Animal Crossing: New Horizons is an exceptionally popular new life simulation video game developed by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch, and since its release has received both tremendous praise as well as criticism. While I have been playing this game for only three weeks, I am a long-time Animal Crossing fan and have now played four out of the five main titles. From what I’ve experienced so far, this game is extremely different from previous versions: the abundance of creative freedom as well as the more tedious DIY process makes for a more gradual progression, especially among novice users. While there are endless topics that could be discussed about ACNH, Bunny Day is today’s focus of interest. 

     Bunny Day is the Animal Crossing version of Easter, and features colorful, limited-time egg-themed furniture and clothing. The event begins on April 1, when a yellow rabbit named Zipper T. Bunny will be roaming around your town. He’ll advise you to collect hidden eggs and recipes (to create furniture, clothes and decor) that are placed throughout your island. There are six types of eggs — stone, water, sky, leaf, wood and earth. Leaf eggs can be found by shaking trees, water eggs from fishing, etc. Recipes can be found in message bottles that appear daily on the shores of your island’s beaches, and can also be obtained by talking to other villagers or by shooting down colorful Bunny Day balloons with a slingshot. On April 12, Zipper will revisit your town and check how many recipes you have crafted. Since each recipe requires a certain amount of a specific type of egg, Zipper will also give you any specific type of egg in exchange for three of a different type of egg. If you have crafted each recipe that Zipper had hidden throughout your town, he will give you another recipe for a “Wobbling Zipper Toy.” To obtain the Bunny Day grand prize, you must craft this toy and show it to Zipper, who will then give you the final recipe for a Bunny Day wand, signifying your completion of Bunny Day.

     This event was rather lackluster, and was often more annoying than it was enjoyable. I personally didn’t find the egg-inspired clothing and furniture to be very cute or desirable — while colorful and festive, many pieces lacked creativity and simply looked like eggs rather than unique furniture/clothes. After a couple of days, I also began to get tired of finding eggs literally everywhere. When I tried to catch some fish, I’d catch eggs instead. When I tried to chop down some much-needed wood, I’d get eggs. When I wanted to simply do some good old fossil digging, I’d dig up — you guessed it — eggs! Instead of being fun and quirky, this became a big turn-off for me and I just wanted the event to conclude. 

     I was also disappointed with the “grand prize” of Bunny Day. In past versions of Animal Crossing, completing Bunny Day would mean getting a signed picture of Zipper T. Bunny to put in your house for a cute memory. In this version, you get a recipe for a wand — not even the wand itself — and you may not even have the materials to craft it as it requires star pieces that can only be obtained after wishing on shooting stars that appear randomly and periodically. This wand only allows you to “transform” or change into a desired outfit whenever it is equipped. While this may seem appealing, there are many different wands that can be obtained throughout the game and as far as I know, each wand does the same thing so having more than one is basically useless for those who are not deeply, crazily obsessed with fashion. 

     For me, the only highlight of Bunny Day was selling furniture crafted with leftover eggs. With the enormous amount of eggs I was able to collect, I was able to make lots of excess furniture which I sold for nearly 75,000 bells (ACNH currency). Other than making some extra money, this event was quite disappointing and I’m glad that it’s finally over. In terms of Animal Crossing special events, I’d rate Bunny Day a two out of five stars, and I hope future events will be more impressive.