The first few hours in Animal Crossing: New Horizons are the most challenging. This is because the island on which you find yourself living is practically empty. You will have to build your small community and expand it to the size of a real town. However, it can be difficult to understand when and how this will happen.
For this reason, we have decided to draw up a short guide that will illustrate you more clearly how to unlock and upgrade the main buildings and services in Animal Crossing: New Horizons including the museum, the shop, the clothing store and other essentials for the development of your "desert" island.
How to unlock the museum
The first building that you will find yourself building will, in all probability, be the museum. It will display all the specimens of insects and fish (in addition to the inevitable fossils) that you decide to donate to Blatero, the night owl who manages the cataloging and operation of the building.
The first thing to do is go talk to Tom Nook, who will tell you to bring him at least 5 different specimens of fish and insects, so that he can convince Blatero to move to open the museum. Once this is done, you will have the opportunity to choose the place where the museum will be built.
After a day, you will find a tent with the researcher inside. He will ask you to bring him 15 different types of fish, insects and, this time, even fossils (giving you, moreover, the project of the shovel that you will need to bring them to light). After that, he will tell you that the museum is finally ready to open its doors. However, it will take two days to complete the work (counting the day in which you completed the assignment). After this period of time, the museum will actually be ready to start its activity. To celebrate the event, go to Tom Nook, who will prepare a special opening ceremony.
How to unlock Nook's workshop
During the first few days, Mirco will tell you that he intends to open a shop. Since nobody wants to do anything on this new island, he will ask you to go and collect 30 pieces of each type of wood (hard, normal and soft) and, much more difficult, 30 iron ores. For the first you can easily take advantage of the many trees on the island (perhaps using a stone ax, so as not to cut them down and to be able to return every day to get new resources). For iron, however, you cannot rely exclusively on the few rocks found on the island.
You will most likely have to buy a travel coupon at Point Nook in Tom Nook's service tent and depart from the airport (available only from game day XNUMX) to a random island. Here, you will certainly find several rocks that will allow you to collect different minerals in a short time. Ultimately, two coupon trips were enough for us plus what we found on our island.
Immediately after starting the assignment, a little help will also give it to you Hercules, if you talk to him. In fact, he will give you five pieces of iron to help you in the enterprise. Once all the materials have been delivered, Mirco will reward you with some projects and then start the work, which will last one day. If you want, you can always celebrate the new opening by going to Tom Nook.
After about a month of play, Mirco and Marco will let you know that they intend to improve their shop, so that they can sell more items. There is no need to do anything more. The next day the "new" shop will be ready and will feature not only more content to be purchased, but also two articles of the day to be sold.
How to unlock Needle and Thread
When you enter the shop of Mirco and Marco for the first time, you will meet Agostina, Filomena's partner porcupine, with whom he owns the Ago e Filo clothing store. During a dialogue between the two sellers and the seamstress, we learn that she plans to come and sell her clothing on the island from time to time. It will be possible to meet her sporadically in the square. After several days she will confess to you that she wants to open a shop on your island. She will ask you to choose the most suitable place and then, after two days, she will open its doors without the need for money, materials or anything else.
How to upgrade the Resident Services tent
After a few days of play, Tom Nook will ask you to place three properties to build. Once this is done, you will have to create six objects for each lot, which will attract the attention of potential buyers (in our case, three characters we had previously met on as many desert islands and to whom we had advised to move with us showed up).
After completing the outfitting of the houses, one of the new citizens will arrive each day and settle permanently on the island. On the third day, Tom will let you know that he is going to expand the Resident Services tent in a real building. Two days later, without you needing to do anything, the facility will be ready and will allow you to buy ramps and bridges (finally).
How to create the camp
After completing the upgrade of the Services tent, go talk to Tom Nook. These will give you the project to create the camp. Once you have chosen where to place it, it will take, as for the other buildings, about two days (the one in which you have confirmed the location and the next) for its construction. Once completed, the camp will allow visitors to camp there and, if they particularly like the island, to move there permanently and become new citizens.
