Movies News Talk
Animal Crossing: New Horizons was a big hit with players who love cozy games. It came out for the Nintendo Switch at the same time that cottagecore was all over TikTok and Pinterest. Many players like to build cottagecore islands with lots of trees, bushes, crops, and other nature-themed things. But even though lots of players are trying to make their islands look natural, they're having trouble getting the highest rating, which is five stars.
A Reddit user named slyyris pointed out that players who put a lot of trees on their islands to make them look like forests are actually getting penalized. Isabelle, the helpful character in the game, keeps telling players who have lots of trees that they need to remove some to get a better rating. Slyyris said, "I would like to petition for the end of this. Why can’t I have 5 stars AND the cozy forest island of my dreams?!?"
Other players who love nature have the same problem. One player named BloblobberMain13 said, "I feel like the whole Island Rating system is kind of incompatible with the decoration aspect of the game. The island itself is huge, empty, and bland so that you decorate it and build it yourself. But when you decorate TOO much the island rating goes down."
In New Horizons, the island's rating is based on how much stuff is on it, and how pretty it looks. The stuff you put on your island (like buildings, bridges, and furniture) is called "development points". The pretty things, like flowers and DIY projects, are called "scenery points". To get a five-star island, you need over 665 development points and more than 450 scenery points. But just putting things anywhere won't help.
The rating system takes away points if you put too many of the same thing in one place. For example, if you have more than six of the same item in a small area, you lose points for each extra one. It seems like this also happens with scenery points, but it's not as clear how many points you lose.
Getting a five-star island is the only way to get a special flower called the lily of the valley. But it's hard to get a five-star island if you want a lot of trees and plants. Many players end up making their island look a certain way to get five stars, then changing it back to what they really wanted.
Even though many players like to make their islands look like forests, there are lots of other ways to decorate your island. But if you want a very natural island, it will be hard to get five stars.