18 Best Animal Crossing: New Horizons Mods

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is a beloved title, possibly the best in the entire franchise, and just ripe for modding.

As the saying goes, it’s better to jump in late than never at all, so go on ahead and get yourself your very own deserted island to customize.

And yes, quite a few enthusiasts have found ways to put in some pretty boss mods. It’ll take some work to get them going, but these can be a lot of fun.

A word of warning first: Nintendo has never been too friendly towards modding, so you might want to be careful and try this on a separate system.

18. Natural Winter Plants Mod

Many field plants’ textures have been changed to add more realistic color to the game’s winter.

The file path is included in the download, so all you have to do to use this mod is copy the atmosphere folder from the download to the bottom of your SD card.

17. Desmond – The Undead Villager

Desmond is his name. He is just an innocent farmer who is dead and likes to eat. This is the new Bruce.

Model, Map icon, NmlNpcParam, and USen script file are all included. Most likely needs the resource size table mod, which is also included. Console tests were done.

Like Jack and Coco, he doesn’t have any facial expressions other than a surprised look where his eyes light up red.

16. Infinite money

The mod grants the player unlimited resources such as bells, Poki, and miles, which would eliminate the need for them to work hard and earn these currencies through normal gameplay.

This could potentially take away from the sense of achievement and satisfaction that comes with progressing through the game and reaching new milestones.

15. Hair & Eye Color Editor

Customization is a huge part of what makes ACNH so loveable.

In fact, it’s this sense of individuality that makes the social aspect of the game so exciting as well. Players can express themselves through avatars and decorations, which they’re then allowed to share their progress with friends.

With that, additional customization options are always good – and this Hair & Eye Color editor can help with exactly that.

You’ll now have even more control of how everyone looks on your island.

14. Increased Items Stack

Up next we have a small quality of life mod that I’m sure most fans will enjoy.

As the title suggests, the mod basically expands your inventory capacity – allowing you to carry much more junk you probably don’t need.

Spending countless hours exploring your island to gather resources might be relaxing to many, but can get tedious for some – especially those who prefer to get things done quickly.

This mod solves that, increasing stack capacity of all items all the way up to 99.

13. Animal Crossing GCN Hourly Music

This next one is targeted specifically towards older Animal Crossing fans, and it’s sure to take you on a trip down memory lane.

If you enjoyed some of the older Animal Crossing games, you’re definitely going to enjoy this one.

The mod takes us all the way back to the original Animal Crossing game, replacing ACNH’s main menu and hourly music with that of the GameCube version.

If that original GCN game was at all part of your childhood, this one’s sure to trigger some nostalgia.

12. No 24-Hour BGM

There are always those of us who are a bit less fun than the rest of us… Kidding, of course!

But there’s actually a point to removing the game’s background music. As explained by the mod author himself, the mod was made specifically to allow players to fully enjoy the game’s nature sounds, as well as audio from other players.

This fits in pretty well with the social aspect of the game.

Especially if you’re a musician or frequently visit friends who are.

Most players find the game to be relaxing as hell, and removing the background music to make way for nature can actually enhance that feeling.

11. Unbreakable (golden) Tools

If you’ve gotten deep into your Animal Crossing: New Horizons journey, you’re probably familiar with the golden tools.

For the benefit of those who aren’t familiar, golden is the highest level that tools can reach in the game, and there are currently 6 tools with golden variants.

Being top tier when it comes to tools, these golden variants don’t come easy. And whether or not it’s worth it has become questionable, given that these tools still break over time.

Some of the game’s most challenging achievements must be completed before gaining access to them, and even then, you might find yourself wanting to spend your golden nuggets elsewhere instead.

This mod offers a simple solution, making all golden tools unbreakable.

10. Consume Everything

Now this is probably the strangest entry on the list – but as always, I’ll leave it up to you to find your own crazy use for it.

Consume Everything is a simple mod that basically lets you eat anything in the game.

That’s right.

Want to see what nutritional value your slingshot might offer? Well go on ahead and find out.

The modder was even kind enough to provide two options for the mod – which comes in both Full and Safe modes.

Safe mode prevents you from eating items that could potentially stop you from progressing through the rest of the game, which is probably a good idea.

9. Increased Bridge/Slope-Limit

Next up we have an add-on that’s going to come in handy for all the Animal Crossing builders out there.

We’ve talked a lot about how big a role customization is in this game. And players continuously find new and creative ways to decorate their islands.

The Increased Bridge/Slope Limit mod helps greatly with that, allowing you to build more bridges and slopes around your paradise.

With the mod installed, you’ll find that after receiving your kit from Tom Nook, you’ll now be able to build 32 bridges and 32 slopes, instead of the original 8.

While there are still some bugs to flesh out, the basic building is already working, so the mod is already good to go.

8. Change Mom to Dad

Here we’ve got a simple mod – replacing all the letters your mom sent, making them come from dad instead.

The messages stay the same, except now they come from dad. Huh.

Now you’re probably wondering what the point of that might be.

Well as the modder himself explains,

“I haven’t talked to my mom in years. Maybe you’re the same? Seeing letters from her in-game is strange… let’s just put Dad there instead.”

7. Nook’s ADB and Daisy Mae in Airport

Here’s an extremely useful quality of life mod for ACNH, which basically gives you two added features in one small package.

First off, Nook’s ADB and Daisy Mae in Airport adds Nook’s ABD (Automatic Bell Dispenser) machine to the airport.

While the ABD can be used for several other transactions, this makes it especially convenient to purchase tickets as it’s already in the airport.

Second, the mod places Daisy Mae in the airport every morning as well.

You’d usually find her around the island every Sunday morning to sell tulips. But with this mod installed, you’ll be able to find her every day of the week. Nice.

6. Mystery Tour Island+

Another one for those who are deeper into their ACNH playthroughs, Alree’s Mystery Tour Island+.

With this new Animal Crossing release, we saw the introduction of the Mystery Tours, which basically allow you to visit random uncharted islands other than your friends’.

There are a number of different islands to visit, each with their own unique features. However, it might be challenging to be able to visit all since RNG determines which island you’re taken to.

Some islands might have lower spawn chances than others, so you could end up visiting the same place twice.

This mod revamps the whole system, changing RNG distribution. Now it doesn’t explain much up front, but I can only assume that it would make rarer islands more likely to spawn.

Beyond that, it unlocks some of the otherwise unavailable islands as well.

5. Cliffside Paradise

Unfortunately, sharing completely custom island layouts isn’t really a thing as of yet… which isn’t at all surprising given Nintendo’s mod limitations.

User xnonymous was able to share his creation, which is actually a recreation of an island made by a Reddit user.

This design received much praise for being so well-built, and xnonymous spent a huge amount of time rebuilding it as accurately as possible to allow for us to experience it as well.

Let loose and have fun!

4. Playable Isabelle

On of the coolest features that modding has brought to the world of Animal Crossing is the ability to switch up characters.

This particular mod lets you swap out your typical human villager to be able to play the entire game as the loveable dog Isabelle.

The mod even comes complete with customized expressions, but does have some drawbacks.

The customization options aren’t as expansive as they would be with a normal character, and textures might not look as good due to file size limitations.

All in all, it’s still a great option if you just adore Isabelle to the moon.

3. Inkwell in ACNH

One of the first things older Animal Crossing fans look for is whether some of their favorite characters are still featured in the more recent games.

While there have been many disappointments, modding has made it possible to bring some of your favorites from the previous titles into New Horizons.

This mod in particular brings back Inkwell, who was first featured in Animal Crossing: New Leaf.

2. Nindori In New Horizons

Now this next mod gives us one of the less common Animal Crossing characters, only being available in the Japanese exclusive Animal Forest e+.

What made him even less common was the fact that you’d need to have access to his e-reader card to get him.

Not anymore!

This mod brings Nindori to ACNH for free, just note that he’ll have to take Sprocket’s place.

1. Tarou in ACNH

Peaking on this list is another Animal Crossing character & fan favorite, and another from the exclusive GameCube port Animal Forest e+.

This mod adds in the physical fitness-obsessed jock Tarou to your ACNH game, taking the place of Fang.

He comes complete with his own icon, photo, poster, and catchphrase as well.

Ah, the glory days.