New Horizons player accidentally gets a 5-star island rating and shows “Just Feel Random” rating system

Many Animal Crossing: New Horizons Players spend months or even years working to get a five-star rating for their island, and one player accidentally achieved it in 30 days in the most ridiculous way. The star rating system in Nintendo's beloved cozy island game is something many players seek out, partly for the rewards (a DIY recipe and a special weekly flower spawn) and partly for bragging rights.

Players can speak to Isabelle, the island's resident secretary, and Jane of All Trades, to check their star rating and get information about what their island is missing. Many players have worked hard to get the coveted five-star rating, but Reddit user Dismal-Item-2103 I managed to get it completely by accident in the most ridiculous way possible in your “30th day after 6th restart in 4 years.”

The player shares two images, the first showing Isabelle's line of dialogue granting them the five-star rating, and the second revealing how they managed to get the rating. The second image shows a sparsely decorated island with a handful of flowers and some statues. Among these decorative pieces, spaced at exact grid intervals and covering practically the entire island, are mannequins wearing neon green shirts with a personalized image that reads “brat.”

Animal Crossing: New Horizons Player's Accidental 5-Star Rating Makes Rating System Feel Random

Animal Crossing player was working in a rock garden

For those who are not familiar with the tricks and methods of Animal Crossing: New Horizons island designs, the island image from Dismal-Item-2103 may seem completely absurd. The simple explanation is that they were working on building a rock garden on their island. The method was popularized by YouTuber Mayor Mori and consists of placing mannequins at pre-determined intervals throughout the island. This method prevents rocks from appearing anywhere but the player's desired location, forcing rocks to appear in a specific location and creating the rock garden.

The fact that this method led to a five-star island rating, however, makes players feel like the system is arbitrary. The reason this perplexing layout scored high in the island review is likely due to the outdoor furniture requirements. The mannequins count as furniture and earn points in the ranking system, but they are spaced out so as not to overcrowd the island and cause a “traffic hazard.” The original poster and owner of the brat-covered island notes that “the rating system makes sense when you read on the wiki how rating is evaluated, but in practice it seems random.“

Our opinion: Animal Crossing is best enjoyed without worrying too much about ratings

The aim of the game is to make the island yours

I'm a perfectionist, but I've never worried about getting a five-star rating on the island. A three-star rating on the island unlocks regular concerts from the game's popular singer, KK Slider, while a five-star rating grants the player one golden watering can DIY recipe and one lily of the valley spawn per week as long as the rating remains at five. Personally, I only care about getting a three-star rating, which is relatively easy (in fact, I usually achieve this naturally while decorating my island as I normally would). A five-star rating, on the other hand, isn't as appealing to me.

Besides bragging rights and a beautiful flower, the review just doesn't give me enough to bother picking it up. Instead, I prefer to enjoy designing and decorating my island just for the sake of it, rather than trying to meet a standard of beauty set by the game's algorithm. As Redditor Dismal-Item-2103 has shown, the island's ranking system is often flawed, and players can be better off simply having fun and placing as many flowers, furniture, decorations, and “brat” shirts as they want on their islands. Animal Crossing: New Horizons island.

Source: Dismal-Item-2103/Reddit, Mayor Mori/YouTube