Digging In: Unlocking Your Shovel in Animal Crossing: New Horizons – A Comprehensive Guide
So, you’re itching to get your hands dirty in Animal Crossing: New Horizons and need a shovel? Well, you’ve come to the right place! Unlocking the shovel is a crucial step in island life, allowing you to dig up fossils, plant trees, and reshape your landscape. The path to obtaining this essential tool involves a little bit of island exploration, some interaction with key characters, and a touch of crafting. In essence, you need to donate five fish or bugs to Tom Nook. This act of generosity triggers a sequence of events that ultimately leads to Blathers, the museum curator, arriving on your island. Once Blathers sets up his tent, he’ll provide you with the DIY recipe for the Flimsy Shovel. Crafting this initial shovel requires five pieces of hardwood. Once you have the Flimsy Shovel, you can then upgrade it into a regular Shovel using one iron nugget.
The Shovel Unlocking Journey: Step-by-Step
Step 1: Befriending Tom Nook
Your journey begins, as almost everything does, with Tom Nook. After setting up your initial tent, Tom Nook will task you with various introductory activities. The key here is to eagerly participate and engage with him.
Step 2: The Five Critter Donation
Tom Nook has an interest in setting up a museum on the island, but needs convincing. Next, go out into your island with your net and rod in hand, and bring back five fish or bugs (or a mixture of the two) to Tom Nook. When you speak to him, pockets full of live animals, there will be a new prompt that says “I found a creature!”. Choose this, and give him five of them.
Step 3: Welcoming Blathers
Once you’ve donated five critters, Tom Nook will contact his friend Blathers, the owl, to come to your island. Blathers will arrive and set up his tent the day after you’ve donated these items. This is a crucial turning point!
Step 4: Claiming Your Flimsy Shovel Recipe
Upon speaking to Blathers in his tent, you will gain the DIY recipe for the Flimsy Shovel! Blathers needs 15 more donations before he can open his museum. Once the first player completes the first 15 donations to open the museum, the second resident just needs to talk to Blathers, and he’ll gift them the flimsy shovel and pole.
Step 5: Crafting Your Flimsy Shovel
Head to a DIY workbench (either the one in Resident Services or one you’ve crafted yourself). Select the Flimsy Shovel recipe. You will need five pieces of hardwood. Hardwood can be obtained by hitting trees with a flimsy axe. Collect your materials and craft your first shovel!
Step 6: Upgrading to a Regular Shovel
The Flimsy Shovel is a starting point and will break after limited use. You’ll want to upgrade to a more durable shovel. This requires the recipe for the Shovel, available at Nook’s Cranny after unlocking the shovel in the story for 800 Bells.
Step 7: Crafting the Shovel
Once you have purchased the recipe from the Nook’s Cranny for 800 Bells, return to your DIY workbench to find the normal shovel. To craft, you will require one iron nugget and one Flimsy shovel.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About Unlocking the Shovel
Here are some frequently asked questions about unlocking shovels in Animal Crossing: New Horizons:
1. Can I get a shovel as the second player on the island?
Yes! You can get the flimsy shovel and pole by talking to Blathers after the first player completes the first 15 donations to open the museum. The second resident just needs to talk to him, and he gifts them.
2. How long does it take for Blathers to show up?
Once you’ve made five donations to Tom Nook, Blathers will arrive and set up his tent the following day.
3. Can I buy a shovel instead of crafting it?
Yes, once you have unlocked the Shovel recipe in the story, you can buy a Flimsy Shovel at Nook’s Cranny for 800 Bells. You can also purchase it at the Resident Services Nook Stop kiosk with the Pretty-Good Tools pack for 3000 Nook Miles.
4. What is the difference between the Flimsy Shovel and the regular Shovel?
The Flimsy Shovel is an early-game tool with limited durability (40 uses). The regular Shovel is more durable (100 uses) and doesn’t break as easily.
5. How do I get Iron Nuggets?
Iron Nuggets are obtained by hitting rocks on your island with a shovel or axe. Be sure to dig holes behind you to prevent yourself from being knocked back, maximizing the number of resources you can get from each rock.
6. How do I unlock the Golden Shovel?
If you want to make a Golden Shovel in New Horizons, you’ll need to help Gulliver find his five communicator parts 30 times. Check the shores of your island every day to encounter Gulliver.
7. Is the Golden Shovel better than the regular Shovel?
The Golden Shovel has significantly more durability and a unique aesthetic. However, it still breaks, albeit after more uses than the standard shovel.
8. Do all shovels break in Animal Crossing: New Horizons?
Yes, all shovels, including the Golden Shovel, will eventually break after a certain number of uses.
9. How many uses does each type of shovel have before breaking?
The number of uses before breaking is as follows: * Flimsy Shovel: 40 uses * Shovel: 100 uses * Colorful Shovel: 100 uses
10. What can I do with a shovel?
Shovels are incredibly versatile. You can use them to: * Dig up fossils. * Plant trees. * Dig up saplings and flowers. * Hit rocks for resources. * Create paths. * Bury items.
11. How do I get more DIY recipes in Animal Crossing?
Villagers may be found crafting inside their homes. Speaking to them while crafting will result in the villager providing the player with a DIY recipe. Moreover, if the player scans an amiibo card to invite a villager to the island’s campsite, the villager in question might ask the player to craft a certain item.
12. What does Blathers hate?
Despite his academic nature, Blathers has entomophobia (the fear of insects). This fear arose when, as a child, a mantis egg case ruptured on his desk, causing thousands of mantises to fly out and terrify him.
13. Why can’t I donate bugs to Tom Nook?
You probably just haven’t unlocked donating yet. When he’s ready to accept donations, Tom Nook will tell you about how he has a friend (Blathers) who might be interested in building a museum. He’ll then start accepting donations.
14. How do I give Tom Nook fish?
Go out into your island with your net and rod in hand, and bring back five fish or bugs (or a mixture of the two) to Tom Nook as soon as possible. When you speak to him, pockets full of live animals, there will be a new prompt that says “I found a creature!”. Choose this, and give him five of them.
15. How do you unlock level 2 shovel?
There are two ways by which players can unlock the recipe for the Tier 2 Shovel, and the first is to obtain and analyze a Black Ant Head. As its name suggests, this resource comes from black ants, which can found in the southwestern portions of the yard.
Crafting the recipe for the shovel is a crucial skill. A lot of research has been done about how different games and environments are created to teach crafting skills. You can find some related research and articles on the Games Learning Society at GamesLearningSociety.org.