How to get a 5 star rating for your island on Animal Crossing: New Horizons

If you’re playing Animal Crossing: New Horizons you’re probably aching to improve your island’s all-important star rating. Luckily for you, we’ve put together this guide, listing some of the tips and tricks to help you learn how to get a 5 star rating for your island on Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

One of the primary goals of New Horizons is turning your deserted island into a tourist hotspot worthy of the legendary K.K Slider. But even after such a feat is accomplished, you’re still aching to reach a 5 star rating by making your home look bright, beautiful and absolutely packed with personality.

It’s not an easy thing to accomplish if you’re simply doing it naturally, adding new objects and fauna to your island that makes the lives of residents both lavish and comfortable. Still, hopefully, our tips and tricks will make the process a breeze once you’re in the thick of things. 

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How to get a 5 star rating for your island on Animal Crossing

Your star rating can be checked by visiting the Island Representative Centre where Tom Nook and Isabelle reside. Hop on a chair and start conversing with everyone’s favourite canine and she’ll be able to provide a detailed explanation of your current ranking. She’ll even give an adorable quote from select characters on exactly what they think of the place. 

Even if your star rating its low, she’ll still hand out an abundance of handy tips for making things better. Slowly, but surely, you’ll turn the island into a proper paradise. Isabelle isn’t always specific on exactly how this is achieved though, so we’ve compiled a few specific bits of advice below to make things easier. 

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Have the maximum number of villagers

This one is easy, although it takes a lot of time to achieve. You’ll naturally populate the island by simply playing, but early objectives given by Tom Nook have you setting out housing plots with furniture and other amenities as a way of learning the appeal of furniture and how it can really bring a space to life. 

If you’re fussy when searching for villagers, you can repeatedly visit mystery islands using Nook Island Tickets. If your island isn’t fully populated, you’ll normally find an animal sitting beside a campfire just waiting to be invited to live with you. Otherwise, villagers can be invited to the campsite by scanning amiibo cards, or they’ll just show up naturally. 

Upgrade shops and buildings

Yet another step which will come about naturally the more you play. Nook’s Cranny and Able Sisters will gain enhancements after a certain amount of time and bells spent, meaning all you need to do is keep buying things to see these establishments at their best. Not only will this benefit your star rating, but you’ll also have many more items to choose from each day across both shops. An added bonus if we ever saw one. 

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Lots and lots of decorations

If we’re being perfectly honest, you could probably cheese the star rating by placing every single piece of furniture you own into random spots and hoping for the best. New Horizons has a habit of rewarding sheer volume instead of aesthetic talent, so if you’re the boring type, it can be easier to splurge your inventory and hope for the best. 

However, you’ll likely have better luck by taking Isabelle’s tips to heart and placing furniture and other objects in a way that compliments your island’s personality. Curate it like it’s somewhere you’d love to visit yourself: luscious pavings, gorgeous flowers and plenty of adorable furnishings that really help the place pop. 

In terms of specific numbers, try and aim for the following when hoping to achieve the elusive 5 star rating: 

• 60+ pieces of furniture 
• 150 fences situated across the island 
• A random combination of objects from different shops 
• Hundreds of flowers from different families 
• A selection of bridges and ramps 

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A solid island infrastructure

Let’s be real – living in the middle of a field is lame. Even if there’s a lovely beach nearby, you’re still living in a house surrounded by little more than grass and bugs. Try and ensure your villagers have plenty to do, including enough infrastructure to ensure their daily lives are varied and enjoyable. This includes shops, attractions and plenty of other things like paving and plant life. 

An ungodly amount of trees

While you’ll want to place them in an orderly manner, a huge amount of trees is an easy way to boost your star rating. Keep in mind that you’ll need to have a decent variety to really make a difference. We’re talking all the fruits, bamboo and even ones sprouting cherry blossoms if the weather calls for it.