Brewster and The Roost cafe are both returning to Animal Crossing: New Horizons as part of the game's free 2.0 update on November 5th, and along with the new location comes several new activities for players to engage with. In previous Animal Crossing games, The Roost was a hub of unique features, serving as a storage space, a social hangout area, and even a part-time job that offered players unique gameplay opportunities not found in the rest of the game. While not all of these features seem to be included in New Horizons - at least for the time being, though a future expansion could change this - there's still quite a lot to do there. Here's what players can expect from The Roost in Animal Crossing: New Horizons' 2.0 update.
The update was announced on October 15th during the most recent Animal Crossing Direct and seems to be the biggest update the game's received thus far. Alongside Brewster, quite a few other familiar NPCs are making a return come November, including Kapp'n and Harriet. The former of these characters will offer tours to brand-new mystery islands, and Harriet will once again offer a variety of new haircuts for players on Harv's Island. Also coming to the island are shopkeepers like Sahara and Kicks, who will now be much easier to visit regularly. Other returning features include gyroids, furniture items like the froggy chair, and expansions to mechanics like reactions and farming. The Roost, however, was arguably one of the most highly requested mechanics to make a comeback in New Horizons.
As was the case in different Animal Crossing games, The Roost will be located within the museum. It's unclear for the time being when exactly its hours of operation are, but it's possible that it could be open all hours of the day much like the museum itself. It also appears that Brewster will become a regular part of town events now, as he can be seen participating in group stretching exercises in front of the Resident Services building in the Animal Crossing Direct presentation. Overall, the island seems to be getting some major changes thanks to the introduction of The Roost, and burnt-out Animal Crossing: New Horizons players will now have more unique gameplay opportunities to engage with.
Brewster's Roost Activities - Drinking Coffee
Perhaps the most iconic staple of The Roost is the ability for players to buy cups of coffee from Brewster. Each is sold for 200 Bells, and as was the case in previous games, it appears that there will be multiple different blends to try out. Whether these can be specifically picked by players or if it's merely randomized is unclear from the Animal Crossing Direct presentation alone. In previous games, certain residents also had preferred flavors of coffee, and it's possible that these drinks could be unlocked with time or a high enough friendship ranking. The player character also has unique reactions to drinking different kinds of coffee.
Brewster's Roost Activities - Talk To Residents
Different residents, presumably including both villagers and special residents like Tom Nook, will also visit The Roost from time to time, allowing players to engage in new conversations with some of their favorite Animal Crossing NPCs. Isabelle appears in the Animal Crossing Direct presentation, providing the unique opportunity to talk to her outside of the Resident Services building where she works. Drinking coffee with villagers could also potentially be a great way to raise their friendship ranking. K.K. Slider might even move his performances into The Roost as was seen in other Animal Crossing games, although it's worth noting there doesn't appear to be a stage area set up for him in New Horizons.
In other Animal Crossing titles, specifically Animal Crossing: New Leaf, players even had the option to work part-time as a barista in The Roost, serving coffee to villagers and special visitors such as Dr. Shrunk and Resetti. This offered unique interactions as well as valuable rewards such as coffee beans and furniture sets that otherwise weren't easily attainable. Unfortunately, it doesn't appear as though this feature is included in the New Horizons version of The Roost.
However, that could change with the eventual release of another paid expansion pack for Animal Crossing: New Horizons, following in the footsteps of the Happy Home Paradise DLC that was announced during October's Animal Crossing Direct. It would be another great way to bring back fan-favorite Animal Crossing characters who have yet to make an appearance in New Horizons.
Brewster's Roost Activities - Invite amiibo Characters
In the Animal Crossing Direct, an amiibo phone can be seen sitting in the corner of The Roost. As it turns out, the phone is fully functional and can be used to invite characters to drink coffee with the player. It even looks as though certain visitors can invite friends. For example, players who invite Sable through the amiibo phone may also find her sisters tagging along with her, providing them with the rare chance to talk to all three of them at once. It's quite possible that this feature could be used to invite characters who don't appear in New Horizons, including both villagers and special NPCs like Dr. Shrunk.
Brewster's Roost Activities - Visit With Friends
Another new multiplayer feature is coming to New Horizons thanks to the Animal Crossing 2.0 update, as other players can now visit The Roost on an island and drink coffee as a group. Whether each player will need to buy their own drink or they can all be bought as a set is unclear, but it appears that player characters have unique dialogue when drinking coffee as a group rather than alone. As is the case with other multiplayer features in New Horizons, it's likely that up to 8 players can drink coffee at the same time. Whether villagers and other Animal Crossing characters can still show up in The Roost during group outings is likewise uncertain for the time being, though players will be able to find answers to their questions when the update drops on November 5th.
One additional returning feature that seems likely but isn't quite guaranteed yet is that of gyroid storage. In previous Animal Crossing games, Brewster would offer to store collected gyroids for players who had a high enough friendship rating with him. Although this wasn't addressed in the Animal Crossing Direct, during the presentation gyroids can be seen in the back of the cafe, perhaps implying that storage is still an option given enough time and conversations with Brewster. Given that gyroids are also confirmed to be making a return as part of the Animal Crossing: New Horizons 2.0 update, it would be a perfect opportunity to bring this mechanic back, although the fact that player storage is also getting upgraded could disprove that. Regardless, players will still have plenty to do with Brewster in The Roost come the release of Animal Crossing: New Horizons' biggest update.