day.
Gather Bottles
When first arriving at the island, there will be multiple empty bottles lying on the beach which respawn from time to time. Gathering those early can be a huge asset since they give the player DIY blueprints which will be essential later.
The earlier the player starts to gather the bottles, the more available recipes they will have when they decide to start building and terraforming the island.
Place Tents At The Beach
One of the first mistakes that players make when starting out is that they place their tents in the middle of the island. The issue with this is that when enough DIYs have been unlocked and it's time to start terraforming the island, the players will have to move the tents and all the stored items out of the way in order to make some space.
By placing the tents and all deployable on the beach, the player won't have to move anything around when they decide to start building.
Gather Weeds
At the start, the player's island will be full of weeds all around. Gathering those can be a great kick-starter to gathering both money and nook miles.
Selling weeds can provide the player with some solid early one cash at 10 bells per bag, while if the player decides to sell them to Leif, he offers 20 bells per bag. On top of that, they are used for nook miles through the Greedy Weeder stamp card.
Visit Mystery Islands
Although gathering on the main island can be a great idea, gathering on other mystery islands can be even better. Other than the extra fruit and weeds that the player gets to sell, there can also be new rare fruit to find that can be planted on the player's island.
Mystery islands are considered one of the best ways of farming additional materials. The main example is coconuts, since getting a coconut tree early on can be a great way to get some extra pocket bells.
Gather and Store Unique Fishes and Insects
Although it will be needed later on, it can be beneficial to start gathering unique types of fishes and insects early on as they will be needed later for opening the museum. The player can place them on the ground and leave them there until they can start donating them to the museum.
Also, some of the species have unique containers, like the turtle which has no container at all and is just placed there on the island (although, unfortunately, it doesn't roam around).
Sell Fruit to the Right Person
It can be tempting for the player to sell the fruit they just gathered to the first NPC they find, but it is something that should be avoided.
The player can get much more bells for selling fruit if they decide to sell them on other islands that don't have these fruits at all. Therefore, when it comes to selling, it can be better to keep everything aside until the player visits an island where the NPCs offer a higher price for the same fruit.
Buy Wetsuit
With the 1.3.0 update, the wetsuit can be bought early on in the game at a cheap price. It can be extremely helpful to buy this early one, since it allows the player to access new areas on their island that could only be accessed previously through the vaulting pole.
This way, the player can access these new areas and gather more weeds and fruit on a daily basis, which makes it a great way for getting some extra bells early on.
Dig the Glowing Spots and Replant the Bags
Every day on the island a glowing spot appears. If the player has a shovel, which is unlocked early, they can dig the spot to find a bag of 1.000, 10.000, or 30.000 bells.
However, the best tactic here is to replant the bag again in the same hold in order to grow a tree that provides three times the yields of the planted bag. This works only for the 1.000 bag (which turns into 3.000) and for the 10.000 (which turns into 30.000). Replanting them is one of the easiest ways early on to get a lot of bells quickly.
Collect Everything
Probably the best tip in order to progress the game fast is for the player to collect everything that they find. Either on their island or on mystery islands, from weeds and fruit to fishes and insects, everything will be helpful along the road.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is one of these games that reward players for hoarding everything, either to sell them later on to the appropriate NPC, or to donate them for museum collections.