Animal Crossing: New Horizons summer 2020 update

In the second summer update of Animal Crossing: New Horizons (the so-called wave 2 and version 1.4), Nintendo have gotten extra creative and offered us fireworks, dreaming, and the long-awaited island backup service. Read on for all the details about this fun update.

What is dreaming in Animal Crossing: New Horizons?

This exciting new feature bears resemblance to the “dream suite” that first appeared in Animal Crossing New Leaf. It allows you to visit and explore other islands to your hearts content without any repercussions because nothing is permanent in the dream state! To start dreaming, you merely need to take a nap in a bed located somewhere in your home.

Whilst nodding off, you will find yourself in a strange realm where Luna comes to greet you. She’ll offer you visits to other islands and help you share your island with other dreamers too. She’ll also potentially grant you a ‘dream address’ for sharing your island with others which you can exchange and use to visit other islands even when those players are offline. The best news of all is that what happens in dreams stays in dreams because nothing you do is saved and the islands you visit are copies of players' original islands, so get exploring and have fun!

Worth noting with this exciting feature is that while you’re visiting another player’s dream island, you can also sneakily eye up (and take) some of their amazing custom pattern designs using the handy Custom Design Portal outside of Resident Services!

How to enjoy fireworks in Animal Crossing: New Horizons?

Tune in every Sunday at 7 pm for the whole month of August (2020) and enjoy the fantastic fireworks show available on players’ islands. You can even custom design your own fireworks display! Players can also get involved in the whole spectacle by redeeming bells for raffle tickets that will unlock “various festive items” according to Nintendo.

From what we can tell so far, some of these festive prizes include Star Boppers, Bulb Boppers, Bubble Wands, Roman candles, Noisemakers, Sparklers, Fans, and Balloons.

How to save & restore from the server?

Although mundane, this is perhaps the most exciting feature of all for avid gamers that comes with the 1.4.0 update. The Island Backup & Restoration Service will start automatically uploading your island and player data to Nintendo’s servers. This is a huge level of security in the event your Switch gets lost or damaged.

How to install update 1.4.0?

Your game should automatically update for you, but in case it doesn’t you can press the + button on the home screen icon, select Software Update, and select Via the Internet to get the update installed on your game.

It should be noted that only players who have a full house or those who upgrade their starter tent to a full house and a membership to Nintendo Switch Online will have access to these new features.