Animal Crossing: New Horizons: How To Buy The Happy Home Paradise DLC

Both ways to get your hands on Happy Home Paradise

by Kate Gray Mon 8th Nov 2021

The very first (and last!) paid DLC for Animal Crossing: New Horizons is here, and it brings the home stylings of underappreciated 3DS game, Happy Home Designer, to your paradise islands.

The pack is called Happy Home Paradise, and it allows you to provide Animal Crossing villagers and visitors with new, beautiful houses, with both interiors and exteriors designed by you! You can read everything we know about the Happy Home Paradise DLC in our handy guide.

But how do you get your hands on this new glut of content? And how do you choose between the DLC and the Expansion Pack? Here's some advice and the steps to follow:

How to get the Happy Home Paradise DLC for Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Option One: DOWNLOAD the DLC

This one's super easy: Just head to the Nintendo Switch eShop (it's the little orange shopping bag icon at the bottom of the home screen) and search for "Happy Home Paradise". It might even be directly on the home page, saving you the trouble of having to write it out!

You can also purchase the DLC from Nintendo's website or get a code via various retailers (see below).

From there, all you need to do is pay $24.99 / £22.49 and your Switch will automatically install it for you as long as you have an internet connection.

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Animal Crossing: New Horizons - Happy Home Paradise DLC - Nintendo Switch [Digital Code]

1. Become a Nintendo Switch Online member

If you aren't already, you'll need to be subscribed to the NSO service. There's a little Nintendo Switch Online icon on your Switch's home page — it's the red one on the very left — and you can also visit Nintendo's website if you don't fancy typing out credit card details on a tiny screen.

With NSO, you can play games online with friends, get access to retro games, and more — it's a little complicated, but our guide will tell you everything you need to know about pricing, features, and more.

Nintendo Switch Online - Every NES, SNES, N64 And Sega Genesis Game Available

2. Choose the Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack option

For a few extra bucks or quid a month on top of the base NSO subscription offer, the Expansion Pack gives you access to Nintendo 64 games and Sega Mega Drive games, as well as the Animal Crossing Happy Home Paradise DLC as an added bonus! Again, here's our guide to the Expansion Pack so you can figure out if it's a better purchase for you than the DLC alone.

3. Download the Happy Home Paradise DLC

If you already have the NSO Expansion Pack, you can just download the DLC from the eShop for free. Easy!

Which way to get the Happy Home Paradise DLC is better value?

That's a tough question for us to answer, because that's really up to your personal taste. Consider these questions:

Do you want to play the N64/Mega Drive games?
Does it put you off that the emulation isn't up to some people's standards?
Do you have a family, a partner, or a group of friends who could split the cost of a Family Membership with you, which will significantly lower costs?
Would it inconvenience you to lose access to most of the DLC if you cancelled the subscription?
Do you use Nintendo's online features?
Do you already have the NSO subscription?

Your answers to these can help determine which choice is best for you, but in general: if you aren't interested in online play or retro games, just get the DLC. If you already have an NSO subscription, you're interested in N64 games, or you have a family membership, it may make more sense to get the Expansion Pack.

Just be aware that cancelling your subscription will deny you access to the Happy Home Paradise content, although anything you've already unlocked will stay in your game. If you want to access it again, you'll have to pay for the DLC separately.

Hopefully this has answered your questions for now! We hope you enjoy the DLC, however you decide to buy it, and we'll see you in Paradise! If you have any other questions about the DLC, Nintendo Switch Online, or the Expansion Pack, let us know in the comments below.

This article is part of our Animal Crossing: New Horizons walkthrough, which includes a Complete Fish List, Complete Bug List and Complete Sea Creatures List. If you're looking for specific fish or bugs, we can tell you how to catch the elusive Coelacanth, Mahi-Mahi, Giant Trevally, Stringfish, Golden Trout and all the Sharks and Beetles, along with a full list of critters leaving at the end of the month (unless you visit Kapp'n's Boat Tour islands, of course!).