Although notoriously difficult to acquire, golden tools have appeared in all the mainline Animal Crossing games. If you have been wondering whether they can be obtained in New Horizons, the answer is yes, but it will take time and effort to own them. Here’s how to get all 6 golden tools in Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

Rather than receiving an actual golden tool for fulfilling certain requirements, in New Horizons, players will be given recipes to craft them instead. The crafting materials required are one standard version of the tool, and one gold nugget. Gold nuggets can occasionally be obtained by hitting rocks with your shovel. Therefore it might be a good idea to stockpile as many of them as you can.

Additionally, whilst golden tools are more durable than regular tools, they will break eventually. But as you will have already learnt the recipe for the tool, the only difficult part is collecting gold nuggets.

Golden Net

In order to acquire the recipe for the Golden Net, you will need to catch every bug in your Critterpedia. You can kill two birds with one stone (or one bird with many bugs) by donating any new bugs you catch to the museum.

Golden Fishing Rod

You will receive the DIY recipe for the Golden Fishing Rod after completing the fish section of your Critterpedia. However, it will take time to receive this recipe, as the fish you catch will change with the seasons. Therefore, like with bugs, you can use this oppurtunity to donate any new catches to the museum.

Golden Shovel

In order to get the recipe for the Golden Shovel, you’ll have to help the pesky pun-filled Gulliver 30 times. The seagull sailor randomnly washes ashore from time to time. If you locate the 5 communicator parts necessary to fix his phone so that he can be rescued, he will send you a reward in the mail.

Golden Slingshot

The exact method required to attain the recipe for the Golden Slingshot is currently unknown. In previous games, a player could receive a Golden Slingshot by shooting down a certain number of balloons. Whilst unconfirmed, it is thought that the ‘It’s raining treasure’ Nook Miles achievement for shooting down 300 balloons will earn you the recipe.

Golden Watering Can

To receive the recipe for the Golden Watering Can, you need to achieve a perfect 5-star rating for your island and speak to Isabelle. This involves having a sufficient number of happy residents. Additionally, you will need to improve your island’s appearance by pulling weeds, planting flowers and trees, completing projects etc. You can speak with Isabelle at Residents Services to find out your island’s rating, and to get tips on how to improve it.

Golden Axe

In order to obtain the recipe required to craft the Golden Axe, you will need to have destroyed over 100 axes. The destruction of flimsy axes, stone axes, and regular axes all contribute towards acquiring this recipe. Therefore if you’re dead-set on acquiring the golden axe, use flimsy axes where possible, as they are the easiest to break.