Time traveling in Animal Crossing: New Horizons is a contentious issue. The practice allows players to bypass the inbuilt slow pace of the game by manipulating their game time using the Switch’s date and time settings.

For those who are impatient, time traveling can negate waiting time built into the game for certain actions to complete. However, there are consequences to consider. Here, we take a look at the pros and cons of time traveling to figure out if it’s worth it.

Saving Time And Making Bells

One of the most appealing reasons to use time travel is either to make bells or quickly complete other aspects of the game. The main popular early-game trick was adjusting the date to rack up huge amounts of in-game interest using the ABD system. However, wise to this, Nintendo recently patched in a nerf to the interest rates so the rate is now 0.0005% with a maximum payout of 9,999, instead of 0.5% with a maximum of 99,000, making the cheat redundant.

Time travel can also be used to play the Stalk Market, although players can only go forward in time with turnips – so they are taking a risk. If the clock is reverted back to Sunday after a sale is made, the turnip sales pattern will also be randomized again. This means that replaying a week won’t allow you to predict the prices, although you could still sell elsewhere.

Due to the fact that all changes to your island can be saved and don’t revert once the clock is adjusted, money can also be made by using time travel to reset resource collection; revisit NPCs to sell items at a premium price and grow money trees quickly.

Selective Time Travel

Time travel can also be used on a smaller scale. This includes going forward and backward by a day or so in order to complete bridges and inclines, evict villagers, collect mail, and get instant building upgrades.

Other low-level uses include putting the clock back a few hours to reopen shops, so you don’t miss out on the rotating daily items for sale in both Nook’s Cranny and the Able Sisters store.

Destroying The Game’s Enjoyment

The biggest disadvantage of time travel is that you actually risk destroying your enjoyment of the game. Animal Crossing isn’t meant to be completed in a week, it’s designed to be enjoyed over a long period of time.

While you can sit for hours, time-traveling to complete your museum DIY collection and island design, what do you do next? There are some aspects of the game you cannot access through time travel, mainly Seasonal Events which are patched in and out in New Horizons, but if others are rushed what’s left – except to create Danny Devito Island?

In our current society, there is a “now” culture that has led to players rushing to complete things as quickly as possible. Animal Crossing: New Horizons is supposed to be an escape from that. Without time travel it may take many months to achieve certain things and that’s ok. It’s designed to be played in small amounts each day as you slowly build up relationships, collections, and your island. Just experiencing all the seasons and seasonal events in real-time will take a year and that’s by design. Animal Crossing is for life, not just for the month of release.

Consequences

Nintendo still allows for time travel, but also puts some systems in place to discourage excessive use. As well as the Seasonal Event and Stalk Market restrictions we’ve mentioned, there are other disadvantages.

If you’re time traveling for just a day or two at once, then the consequences are mostly small-scale. You could lose your Nook Stop Streak Bonus and your weeds may be more prolific.  However, once you start traveling for weeks at a time these consequences increase.

Your home can become infested with cockroaches and those weeds will heavily increase, tanking both your home and island rating. Furthermore your mailbox can fill up; villagers are likely to feel neglected and leave and your character will develop delightful bedhead.

The Verdict

While time travel is a perfectly legitimate way of playing the game, the true verdict here is that by time-traveling – you are actually only cheating yourself. The process takes a huge amount of the game’s heart away, leaving you with an experience that is likely to feel less satisfying than playing the game the way Nintendo intended.

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Sources: NintendoLife IGN