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When you first start your Animal Crossing: New Horizons journey, it may feel like there’s no real goal. And though you can play on forever without a definitive ending to the game, a major goal when you first begin is getting ACNH superstar K.K. Slider to perform on your island.
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Sometimes it's nice to focus on the everyday details instead of world-ending issues, and these small-town life games are great for doing just that.Except, he won’t go just anywhere – you need to get a three star island before K.K. Slider will consider paying a visit and playing a show. In this guide, we’ll help you with how to get a three star island so that you can get K.K. Slider to play as soon as possible.
Updated on March 26, 2024 by Allyson Cochran: Is your island putting the deserted into deserted island? We can see why K.K. Slider probably wouldn't be caught lounging on a beach filled with empty cans. We've revamped this guide with even more specific tips to get your island to three-stars even faster.
Check Your Progress With Island Evaluations
While there's technically no real end to Animal Crossing: New Horizons, the game considers your story-based work complete when you get a three-star island and begin to attract the attention to stars like K.K. Slider.
You'll need to be constantly working to improve your island, checking in with Isabelle for helpful hints on how to proceed with improvements.
This will allow you to check your town rating, and the reviews offer hints on what to do next.
How To Unlock Island Evaluations In ACNH
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Task |
Explanation and Tips |
|---|---|
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Pay Off the First 5,000 Nook Miles loan |
When you first arrived on the island, Tom Nook offered you a loan to be paid back in Nook Miles. Your first step should be grinding your daily tasks out for Nook Miles and paying off this debt to quickly move into the rest of the processes that are unlocked upon completing this early-game goal. |
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Move into a House |
After you've paid off the first loan of 5,000 Nook Miles, you can upgrade to a house instead of the tent you were given when you moved in - for the price of bells instead. |
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Have Five Villagers on the Island |
You move to your island with two villagers to begin with, but you'll need to speak with Tom Nook and assemble all the things he needs for three new housing plots at minimum. After he gives you the plots, you can place them anywhere on your island, and then collect the items requested for the completion of the home. Shortly after the construction is finished, you'll either move in a villager using Nook Miles Tickets, or let one move in naturally if you leave the plot unfilled for too long. |
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Build a Bridge |
To introduce you to the construction of bridges and inclines, you'll need to build your first bridge from Tom Nook someplace on the island. You can place up to eight, but you'll need at least one bridge for Island Evaluations. |
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Open Nook's Cranny |
Timmy and Tommy, the tiny Tanukis that sell items and help Tom Nook with island happenings, will build a storefront on your island once you've paid off your first Nook Miles loan. You can upgrade the shop at a later date, but you'll need to have at least built the first Nook's Cranny store. |
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Build the Campground |
The Campsite allows you to host visiting villagers to your island, with the possibility of moving them in depending on how many open spaces you've got on the island. Build the Campground Construction Kit that Tom Nook gives you, then place it anywhere on your island and wait for it to be built. |
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Invite a Campsite Visitor to Move In |
The day after the Campground is constructed, you'll receive your first visitor to your island! While you can choose to ignore them to cycle them out later, you have to move in your first Campsite visitor before you can receive Island Evaluations. They will remain at the Campsite until you extend the invitation to move to your island. To do so, you'll have to first win at cards. |
According to Tom Nook, all of these steps will improve the island's word-of-mouth marketing and attract more visitors. Once you've done all of these things, the next time you speak to Isabelle, she will offer to help you with an Island Evaluation.
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There are plenty of ways to keep improving your island even after unlocking Island Evaluations, which is the trick to getting a three-star island in Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
The most critical step is having seven villagers on your island. You move in with two, and you need to expand to five for the Island Evaluations, but you need at least two more plots to begin moving new villagers in.
These cost 10,000 Bells and can be purchased right from Tom Nook.
Like before, you can place them anywhere you'd like on the island, and either invite a villager on a Mystery Island tour, or wait for one to move into the vacant plot.
After they've both arrived, speak to Isabelle. You may already have a three-star island, depending on how much you were doing alongside the assigned beginner tasks, but if not, Isabelle can offer hints on what to do to keep improving.
How To Get Three Stars In ACNH
Overall, you'll need to beautify your island and ensure its many residents are happy with the conditions there.
Building a three-star island takes time. Don't get discouraged if those stars seem as distant as a meteor shower. Focus on small improvements daily and enjoy the journey of transforming your island into a paradise.
These tasks include:
- Plant a lot of flowers and trees. Variation and color don't matter, but with so many hybrid flowers and types of trees to plant, it never hurts to get a little nature-fied! Just be careful not to overdo it or it might be considered as clutter by Isabelle.
- Make sure to remove weeds from around the island, which pop up every so often and decrease your island rating the longer they sit.
- Build fences to increase the aesthetics of the island, which can be done anywhere you'd like. Fences make cute yards for villagers, barricades around flowers or the crops you're growing, or even in more creative uses. You'll need at least 50.
- Move in more villagers. You can ask up to ten villagers to move to your island, and each one increases your rating. You'll need at least seven to get three stars.
- Clean up all the trash and garbage around your island. These are things you fish up that are... well, not fish – such as the empty can, boot, or old tire. Instead, sell it to Timmy and Tommy or use them for recipes. Your island should be a haven, not a trashcan.
- Place at least 27 pieces of furniture outside. Decorating and beautifying your island this way contributes to your overall rating.
As you move in more villagers and start creating neighborhoods for these folks, the outdoor furniture, the landscaping that you do, and the fences that you place will all count towards your rating and help improve it in time.
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Keep checking your island rating with Isabelle whenever you make improvements. A soon as you get a three-star island, she will read you some feedback she got from "K.S."
Isabelle and Tom Nook will then send K.K. Slider an invitation to hold a concert on the island as soon as possible.
The concert will take place the following day, right after you hear Isabelle's daily announcement. The entire island population will attend as he plays "Welcome Horizons."
After this, you will receive a copy of the song, and from then on, K.K. Slider will visit the island every Saturday. You can come watch him play, and even request songs from 6 PM until midnight.
If you speak to K.K. and listen to a song during his next concerts, K.K. Slider will slide you a copy of the record so you can relive the moment by listening to it in the future. These can be played from radios, or even hung on the wall for decoration.
If a special event is happening on a day that K.K. Slider was supposed to come to the island, his visit will be postponed, and K.K. will visit the following day instead.
K.K. Slider At The Roost
With the 2.0 update, The Roost was finally added to the game. It is located on the upper floor of the museum building, and with this new feature it is now possible to invite your favorite characters to the island to have coffee with you — this includes K.K. Slider.
If you own the K.K. Slider amiibo or his amiibo card, you can use it on the telephone at the Roost and invite K.K. Slider to hang out with you at the café.
He's only there to chat and relax - K.K. does not perform at The Roost.
