Animal Crossing: New Horizons is once again celebrating the Lunar New Year with a special event and limited-time items. Though Nintendo has confirmed that the successful Switch game will no longer receive large updates or new DLC packages, the Lunar New Year event shows that fans can still expect events like this one and the upcoming Festivale to spice up Animal Crossing: New Horizons‘ gameplay. Indeed, even the Lunar New Year event itself has received an update from last year that allows players access to rare items and new dialogue.
For those unfamiliar with the holiday, the Lunar New Year is the day a new year begins in the Chinese Lunisolar calendar, which many other East Asian countries also use. Unlike the 365-day Gregorian solar calendar, the Lunisolar calendar follows the moon’s 29-day cycles and thus lasts 354 days. This is why Animal Crossing: New Horizons players celebrated the Lunar New Year on February 12 of last year but celebrate it on February 1 this year. The year does not reset alone on this day, though – so too does the Chinese Zodiac. Separate from the zodiac signs associated with Animal Crossing: New Horizons‘ star fragments, the Chinese Zodiac contains 12 animals that are cycled through to represent the year, with this new year’s being the tiger.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons finds a way to incorporate both of the festivities of the Lunar New Year and Chinese Zodiac into the game. The event itself does not provide major changes to regular gameplay like the Halloween event does, but players should still enjoy the unique dialogue they can share on the day of the Lunar New Year. The limited-time items are the highlight of the event, though, as they capture aspects of the cultures that celebrate the restarting of the Lunisolar calendar. Here is a list to see which items in Animal Crossing: New Horizons are associated with the Lunar New Year and what each item’s cultural significance is.
Lunar New Years Items Can Wrap Money In Animal Crossing
Animal Crossing: New Horizons celebrates Lunar New Year by bringing three limited-time items into the seasonal section of the Nook Stop store. These three items include the Bokjumeoni lucky pouch, the lucky red envelope, and the Lunar New Year decoration. Each of these items can be purchased for relatively low prices, allowing players at any stage of the game to enjoy the event.
The Bokjumeoni lucky pouch and the lucky red envelope both come with special properties that no other item has in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. In real life, Bokjumeoni means “fortune pouch” and is used as a luck-giving coin purse in the beginning of the new year in Korean culture. The red envelope also matches the festive red wrapping paper many people use to gift each other money during Lunar New Year. Both items are thus among the few lucky items in Animal Crossing: New Horizons and are the only ones that allow players to use money as a gift. The Bokjumeoni lucky pouch and the lucky red envelope can wrap up Bells as gifts for villagers. Usually, villagers would reject this, but because of Lunar New Year festivities, they view the present as a kind offering.
The Lunar New Year decoration unfortunately comes with no special properties of its own except for its cool design. Nevertheless, all three items are worth getting for their exclusivity alone. The Bokjumeoni lucky pouch, the lucky red envelope, and the Lunar New Year decoration all leave the store on February 6, so players considering purchasing them should make sure to do so before then.
Zodiac Items Are Available All Year In Animal Crossing: New Horizons
The Lunar New Year has also brought the Chinese Zodiac items back into Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Because this year is the Year of the Tiger, the Zodiac tiger figurine was available in Animal Crossing: New Horizons‘ Nook Stop shopping section throughout the month of January. However, players can longer purchase it starting February and onward, leaving many who missed the opportunity wondering how they might obtain one themselves.
Luckily, data miners have discovered another method to obtain not only this year’s zodiac figurine but all zodiac figurines in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. To do so, players must acquire and be cured of bad luck by Katrina on Harv’s Island. Once this happens, Katrina will give players a gift as thanks for using her services. Data miners found out that the odds of what the gift will be have changed recently, as players now have a 25% chance of receiving a Chinese Zodiac figurine. Typically, this trophy will be the Zodiac that represents the year, but if that trophy has been obtained, then players will receive next year’s Zodiac and so on.
Other Items Available During Animal Crossing’s Lunar New Year
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is celebrating other holidays and cultural events during the Lunar New Year, too. The game is doing so with more limited-time items in the seasonal section of the Nook Store. The events celebrated range from Japanese holidays to American sports.
Indeed, players can buy a glittery cheer megaphone and a football rug to enjoy the Nation Football League Playoffs and Super Bowl in with their jock and peppy villagers. Players will also find a Resetti model in reference to Groundhogs Day, an American holiday during which a groundhog determines how much longer the winter season will last by whether it sees its shadow.
Finally, there is a bean-tossing kit to celebrate the Japanese holiday Setsubun. During this holiday, people scatter beans onto the ground in celebration of the seasons changing from winter to spring. Animal Crossing: New Horizons celebrates the event and is the first game in the series to make the bean-tossing kit available outside of Japan, so players across the world can join in on Setsubun festivities.
The Lunar Leap Year is one of the most holiday-filled times of the year in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Between the Groundhog Day Resetti model and the new Zodiac figurines, there are many items for players to begin collecting. Hopefully, item-based events will continue to evolve until Animal Crossing: New Horizons‘ eventual sequel comes out.
