Now that the Animal Crossing: New Horizons community is abuzz with the upcoming 2.0 update, it's easy to forget that going into the announcement there was one name on everyone’s mind: The coffee-and-gyroid-loving pigeon Brewster and his iconic location The Roost. Brewster is finally coming to New Horizons, and this will be Brewster's fourth Animal Crossing game. While the beloved NPC hasn't changed much over the years, The Roost cafe has changed considerably over the past iterations of the franchise.
At the October 15 Animal Crossing Direct, it was announced that Brewster's Roost would be added to New Horizons along with a lot of other new features. As detailed during the Direct, The Roost will be located upstairs in the museum. Players can buy a cup of coffee, and villagers will stop in for a brew. Players can also invite a character of their choosing using an Amiibo card. If that wasn't social enough, multiple real-life players can drop by to partake in a little pick-me-up together.
Brewster and The Roost originally debuted in 2005’s Animal Crossing: Wild World on the Nintendo DS. Located in the basement of the museum, the player could purchase coffee and K.K. Slider would appear every Saturday evening to play a concert. In 2008’s Animal Crossing: City Folk for the Wii, The Roost is in the same location and offers the same perks as the previous title. However, now other villagers drop by for coffee as well. Brewster offers the store Gyroids once the player purchases seven cups of hot coffee. Aside from Gyroid storage and extra visitors, the role of Brewster's Roost in both titles is relatively the same. It was with the 3DS's 2013 title, Animal Crossing: New Leaf, that The Roost took on an expanded role.
Animal Crossing: New Leaf Gave Brewster's Roost An Expanded Role
In Animal Crossing: New Leaf, the series expanded the life sim with the addition of new buildings and a Main Street hub area. The player was now mayor and could start public works projects and ordinances. These features seem to be returning in Animal Crossing: New Horizons 2.0’s ordinances and Harv's island market. In New Leaf, The Roost cafe was a separate building that the player could place wherever they felt. K.K. Slider no longer played concerts there as he had his own building all to himself.
While The Roost maintained the standard function of the player and villagers being able to purchase coffee, its role expanded in that the player could work a part-time job. Doing so required the player to serve up brews to various villagers’ tastes. The player's performance is then gauged by Brewster, who pays the player in coffee beans which could be sold for Bells or gifted to other villagers. The player could also earn Café themed furniture through the Roost.
The Roost’s return in New Horizons is a welcome one but was far from the only feature announced at the Animal Crossing Direct. The 2.0 update is stated to be the last free update, and it really delivers in terms of content. A new paid DLC, Happy Home Paradise, will also be released on the same day. Though The Roost will no longer offer a part-time job in New Horizons, it seems the new part-time job offered in Happy Home Paradise will more than suffice. Between the paid DLC and the free 2.0 update, it seems like Animal Crossing fans will have plenty to keep them busy come November 5.