How to Get a Shovel in Animal Crossing New Horizons

There are quite a few tools in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, and they all have a unique purpose. Of course, some will be more commonly used than others. For example, the slingshot is quite useful to pop balloons and nab presents, but it won't be as handy as a shovel, which can be used for farming, digging up fossils and gyroids, and hitting rocks.

Rarest Items in Animal Crossing New Horizons

These items are seen so rarely in Animal Crossing: New Horizons that it's quite incredible when players get their hands on them.

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Even though the shovel is one of the best tools in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, players won't have access to it as soon as they move to Tom Nook's tropical island. This guide will tell players how they can unlock and craft a shovel in Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

How to Get a Shovel in Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Players will only receive the recipe for the Flimsy Shovel in New Horizons after getting Blathers to move to the island by giving Tom Nook various fish and bugs. This will cause Blathers to come investigate the island and ponder if it's the right place to build a museum. Blathers will appear the day after the player sets up his tent on the island. He will give them the DIY recipe for a Flimsy Shovel, making it possible for them to dig up fossils.

For another player on the island to obtain this recipe without playing through the main story, they'll have to purchase it at Nook's Cranny for 280 Bells.

Players can also unlock the Shovel recipe by redeeming Nook Miles at the terminal in Tom Nook's tent after paying their initial moving fees. The Shovel recipe is part of the Pretty Good Tools Recipes bundle, which costs 3,000 Nook Miles.

How to Make a Shovel in Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Once players have the Flimsy Shovel and Shovel recipes, they will be able to craft both at any time as long as they have the required materials.

To make a Flimsy Shovel, players will need 5 Hardwood - the darker wood that they can obtain by hitting tree trunks with an axe. The Flimsy Shovel can be used a total of 40 times before it breaks.

Gamers who want a more durable tool can craft a Shovel, which will only break after being used 100 times. To make a Shovel, players must have 1 Flimsy Shovel and 1 Iron Nugget in their inventory.

Alternatively, if players don't have enough crafting materials to build a shovel or simply can't bother building one, they can simply purchase one at Nook's Cranny. A shovel costs 2,500 Bells at Nook's Cranny, and it can also be used 100 times.

Players can customize shovels and other tools with a Customization Kit to reset their durability.

Lastly, players can also obtain a Golden Shovel, which is twice as durable as the standard Shovel. However, it can take a while to unlock its recipe, as it requires players to help Gulliver find communicator parts a total of 30 times. Once they've done this, they will receive the DIY for the Golden Shovel, which requires gamers to have 1 Shovel and 1 Gold Nugget in their inventory.

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Animal Crossing New Horizons Tag Page Cover Art

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Simulation

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OpenCritic Reviews: Top Critic Avg: 90 /100 Critics Rec: 99%

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Released: March 20, 2020
ESRB: Everyone / Comic Mischief, Mild Fantasy Violence, Users Interact, In-Game Purchases
Developer(s): Nintendo EPD
Publisher(s): Nintendo