Personal Gameplay Rules

[kindheartedhog]

I was wondering if anyone else has given themselves "rules" to make the game more enjoyable? If so I'd love to hear them & the reasoning behind them!

Here are mine:

No time-travelling under any circumstances
Reason: I've always time-travelled in all previous games and I personally feel it just ruins my gameplay experience and enjoyment of the game. I have a much better experience playing it the way it was intended to be played. Even if that means I miss a lot of events and because I usually play late at night my stores are closed

No resetting
Reason: I have always regretted resetting in all of my other games. I always wished I had kept my very original save. So I will always - no matter what happens. Never reset unless for some reason something happens to my Switch and I have to

No flattening my island
Reason: I did this at the beggining of the game as soon as I unlocked terraforming and really wish I hadn't. Up until very recently I just wanted to get back to my original islands layout and keep it that way (thankfully someone here helped me with that)

No terraforming unless it's very small
Reason: Same as the above - I just don't like it. My island will stay 100% like it was from the start aside from small things like ponds

No trading for NMT or using / giving NMT as trading currency
Reason: Just was never a fan of it from the very start. Much prefer trading with bells or TBT

 

[Imbri]

I have a few that I instituted for myself. It is how I wanted to play.

- Time travel. I have a fairly hectic job, and Animal Crossing is my escape. I like the slow pace and being able to meander wherever, so I don't time travel at all. If I miss something, well, that's okay.

- Museum donations. Anything donated to the Museum had to be "properly" sourced. That meant I had to dig up all the fossils and buy art pieces from Redd, rather than be gifted them from friends. I visited Redd on other islands, but everything I gave Blathers was bought from him. Duplicate items I use for decoration in my house or around my island have come from other people, though.

- Flower breeding. Again, maybe I'm stubborn, but I wanted to breed every type of hybrid myself. It took just over a year, and blue roses almost broke me, but I did it. Actually, it was the first time in the series I've managed to do it, so the satisfaction was pretty great.

- K.K. music. I've been trying to just get tunes from Saturday evening performances, though my villagers have given me a few extra ones, but I'm still working though to request every song. Once I've completed the list, I'll just let him choose.

Those are my big rules I set for myself. There are a few others I go by, but now that we can keep villagers from being cluttered/having horrible wardrobe choices, I'm not as absolute on them.

- No, I'm not going to catch/sell villagers bugs or fish. Before the update, it would have made an absolute mess, and I remember how hard it was to fix that in NL. I wasn't going through that again in NH. I like that now you can refuse to catch something, but give them encouragement so they feel like they can do it themselves. Happy villagers, you know?

- Any gifts someone wants me to give another villager are opened and inspected. I didn't realize you could do this, in the beginning, and Flora in an instant muscle suit or Gruff in a towel wrap are not things you want to see. Bad enough that if I gave them something that did adhere to their likes, they would display it in their house, something completely out of character was not getting delivered. Of course, now you can talk to Isabelle and have it removed from the inventory, so I can make everyone happy by delivering the item, let it be tried on, and hightailing it over to RS to get rid of it. And, should an item not fit with the house decoration (I worked hard on making them nice and fit the characters!), at least I know I can talk to Nook and fix it up again.

 

[Tiffany]

I donate the first of everything I catch to the museum and I make a point to catch everything that is available for the month I'm in. This guarantees I finish those sections in a year.
Normally I have no problem with trading/buying anything(I prefer to trade) but for some reason I wanted to earn all the dodo items myself(I did).
I get photos of my villagers before I let them leave(unless I really don't like them).
When I trade I don't offer nmts as payment. This is because I don't really know what the trade rate is for them and it's extremely tedious having to print them one at a time, tbt or trade is easier.

 

[moo_nieu]

i dont think i have any rules i play by. i initially started my island without any time-traveling because i thought it would make the game more fun and rewarding, but i was time traveling a bit a few months in im pretty sure. oh i guess my one rule is that i wont reset my island since i regretted resetting my first new leaf town. i told that to myself when i got the game and so far have kept that rule although i have considered resetting once or twice.. i still think i should keep my initial island to avoid that feeling of regret haha

 

[Nunnafinga]

I have one rule: Play any way I want to as long as it's fun.

 

[Lythienne]

My "rules" so far are more like guidelines, really. I also have a no time traveling rule; the idea was for me to do it once so I could visit my friend the day i bought the game and never again. Of course, I cheated a little recently and ended up really regretting it. So now it's a much more solid rule. It just takes me out of the chill, gradual nature of the game which has a lot of appeal for me.

This is also my first Animal Crossing game so I'm trying to take it as it comes. One of my guidelines is to not look things up on the wiki too much (which I have, not been doing well at lately I must say) because the looming pressure to min/max or optimize really ruins things for me. Flowers I've decided to completely give up on; I'm going to try to breed a green mum for my friend but otherwise I'm getting all the different flowers from friends, it'll drive me nuts.

I like the rule upthread to "properly" source Museum donations, I think I might adopt that one. I also made the decision to not buy resources, DIYs, Items ect from the forum. Getting stuff from friends is fine, and maybe I'll visit some islands on the island tours board, but obsessing too much about being completionist at this stage would ruin the fun for me.

I am shamelessly cribbing off my much farther progressed friends though. But its fun visiting each other and working together like that

 

[Livia]

I have a couple rules, although the last one is more of a weird way I like to play games
-No time travel because it would ruin my enjoyment of the game

-For my main island Livia (my rep) has to be the one to catch and donate everything to the musuem. This rule was a little frustrating when my second character seemed to have better luck at catching rare sea creatures.

-I only do tasks like spend nook miles, hit rocks, catch fish/bugs etc when I have a nook miles plus goal to do it. even though its been several months since the 2.0 update I still don't have all the new nook miles stuff unlocked because of this "limit" I place on myself. It's similar to how I play the sims. I will start with an empty house and only buy stuff or do stuff if my sim has a wish or whim to do it. I'm thinking about restarting my second island and exclusively playing this way to see how long it takes to accomplish stuff. Obviously I'll have to unlock the plus goals first, but then I'll rely completely on them to progress my island.

 

[Xara]

i don’t have many rules, but i do have a couple.

• only have a villager once, and obtain every villager’s photo before letting them move out. i have a goal to meet and get to know as many villagers as possible, as well as obtain as many villager photos as possible, so to try and achieve that goal, i’ve made it a rule to not have any villager on my island more than once so that their spot can be filled by someone new. i’ve also made it a rule to find all my villagers myself, whether that be through the campsite, villager hunting or amiibo.
• obtain all new 2.0 furniture, clothes, diys, etc myself. to ensure that i don’t run out of things to do or collect too quickly, i’ve made it a rule to try and obtain everything new that was added in 2.0 myself.

and that’s about it. i don’t wanna be too strict with myself on how i play, so i don’t make it a habit to enforce many rules.

 

[-Blue-]

My rules are simple. I play whatever way I want. As long as I am having fun that is all that matters.

If I am not having fun with a game, there must be a reason for it, so I don't force myself to play it. For example, Metroid Dread is a fun game, but they made the EMMIs (horror stalker robots) more annoying and frustrating to deal with, rather than how they were presented (as thrilling and scary obstacles to overcome) So I had to put the game down a few times.

 

[. Rarity .]

I make sure all my side reps give my villagers cherries each day at least once, because it leads to very different dialogue,

Most recent one was; Sasha saying how he heard Static had visited Kyle, and then saying that he wonders where he is now.

Though Sasha loves talking to Craig the most, and always visits him.

They get jealous in other words. Or really attached. Its great. So its part of my routine now.

 

[daringred_]

i wouldn't consider them "rules", it's just my preferred way of play and what i do naturally, but:

• i collect everything without trading, i.e. on my own or with the occasional help of my sister and girlfriend when i visit their towns. (at which point i'll browse their shops, visit redd and/or see who's cooking/crafting.) i plan on getting all the gyroids strictly on my own though. i've only traded for something once, iirc, and it was a recipe i would've had to wait until this october for lol.
• i make sure to get every temporary villager's photograph before they leave, and i don't adopt villagers from other players -- whoever moves into my two rotating slots is random, although the game is currently making its way through my sister and girlfriend's former residents.
• i don't time travel. i've only done it once when i had to get the golden watering can -- i traveled ahead 3 days to regrow my trees and then went straight back. i have my clock set 5-7 hours behind my actual time though since i wake up and play late.
• i don't terraform. this one definitely isn't a rule, it's just what happened. i did some minor changes in the first few months, but i haven't opened the island designer app since then except to set down the default path, and i don't plan to. it's just not something i'm interested in.
• i don't 'control' my villagers. they decorate their houses how they like, wear what they like, and buy what they like (including fish and bugs) from me. it's not fun to me to micromanage everything my villagers do since they're supposed to be my friends and neighbors.

 

[Foreverfox]

I don't really play enough to have "rules" anymore, but I guess if I had to say any, it'd be to open every gift to a villager before giving it to them. I know that the villager gifting it doesn't like you to open it, but hey man, I have to know if they're trying to gift something terrible lol.

 

[Mutti]

The only ‘rule’ i would say i have is in junction to HHP as it was with HHD on the 3ds, only complete one house/facility a day as the game would become boring if not very quickly.

Ive been playing AC titles since WildWorld 2006/2007 so i cant say its a rule for New Horizons but ive never been a time traveller myself, it never bothers me when people do but ive personally never felt like i wanted to when i found out what it consisted of (i was young when WW was released so did not know what or how to Time Travel)

 

[-Mars-]

-

 

[S.J.]

I definitely have some soft rules to make the game more enjoyable (for me)!

No custom design portal designs. This is my biggest rule! If I want any designs, including paths/patterns/flags, I have to make it myself. My designs aren't the amazing quality I've seen from some designs, but I can spend hours making designs that I end up satisfied with! It also means my island is 100% designed by me, which sort of pairs with the idea that I don't copy anyone else's island ideas.

Keep villagers that I want on the island (i.e. I don't cycle through villagers, and I don't worry if I don't have all personality types)

Gift villagers items as though I am really giving them a gift! I don't gift items to get their photos, I only gift things I really think they'd like.

Always deliver gifts from one villager to another. This is why Megan has a mariachi outfit standing in her house!

Try and get as many items/recipes/art pieces as possible myself. This is particularly true of 2.0. Once I feel that I'm not enjoying the game because I'm missing particular items or recipes, that's when the rule is soft and I'll find a lovely TBTer to buy them from.

Not actually a rule, but while I'm happy to time travel, to keep everything running smoothly, I only time travel one day at a time.

 

[TheRevienne]

- For this game, in particular, I wanted to do it without time traveling (spoiler, that didn't go very well...). I was able to cheat with New Leaf, and basically, edit my town how I wanted, get any item I wanted including regional exclusives, and it took the joy away for me. Sure it was nice getting my town exactly the way I wanted it, but I missed the way I played in the beginning, which was without the cheating. One thing I regret about my NH playthrough is how fast I wanted to get through it, I still hardly TT'ed, but I wanted to rush to get terraforming, and didn't feel like I really enjoyed those first few weeks/months of gameplay cause I was going to fast.

- I try to make all my designs myself, my flag, my signs everything is designed by me (for the most part)

- I keep villagers/items that remind me of previous games (I have Kiki cause she was my favourite in WW, Bluebear from CF, and Clay from NL)

- I don't let anyone visit unless they're a friend, someone I trust, or someone from here, heard way too many horror stories to let anyone in...

- I want to collect every DIY and most items in game, I don't like having to rely on others to get what I want (that sounds bad, but I don't mean it too, just independent).

Think that's about it :'D

 

[Millysaurusrexjr]

My personal rule is don't time travel unless you really, really need to (for things like moving around villager houses, bridges, etc.)... or if my mom demands a high turnip price (but she hasn't played in months)

Also, 99% yellow flowers are to be hidden at the back of the island, behind a thin cliff.

Also also, don't buy too much art from other players. Most of it should come from my own island/HHP

Oh, and finally: Each villager gets their own personal yard!

 

[peachycrossing9]

Hmm, rules are boring. I like to play however and whatever way I want. For me personally, making myself rules would ruin the game for me. I have no need for them.

 

[Bluelady]

The only rule that I have is to finish decorating my island. In NL, my town was less than halfway finished before I lost interest. I have always regretted not finishing it while I still had the chance.

 

[Croconaw]

I don’t have any rules for myself. I always say that I’m not going to time travel, but that’s never going to happen. I always end up time traveling in the end. I’ll say that only rule for myself is to have fun with the game. I refuse to get stressed out over completing the museum and doing all of the tasks. I do those things at my own pace rather than spend a bunch of time looking for that one missing fossil. I’ve never actually completed the museum on any game. It was completed on the GameCube version, but that was my dad’s doing. He donated everything.