Summer is just around the corner in Animal Crossing: New Horizons and island residents might be eager to roll out a beach towel down by the waves. While summertime may seem like the perfect opportunity for a number of seasonal events in New Horizons, these months only hold a few notable celebrations, like Wedding Season in June and the Fireworks show in August. Because of this, Animal Crossing: New Horizons has plenty of room to add new options like a beach day event.
Every day feels like a vacation in Animal Crossing: New Horizons thanks to the game being set on a deserted island. Each island has long stretches of coastline to explore and the beaches are home to various scuttling ocean creatures, as well as collectables that wash up with the tide. Players can plant stands of coconut trees to shade the beaches, and there are a few seaside decorations for players to set up by the waves. However, while the beach is a major feature of New Horizons islands, little has been done to incorporate it into current major events.
In previous Animal Crossing games, as well as in New Horizons, events have been used as a way to encourage players to continue logging on each in-game day. Animal Crossing games run in real-time, with limited tasks a player can accomplish each day. Home and store upgrades can take multiple days, the weather changes daily, and certain minor events like Animal Crossing's Meteor Showers occur on different days throughout the week. Because gameplay can be slow, events give players something to look forward to, and each event comes with collectables like decorations, furniture, and crafting recipes to incentivize players to participate.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons Needs More Summer Decorations
To help add variety to the limited summer events currently available in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, a beach day could be introduced at the end of June or the beginning of July. The event could span a number of days, and potentially add a new NPC mascot to supervise event activities. A line of beach-themed clothing could be added to Able Sisters, and players could find DIY recipes to build decorations for their personal beaches. A list of event-specific items could also be added to the Nook Shopping App, like beach toys, a giant inflatable pool animal, or even water guns.
A summer beach event could also introduce a new type of meteor shower one night during the event's runtime. The Animal Crossing star fragments that fall after the shower could be used to craft star fragment tiki torches, a celestial beach umbrella, or star-shaped outdoor lanterns to use around the house or near the water. To help celebrate the summer beach event, Animal Crossing: New Horizons players could take turns visiting each other, sharing the different ways island beaches can be decorated from town to town.