How to access Animal Crossing New Horizons Happy Home Paradise DLC

Animal Crossing New Horizons Happy Home Paradise
(Image credit: Nintendo)

The Animal Crossing: New Horizons Update 2.0 has brought what feels like an entire free new game’s worth of extra content but we’ve also seen the launch of the first paid DLC for the game. Animal Crossing: New Horizons Happy Home Paradise is an extra purchase on the Nintendo eShop and is all about designing the perfect island getaways. It also means we’ll unlock some new design tools and items that we can use on our islands back home. But how do you access the Animal Crossing: New Horizons Happy Home Paradise DLC? 

Where to find Animal Crossing: New Horizons Happy Home Paradise DLC

The first thing you have to do is leave Animal Crossing: New Horizons behind for a few minutes and potentially sing a Kapp’n song as you head to the Nintendo eShop to purchase the add-on. Happy Home Paradise costs £22.49 in the UK and $24.99 in the USA. It’s a speedy download and once you’ve paid, you’ll see the loading bar appear on the Animal Crossing: New Horizons icon on your Switch screen. Wait until that fills up and then launch the game. If you’ve been enjoying the update, you will have to relaunch the game to install the new content. 

Animal Crossing New Horizons Happy Home Paradise

(Image credit: Nintendo)

Once you relaunch the game, hit A to load your save as usual. When you come out of your house, you’ll immediately get a phone call from Tom Nook telling you to head to the airport to meet someone important. You’ll then be whisked to your island’s airport to meet Lottie who asks you to take on your new design role. She disappears and you’ll be left at the airport. 

All you need to do now is head to the counter and tell Orville that you want to go to work. This is how you will always access the Animal Crossing: New Horizons Happy Home Paradise DLC. This will then fly you to the archipelago of design islands where you can create all kinds of dream houses. 

Animal Crossing New Horizons Happy Home Paradise

(Image credit: Nintendo)

How to get back to your island from the Animal Crossing: New Horizons Happy Home Paradise DLC 

Animal Crossing New Horizons Happy Home Paradise

(Image credit: Nintendo)

The first time you go, you’ll have to do the first design mission before you leave but to get back to your Animal Crossing: New Horizons island, you just have to return to Wilbur on the dock and say that you want to go home. Helpfully you can also go to Harv’s island too as the DLC is slickly integrated into the game. 

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Louise Blain

Louise Blain is a journalist and broadcaster specialising in gaming, technology, and entertainment. She is the presenter of BBC Radio 3’s monthly Sound of Gaming show and has a weekly consumer tech slot on BBC Radio Scotland. She can also be found on BBC Radio 4, BBC Five Live, Netflix UK's YouTube Channel, and on The Evolution of Horror podcast. As well as her work on GamesRadar, Louise writes for NME, T3, and TechRadar. When she’s not working, you can probably find her watching horror movies or playing an Assassin’s Creed game and getting distracted by Photo Mode. 

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