Animal Crossing New Horizons: How to Build and Unlock Nook's Cranny

When starting out in Animal Crossing New Horizons you'll only have access to a limited shop service that's run out of Tom Nook's tent. If you'd like more options you'll need to unlock Nook's Cranny, which will take a fair bit of effort. In this guide we'll lead you through the steps required to open the Nook's Cranny shop, so that you can have access to the expanded options that become available.

On this page:

• How to Unlock the Nook's Cranny Shop
• What Can You Do Once Nook's Cranny is Open?
• Drop-Off Box
• Hot Items
• How to Access the Shop Catalogue

How to Unlock Nook's Cranny in Animal Crosisng New Horizons

To unlock Nook's Cranny you will need to complete a few projects on your island. They are as follows:

1. Build your first bridge (details on that here)
2. Build the museum (more info here)
3. Invite three new residents and build their houses (follow these steps)
4. Donate 30 wood, 30 softwood, 30 hardwood and 30 Iron Nuggets (more on getting Iron Nuggets here) when asked to do so by Timmy

Once you've completed these steps, Nook's Cranny will be built on your island. Note that Tom Nook will inform you of the construction once you've unlocked it, and you'll have to donate the resources listed above to Timmy.

What Can You Do Once Nook's Cranny is Open?

Nook's Cranny brings with it a whole host of new features. These include the following:

• Hot items
• Drop-off box
• Expanded selection
• Rotating stock on shop floor
• Turnip Pricing (just ask Timmy)

We'll go into a little more detail on these later on in this article.

Drop-Off Box

Once you unlock the Nook's Cranny Store you'll gain access to the drop-off box. This allows you to drop items into it, and you'll be paid the sum the following day once you load in. Nook Inc. will take a small handling fee for doing so, but it's worth dropping items off to clear your inventory space.

Hot Items

If you look at the front of the Nook's Cranny shop you'll see a small notice board to the right of the entrance. If you interact with this you'll see what the Hot Item for the day is. This item will sell for double the amount of Bells. It's worth doing this, as you can make a lot of money.

How to Access the Shop Catalogue

When you first step into the new shop, you might be confused as to how you access the shop's full catalogue of items. Well, just head on over to the cabinet in the far left section of the store and interact with it. From here you can see the full range of items available.

If you're still looking for more on Animal Crossing New Horizons be sure to check out our official review. Elsewhere, there's our article on how cloud-saving works.