Animal Crossing - Bells, Cheats, and Other Secrets

In this article I hope to give you a good idea of what things are the most worthwhile to do in Animal Crossing. These will primarily be related to gathering and making money since that is where the fun really lies in the game. I am going to be touching on the more common methods of making money as well as the "cheats" that will make you money at the expense of manipulating the game and its features. I should note that I will also be including any and all valid secrets that I know of. If something on here does not work for you please email me and I will either help you make it work or I will re-evaluate it as a part of this article.

Common Methods for Gathering Bells

Running Errands - The first real method of making money in AC is helping out the townspeople. At first, there are only a few people in your town and they will more than likely only have a single errand that they need run for them. I noticed that as I played the game further that I began to receive items (clothing, stationary, furniture) instead of Bells as I did at the very beginning. These items can be sold to Tom Nook so it is not that big of a deal. If you don't fancy the idea of running all over the town trying to track someone down to pick up an item then don't worry as there are plenty of other ways to bank some serious Bells.

Tree Shaking - My next favorite thing to do is the infamous shaking of the trees. I am not sure why it makes me laugh, but the fact that I can spend lengthy amounts of time running around and shaking trees trying to find money, furniture, or insects is quite humorous. I quite often feel like an addict I must shake the trees!. At any rate, if you are lucky you will get Bells (generally 100 Bells). On a very rare occasion you may get furniture from a tree, but pay attention when you shake them as it makes a different sound and may not be noticed as easily as a bag of money. Lastly, the bagworm is a pretty harmless insect to shake out and it makes no noise that I have noticed to date. The bees are a pain in the butt, but they are worth a lot to Nook so try your best to catch them. I have only caught bees one time. I am not totally sure how I did it, but keep trying as practice makes perfect. I read on another site that bees sell for 4500 Bells…so just remember that. Make sure to donate one of each insect that you collect to the musem.

Collecting Shells - Another sure fire way to get some money without too much effort is to go to the beach and pick up all the shells. There is no risk involved and some of them are worth quite a bit of money. Here is a table of what Nook will buy the shells for:

• White Scallop - 450 Bells
• Conch - 350 Bells
• Coral - 250 Bells
• Venus Comb - 150 Bells
• Sand Dollar - 60 Bells
• Lions Paw - 40 Bells
• Porceletta - 30 Bells
• Wentletrap - 20 Bells

Fishing - One of my favorite things to do in this game is to fish. I am not sure why I enjoy it as much as I do, but I truly love to fish. Some of these fish are only out at certain times and apparently 4am when it is raining is the ideal time to fish. Fishing needs no explanation so I will just put my list of what fish go for if you sell them to Nook. Make sure that you donate the first catch of each kind to the Museum. I am not sure what you get if you fill up the Museum, but I am sure its all related to bragging rights anyway.

• Angelfish - Stream - 3,000 Bells (May-Oct )
• Arowana - Stream - 10,000 Bells (Jun-Sep)
• Arapaima - Str eam - 10,000 Bells (Jul-Sep)
• Barbel Steed - Stream - 200 Bells (Jan-Dec)
• Barred Knifejaw - Sea - 5,000 Bells (Mar-Nov)
• Bass - Stream - 300 Bells (Jan-Dec)
• Bitterling - Stream - 1,300 Bells (Dec-Feb)
• Bluegill - Stream - 120 Bells (Jan-Dec)
• Brook Trout - Lake - 150 Bells (Jan-Dec)
• Carp - Stream - 300 Bells (Jan-Dec)
• Catfish - Stream - 200 Bells (May-Oct)
• Cherry Salmon - Stream - 1,300 Bells (Mar-Oct)
• Coelacanth - Sea - 15,000 Bells (Jan-Dec)
• Crawfish - Small Pond - 250 Bells (Apr-Sep)
• Crucian Carp - Stream - 120 Bells (Jan-Dec)
• Dace - Stream - 200 Bells (Jan-Dec)
• Eel - Stream - 2,000 Bells (Jun-Sep)
• Freshwater Goby - Stream - 300 Bells (Jan-Dec)
• Frog - Small Pond - 250 Bells (May-Aug)
• Giant Catfish - Lake - 3,000 Bells (Jun-Aug)
• Giant Snakehead - Lake - 6,500 Bells (Jun-Aug)
• Goldfish - Stream - 1,300 Bells (Jan-Dec)
• Guppy - Stream - 1,300 Bells (Apr-Nov)
• Jellyfish - Sea - 100 Bells (Aug)
• Killifish - Small Pond - 300 Bells (Apr-Aug)
• Koi - Stream - 2,000 Bells (Jan-Dec)
• Large Bass - Stream - 3,000 Bells (Jan-Dec)
• Large Char - Waterfall - 10,000 Bells (Mar-Nov)
• Loach - Stream - 300 Bells (Mar-May)
• Pale Chub - Stream - 200 Bells (Jan-Dec)
• Piranha - Stream - 6,500 Bells (Jun-Sep)
• Pond Smelt - Stream - 300 Bells (Dec-Feb)
• Popeyed Goldfish - Stream - 1,300 Bells (Jan-Dec)
• Rainbow Trout - Stream - 650 Bells (Mar-Nov)
• Red Snapper - Sea - 3,000 Bells (Jan-Dec)
• Salmon - Stream - 650 Bells (Sep)
• Sea Bass - Sea - 120 Bells (Aug-Nov)
• Small Bass - Stream - 200 Bells (Jan-Dec)
• Stringfish - Stream - 15,000 Bells (Dec-Feb)
• Sweetfish - Stream - 1,300 Bells (Jul-Sep)

Money Rock - One of the more frustrating ways to collect money is the "Money Rock" or the "Red Rock" trick. Basically, you hit one of the rocks in your town (changes daily) and it turns red and a bag of Bells pops out. This trick is similar to the 100 man trick in Super Mario Bros. You have to hit the rock very rapidly in order for the money to keep coming out. Every 3rd hit increments the value of the bells…

• Hits 1-3 = 100 Bells each
• Hits 4-6 = 1,000 Bells each
• Hit 7 = 10,000 Bells

I haven't gotten the 7th hit as the shovel creates a lot of recoil. I suggest trying the Axe for this. I am going to try and get a screenshot of this trick in action or even a movie. To minimize the recoil I suggest facing the rock and digging a hole to either side of yourself and one behind yourself. Basically you are blocking yourself in by the rock which will prevent you from bouncing away from the rock.

Lost & Found and The Dump - A few minor ways to gather items to sell to Tom Nook is to visit the Dump and the Lost and Found in the police station. Some days there are no items at the Lost and Found and only stationary at the Dump, but I have also collected one corner of a wrestling ring from the Lost and Found so make sure you visit it everyday.

Cheats

Now I will touch on a few of the more questionable ways to collect money in AC. There are only a few that I felt were even worth to be put in here. Others seemed like it was going to require a Masters degree just to understand, much less actually pull off. I took the liberty of omitting those tricks from this article.

New Years Present - If you set the date in your town to New Years then a letter should arrive for you from your parents. Enclosed as a present should be 10,000 Bells. Please note that you can only do this one time for each New Years no matter how many times you set the date back.

Animal Island - This l ittle cheat requires that you have a GameBoy Advance and the GBA cable to connect to your GameCube. This is how it works…

1. First you need to clear out your inventory. Make sure that every spot is open.
2. Write lots of letters. If you don't have any letters stored, store some letters. This will allow you to attach more fruit to the letters as a temporary storage since you can always move it back over into your inventory.
3. Get a LOT of fruit. Fill your inventory and all of your letters with fruit. You want to get as much fruit as possible.
4. Head to the island. Remember to go to the dock with your GBA cable plugged in and your GBA on for Kapp'n to show up.
5. When you get to the island, drop ALL of your fruit on the ground. You can even shake all of the trees so the coconuts are all on the ground.
6. Leave the island. When you leave, Kapp'n will ask you if you want to save your island on your GBA, say 'Yes'.
7. Now go to your GBA. Go to the island and knock on the villager's door with the little hand. The villager will come out, and then you feed him/her ALL of the fruit. For every fruit that you feed him/her (except the first few), they will drop a money bag.
8. Once all of the fruit as been consumed go back to your GameCube. On the GameCube, leave the dock screen and then come back. Go back to the island, which should be full of Bells!
9. Pick up all of the bells and then return to your main town. You should now be filthy rich!

Note: This will only work if the villager likes fruit that you feed him/her. If they don't like it, then they won't drop any money!

Black Queen - This little trick will get you a ton of Bells very quickly….if you have the patience to type in the 2 line codes that are used in AC. Go to Tom Nook's store and talk to him. Pick "other things", and "say code". Input

and you will get something called the "Black Queen" which is basically the Queen from a chess set. Repeat this process two more times, and sell them all. You will get 17,400 bells. I have verified that this works and you can do it 3 times before Tom tells you that there are no more presents to be given away with passwords. If you save your game and quit and then re-enter the game you can do this trick 3 more times. I memorized the code so it takes about 4-5 minutes to get 17,400 Bells and then to save and re-enter the game....not bad.

Orange Crates

1. Order 5 orange crates from the catalog from Tom Nook. They are 80 bells apiece (400 bells total).
2. Go back home, save & quit.
3. Get back in the game. The catalog order is now in the mailbox. Get your mail and open all the presents.
4. Go to the igloo and play the games with your orange crates. The best games to play are with 50/50 probability such as guessing the right or left hand for example. The starting price the animal will give you will always be above 80 bells, so right there you are profiting if you lose on the first try.
5. Sometimes the animal in the igloo keeps saying useless banter instead of buying your orange crates, keep talking to them and sooner or later they will be interested. They just can't get enough of your cool orange crates!

Note: If the animal changes to another game that requires you to pay a price to them, refuse to play if you want. Then leave the igloo and bury enough money to keep your wallet under 3,000 bells. Then the animal will go back to buying your orange crates. Depending on how good your psychic powers are, you have the potentiality of making over 5,500 bells off of one 80 bell crate. But that depends on who is in the igloo and what game they play. This technique does not work as well if they are playing the game where you have to guess the price from four cards, but it is a lot better than shaking trees all day.

100 Turnips from Tom Nook - Go to Tom Nook's store and talk to him. Pick "other things", and "say code". Input

He then gives you 100 turnips and you can sell them right back to him after you unwrap your present. You can only do this 3 times an hour or so, so find some thing to do while you are waiting.

Update (7/14/2003): I have to say that so far the fastest way to get some serious money is by using the 100 Turnip code. It doesn't happen often but every so often, typically on Monday or Tuesday, Nook will be buying Turnips for an unholy 600-900 bells/turnip. You only have to do simple math to know that 600 bells/turnip * 300 turnips = 180,000 bells. After you do this, you must save and quit and then load your game up again. You have the potential to pay off any and all loans if you have the patience and the luck to get a "high turnip day". The only catch is that once you get this kind of money and pay off your loans....the game loses quite a bit of its allure and quickly becomes boring. So don't say I didn't warn you.

Other Secrets

This section will cover various other secrets in Animal Crossing that may or may not benefit you financially.

Talking Snowman - Get two snow balls make one of them as big as it can get. Make the second one about the same size and put them really close together and push.

Free Candy from Tom Nook Go to Tom Nook's store and talk to him. Pick "other things", and "say code". Input

Tom will give you a piece of candy.

Golden Shovel - This is a cheat for the Golden Shovel, which allows you to dig up Bells in random places instead of just the shiny spots. All you have to do is find the shiny/glowing spot on the ground in your village (The location is random everyday). Dig up the bag of Bells in it and then bury an additional shovel. You cannot dig up the Bells and then go buy a shovel and bury it as the hole will be filled in if you move more than 2 "Acres" away. I would advise you to carry 2 shovels until you get your Golden Shovel. A few days later a tree should have grown (If it doesn't die, which sometimes happens) and a Golden Shovel will be there.

Golden Axe - To get the golden axe you must get your town rating to be "Perfect" for two entire weeks. The Golden Axe is indestructible.

Golden Net - Simply catch all 40 types of bugs.

Golden Fishing Rod - You have to catch all 40 types of fish and then talk to Tortimir and he will give you the Golden Fishing Rod.

K.K. Slider - Here is a list of the music you can request from K.K. Slider. If you do not request a song he will play one of his favorites. He arrives at 8:00pm on Saturdays and stays for 4 hours.

• Aloha K.K
• Cafe K.K.
• Comrade K.K.
• DJ K.K.
• Go K.K. Rider!
• I Love You (only play if requested)
• Imperial K.K.
• K.K. Aria
• K.K. Ballad
• K.K. Blues
• K.K. Bossa
• K.K. Calypso
• K.K. Casbah
• K.K. Chorale
• K.K. Condor
• K.K. Country
• K.K. Cruisin'
• K.K. D & B
• K.K. Dirge
• K.K. Etude
• K.K. Faire
• K.K. Folk
• K.K. Fusion
• K.K. Gumbo
• K.K. Jazz
• K.K. Lament
• K.K. Love Song
• K.K. Lullaby
• K.K. Mambo
• K.K. March
• K.K. Parade
• K.K. Ragtime
• K.K. Reggae
• K.K. Rock
• K.K. Safari
• K.K. Salsa
• K.K. Samba
• K.K. S ka
• K.K. Song (only played if requested)
• K.K. Soul
• K.K. Steppe
• K.K. Swing
• K.K. Tango
• K.K. Technopop
• K.K. Waltz
• K.K. Western
• Lucky K.K.
• Mr. K.K.
• Only Me
• Rockin' K.K.
• Senor K.K.
• Soulful K.K.
• Surfin' K.K.
• The K. Funk
• Two Days Ago (only played if requested)

Holiday List - The following days are special days that allow you to get prizes, make the year go better, or are just for special things (Note: List is only complete through September):
Update: I found a more comprehensive list over at a really great AC site called Animal Crossing Community. Make sure to register and check this site out as you get to trade items with people online. It adds a really nice aspect to the game.

• January 1 - New Years: From 6 a.m. to 11 p.m., toss in money in the well for a better year and make sure to see Tortimer for a new journal.
• February 2 - Groundhog's Day: Everyone will come at 7 a.m. and it starts at 9 a.m. After the event talk to Tortimer for a flower model.
• March 20 or 21 - Spring Sports Fair: Nothing really. Show up at 9 a.m. to do aerobics then talk to Tortimer for the Spring Medal. (Note: You can only participate in the Morning Aerobics)
• April 1 - April Fools': See Tortimer for Super Tortimer.
• April 5 to 7 - Cherry Blossom Festival: See Tortimer for the Pink Tree Model.
• April 22 - Nature Day: See Tortimer for Pink Tree Model.
• May 1 - Spring Cleaning: See Tortimer for Dump Model.
• 2nd Sunday in May - Mothers Day: See Tortimer for Lovely Phone
• 2nd Friday in June - Graduation Day: See Tortimer for the Tailor Model.
• 3rd Sunday in June - Fathers Day: See Tortimer for Locomotive Models.
• Every Sunday in June - Fishing Tourney: Beat the records daily for prizes but see Tortimer for Angler Trophy
• July 4 - Fireworks Show: Go to the Lake and buy a pin wheel or balloon from Redd then find Tortimer for a Bottle Rocket.
• Check Diary to see what date is Hometown Day: See Tortimer for Train Station Model.
• Every Morning in July at 6 a.m to 7 a.m. thru the end of August: Aerobics: See Tortimer for a card and get it stamped for all the days you are there. Note: Get 14 stamps and see Tortimer for an Aerobics Radio to do aerobics at home.
• August 12 - Meteor Shower from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.: See Tortimer for a Telescope
• August 21 - Founders Day: Weed Model
• 1st Monday in September - Labor Day: Shop Model
• Varies: Harvest Moon: Moon
• September 23 or 24: Fall Sports Fair: See Spring Sports Fair

Birthday Presents - Talk to the townspeople until they ask you when your birthday is. Most of them will say something like "How would you like a train set for your birthday?" Answer "Yes" and then you can put in your birthday. On your birthday, one of the townsfolk will be outside your house. He/she will give you a NES game!

Whisp/Ghost - Every night between 12 a.m. and 4 a.m. there is a ghost somewhere in town. You cannot see him until you step where he is standing. He will ask you to catch five ghouls for him before 4 o'clock. If you do so, you can get a prize, roof painting, or he will remove all the weeds in your town.

I will update this as new cheats and other codes become available. If you have a cheat that you have verified or have found one here that doesn't work as I have stated then shoot me an email and I will get things all straightened out.

Feb 12, 2003 - 12:00 am | 0 comments
Chris Rasco