As the real year comes to an end, the first Animal Crossing: New Horizons year we mega fans got to experience is also coming to an end. However don’t be sad we are getting another free update that commences the winter season. Starting in mid-November a new free Animal Crossing: New Horizons update will drop and will bring events to celebrate the Harvest Festival and the Toy Day event. Here is everything you need to know about the November update.
Foraging
Players have been able to collect acorns and pine cones by shaking trees since September. These materials help the player make Tree’s Bounty furniture and items. There is one last fall material coming to craft a whole new set of themed items, maple leaves. Maple leaves will start to appear in-game after this November update. You will find maple leaves blowing in the wind and will be able to catch them with a net. Once obtained you will be able to craft maple leaf themed furniture and items.
Since November has started there have been mushrooms spawning in-game. Each type of mushroom differs in rarity and has a distinct spawn rate, depending on the star rating of the island. Foraging these mushrooms help the player obtain new DIY recipes that are mushroom themed.
New Characters and Special Events
One character is a turkey named Franklin, he visits the players’ island to celebrate the Harvest Festival. This event is the Animal Crossing Thanksgiving. In Animal Crossing, the Harvest Festival is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November, corresponding to the real-world holiday. This year it will take place on November 26. I am anticipating the free update to arrive the weekend before or week of Thanksgiving.
Another character that is coming to our islands is Jingle, a reindeer who hosts Toy Day. Toy Day is the Animal Crossing Christmas. This event will occur much later, Jingle arrives on your island around December 23 and 24. This one is still over a month away, but the community is waiting for a new trailer in the coming days.
Potential New Gameplay Elements
The Animal Crossing community believes this next update will include cooking, which I am the most excited for. It isn’t for certain, but remains a possibility since there have been many hints of vegetables and cooking utensils that would become available with a future update.
In past Animal Crossing games, Franklin visits your island to cook a Harvest Festival feast in honor of the celebration. Then the player is expected to help prepare the food. It seems likely that the November update introduces Franklin, who then hosts the Harvest Festival that would introduce players to collect vegetable and cooking utensils to prepare the feast. This is another reason the community is anticipating the cooking ability being added to the game. In addition, players will probably see some Harvest Festival themed furniture and items added to the game, just like past holidays we’ve seen so far.
As for now, all we can do is look forward to the new trailer and ultimately the day of release for the free November update. What do you hope to see from the upcoming Animal Crossing: New Horizons November update?