Poll: Is It Cool To Time Travel In Animal Crossing: New Horizons?

Just as cool as pineapple on pizza.

No, it is not cool. I pity the fool, who does the uncool.

I don’t think it’s cool and don’t play with people who do it, but to each their own tbh. Doesn’t affect me, and they bought the game and can do what they want with it.

I voted Yes for Time Travel on ACNH because i am a Rebel and the Chronos (God of Time). 🤟⏰⏳
I take control the game, not the game take control on me.

Nope. Not OK.
I would never time travel on my main island. It's okay for my second island, though. Since I don't play on it, I just have that because I wanted to recreate Outset Island so I had to get the island designer app as quickly as possible (Got it on day one)

I wouldn't but other people are welcome to.

Time traveling feels like somebody cheating on a test to get all the right answers or using a game genie to break the code and do whatever you want. Neither of these are fun to me and take away the experience. When you work for what you earn if means more to you.

It's not a competitive game, so who cares if people time travel or not? It's not my prerogative to tell people how they should be enjoying their games.

I'd never do it, personally, as I feel it breaks the flow and design of the game.

It doesn't really affect how others play, so even though I wouldn't, I'm not going to frown on others doing it. It's not like a aimbot or anything.

Beyond adjusting the game's clock to fit your real life daily routine, it's cheating. I personally do not.

HOWEVER, if it is more fun for you to play it that way, then do it. Who cares? Some people want to experience Animal Crossing, but don't necessarily want to commit to it's glacial pace, and that is 100% totally fine. This series asks a lot of the player when it comes to patience and waiting, so go nuts if that doesn't appeal to you.

I feel time travel ruins the experience and satisfaction of completing tasks. Also people who don't time travel will be enjoying the game for longer, hence getting more worth for your bells, also getting more respect for your accomplishments. But do whatever you wish. Just stop showing off all the furniture you have unlocked by time travel cuz it's not impressive is it now. I think it tells more about the kind of gamer you are. Hardcore gamers who respect the game don't cheat imho.

Why isn't there an option for "I don't like it, but I don't mind if other people do it?"

[edit] Yay, he added it!

Sometimes you have to if you miss an event or you know, life? lol

I personally don't, but it surprises me when others do and people get irrationally angry. Let other play like they want to. Animal crossing is such a non competitive game anyway.

This is the first AC where I have not slipped down the time stream. I used to fudge the clock a few hours or a day or two to "catch up" or "speed up" but not this time (pun fun).

These poll choices are heavy! But seriously, yeah, if you don't play online where there's a market, who cares?

Nintendo life loves getting people riled up, I see

Time travel is fine, it's your game and you're not really hurting anyone else. In fact, now that events are DLC based you can't even spoil the game for people.

I don't and wouldn't, but truly don't care if that's how others want to play.

I can understand the sentiment "Let others play the way they want to", though I have the same opinion here as I do in Pokemon. For a game that involves trading amongst players, cheating in any way undermines the game for everyone. Everything in the "Animal Crossing economy" has completely artificial value, but that is undermined if someone plays several weeks of the stalk market in a day, or dups a rare item, or fast forwards for golden tools. That person really shouldn't participate in community economic events with those advantages.

You guys need to chill. Those poll results only show people take the game WAY too seriously and need to rethink their lives. It's not an MMO, it's not like it's server hacking. My wife does it all the time. It's your own game, you can do with it what you want. Does anyone not remember using cheats back in the PS2 era and before it just for fun?

@ivory_soul Tell your wife, bad girls, bad girls, whatcha gonna do.

She's gonna need a good lawyer. She better call Mitzi.

@Seananigans exactly this! The game is completely based around completing tasks and waiting for the results. I don’t feel the desire to time travel at all. If I miss collectibles during events, then so be it.

Make like a tree, and get out of here

@Sam_Loser2 Well said, people don't seem to think about how their cheating actually can affect others.

I’ve been playing Animal Crossing since the GameCube original here in the US. Time traveling, to me, has always been lame. It might give you a short-term reward but it will overall hurt you’re long-term enjoyment with the game. Unless you’re trying to do something interesting like a speed-run where you’re building the entire game around the idea of time-traveling, then I highly recommend avoiding it.

The only time I ever time travel is if real life gets in the way of an important event in game. Like if I miss an in-game birthday or holiday due to my real-life obligations. Then I’ll turn the time back a day just to be able to experience it and instantly go back to normal time after.

@Octane Gonna have to state my love for pineapple on pizza. And yeah, never bothered with time traveling in AC, even as a kid on the GameCube.

I don't really care about people time traveling as long as I don't have to see about it on social media, but unforunately the people that time travel to get a perfect town ASAP generally do so in order to post it on social media.

I’m going to take a different stance here: time traveling is not cheating. It is an easy change in settings and the devs no doubt know that time travel would happen. The devs could have put in a way to stop time travel but they did not. However, it is still an exploit that messes with the pacing of the game. I do not time travel because I like the way the game is paced but I understand people that like playing games at a faster pace and speed up time to do this.

I haven't played any Animal Crossing since the Gamecube one, but I remeber time travelling a lot back in those days lol. I was still pretty young, and I remember it was crazy to see how everything changed depending on the day of the year you say you live in! I liked that game, it was pretty different to everything I played before, although I finished bored of it within weeks (that's why I haven't come back ever since, even though I tried; I get bored easily with these neverending games).
Nowadays though, after so many ACs, I guess everyone has already experience this time travel thing many times haha.

@mesome713 According to the polls and how everyone takes the game too seriously...I might! LOL

Meh, people can play games however they like. I don't do it but each to their own.
This same argument used to be had about people using guides for games. Some would argue that it destroys all the fun of the game whereas others say the experience of being stuck would ruin a game for them.
If time travelling helps someone to stay engaged and happy, then go right ahead. If time travel would ruin your experience, then by all means don't do it. Games are supposed to be fun so whatever way makes you happiest, is the correct option.

@Sam_Loser2 It's not much of an advantage if everyone can do it, though.

The dupe glitch was patch out already right?

I'm against it, I know plenty of people that have done it and are now complaining that there's nothing to do. The game was designed a certain way, follow it the way it was made and you'll get the best experience

I've done that and I'm appreciating my upgraded shop today! I earned it

IT'S JUST A GAME!
Why do you care what other people do in a game?

It's your game, do what you want. It's not breaking the code or hacking. In fact, there are in game consequences, so I don't feel like it is cheating.

I don't do it, as others have said, I think it messes with the pace of the game. But it does not bother me in the least.

Loving the BttF references here!

I honestly just don't get it, seems to go against the entire point of the game. Normally I'd say "who am I to judge, play however is fun for you" but I have some friends who time-skipped and I just don't want to visit their island, for fear of spoilers of the cool things I'm legitimately working hard towards for one, and anything they send me feels like a dirty cheated item. It kinda ruins it and creates awkwardness when they want to show off their island...which they cheated to get.

Luckily the vast majority of my friends also don't see the point in it and don't do it either. So it's mostly fine and we all enjoy the game making discoveries and sharing items at the same pace.

For me, I don’t like time traveling. I like the slow pace of Animal Crossing. But I’m perfectly fine with other people doing it. Let people enjoy Animal Crossing the way they want. I won’t judge.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but you can only time time travel within the software version you're playing. Everything else is locked behind updates, So you'll still get things when everyone else does in the long run.

Play however you like. I would love to time travel in real life tho.

I don't like it, but I didn't pay for other people's games, just mine. I'll play in real time the way the devs intended. Other people can do whatever they want.

I don't agree with time travelling as I've already said a few days ago but it doesant affect me only the person that's using it.So long as we all have fun playing the game that's what matters.

I don't really play this game with my friends; so my experience with AC is self-contained. Not to mention, I enjoy the game for catching different fish and bugs and filling up my museum, everything else is a delicious cherry on top of the cake. So it feels like I'm being punished for enjoying their game when I run out of different fish or bugs because it's not raining or it's not August or something. These days I have a backlog and limited time these days to play my games. I'd rather not have a game that insists that I come back to it everyday.

But I get why everyone else likes the relaxed pace, I'm just not at that point of my life right now. If they REALLY wanted to do something about it, they would've programmed it in like with the events.

I’ve done it in last AC games and it’s removed a lot of the charm and enjoyment for me, so choose not to do it now, at least not on a serious level. I only hop back by 4-5 hours to buy turnips. Thanks to my life schedule it’s impossible for me to buy turnips during the standard allotted time.

i would only do it if i missed a villager’s birthday party 😔

In my opinion if people spend $60 on a video game, they should do whatever the hell they want

I wouldn't do it, but there are always the impatient and lazy ones out there. 🤷‍♂️

Oh... and the "rebels", of course.😁

If that's what people want to do with the game, then that's great for them.

I will never experience 100% of these Animal Crossing games and, well, it doesn't matter that much to me. If i miss an event, oh well.

@Anti-Matter That's what a hacker would say

Corny as it may sound, I'd say you're only really cheating yourself.

It's up to the individual if they want to time travel or not, personally it's not for me, as I am in no rush to complete things, got loads of spare time on my hands at the moment.

@Franklin,

That does indeed sound corny, but I like it.

It would ruin my own enjoyment but if you want to time travel then it isn't going to worry me.

Same as cheats, not for me but as long as it doesn't mess with online stuff then it doesn't effect me.

Where's the option for It's perfectly fine but I'm not doing it?
Pls...

(The one for "It's okay but only when I do it the way I did it" is hilarious though)

@Damo This is a touchy subject for a lot of animal crossing players. I don't have anything against you guys for articles like this though.

You guys want people talking and this is a good way to do it.

I don't care what other do nor care what others think.

As for "those who TT can affect others." How so? Did they use a gun and point at you to look at their social media photo/video? (You have fingers and a keyboard , you can click block or delete/un-follow them. That hard to do?) Did they force you to sell your turnip or buy items from their cranny store? How do they affect you?

I don't like it but if people want to ruin their long-term experience by doing it, that's their choice. I play the game my way, which is without time-traveling.

Only thing I hope for is that I don't get to see islands that have developed too much through time-travel shenanigans and spoil me too much on future things.

I was amused enough by the whole hullabaloo to write an ironically deep poem over a lunch break a few days ago about the time travel debate, with a boy becoming a god and facing the wrath of the masses only to see all and destroy his world prematurely. I'd post it here for the lols, except it would break the no foreign language rule.

The gist of the situation as I see it is that the anti-time travelers are right in that Animal Crossing often grows boring after you have no goals left and time travelers will probably see everything the game has to offer quickly and grow bored sooner than a non time traveler. That's part of why I don't time travel.

But the pro time travelers are right to say "so what?". Why is that anyone else's business if someone else plays a video game "wrong?" Who cares if some internet stranger grows bored of a game I like? Who cares if their island is nicer than mine? From where I'm sitting, none of that is worth even a second of my anger, none of that is worth any part of my peace of mind, none of that is even really any of my business.

If their cheating affects my experience in any way, it's because I let it: I either let it make me jealous or let it make me angry. Both of those are completely and utterly my fault. Not the time traveler's.

There is no option for "people can do whatever the hell they want with their videogames". The only poll option that says time travelling is okay also says that I must do it myself even though I don't own the game. I don't get it.

Time travel is always cool.

I give a friend grief for doing it, but I honestly don't care. It doesn't affect my experience.

Why is this even supposed to be an issue? There isn't even much spoiler potential anymore.

I don’t care what you do with your island. Just leave Pekoe and I alone.

I'm paranoid time travelers will somehow cause game-breaking bugs into my game so they are never welcome on my island and will be hit with bug nets until they get back on the plane.

For me Animal Crossing is really about the journey not the destination. I love how if played without time travelling it teaches you to patiently wait for things to progress as opposed to Harvest Moon or Stardew Valley which you can keep progressing for however long you keep playing (I also love HM and Stardew Valley).

My son keeps talking about wanting to time travel though but I forbid it since it would affect everyone else in the family. Yes that means that we sometimes let him play at later times than normal so he can catch nighttime critters and stuff like that but honestly I think the concept of delayed gratification is important. Being forced to wait for what you want instead of forcing what you want to happen when you want it is an important skill.

Man I must not be hardcore enough, this is my first Animal Crossing game (in spite of being a Nintendo fan and owning all their systems since NES), but I really have no desire to go buy AC Amiibo Cards, pay to get Nook Miles Tickets, Time Travel or any other exploits. I am just enjoying the game everyday for about 1 1/2 hours where I gather resources, build, interact with the Anmials who’ve naturally moved to my island and complete any other tasks as they present themselves or from Tom Nook.

How many Back to the Future references can a Nintendo-related website make in one article?

People can play the game however they want. Animal Crossing is one of those games where other people "cheating" doesn't detract from your own experience. I will never do it because it breaks the flow of the game in my opinion, but if other people want to, more power to them.

It's cheating in multiplayer game with an economy. So it's wrong.

Why you do on your island I don’t care. I, however, am not that concerned to time travel. It’s just nice to water flowers etc

in my opinion, the only way they might "ruin" their game ( as in get bored and stop playing ) is when they do everything @ the same time ( too much on the plate ) either gave up cos they put too much in and then need to rearrange for space and what not but too much to change, or that they feel they are doing the same thing over and over again ( like catching the same fishes when they want new kind or have to painfully craft items 1 @ a time and they got bored. idk, in real life unless I have a industrial machine, I too have to craft 1 thing at a time. )

Different people play differently. Some
1. do it to make their island nice ( the way they want it to be )
2. collect all the insects/fishes/fossil
3. play with flowers and make them hybrid flowers.
In anyway, it will not trigger future event and spoil it for those who don't like spoiler. Future event start ( same date ) for everyone with updates.

Come to think of it, even if there's an economy, time traveling could level the playing field some and destroy said economy's trolling members. If that's the case, I could make an argument for either side.

If you want to ruin your game then knock your socks off.

Nintendo: And this stays here. I didn't invent the clock feature to make my home better furnished. I invented the clock feature to change the system time!

Kinda disappointing to see my friend quickly feel up his museum while I’m still slowly growing mine,

Nope, it's not cool. I've never done it, and have been playing Animal Crossing since the first game on GameCube.

@mesome713 why isn't it cool? Some people enjoy doing more than one thing per day synced to real-world time, and the game's relaxed and chill atmosphere really extends your mental image of how long you've been playing. Sure, if you get up at 9 or have literally just started, there seems like no need to, but once you get into the thick of the game, it becomes almost inevitable. I'm beginning to think a lot of people replying here haven't gotten very far in-game. If you personally think it ruins the reward system, that's your problem. Don't go inflicting your pacifist 10am lifestyle on us no-life weebs.

I mean, I'm not gonna tell people how to play the game, but I genuinely feel people who time travel are missing the point of the game.

I tend to not time travel, but I don't care what anyone else does as long as they aren't messing with someone else.

The only thing is on New Leaf, I tended to have the time set a few hours in the past as I tended to play in the late evening or early morning, when the shops were normally closed. (I did not want to give up my clean-town ordinance in order to adjust the shop hours.)

New Horizons is much more flexible with the shop, so I am fine playing it whenever.

Never time traveled. I don't hold anything against someone who does...that's your game. I prefer to play the game as intended by developers. What I find curious is that developers did not stomp out time travel from fear of cheating, but had such gusto to allow only one island per switch unit to prevent cheating........

Why is everything so heavy? Is something wrong with gravity in the future?

@JacksonBoi Cause it affects online play. Items are traded online and get a key boost to online rarity. If one cheats and changes such thing, then it messes up such perfection.

If an item is rare, but one cheats and makes said item not rare, then item isn't rare.

@mesome713
There is no such thing as perfection.

I honestly don't care if someone does it but I don't, at least when it comes to New Horizons. I did it in New Leaf but only for catching bugs and fish at later times. I didn't want to stay up until 12am for that one beetle.

i dont even TT, but its a petty thing to get upset about. unless its some competitive online game you use to cheat and win at, it doesnt matter. another argument i heard is that it makes others feel bad cause theyre making progress faster than everyone, which is dumb lol, and more of an issue of you focusing too much on what other people are doing

who cares how someone decides to play the game, for others its an immersive, slow experience made to extend for years. for others it can be a doll of full of parts to decorate and design with, and some would rather unlock parts and work faster than the sluggish pace AC provides

I hope someday Nintendo masters online gaming and we can have a version of Animal Crossing that's server-based. No duping...easier to catch cheaters and definitely no more time traveling. This should happen around... 2030.

@k8sMum But there is of Nintendo.

As long as time travlers don't spoil my fun& surprises, I don't give a damn about whatever other people do

@mesome713 wowww what an important and not at all obvious issue, if only all players had access to this wonderful phenomenon to prevent business exploitation due to ingame time...
/s
I get that some people don't want others cornering the pondskater market because they've timetraveled to june and back, but in the end, it's all your choice as the player. If someone gets scammed to hell out of a cicada, tough luck to them, but if you don't regularly hop onto the animal crossing discord looking for some rare seasonal fish for an outrageous amount of NMTs or something, I don't exactly see the problem.

Looking forward to your next hate comment.

There used to be a in-game clock that you could "time travel" with.
But, it doesn't look like it's in New Horizons.
Did they take out the in-game clock? In a few videos I saw of New Horizons, I can't find it.

I am perfectly fine with it, I just wouldn't do it myself

@Octane As someone who likes pineapple on pizza, No U.

@Damo Wow, super cool dude! Thanks! Makes me glad I waited before voting!

Ok like I get why people do it. I don’t judge, I just won’t do it. I am quarantined and just want to play my game as long as I can do it that means waiting a day to get something or have something new happen I’m fine with it.

People saying this is a game mechanic they are using - umm no it’s not cos you have to go outside the game into system settings to exploit it. It’s cheating, which is fine - I used to cheat all the time on GTA games - but don’t kid yourself that it’s anything but cheating.

I will never time travel. I have just too much respect for the vision of the designers and the work of the developers.

Time travel is cheating, obviously. It would devalue the work I put into the game, it would devalue my island, devalue my save file. It would also mess up many other Switch games I play, like the times and dates in Smash Bros.

And since I'm somewhat proud of being a pro gamer it's out of the question anyway, especially since Animal Crossing is a game that is sitting at the lowest level of difficulty. I will 100% complete the game in the right way. It will take one year, but that's exactly what I want from it!