Animal Crossing: New Horizons – What to do When it Rains

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is different from most other games in a lot of ways. It operates in real time, so a day in the game is a full day in real life. This has many advantages, including how it offers events and other activities based on the clock and calendar. But it also has some drawbacks, like leaving you stuck for a while possibly with nothing to do. This is what happens in real life when it rains, but what about in the game? Here’s what to do when it rains in Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

What to do When it Rains

First off, just know that weather in Animal Crossing: New Horizons is pretty random. It can rain on any day and will last for a few hours, or possibly all day long. If you’re not happy about this, we broke down how to change weather before, but maybe you shouldn’t. In fact, you almost definitely shouldn’t, because the rain offers many opportunities that you don’t find any other time. And you should definitely take advantage while you can.

The first thing that rain offers is a chance to skip watering your flowers and trees. Everything gets hit with water during a storm, so why waste more dumping it out of your watering can. But that’s small compared to the real benefit: better fishing and bug catching. As in previous games, the rain brings out rare fish, such as coelacanths, one of the most valuable fish in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Other rare fish might show up as well, such as sharks and tuna. Bug spawns change as well, so watch out for species you haven’t caught yet and donate them to the museum.

So the short answer to what to do when it rains in Animal Crossing: New Horizons is run around catching all the bugs and fish you can. It’s likely you won’t have seen them any other time, and they’ll be more plentiful while it rains.