Animal Crossing: New Horizons is adding more slots and options for custom designs

Upgrade to the Custom Design Pro Editor+ starting March 18

Nintendo covered a lot of ground in Animal Crossing: New Horizons today while previewing the March 18 update and other incoming content, but one year after the game’s launch, the support plan feels incremental. We’re waiting for exciting new stuff to do, and we’re still (mostly) getting themed items.

Not to downplay that strat too much – some of the items do look cute. It’s just hard to keep your expectations in check when you consider everything New Leaf accomplished and weigh it against New Horizons‘ content pace. There’s also the matter of data-mining; folks are still wondering about Brewster.

The café will have to wait for another day. Here’s what to expect from the March 18 update:

• There’s a new Custom Design Pro Editor+ to unlock for 2,000 Nook Miles – it lets you deck out “umbrellas, small flags, uchiwa, and photo stands.” Nintendo is also adding 50 more design slots for Normal and Pro custom creations if you could use the space.
• Nintendo Switch Online players can use the Able Sisters’ Custom Designs Portal directly from their NookPhone.
• The 1st Anniversary Cake (check your mailbox at home).
• Sanrio Collaboration Pack support including furniture and fashion pieces (available at Target for $5.99).

And there are new seasonal items to snag:

• Nook Shopping will sell whoopee cushions from March 26 to April 1.
• The Able Sisters and Nook Shopping will have prom-themed apparel from April 1 to April 30, including “a prom wall, prom night flooring, and a prom sash.”

Nintendo also previewed a late-March update for the Switch Online app that’ll let Nook Link users earn daily Nook Points “by accessing the app to redeem prizes in Animal Crossing: New Horizons.”

Fair warning: Bunny Day is returning on April 4. If there’s any lingering business you need to wrap up on your island before the egg menace returns in full over-the-top force, you’d better get cracking.

Thankfully, the “newly-added” Bunny Day items for 2021 will be “exclusive to Nook’s Cranny.”