Animal Crossing: New Horizons 2.0 update — All changes that weren't in the Direct

There are tons of new features available in the 2.0 update for Animal Crossing: New Horizons. While lots of information was revealed in the heavily packed October 2021 Animal Crossing Direct, there were lots of changes made that weren't mentioned. The iMore staff and fans around the internet have slowly been uncovering these secrets since release, so this list may grow over time, but here are some changes you might have missed.

Isabelle's new morning report

Instead of constantly talking about her lost sock or what crossword puzzle she's done, Isabelle can now tell you which NPC character is visiting during her morning broadcast if there's no other news. Players can now find out whether characters like Leif or Redd are visiting without having to run around their island.

Cooking DIY recipes are everywhere!

After much waiting, cooking is now available in Animal Crossing. If you're wondering how to access all the lovely food recipes your friends have been raving about, you might want to check in with your villagers. Similar to crafting, you can obtain new cooking DIY recipes by visiting villagers in their homes. Villagers will begin a new recipe three hours after obtaining the last one, so keep checking in with them.

That's not all, though. You can get new cooking recipes by catching certain fish, befriending NPCs like Brewster, buying turnips from Daisy Mae, and stumbling across recipe bottles on islands you visit with Kapp'n. Where there's food, there's recipes, so keep looking to collect them all!

Crafting inspiration around every corner

Thousands of items were added to the game, so it's no surprise that new crafting recipes are available. Make sure to talk to NPCs like Celeste, who now has more to offer than star fragments. Popping balloons can also grant you new DIYs, so keep a slingshot on hand! Most importantly, hang out at every beach you see. There's a chance that new crafting DIY bottles can wash up on your own island's beach, beaches on islands you visit with Kapp'n, and the beach around the Paradise Planning building in the Happy Home Paradise DLC.

Group stretching with friends

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is a great game to play multiplayer. The number of activities to do with friends has since increased since the update dropped, including Group Stretching! Don your yoga pants and streeeetch! Note that you can only do group stretching online with best friends, so send an invite if you haven't already!

Go Dutch on coffee with friends

Nothing is more cozy than sitting with a hot cup of Brewster's coffee, complete with his signature pigeon milk. If you want to share the experience with friends, the last person to sit down is faced with the choice of paying for everyone, splitting the bill, or paying for it later. If one or more persons paying for coffee doesn't have enough Bells on hand, they'll receive water instead of coffee. That way, nobody gets left out!

Access your Bells from anywhere

If you're in the habit of trading items and services with other Animal Crossing players, you may be annoyed at having to schlepp all your Bell bags with you. No more! Your friends can redeem Nook Miles to purchase an Automatic Bell Dispenser, or ABD for short. If they place the ABD outside on their island, visitors can access their Bank of Nook accounts to withdraw and deposit Bells as they need to. The same isn't true for storage sheds, but hopefully Nintendo can patch it in later.

Another new item is the donation box, where visitors can donate Bells. Unfortunately, it's not possible to donate more than 1,000 Bells at the moment, but it's always nice to leave a tip when trading with others or playing with friends! Great for selling turnips on other islands!

Cheer Kapp'n on while he sings!

Kapp'n graces us with his sea shanties every time we go on a trip with him. It's possible to spam B to stop his singing if you're in a hurry, but only a monster would do that! You can cheer him on by clapping with the A button, laugh at his jokes with the X button, or even express shock with the Y button.

Clap at K.K. Slider concerts

Speaking of clapping, you can now show your appreciation for the legendary K.K. Slider by clapping during his concerts with the A button. Villagers and visiting friends can join in on the fun too, and villagers may even be seen waving around glow sticks! K.K. Slider's concerts are more like raves than ever.

Cornimer is love, acorns are life

If you've unlocked Tortimer on Harv's Island, you may see a... peculiar figure in his place during November. This is none other than the legendary Cornimer, who blesses all those around him with acorns. Harkening back to the Acorn Festival in past Animal Crossing games, you can get up to 10 acorns from Cornimer if you talk to him every day during November.

Pay to get rid of your weeds

If you've returned to Animal Crossing after a long hiatus, you may be overwhelmed by the sheer amount of weeds around. Luckily, there's a way to take the workload off your hands. You can choose to either enact an Island Ordinance for 20,000 Bells that keeps your island beautiful and removes weeds slowly over time, or pay Leif a de-weeding fee of 100,000 Bells to instantaneously remove all weeds on your island.

NookLink gets a much needed upgrade

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is one of the games supported by the Nintendo Switch Online app, with the special NookLink applet. As of the 2.0 update, new items have been added to the Nook Points store, like a new sweater and balloon.

You can also access the Happy Home Network from NookLink, which shows your Happy Home Paradise uploads as well as those from people you follow. Another new feature is the Island Newspaper, which chronicles new things you've done in your town, like who comes to visit, and whether you went for coffee. It also tracks your turnip prices throughout the week so you can see what kind of trend you have.

New handheld items from Redd

While players should be wary of Crazy Redd and the potentially fake artwork he sells, there's nothing shady about the raffle he offers over on Harvey's Island. Similarly to the raffle offered during the Fireworks Festival in August, you can pay 500 Bells to win one of 30 handheld items from him. These include donuts, ice cream cones, fans, canned drinks, books to hold while walking, and more!

All the new things

As time goes on, players are sure to discover new features and quality-of-life changes made to one of the best games on the Nintendo Switch. Remember to keep your eye out for new things to do, take your time, and most of all, have fun! Every island is perfect in its own way, so don't feel pressured to do everything at once if you prefer to take it slow.