The latest entry on the beloved Nintendo franchise has a slower start than others and one of its most precious resources early on is hard to come by.

First Published March 21, 2020, 19:28

Animal Crossing: New Horizons (ACNH) released just this past March 20th, and while some players are enjoying the relaxing vibes of Tom Nook's Deserted Island Getaway, some others are struggling to get their hands on a much-needed resource to progress early in the game - iron nuggets.

In this quick guide, I'll tell you the best options you got to get your hands on some cherished nuggets - but in case you're a new player and don't know what the fuss is about, let me start by answering...

Why do you need iron nuggets?

Once you start acquainting yourself with the brand new island, you'll gain access to a set of tools to gather resources, ranging from a Flimsy fishing rod to a Flimsy axe, however, as their names suggest, they easily break, making it a hassle to continuously walk into the Resident Services building to craft fresh tools. You can create stone versions of them, but the most durable ones will require at least one iron nugget.

Besides tools, other interesting and rather useful things you can craft early include a Simple DIY workbench, which you can place anywhere you deem convenient. 

Once you manage to pay the first 5,000 miles debt to the two-faced scammer Tom Nook, he'll give you the option to take out a loan to upgrade your tent into a house, when you accept the proposal, talk to Timmy and he'll task you with finding 30 pieces of several materials - including iron nuggets - to get construction going on Nook's Cranny, a shop for more personalized items and goodies.

Now, for the big question.

 How do you get iron nuggets?

There are several ways to find iron nuggets around your island, with the problem being that it is relatively scarce compared to other materials early on in the game.

Talk to the islanders

This is something you still want to try and do every day - while the in-game clock is synced to real life, a new day in Animal Crossing starts at 5 am of your local timezone, regardless of the nuggets predicament, but once you take upon Timmy's job, one of your fellow neighbours will be generous enough to donate five pieces of iron nuggets to the cause. 

Eat some fruits and hit rocks

The most consistent way to find iron nuggets is by getting rid of all those white rocks around your island, you can do so by hitting them with a shovel or an axe. The materials they drop range are stone, clay, and iron nuggets with the occasional bug making an appearance.

Now, the only thing required is that you have enough stamina, which you can gain by eating the local fruit of your island, each rock you break will cost one point so be sure to stock up on those delicious treats.

Take a Mystery Tour

Once you exhaust your daily resources, you have the option to time-skip by changing the settings of your Switch and keep grinding on a brand new day, but you'd lose the ability to look at every other Animal Crossing player in the eyes so I don't recommend this. Instead, take a Mystery Tour!

When the airport of your island is open for business, the ever shady Tom Nook will give you a complimentary Nook Miles Ticket, which you can redeem for a free trip to a new destination filled with resources, be sure to only bring the very essentials with you.e tools to gather materials since you won't be able to go back to the land once you decide to pack it up and return home. Don't worry about tools breaking since you'll be able to buy spare ones, although they'll cost you miles so be aware of that.

If you already used your free ticket, you can purchase one for 2,000 miles at the Nook Stop.

It's a somewhat tedious grind, but do remember Animal Crossing New Horizons is a slow-paced game, so don't feel too bad about making what it seems like small progress every day - before you know it, your island will be thriving and filled with life!