If you want access to terraforming, K.K. Slider shows, and other great features in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, you need to get a 3-star rating for your island. That takes a lot of work, but the biggest problem is that Isabelle doesn’t clearly explain what you’re supposed to do to get your Animal Crossing home across the finish line. That can be frustrating, but once you know what contributes to your star rating, your island will be a sparkling success in no time. Here’s what you need to know to get your island a 3-star rating. Just don’t tell Tom Nook who you heard it from. We still owe him money.
New Horizons 3-Star Rating Guide
To get a 3-star rating for your island, you need to earn points in two categories: Building Development and Scenery. In short, the more you build and decorate, the closer you’ll get to 3-stars. It isn’t as simple as just slapping down 1,000 chairs and calling it a day, however. DIY furniture, flowers, and trees all contribute Scenery points, but the game only counts unique furniture. That means a red chair and a blue chair will earn you two points in total, whereas two red chairs will only get you a single point. Adult flowers and trees are worth a point each, but you lose points for weeds, so pick your gardens clean!
As for Building Development, you earn points for constructing buildings such as Nook’s Cranny and the Museum. You also get points for every incline and bridge on your island. Your final score is whichever is lowest out of the two categories, so you won’t be able to get a 3-star rating if you plant a ton of flowers but never build anything. You need a minimum of 270 Scenery points and 160 Development points for a 3-star rating. Although bridges and inclines are worth 15 points each, they’re also expensive, so you’ll need to raise some money.
The Road To 3 Stars
You can always time travel if you want to speed up construction, but getting Isabelle’s approval will take a lot of work either way. To summarize, here are the steps you need to follow to get a 3-star rating in Animal Crossing: New Horizons:
- Pay off your debt to Tom Nook and upgrade your tent to a house
- Upgrade Resident Services and build Nook’s Cranny
- Build a bridge and three new houses then recruit new villagers to live on your island (you’ll need 8+ to get a 2-star rating)
- Build new houses, bridges, and inclines to gain Development points
- Plant flowers and trees and place DIY furniture to gain Scenery points
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is available for Nintendo Switch.
