Summary
Although there are many questions surrounding the balloons that mysteriously float across the island inAnimal Crossing: New Horizons, sometimes it is best not to think too deeply about where they come from or why, because they can hold some valuable rewards inside their neatly wrapped presents. Getting these surprise gifts from the sky can be a huge help to players starting out, yet they are a welcome sight even for longtime players. Unfortunately, once these balloons pop and their presents drop, these wrapped gifts can vanish into thin air if players aren’t careful.
There are manymysteries inACNH, with these balloons being one of the biggest. While it isn’t likely that players will get to find out where these balloons originate from, they do seem to have a pretty consistent pattern and set of rules that they follow. The brightly colored balloons carry with them a wrapped gift which, once the balloon is popped, will drop to the ground for players to retrieve their goodies. These can include DIY or cooking recipes, bells, clothing, or even furniture (despite the small size of the presents themselves). Unfortunately,someplayers have found that there is also a possibility these presents may vanishentirely upon landing.
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Balloon Presents Must Have Somewhere To Land
Pick Up Surrounding Items Before Shooting That Balloon
As Reddit uservhw_wwan09disappointedly witnessed in the above below,presents falling from balloons can disappear completely if they don’t have the right place to land. If a falling gift lands on weeds, flowers, or items, it may try to bounce to an adjacent open area, but if there are none within one square of its landing, it will simply vanish. Similarly, if the wrapped box falls into any body of water, it will sink into the depths, never to be seen again.
Though it could be said this is a good reason for keeping islands weed-free, many players enjoy decorating their island with lots of flowers and decorations. One simple solution is thatbefore shooting down a balloon, players should pick up items, dig up flowers, or pull a few weedsin the squares around where the gift will likely drop. This may mean running ahead a little bit to prepare in advance, but thankfully, the balloons follow fairly straightforward trajectories.
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Balloons Spawn Regularly, With A Set Pattern To Them
If One Present Vanishes, Just Wait A Few Minutes For More
If someone does lose a balloon, as vhw_wwan09 did,there isn’t a long wait before a new balloon will come along. Balloons spawn every time the clock ends in a four or nine. For example, balloons will spawn at 1:14 and 1:19, and then again at 1:24 and 1:29. Naturally, the balloons still have to travel across the ocean to reach the island, and therefore will likely be seen a couple of minutes after that. They will also continue to come from the same direction until either 6am or 6pm, following the same direction for twelve hours.
Keeping an ear open for the subtle whistle of the wind also helps to know when a balloon may be nearby, so players can look around for it. Perhaps allowing gifts to land on top of weeds will beadded to the nextAnimal Crossinggame, but, thankfully, walking paths and custom designs on the ground do not interfere with a present landing. If all else fails, gifts can land on the beach if someone needs to just follow them to the edge of the island, so players just need to be aware of their surroundings inAnimal Crossing: New Horizons.
