How to Terraform in Animal Crossing: New Horizons
When picking up New Horizons for the first time, your island layout and pretty much everything else is random, with little to no option to make them appear as you’d want. However, as you approach the end of your campaign, you’ll unlock a terraforming ability.
The terraforming ability empowers you to create, change, or remove virtually everything concerning your landscape. These include your island’s cliffs, rivers, and paths. This guide walks you through how to terraform in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, so keep reading below to find out.
How to Unlock Terraforming Ability in Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Unlocking the Terraforming doesn’t require any out-of-the-ordinary tasks. All you have to do is progress towards the end of the game, where you’ll get K.K Slider to hold a concert on your island. Of course, you’ll need to complete the main missions to get to this point.
Tasks like building a museum, inviting new residents to your island, and constructing the Nook Shop must have been completed to attract K.K Slider to your island. After doing all these, Tom Nook, the king capitalist, will install the Island Designer app, which is what gives you the terraforming ability to shape your island at will.
If you haven’t done any of the highlighted tasks, you’ll be unable to terraform in Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
How to Terraform in Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Getting the Island Designer app doesn’t automatically grant you the right to terraform straight away; you’ll need permits such as a path permit and a water scraping permit. Path permit lets you build paths, while the latter lets you terraform rivers.
You can get these permits, including the construction permit, from the Nook Stop terminal at the Resident Services building. Ensure you have enough Nook Miles in your possession, as you’ll need as much as 2,000-6000 Nook Miles for each permit.
Once you’ve done the above, the relevant terraforming ability will unlock permanently on the Island Designer app. With that out of the way, follow the steps below to use the Island Designer app:
- Open the Island Designer app on your Nookphone
- You’ll see four options, including Start Construction, Check the Manual, and Request Cleanup. Choose the first one.
- Once you’ve selected the Start Construction option, your avatar will pop on the screen
- Press + to switch between paths and permit types
- If you’re building a path, for instance, press A on your Switch to place it where you want
- Press A again if you want to remove it
Tips for Using the Terraforming Ability
- You can use different path types next to each other, but ensure to do that with a gap between them
- Don’t cover the whole of your island with paths in the name of designing it
- You can unlock custom designs for the permit types for 2,300 each at the Nook Stop terminal
- You can change designs you’ve already made by changing their relevant custom designs on the Nookphone
Related: How to Get a Bridge in Animal Crossing: An Easy-to-Follow Guide
Final Notes
And that’s how to terraform in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. While it takes some time to unlock the ability, it’s still worthwhile, as most games save the last bits for the last. If you’re particularly interested in using your terraforming ability for building paths, check out how to make paths in Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
