How to Restart Animal Crossing: New Horizons: 2 Working Methods to Try
New Horizon is a life simulation game that progresses at an unprecedentedly slow pace compared to previous installations in the Animal Crossing franchise. And let’s face it: frustrations are inevitable with this slow pace, so I’d understand why anyone would want to nip their entire progress in the bud for a fresh start.
People invest many hours in the game only to find out that they don’t like the island they started out with or that they’ve destroyed all their rocks, in which case a restart might be the easy way out. The step-by-step guide in this article will help you in that regard, so keep reading to find out.
How to Restart Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Method 1: Close the Software
If you don’t like your island, you can use this method to start all over, provided you’ve not spent a full Aminal-Crossing day in the game.
Quick Note: Other than setting a layout for your island and naming it, you’ll arrive on the island with two villagers by default. You can take cues from them by striking a conversation, even though they’re randomized and have predetermined personalities.
- Press the Home button on your Switch
- Highlight or place the navigation square on Animal Crossing, then press X on the controller
- Select Close from the options to exit the game
This process won’t reset your Minecraft entirely. Closing the game with this method only means that you’ll lose progress on specific points in the game that aren’t immediately saved unless you finish the first-day tutorial. These include your island layout, native fruit, starter residents/NPC types, airport color, etc.
You can do this as often as you like if the options you chose/were given are uninspiring. You can skip to the following method if you’d prefer to restart the game entirely and leave no stones unturned.
Method 2: Resetting Save Data
If you’ve already completed your first day in New Horizons, the previous method won’t restart the game as your progress has already been saved. When that’s the case, your best bet is to erase the saved data in Switch settings. To do this,
- Go to your home screen and select System Settings from the bottom menu
- Select Data Management on the left pane
- Scroll down to and select Delete Save Data on the right pane
- Scroll through the list of all Save data for your games and find Animal Crossing: New Horizons
- Once found, click on the game and select Delete All Save Data for this Software
- A prompt will pop up on your screen. Select Delete Save Data to confirm that you want to delete it for the game
This method should reset the game. However, remember that you’ll also lose your player profile and character. If you can live with that, you’re good to go.
Related: How to Get Pearls in ANimanl Crossing
Final Notes
There you have it! You can now restart your New Horizons life simulation whenever you make wrong choices. However, you won’t always have to use this method as you’ll eventually unlock a special ability as you progress in the game. This ability is named Island Designer App. Use it to redesign and transform the island to your taste.
