Who doesn’t like the element of time travel in their own little fancy world? But do you know that we can make it come true in Animal Crossing? Here is the perfect guide to help you do so while helping you earn other potential benefits. There are so many things related to this topic in the game that can be affected and will be evidently visible. Let us learn about them all!
What does it mean to ‘time travel’ in Animal Crossing?
In Animal Crossing, “time travel” refers to a player intentionally altering their Nintendo Switch’s internal clock settings to manipulate the in-game date and time. This allows players to skip forward or backward, accelerating progress like building construction or revisiting past events. But remember that it is not an official game feature, but a widely utilized and loved method to control the pacing of the game. But it doesn’t come for free. We can also see certain elements go negative within the game when this move is pulled. We shall discuss them in the upcoming portions.
Steps to ‘time travel’ in Animal Crossing
If you are serious about time traveling in Animal Crossing, this is what you can do about it –
- To initiate ‘time travel’ in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, players must first ensure the game is completely closed. After that,
- Access the Nintendo Switch’s System Settings from the Home screen.
- Navigate to the ‘System’ menu, then select ‘Date and Time.’
- Crucially, disable the ‘Synchronize Clock via Internet’ option.
- Manually adjust the date and time to the desired future or past setting.
- Exit the system settings and relaunch Animal Crossing: New Horizons. The game will now operate according to the newly set system time.
You can clearly see that once you open the game again you will also be able to reap the benefits of doing so. But there is also a sadder side where the repercussions exist. Let us see what they are!
Repercussions of time travel in ‘Animal Crossing’
While offering amazing benefits, ‘time travel’ in Animal Crossing carries notable repercussions that can affect your game. The most significant is the rotting of turnips if you time-travel backward or beyond the upcoming Sunday. Your island will also experience accelerated weed growth, potentially impacting its aesthetic and rating.
Players may find their mailbox filled with accumulated letters from skipped days. Additionally, if you jump far ahead, your in-game home might become infested with cockroaches that require manual removal. While villagers in New Horizons generally won’t move out without permission, they may notice that you are gone for long, slightly altering your relationship in many cases.
While we can say that the negative side of this action isn’t as strong, it still can impact the game adversely. So be mindful when you actually plan to execute the time travel within the game. It may look exciting but it comes with the responsibility to fix everything right after you are done with the deed. If you don’t do so, your progress in the game may be impacted.