The 10 Most Difficult Animal Crossing: New Horizons Achievements

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Animal Crossing: New Horizons is the kind of game that's best enjoyed slowly, at a relaxed pace, and with no goal in mind other than to have fun. Although there are no real "goals," there's also always something to do, whether it's decorating the home or island, searching for the perfect villagers to recruit as neighbors, or running around chasing after butterflies.

Some players prefer a more guided experience, though, with specific attainable goals to strive for. These players will enjoy the Nook Miles achievements, a series of 87 quests, each with 1-6 subquests. Some of these achievements are easy to get and most players will encounter them naturally during their playthroughs. But some achievements are incredibly difficult to get, and can take anywhere from a few hours to literal years to complete.

10 Rock-Splitting Champ Takes Some Time In ACNH

Hit A Rock 8 Times To Obtain 8 Different Items

This task seems deceptively simple but it can be difficult to master for the Nook Miles achievement. Every day, one rock spawns on the island that can be hit to make items come out. If players are quick, they can hit it up to eight times. The problem is that every time the rock is hit, players are pushed back a bit, making them waste precious time moving back up into position.

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Getting this position requires speed and the proper positioning. Players should stand in a corner from the rock and dig two holes behind them and to their side. These holes will prevent them from getting knocked back. After that, all they need to do is hit the rock as quickly as possible.

9 Netting Better! Is A Tough Achievement To Get

Catch Five Wasps In A Row Without Running Away Or Getting Stung

Shaking a tree in Animal Crossing: New Horizons is usually worth it since it's a great way to get sticks, fruit, and sometimes even entire items of furniture. But it can also be a dangerous endeavor, because sometimes, shaking a tree knocks down a wasp nest, complete with angry wasps who take their revenge by stinging the character right in the eye.

For this achievement, players have to think fast and capture the wasp before it can sting them, five times in a row. The best way to get this done is to always have the net at the ready when shaking any tree. As soon as the wasps are shaken out, players should start pressing the button to capture the offending insect.

8 Host the Most Requires A Nintendo Membership

Have 10 Players Visit The Main Player's Island

For this achievement, players need to get someone to visit their island via the airport. This is only a "difficult" one because it requires a Nintendo membership or a friend with a Switch who can visit locally (but it still needs to be through the airport).

Luckily, it doesn't have to be a different person each time, so friends can help each other by taking turns repeatedly visiting each others' islands. Players who don't want to shell out for a membership can sign up for a free trial when they're ready to complete this one, then post an invite on the active community Subreddit Dodocodes.

7 Popular Pen Pal Is Time-Consuming

Send 200 Letters To Get This Achievement

The Pen Pal achievement is a tough one to complete because it's not one that's typically done naturally. This means players who want to get this achievement need to grind letter sending, which, because of the clunky letter writing and sending mechanic, is a time-consuming task.

Letters don't need to be lengthy, as just a single character counts. Players can also schedule letters addressed to themselves, which don't need to actually arrive to count. Sending gifts from items or purchases to other players or villagers also counts toward the total. As a bonus, villagers who receive gifts in the mail often send one back, so this is a great way to expand the item catalog.

Craft 3,000 Tools In Order To Get This

Tools are a necessary part of Animal Crossing: New Horizons, since they're used for everything from chopping down trees and planting new ones, to catching bugs and fish. The "DIY Tools" achievement needs the huge number of 3,000 tools to be crafted. This achievement can take some time to complete, largely because it requires shaking many trees every day just to get the materials for more DIY tools.

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Luckily, there are a few ways players can make this task simpler for themselves. The first is to remember that every item that can be held is considered by the game to be a "tool," which includes sparklers, wands, instruments, and even fences. The second trick that players should know is that upgrading tools also counts toward the total, which only only takes some iron (and can sell at a tidy profit, too).

5 Bugs Don't Bug Me Can Be Hard To Achieve

Unlock All Bug Entries In The Critterpedia

Animal Crossing: New Horizons has 80 bugs to find and capture. Some of these appear all year round and some are seasonal or only appear in specific locations. Some bugs, like the Golden Stag and the Giraffe Stag, are very rare. The best way to catch them is to visit a Mystery Island, chop down all non-palm trees, scare off or catch the rest of the bugs, then simply wait.

Other bugs, like ants and flies, require special conditions to be met before they spawn. A good general rule for bug hunting is to hunt when it rains, because that will prevent butterflies from spawning, and to scare off or catch any of the bugs that players aren't actively looking for.

4 DIY Furniture Can Take A Long Time To Get

Craft 3,000 Furniture Items For This Achievement

Players will probably naturally craft furniture as they progress in the game, but a typical playthrough won't land them anywhere near 3,000 furniture items. This achievement requires players to make many of the same item just to reach the cap.

In order to use this trick, all players need to do is craft the scattered paper, then turn that into a document stack, and repeat until they've gotten the achievement.

There is one trick that can be used if the player has the recipes for the scattered papers and for a document stack. Both these recipes can be acquired at random from a smug villager, and each one is used to create the other. In order to use this trick, all players need to do is craft the scattered paper, then turn that into a document stack, and repeat until they've gotten the achievement.

3 K.K. Mania Can Take Some Time To Get

Attend K.K. Slider's Show 100 Times To Get It

K.K. Slider is a slick pup guitarist who brings his smooth tunes to the island plaza every week. For this achievement, players need to attend one of his concerts 100 times, listening through an entire song (which can last between about three and five minutes). The trouble is that the musician only performs on Saturdays between 6 p.m. and 12 a.m., making it very easy for players to miss him.

It's possible to "cheat" at this achievement by time traveling, or changing the date to Saturday until it's accomplished. Those who don't want to cheat will have to just be patient: 100 times at one time per week means this achievement takes about 23 months, or almost two years. Aside from time traveling, there is no way to make this task any quicker or easier, but players might consider setting an alarm to remind them of his visit. Otherwise, they'll be stuck waiting a whole other week for him to return to the island.

2 Smile Isle Achievement Is Pretty Difficult

Fulfill 300 Requests From ACNH Residents

Once in a while, speaking to a villager triggers a special event where they ask for a request, like returning lost items, delivering presents, and inviting players to visit their home (and vice versa). Completing the "Smile Isle" achievement takes getting and finishing 300 of these requests. This can be an issue since the requests are random and don't always pop up, so it can take quite some time to get enough for completion.

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Often, speaking to each villager several times can cause a request to pop up, so it's worth trying to chat up each villager until the dialogue starts repeating. It's also recommended that this achievement is done with a character that players don't care about, as items delivered to a villager will often end up on display in their home or worn, which doesn't always look the best.

1 Cast Master May Be The Hardest Achievement In ACNH

Catch 100 Fish In A Single Streak Without Losing The Fish

This is every perfectionist's least favorite achievement.Fishing in Animal Crossing is fairly simple, requiring a button press at the right time. The problem is that the fish nibbling and fish biting animations are visually similar, often leading to players pressing to reel the fish in too early when they see the wrong kind of ripple. For a cozy game, this achievement can be anxiety-inducing, especially when players get up to the 90s.

Caster Master is hands-down the most difficult achievement to complete in Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

It can help to look away from the screen and use audio cues instead of visual (to prevent accidentally pressing the button before it's time). It can also help to place the thumb in between or next to the buttons, against the Switch, so it doesn't automatically twitch when the small ripple appears. However, players manage to get it, this is hands down the most difficult achievement to complete in Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

Source: Dodocodes/Reddit