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Use the Bell Boom ordinance to boost your medal earnings.

On the island you can take part in tours run by Leilani at the front desk. Tours can be used to earn medals which can be used to buy special furniture and clothes from Grams (including the wet suit needed for deep sea diving).

Grams’ selection changes daily so you won’t always be able to buy the wet suit. The tours you can play change daily too and, as you keep winning, more difficult tours will become available.

During tours you can only keep items that are not part of the tour’s objective. So that means on a fruit gathering your you won’t be able to keep any of the fruits you pick up, but you’ll get to keep any bugs and fish you catch.

Exempt from this rule are the flower-gathering tours, where you can keep any flowers still in your pockets!

Bug-Catching

In these tours, you must catch insects with your net. Some tours ask you to catch certain types of insects, so be sure to identify what your target is before you go all bug-catching crazy!

In most tours, you can afford to just run around trying to net (literally) as many bugs as possible; there’s no time for subtlety here!

Just watch out that certain bugs, such as beetles and walking sticks will instantly flee if you run (or even walk at normal pace), so remember to creep sloooooowly (hold the A button) for these.

**Name** **Difficulty** **Description**
Easy Bug-Catching Tour * Catch 3 of any type of bug.
Butterfly-Discovery Tour * Catch 3 butterflies.
Beetle Hunting Tour * Catch 3 beetles–these lurk on tree trunks, but are quick to flee (creep very slowly).
Dragonfly-Discovery Tour * Catch 3 dragonflies.
Bug Free-for-All Tour ** Catch 4 of any type of bug.
Market-Price-Bug Tour ** Catch 10,000 bells worth of bugs.
Fall Bug Tour ** Catch 4 bugs that make a sound, such as crickets.
Cicada-Catching Tour ** Catch 4 cicadas–these lurk on tree trunks and make a distinctive sound.
Hop-To-It Bug Hunt ** Catch 4 bugs that jump, such as locusts.
Pros-Only Bug Hunt *** Catch 5 of any type of bug.
**Name** **Difficulty** **Description**
Elite Market-Price-Bug Hunt *** Catch 20,000 bells worth of bugs. Keep an eye for the rare bugs like giant beetles and rare butterflies.
Evening Firefly Tour *** Catch 5 fireflies–these hover near the river.
Bug Hide-and-Seek Tour *** Catch 5 obscured bugs. Hit rocks with your shovel, check tree trunks and dig the ground when you hear a noise.
Giant-Dragonfly Tour *** Catch 5 petaltail or banded dragonflies–these move fast, but stop every now and again. Gold award gives you 20 medals…

Fishing

Here you have to catch fish with your fishing rod. Like bug-catching, you can be asked to catch any fish or just a specific type of fish. Again be careful and ensure that you have your eyes on the right target!

Unlike bug-catching, you can’t play messy here as good timing is needed to land each and every catch. Relaxation is key to winning, although that’s easier said than done with the time counting down….

Our general tip is to close your eyes and listen for the sound of fish biting–you’ll react to this much quicker than by sight. This is especially important for catching rare fish, such as tuna or sharks.

**Name** **Difficulty** **Description**
Beginner Fishing Tour * Catch 3 of any type of fish.
Reel-the-Eel Tour * Catch 3 eels. Look for the long, thin shadows.
Easy Tropical Fishing Tour * Catch 3 of any type of fish.
Classic Tropical Fishing Tour ** Catch 3 of any type of fish.
Market-Price Fishing Tour ** Catch 10,000 bells worth of fish.
Ancient-Fish Encoun-tour ** Catch 3 ancient fish, such as coelcanth.
Dangerous Fishing Tour ** Catch 3 dangerous fish, such as piranhas.
Elite-Class Fishing Tour *** Catch 4 of any type of fish.
Advanced Price-Fishing Tour *** Catch 20,000 bells worth of fish.
Tuna-Kahuna Tour *** Catch 4 tuna–look for the large shadows. Gold award gives you 20 medals…
**Name** **Difficulty** **Description**
Shark-Battle Tour *** Catch 4 sharks–these lurk in the ocean (look for the fins).

Deep Sea Catching

These tours task you with catching deep sea creatures with your wet suit. As with previous tours, you may be asked to catch any creature or a specific type, so remember to pay attention or risk looking silly.

Frankly, we’d advise you to avoid these tours like the plague because diving is so slooooow and painful. There’s really no reason to do them, unless you genuinely enjoy diving, as the other tours are much easier and quicker (and kinder to your digits).

For a chance of success, listen out for bubbles as this means a deep sea creature is nearby. Once you spot a creature, check your surroundings before giving chase.

If the creature is near the beach or edge of the map, navigate around the creature as they’ll flee in the direction you’re moving, which can cause them go out of reach if you’re not careful.

While closing in, press Y to dive as soon as you’re on top of the creature’s shadow; for faster creatures, you will need to continue swimming while underwater to catch them–don’t stop hammering the buttons!

**Name** **Difficulty** **Description**
Amateurs’ Free-Diving Tour * Catch 3 of any deep sea creature.
Shellfish Free-for-All Tour * Catch 3 shellfish.
Crab Free-Diving Tour * Catch 3 crabs.
Seafood Free-Diving Tour ** Catch 4 of any deep sea creature.
Market-Price-Seafood Tour ** Catch 5,000 bells worth of deep sea creatures.
Shrimp-and-Lobster Tour ** Catch 4 shrimps or lobsters.
High-End Seafood Tour ** Catch 4 luxury sea creatures, such as crabs or abalone.
Pro-Diver Tour *** Catch 5 of any deep sea creature.
Super-Luxe Seafood Tour *** Catch 8,000 bells worth of deep sea creatures.
**Name** **Difficulty** **Description**
Sea-Urchin Diving Tour *** Catch 5 sea urchin–these are the tiny shadows that don’t move.
Octopus Free-Diving Tour *** Catch 5 octopi–these move pretty fast.
Spider-Crab Diving Tour *** Catch 5 spider crabs–these are the massive shadows in the sea. Gold award gives you 20 medals…

Hide and Seek

Four villagers from the island will hide behind the buildings and trees on the island; find them as fast as you can!

There’s a trick to make this game easier–stop moving and press Up on the D-pad to pan the camera up and any buildings or trees near the bottom of the screen will disappear from view, allowing you to see through them.

Otherwise, if you’re running behind things and get stuck, there’s probably a hidden villager in the way.

**Name** **Difficulty** **Description**
Easy Hide-and-Seek Tour * Find 4 animals hiding on the island.
Official Hide-and-Seek Tour ** Find 4 animals hiding on the island.
Elite Hide-and-Seek Tour *** Find 4 animals hiding on the island.

Gardening

You have to gather flowers form the island and plant them in the flower bed next to Tortimer; in total you must plant 25 flowers.

It helps if you count how many flowers you grab as you run (bearing in mind you can hold onto 16 items at once), to minimise the time you spend checking how many you’ve got. So you can go and grab 16 flowers first, then grab the last 9 afterwards.

Also, when planting flowers, you don’t need to physically move all the time–if you lay down more than one flower in the same spot, your character will place them in the next available adjacent or diagonal space (so you can plop up to 9 flowers without moving).

You may also find it quicker to drop flowers by using the stylus to drag and drop them on the space “below” your character on the bottom screen.

**Name** **Difficulty** **Description**
Easy Gardening Tour * Plant 25 of any flower.
Official Gardening Tour ** Plant 25 of a certain type **or** colour of flower.
Elite Gardening Tour *** Plant 25 of a certain type **and** colour of flower.

Item Matching

Ready to test your memory? Here you must use your shovel to dig up a buried item and then dig up the exact same item elsewhere.

If you don’t find a matching item, you will automatically bury the item you have dug up. Keep digging until you’ve matched all the items.

**Name** **Difficulty** **Description**
Easy Item-Matching Tour * Match 6 pairs of buried items.
Official Item-Matching Tour ** Match 8 pairs of buried items.
Elite Item-Matching Tour *** Match 10 pairs of buried items.

Hammer

You have to whallop the remote-controlled Mr. Resetti with your toy hammer as many times as you can before time runs out.

Try to anticipate the machine’s movements, so you’re not just hammering empty space, although this becomes tricky as more obstacles are added, making the machine’s movements more erratic.

If you can run ahead of Resetti, you can land a good number of hits easily.

**Name** **Difficulty** **Description**
Easy Hammer Tour * Whack the machine 30 times.
Level Up Hammer Tour ** Whack the machine 30 times. There are some rocks that change the machine’s trajectory.
Elite Hammer Tour *** Whack the machine 30 times. There are many rocks that change the machine’s trajectory.

Hammer Tour Video

Labyrinth of Fruits

Tortimer will ask you to look for a specific number of a fruit, or various fruits. Navigate the hedge maze in search of these fruits. Once you’ve got the correct amount of fruit/fruits, speak to Tortimer in the middle.

Like the item-matching, this game is a test of memory, as the layout of the maze and the placement of the fruits changes each time you play.

**Name** **Difficulty** **Description**
Easy Labyrinth Tour * Bring 5 of a certain fruit to Tortimer.
Official Labyrinth Tour ** Bring 3 of two requested fruits to Tortimer.
Master Labyrinth Tour *** Bring 3 of three requested fruits to Tortimer.

Ore Hunting

Use your shovel to break the rocks on the island to find as many ore as you can. Be careful because some rocks are unbreakable and do not give out ore.

To make things more exciting, each time there will be 4 of a certain ore that give 3 points each–Tortimer will tell you which ore to look for. Later, Tortimer will add in one or two mystery ore that awards 10 points each.

Once you’ve scoured most of the island, you should be able to figure out the mystery ore’s identity because you’ll only have found one or two of them.

**Name** **Difficulty** **Description**
Easy Ore-Hunter Tour * Obtain 12 points by grabbing ores from the rocks. There will be four ores worth 3 points each.
Official Ore Tour ** Obtain 16 points by grabbing ores from the rocks. There will be four ores worth 3 points each plus one mystery ore worth 10 points.
Master Labyrinth Tour *** Obtain 20 points by grabbing ores from the rocks. There will be four ores worth 3 points each plus two mystery ores worth 10 points each.

Fossil Hunting

There are two houses on the island, the left one has fossils while the right one is empty. Check the left one and make a note of the fossils and their locations in the house.

Head back outside and dig up the fossils on the island. When you find a fossil which matches one from the left house, put it in the right house in the correct position.

**Name** **Difficulty** **Description**
Easy Fossil Finder’s Tour * Find and display 2 of the correct fossils.
Official Fossil Hunter’s Tour ** Find and display 3 of the correct fossils.
Elite Fossil Hunter’s Tour *** Find and display 4 of the correct fossils. This time the fossils you find aren’t labelled…

Balloon Popping

In these tours you have to pop balloons floating over the island using the slingshot–rabbit balloons are worth more points. The balloons appear in waves and move in the direction of the wind.

As time passes, the direction and speed of the wind may change, so be prepared to change locations. Later on, you’ll have to navigate trees and pitfall traps; try not to run behind trees as you may fall foul to a hidden pitfall trap.

**Name** **Difficulty** **Description**
Easy Balloon-Hunt Tour * Earn 20 points by shooting down balloons.
Official Balloon-Hunt Tour ** Earn 20 points by shooting down balloons. There are trees and some pitfall traps.
Elite Balloon-Hunt Tour *** Earn 20 points by shooting down balloons. There are a lot of trees and pitfall traps.

Scavenger Hunting

You will be given a list of furniture in your inventory; you need to search the houses on the island for these pieces of furniture. Speak to Tortimer when you’ve found everything on the list.

Initially, you may have trouble distinguishing the very similar furnitures–in this scenario, just grab everything suspicious in the house and check them outside, then toss all the furniture that don’t match onto the floor and press on.

**Name** **Difficulty** **Description**
Easy Scavenger Tour * Return 3 of the correct furniture to Tortimer.
Official Scavenger Tour ** Return 3 of the correct furniture to Tortimer. There are now more furniture in houses.
Elite Scavenger Tour *** Return 3 of the correct furniture to Tortimer. There are more furniture and house plants in houses.
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Guide Information
  • Publisher
    Nintendo
  • Platforms,
    3DS
  • Genre
    Social simulation
  • Guide Release
    29 July 2013
  • Last Updated
    7 December 2020
  • Guide Author
    James Bowden

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Animal Crossing: New Leaf sees you crowned mayor as a result of a bit of an accident. When you arrive, Isabelle the town clerk will reveal that you’ve been given the post and from there you can do whatever you please! Use your powers as the mayor to shape the town however you wish, whether this means building bridges, creating public works projects or laying down laws (or ordinances as they are known). With all this freedom, you could soon have the home and town of your dreams!

Version 1.1:

  • How to get the most out of those vital first few days in town.
  • The easiest ways to stuff your coffers with loads of money.
  • Detailed information on every shop in Main Street.
  • Exact dates for every Special Event in the entire game!
  • Complete your encyclopaedia with every Bug and Fish in the game!
  • Where to find every special visitor and what they can offer you.
  • A full furniture list so you can find exactly what you need to build the perfect home.
  • Beautiful screenshots and exclusive HD 3DS tutorial videos with audio commentary!
  • Comprehensive list of furniture, wallpapers and carpets.
  • Comprehensive list of clothes and accessories.
  • Special event pages for the snowman season and Weeding Day.
  • List of all the decorative public work projects and who requests them.

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