Last year, I made it my New Year’s resolution to write an Animal Crossing: New Horizons column for a full year and play the game every day. And surprisingly, I actually kept my resolution, and I wrote an entire year’s worth of entries. I am not going to make the same resolution for this year, but I do want to try to keep this column going. I think there will be some serious changes in my life this year, but I’ll do my best.
I am also really excited about the update coming Jan 15, and I cannot wait to experience all of the new content coming to the game on that date!
So, here’s to volume two of Tom Nook’s Snapshots and let us all try to make 2026 the best year possible.
If you missed last week’s Tom Nook’s Snapshots, you can catch up here.
January 1
Ringing in 2026 with everyone in Animal Crossing: New Horizons was definitely a different experience than starting 2025. My island is full of islanders and I’m excited to see what this year brings. After partying in the plaza with everyone, I went to bed.
When I got up the next morning, it turned out I had a campsite visitor! I met Julian, who appears to be a unicorn, and apparently really, really, likes doing surveys. He said 100 percent of Julians would rate the campground highly, which is an odd thing to say. He also called the night sky the biggest movie screen in the world, because it is filled with the biggest stars — which is a pretty bad joke, and I feel like he made that without intending it to be a joke. I did also win a zen uniform from him! However, I have no wish for him to stay permanently on my island.
I also bought a crane game for 28,000 Bells from Nook’s Cranny. I don’t know exactly what I’ll do with that, but I knew I had to have it.
January 2
I spent too much time today shopping at Nook’s Cranny. I saw an antique phone for sale, and I immediately imagined what it would be like if all my islanders had one in their homes. It is 19,200 Bells though, and so I would have to save up to buy everyone one at once. That might be something I’ll do, actually. I do have money in my bank account, but I was planning on using it for my home loan so I can keep expanding my house.
I also bought the box corner sofa. The yellow color is HIDEOUS, but Sable gives me a lot of patterns I could undoubtedly use for it once I figure out what I would want to do with the sofa. I have accidentally started collecting the Imperial set, but I definitely want to make my home roomier to exist in.
I also stopped by the Roost, and I ordered a coffee…with pigeon milk in it! It was so creamy and smooth and delicious with the pigeon milk added in!
January 3
I spent more money at Nook’s Cranny today. Timmy and Tommy had the Imperial decorative shelves for sale, and I snapped them up. I had thought about the set yesterday, and I feel a little like I manifested it into reality today. I also bought a card tower, but I have no idea what I’ll do with that.
I started my antique phone project by hanging up the first one in my own home in the small desert-themed room off to the right, and I put the crane game in that room too (for now, at least). I also stopped into the back room, and I discovered Jingle’s photograph was put into the stockings I had hung up!
Finally, I went to the plaza to hear K.K. Slider play his first song of the year. He played Stale Cupcakes for me, Cephalobot, and Gonzo. I liked it, and I was happy he gave me a bootleg after. At some point, I need to sit down and figure out what, if any, of K.K.’s singles I am still missing. I feel like I have almost all of them at this point.
Finally, I changed out my door decoration to celebrate the new year, and I added a small new year decoration outside of Nook’s Cranny.
January 4
Today, I bought a new throwback rocket! I had given my last one away, and I still want one to decorate my town with, and so I snapped it up again from Nook’s Cranny. I also harvested my crops, and somehow, I sold them all for 44,100 Bells! That seems a little high, and I am not sure how Timmy and Tommy are making a profit off of them for themselves, but I am not going to complain. I really should harvest them more often so I can make more of a steady Bell income.
I also visited Goose in his home today and he asked me if I prefer to work on my delts, my biceps, or my quads. I picked my biceps, and he then read me like a book and talked about how it is a classic sign of strength, how I am a traditionalist who is willing to put in work for progress, and more. I ended up giving him my throwback rocket as a thank you. I will eventually get one that I will put up in town!
January 5
The Winter Fishing Tourney is on Saturday! It is the quarterly seasonal fishing tournament I will hopefully attend this time around. Maybe!
Other than that, I saw Nook’s Cranny was selling carnivorous pitcher plants today. I have never bought anything quite as fast as I did those when I saw what they were. I really want to set them up outside somewhere, and I wonder if they would attract insects to catch. I think that would be pretty cool, honestly.
After ordering some more limited time only items from the Nook Shopping kiosk, I stopped by Brewster’s to order a cup of coffee. It turns out Brewster likes to brew his coffee per customer, which is crazy dedicated. As I started to leave, Brewster stopped me and gave me a siphon as a gift. I was very, very surprised, but I am also very thankful for it!
January 6
I found a message in a bottle today with a recipe for sugar crepes inside of it. I have made crepes before in real life, and they are delicious — and I only hope the ones in Animal Crossing: New Horizons are just as great. I also ordered K.K. Lament from Nook Shopping today, on the off chance I do not already have it.
I was running around my beach, and I found Gullivarrr washed up near my Torii gate by the dock. He asked me to go find his communicator in the water, and so I strapped on my wet suit to go look for it. I found an octopus, and then I somehow found the communicator second! I was quite thrilled, and I turned it over to Gullivarr. He promised to send me something in the mail for it in the coming days.
January 7
I do not know what I am going to do with a cuckoo clock, but I am going to buy one from Nook’s Cranny. The shop has had a lot of good things this week, and I am quite surprised at how great it all is.
I also decided I am going to put my Nook miles to use, and I bought a brick path permit. I want to have more variety with my building, and I should probably start with my pathways. I have 115,270 miles…and so I might end up just buying everything that is for sale, anyway. It is not like I am really using them for anything else at the moment.
Otherwise, I harvested and dug up the stump of another money tree. If I didn’t buy so many random things in game all the time, I would definitely have enough to pay off my next loan by now!
Did you make any New Year’s Resolutions?
What do you want to do on your island this year?
Let us know in the comments below!
