Nintendo releases Animal Crossing update a day early

Grab your Nintendo Switches and start downloading the “Animal Crossing: New Horizons” update, because it’s going to be a late night. Nintendo just dropped the update to version 2.0 – a day early.

Last month, Nintendo announced the biggest update yet for its biggest Switch game of 2020, which was slated to arrive November 5. As of now, the “Happy Home Paradise” DLC hasn’t yet been added to the game, but there’s still plenty to do with the free patch.

The new features include the Roost cafe, farming and cooking DIY recipes (step aside, “Stardew Valley”), boat rides to rare islands with Kapp’n, gyroid hunting, makeovers and shopping with Harriet on Harv’s island, and more. The update also includes quality-of-life improvements, including extra home storage and storage sheds that you can place around your island, so you don’t have to run to your home every time you want to deposit items. There’s also now more capacity for ramps and bridges on your island, new camera modes (perfect for anyone who got way too into “New Pokémon Snap”), and even a motion-controlled stretching exercise that you can do with your villagers.

After downloading the update, Isabelle will explain ordinances and boat tours with Kapp’n in her daily update. With the ability to enact island ordinances, players can change what time of day villagers are most active. This can be helpful for gamers whose real-life schedules only allow them to play at certain times, since villagers act differently throughout the day.

Unfortunately boat rides with Kapp’n can only be purchased once per day with Nook Miles, so you can’t endlessly cycle through islands like you can when you depart from the airport. But maybe this is Nintendo’s way of encouraging us to play the game in moderation, rather than speeding to 400 hours and burning out within months, never to touch the game again until the next update.

While version 2.0 of “Animal Crossing: New Horizons” will be the last major free update to the game, the “Happy Home Paradise” DLC is slated to release on Friday as scheduled.

The DLC is priced at $24.99, but it is also included as part of the Nintendo Switch Online+ expansion pack, a new online membership that was teased in September and released last week. The Online+ expansion also includes access to select Nintendo 64 and SEGA games.