Occasionally in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, you might spot a balloon floating on your island. These balloons will have a present hanging from them, which you can collect for their loot. Although if you’re still at an early point in the game, this might be impossible for now.
This guide was created during the first week of Animal Crossing: New Horizons release on the Nintendo Switch. Depending on when you’re reading this guide, some thing may be different due to future updates. However we’ll always try to come back and update these guides! For more of our Animal Crossing: New Horizons Guides & Best-of lists, make sure to check out our dedicated area here!
Collecting Presents
Firstly, you should head to Timmy, who runs the store. Interact with him and ask what he has for sale. Using your trigger buttons, head on over to the Miscellaneous tab. Here, you can buy the Slingshot for 900 Bells.
This is just the item, which will be added to your inventory and has limited uses. However Timmy also sells the DIY recipe for the Slingshot, so that you can craft it yourself. Although it’s a little more expensive, so either one works for now.
Once you have a Slingshot, either by crafting or buying one, look for a balloon. Sadly, the spawn rate for them is quite low and you won’t find them very often. When you do though, equip your Slingshot from your inventory.
When the Balloon is flying above, you’re going to want to shoot it by pressing A on your Nintendo Switch. You’ll want to do this as it’s directly above, it may take a few attempts to actually hit it.
Don’t make the mistake I did on the screenshot above. If the balloon is slightly hovering over a source of water such as the river, it’ll fall in and the present will be gone. If it lands on land though, you can loot the present! Inside, you’ll most commonly find materials, bells and furniture items.
