Animal Crossing glitch lets you get on top of buildings or walk on water
Reach new heights with this glitch in New Horizons.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons gives players a tropical island sandbox to customize and explore, but there are still a few areas on every island that players just can't reach — until now.
Normally, players can't climb atop the roofs of buildings or reach the fourth elevation level of cliffs, but for anyone looking to break these boundaries and potentially walk on water, a YouTuber has discovered a new exploit that allows players to do all of this.
YouTuber StephenPlays, who publishes a regular Animal Crossing: New Horizons series with friends, posted a video on May 10 detailing an exploit that allows anyone to walk on roofs, water, or higher elevations. On version 1.2.0a of Animal Crossing: New Horizons, you do all of this during multiplayer sessions with just a few easy-to-obtain items. Here's the step-by-step process as outlined in his video.
Step 1: Get 2 qualifying items and go to the location you want to explore
Before you can do this exploit, you'll need to take care of a few things beforehand: The required items for the exploit are a "chair that you can approach from multiple sides and an object that you can grab while sitting." Recipes for items like benches and tables that fit this description can be obtained fairly early on in the game, so you won't have to wait too long before trying it. Stephen uses a simple bench with no back and a small, round table.
Another feature you'll need to have unlocked before trying this out is multiplayer. Having someone visit your island is required for the exploit to work, so you'll also need to have a Nintendo Switch Online subscription to have reached Day 2 on your island, which is when Dodo Airlines opens. Once all of this is taken care of, go to where you want to explore, whether that be the top of a building, a cliff you can't access with a ladder, or any body of water
Step 2: Place the items and have a friend visit
You'll have to place your chair a half-unit away from the building (so push it into the building and then pull back one time). You'll then want to place your other object on the side of the chair opposite to the building or cliff you want to get on top of. After you're sure that your gates are open to visitors, go back to the chair and press A to hold the object in front of you while sitting with your back to your destination.
Once you are in this position, have someone fly to your island. Once the "Looks like someone's on their way here" message appears, you should clip into the chair, as pictured below. Run towards the building or cliff that you want to get on top of, and you should be able to get on top of it, successfully completing this exploit.
If you clip into your chair or bench, you've done the exploit correctly.
The Results
As StephenPlays points out in his video, this exploit is mostly just fun for taking bizarre photos in weird circumstances. To start, you can see things from angles you can not normally access, so even though you can't place any new items down on a roof or on the water, you can see interesting perspectives. You can also get into the water surrounding your island by doing this, though there's not much to do out there other than get a closer look at the Dodo airplane or perhaps Redd's ship.
The most useful thing about this exploit is being able to reach one tier higher on cliffs. Normally, you can only move up a level twice to reach a third elevation, but this glitch allows you to move on top of a fourth tier. Unlike with other uses of this glitch, you can place items down while on the fourth level of elevation, so this exploit gives players the ability to decorate previously inaccessible parts of their island once their friends have left the island.
It's a fun little exploit that avid players will get some use out of in terms of taking unique photos or beatifying islands in more unique ways. Even if it doesn't help with progression like one of the item duplication exploits. There's a chance that the ability to do this will be patched out in the future, but this should work for all players in the current version of Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
