Animal Crossing: New Leaf Cheats, Unlockables, and Secrets for Nintendo 3DS

Animal Crossing: New Leaf is a social simulation released by Nintendo in 2012. It was originally Japan-exclusive before being released worldwide the following year. Similar to the other entries in the Animal Crossing franchise, New Leaf was also released to critical acclaim as Nintendo continued to improve upon ideas introduced in previous entries. Players can assimilate into a cozy community by catching bugs, fishing, and befriending villagers. What makes New Leaf different from previous entries is that the player becomes the mayor of the town, giving them much more control over how it expands. You can read our review here!

Animal Crossing: New Leaf Premise

As you would expect from an Animal Crossing game, you take control of a villager who has moved into a new town. In New Leaf fans of the previous installments gain access to many features new to the series. New customization options, new options that were only available in Japan are now available internationally, and the ability to visit other player’s towns using the Nintendo Network.

Animal Crossing: New Leaf Main Characters

• Isabelle: The cheerful and helpful secretary who assists the player in managing the town.
• Digby: Isabelle’s twin brother, who runs the Happy Home Showcase.
• Tom Nook: The real estate mogul who manages Nook’s Homes, overseeing house expansions and renovations.
• Lottie: A polite and professional employee of Nook’s Homes, introduced in the Happy Home Designer crossover.
• Pelly: The sweet and kind pelican who works at the Post Office during the day.
• Phyllis: Pelly’s cranky sister who runs the Post Office at night.
• Pete: The mail carrier pelican who delivers mail to your villagers.

Other Animal Crossing Titles In The Series

• Animal Crossing (2001)
• Animal Crossing: Wild World (2005)
• Animal Crossing: City Folk (2008)
• Animal Crossing: New Leaf (2012)
• Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer (2015)
• Animal Crossing: Amiibo Festival (2015)
• Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp (2017)
• Animal Crossing: New Horizons (2020)
• Animal Crossing: New Horizons – Happy Home Paradise (2021 DLC)

Animal Crossing: New Leaf Cheat Codes

Secrets

Bonus locations

Complete the indicated task(s) to unlock the corresponding location. Note: Most of these locations will not become available until it has been at least 10 days since the start of the game, and most will be available in the public works list.

Club LOL: Have Nookling Junction upgrade for the first time, give Dr. Shrunk permission when he visits your house, and obtain signatures from other villagers.

Dream Suite: Talk to Isabelle while she is asleep at least seven days after the start of the game, and Dream Suite will be added to the public works list.

Fortune Teller Shop: Have your fortune read (which happens each time Katrina visits your town) 20 times. Then, speak to her, and the shop will be added to the public works list.

Garden Center: Pull 30 weeds, plant 30 flowers or trees, or water 30 plants.

Kicks: Spend 8,000 bells at the Able Sisters’ shop.

Museum Shop: Donate 20 items (at least one per category) to the museum, and talk to Blathers daily. Eventually, the shop will become a public works project.

QR Machine: Talk to Sable at the Able Sisters store for 10 consecutive days. The next day it will appear at the rear of the store.

Reset Center: Turn off the system without saving the game. Start the game again, and Mr. Resetti will state the Reset Center is closed. It will then become a public works project.

Shampoodle: Spend 10,000 bells at the Able Sisters’ or Kicks shop. Note: It must be at least 10 days since Kicks was built.

The Island Resort: Start the game after finishing an upgrade to a house. Tortimer will greet you at the start up; meet him at the docks. You can go one day later.

The Roost Café: Donate 50 items of any category to the museum, and have the Museum Shop already unlocked. Then, talk to Blathers seven days after the Museum Shop’s opening.

Easier bug and fish-catching

When hunting for a certain type of catch, such as sharks or palm tree bugs, this trick will help. Search the area where you are looking for the creature, and if it isn’t there hit start and save, but continue playing. This will reset the bug and fish spawns in your game, and it only takes a few seconds.

View town’s history

If you sit on the ledge at your Town Plaza tree, require the tree to grow for 100 days (100 hrs), and wait a few seconds the credits will roll by showing your town history.

Unlockables

ATM unlockables

Save the indicated number of bells at the ATM inside the post office to get the corresponding gift in the mail:

ABD: 100,000,000 bells

Aluminum briefcase: 5,000,000 bells

Box of tissues: 100,000 bells

Letter set: 500,000 bells

Mailman’s hat: 50,000,000 bells

Piggy bank: 1,000,000 bells

Post-office poster: 10,000,000 bells

Safe: 20,000,000 bells

HHA unlockables

Get the indicated score from the HHA to unlock the corresponding bonus:

Arched golden door: 700,000 (theme challenge)

HHA pennant: 20,000

HHA jacket: 30,000

HHA tee: 10,000

Gold exterior: 500,000 (theme challenge)

Gold fence: 900,000 (theme challenge)

Gold HHA plaque: 70,000

Gold HHA trophy: 100,000

Gold house model: 150,000

Gold mailbox: 1,100,000 (theme challenge)

Gold roof: 300,000 (theme challenge)

Silver HHA plaque: 50,000

Silver HHA trophy: 90,000

Special tools

Complete the indicated task to unlock the corresponding tool:

Golden axe: Talk to Leif the sloth after purchasing 50 or more tree saplings from the gardening shop.

Golden fishing rod: Talk to the fishing tournament host after catching every type of fish.

Golden net: Talk to the bug-catching tournament host after catching every type of bug.

Golden shovel: Talk to Leif the sloth after purchasing 50 or more fertilizers from the gardening shop.

Golden slingshot: Shoot down the present attached to three golden balloons.

Golden watering can: Talk to Isabelle after having fifteen days of perfect environmental conditions.

Silver axe: Purchase from the island shop for eight medals.

Silver fishing rod: Purchase from the museum’s second-floor extension after donating 30 or more fish.

Silver net: Purchase from the museum’s second-floor extension after donating 30 or more bugs.

Silver shovel: Purchase from the museum’s second-floor extension after donating 15 or more fossils.

Silver slingshot: Shoot down the present attached to two silver balloons.

Silver watering can: Talk to Leif the sloth after purchasing 50 or more flower seeds from the gardening shop.

Nookling store upgrades

Complete the indicated tasks to upgrade the Nookling store:

Super T&T: Have the T&T Mart open for ten days, and spend 25,000 bells at the store. Additionally, the Gardening store must have been open for ten days.

T&T Emporium: Have T.I.Y. open for 30 days, spend 100,000 bells at the store, and complete four Gracie Fashion Checks at Satisfactory level.

T&T Mart: Have your town open for ten days, and spend 12,000 bells in Nookling Junction. Additionally, you must have moved out of a tent.

T.I.Y: Have the Super T&T open for 21 days, and spend 50,000 bells at the store.

Museum gift shop items

Unlock the second floor of the museum, then successfully complete the indicated task to make the corresponding item available for purchase at the gift shop:

Dig-Site floor: Donate 30 fossils.

Dig-Site wall: Donate all fossils.Jungle floor: Donate 50 bugs.

Jungle wall: Donate all bugs.

Museum model: Complete the museum.

Paintball floor: Donate 20 works of art.

Paintball wall: Donate all works of art.

Silver net: Donate 30 bugs.

Silver rod: Donate 30 fish.

Silver shovel: Donate 15 fossils.

Underwater floor: Donate 50 fish.

Underwater wall: Donate all fish.

Badges

Successfully complete one of the following tasks, and Phineas will arrive in your town to give you the corresponding badge. Note: Badges appear as a section of your town’s ID card.

Fortune cookie prizes

Purchase a Fortune Cookie from any of the Timmy and Tommy-owned stores, and trade in the corresponding Lucky Ticket for the indicated prize:

K.K. Slider’s Special Songs

Once you unlock Club LOL, you can see K.K. Slider performing there between 8 PM and 2 AM every Saturday. While you can let him choose what song he plays, there are a few that can only be unlocked by typing in a special request or going on a specific day. Note that when you request a song, you must type in its exact title, with no extra punctuation. K.K. will send you a copy of K.K.’s Birthday in the mail on the day after the performance.

Museum Shop Items

If you already have the second floor in the museum unlocked, new items will be available for sale in the museum gift shop after making a certain number of donations to the museum. Donate each of the following to unlock these items for sale.

Amiibo Unlocks

Scan An Amiibo From the Zelda or Splatoon Series to be visited by a Unique Villager From Their Respective Games

Monster Hunter Amiibo

Any Monster Hunter Amiibo will work. Tapping it invites Felyne who can also bring in an RV full of Monster Hunter-themed furniture.

Unlockables with Splatoon amiibo

The image featured at the top of this post is ©Animal Crossing New Leaf promo..