Animal Crossing: City Folk is different from all previous installments of AC because of the newly added CITY!  For those of you who haven’t dared to set foot on the bus and ride on over to the big city, here is a guide to everything you need to know!  And if you think you’re a city slicker, read it anyway cuz I’m going to post some tips and hints that you might not have figured out yet!  😛

• Note: Everything in this City Guide is written assuming that you do NOT Time Travel and that you have your WiiConnect24 turned ON.  If you don’t, go to your character’s house and visit the phone next to your bed in the attic.  From there you can call Rover, and tell him to turn it on!  You can also turn it on through the Wii Menu, see Nintendo for more info.

Now let’s get started!

How Do I Get to the City?

It’s easy!  You have to go to the Bus Stop!  All you have to do is walk up the little bus stop ramp (located directly across from the Gate), make sure your character is looking at the sign and press A.  A message will come up and ask you if you want to take the bus to the city, and then off you go!

Note:  The Bus will NOT come if:

• you are still working for Tom Nook at the Nook’s Cranny.
• there is a snowball or a constructed snowman in the area in front of the Gate.
• your Gate is open.

Warning: The Bus Driver, named Kapp’n, is no stranger to the Animal Crossing series.  He used to work in a boat that would ferry you to a little Island in AC Game Cube.  Back then, he was kinda cool.  Nowadays, he’s a little crotchety in his old age.  If your character is a male, he will constantly berade you for visiting the salon, smelling anything less than stanky, and constantly talk about women and gossip.  If your character is female, prepare to ignore many various advances by this old creep.  He’s still looking for a wife, and you are quite the little cutie… so let’s just say I warned you, ok?  LOL

What Can I Do in the City?

There’s tons to do in the city!  I always try to visit at least twice a week.  The best days to go are on Wednesdays and the Weekends, but I’ll get to that later.  I’m going to break down each area of the city for you, so you won’t feel lost when you get there!  LOL, it’s not like it’s very large or anything.  OK, starting from the far right of the city, on the street level:

Resetti’s Surveillance Center

Cost: FREE!

There is a tunnel on the far right side of the city, which is blocked off by orange cones during the day.  In fact, it is usually blocked off at all times.  However, there are random nights when this tunnel is open!  If you visit the city after 8PM, be sure to check for a light coming from this tunnel.  If you see the cones have disappeared, and a light emanating from this area, feel free to walk right in because you have just stumbled onto Resetti’s Surveillance Center, which is the ONLY place that you can get the Silver Shovel!
Once you walk inside, you will see that you are in a very strange room.  There are two chairs, a lot of junk lying around, a half eaten pizza…?  Resetti will be very upset that you were able to get into his secret area, so to keep you quiet he will offer you the Silver Shovel and hustle you out.

• Note:  My tip for getting the Silver Shovel:  Persistence.  If you don’t have one yet and you are really desperate to get your hands on this pretty shovel, just visit the city every night after 8PM.  Eventually you will find him!  It took me a little over two weeks of trying, but I did get one!  Here’s the proof – Squirt was in there!  LOL

Katrina’s Fortune Telling

Cost: 100 Bells Each.

There are two things that you can learn in Katrina’s Shop.  There are Charms and there are Fortunes.  Charms are monthly, so you only need to visit Katrina about your town’s Charm once a month.  Fortunes can be read once a week.

A Town Charm is an objective for a WiFi friend to complete.  Katrina will tell you that a visitor must catch a certain kind of fish or bug, or maybe pick a certain number or weeds, or some other little objective.  She tells you that if they do this task, something good will happen in their town, such as flowers not wilting or fossils will be easier to find.  It will be your job to tell your friends what the town charm is for your town!  If your friend accomplishes this task, then they will see a slight change in their town, depending on what the charm was.  Usually this charm will last for a week once the task has been completed.

• Note: Occasionally the neighbors of your town will tell you what the charm is for your friends’ towns.  Usually they say they heard it in a dream or something along those lines, but trust the info because it’s accurate!  So don’t forget to talk to your neighbors, they are FULL of useful information!
• Don’t forget to find out the monthly charms in your friends’ towns!  If you complete their objective, you will get the bonus in your town!

A Fortune is something that will affect your character.  A fortune will only last for the rest of the day.  From my experience, there are a few types of fortunes (more will be added when I see them):

• Money Fortune:  Katrina will say that you will come upon financial gain.  This means that when you shake trees to find money bags, you will find bags of 300 bells instead of the regular 100 bells, all day!  If you get this fortune, go shake all the trees in your town and make some extra cash!  Rating:  Good
• Friend Fortune:  Katrina will say that you will be more appealing to your friends.  This means that the neighbors in your town who share your gender will be very excited to see you when you pass by, and will be eager to talk with you and tell you how awesome you are.  Rating:  Kinda Lame
• Nothing Fortune:  Katrina will say that nothing good is going to happen, but nothing bad is going to happen either.  So far I’ve noticed no difference after getting this fortune.  Rating:  Lame
• Curse:  If your fortune is bad, and Katrina tells you that the stars around you are not happy, be prepared… you’ve just been CURSED!  Don’t worry, it’s not that bad.  The only thing a curse does is make you fall flat on your face if you run.  So basically, any time you run for the rest of the day, you’re probably gonna fall.  (It’s like when you wear the King Tut Mask, if you’ve ever tried that.  I guess Tut’s Mask is cursed too.)  Rating:  Lame but Funny

Shampoodle’s

Cost: 3000 Bells.

Harriet the stylist poodle has moved up in the world!  She used to have a little section of Nookington’s in AC:Wild World, but now she’s got her own place in the big city!  On the inside, the salon looks pretty much the same.  But her services aren’t!  Now Harriet can give you a new haircut and color, OR she can give you a ‘makeover.’  By makeover, she means that you can look through the Mii’s you’ve saved on your Wii, and select one of their heads to make into a “Mii Mask.”  Your AC character can wear this Mii Mask, and run around with whatever face you create!  You can take it off and put it on as many times as you want.  It’s kinda fun!  And if your Mii character has a different skin color, you can finally have an AC character with that color skin as well!  I think it’s about time.  Anyway, here’s some tips about Shampoodle’s:

• Looking for a Hair Guide?  Here’s the best one I’ve found so far:  AC: Let’s Go to the Wiki Hair Guide
• Want to try a hair style that is normally only for the opposite gender?  Just visit Shampoodles and try every single hair style possible for your gender.  Next time you visit, Harriet will ask if you’d like to try a style for the opposite gender.  She’ll tell you to just play along and answer as if you were that gender!  Kinda weird, but whatever, it’s fun!  Don’t forget to try out all the crazy hair colors!
• Most Important:  Your first visit is FREE!

Kicks’ Stoop

Cost: 500 Bells.

Now that you’ve got your hair all done up, why not get a shoe shine too?  You can find Kicks’ Stoop just to the left of Shampoodle’s towards the ‘center’ of the town.  Kicks will ONLY be in the city on days when it is SUNNY!  You don’t expect him to stand out there in the rain or snow, do you?  Kicks will shine your shoes based on Color or Style.  If you select Color, the shoeshine will be based on whatever color is visible the most in your outfit.  If you choose Style, the shoeshine will match whatever clothing ‘style’ you are wearing.  (There are different style shirts, such as Cool or Cute or Striking.)

• Note: Some ‘costumes’ have a special shoeshine that you can only get while wearing that outfit.  You must be wearing the shirt and matching hat/helmet for this to work, and select to go by Color.
• After you have visited Kicks several times, he will ask you if you’d like to try a shoeshine for the opposite gender.

Auction House

Cost:  Varied

Ahh, the Auction House.  While I still don’t have this completely figured out, I have the basic gist of it.  Every weekend, something is going on at the Auction House.  Lloid is the large gyroid who runs the Auction House, and he will tell you everything you need to know.  If you go speak to him, he’ll tell you what is going on or tell you the date of the next upcoming display or bidding period.  Each weekend, one or the other is happening.  If you are in a display period, then you have from 6 AM Saturday until Sunday night at midnight to give Lloid something to put on display.  You will set a minimum price and let him do the rest.  If you are in a bidding period, you have from 6 AM Saturday to Sunday night to place a bid on something in the Auction House.  If you win the bid, Lloid will send you the item in the mail.  If you lose the bid, Lloid will send you your money back.  If nobody bid on the item you put on display, Lloid will send that back to you.  Things to keep in mind:

• The Auction House is open 24 hours a day.
• You can only display one item per display period.
• You can only bid on one item per bidding period, so choose wisely!
• If you don’t have any WiFi friends, the Auction House is pretty much useless to you.
• IMPORTANT: In the Auction House, you can access your “private Checkroom” at any time.  This is actually the same thing as your closet back home, and it gives you full access to anything that you have stored in there!  So if you forgot your Bank Card or want to change your outfit while you’re in the city, you can still do it if you get the stuff out of your Checkroom!  Of course, if you didn’t put something in your closet at home, then it’s not going to show up in the Checkroom.

GracieGrace Boutique

Cost:  EXPENSIVE!

Once you have your hair all done and your shoes shined up, you’re going to need some new threads to match!  Luckily for you, the city has a brand new clothing boutique called GracieGrace, which is run by none other than that fashionista Gracie!  She used to run her business from the trunk of her car in AC: Wild World, but I guess she finally made enough money to not only create her own clothing line, but a very exclusive furniture and home decor line as well!  Gracie also has a little sidekick with her, an assistant named Labelle.  She is a new face in AC:CF, but you’ll learn a lot more about her if you read my tips below!

Gracie’s inventory changes based on what season it is in your game.  Every season she will have new clothes on display and a different furniture set with matching wallpaper and carpet.  Everything in the store is VERY expensive, but that’s the price you pay for fabulousness right?

Sometimes you will find Gracie in the store (usually you will only find Labelle in there) and she will be ready to give you a fashion evaluation.  You only get ONE chance to do this right, so if you see Gracie in the back of the store and you aren’t dressed your best… turn around and run away!  Go get your hair done, get matching clothes out of your Checkroom and get a shoeshine to match!  Gracie will evaluate you based on if you have a shirt that matches your hat, if your shoes match, and if you are wearing a required accessory to complete the outfit.  If you are missing any of these criteria, she will say that you aren’t quite fashionable enough.  But if you are lucky and get a good evaluation, then I hope you brought your Bank Card, because you have just earned a 10% discount off everything in the store!  However, the discount only lasts until you leave.  If you step out to get your credit card, the discount will be gone upon your return.

• At the end of a season, GracieGrace will go into ‘clearance’ mode!  Prices will be drastically reduced, but so will the inventory!  A lot of items will appear as ‘sold out’ at this time, so act fast if you have your eye on a certain item!
• After you have received three fashion evaluations from Gracie, things are going to get a little weird around your town.  This is because you have unlocked the Labelle Conspiracy.  Start talking to the Able Sisters and you’ll see what I mean!  You’ll find yourself running from Mabel, to Pelly, to Tom Nook, and finally to Labelle and Gracie to get all the dirt on this big family secret!

HRA Headquarters

Cost:  FREE!

The HRA are the people who rate your house every week and tell you how well you matched your furniture and used Feng Shui.  If you reach certain point milestones, you can get house models.  But the fun, new aspect of the HRA is the Model Room.  This Model Room will showcase a room from any character in your town, or perhaps a room from one of your WiFi friends’ towns!  Every month there will be a ‘theme’ that the HRA decides, and will automatically select a room to display in here which fits the theme.  Lyle, who used to be a skeevy insurance agent in Wild World, is now running the front desk at the HRA HQ.  He will tell you what the scorers thought of your room, and will also explain to you why the Model Room was chosen by the HRA.  It’s pretty educational, and it’s fun to go in and see if you know whose room is being showcased!

The Marquee

Cost:  800 Bells Each

If you’re wondering what happened to Dr. Shrunk, this is where you’ll find him!  He’s now got a steady gig performing at the Marquee in the city, where he will teach you up to four emotions.  I’m not sure about this, but I think the emotions rotate out every two weeks or so.  You choose the emotion you want to see, buy a ticket, walk into the theater (and talk to some of the other audience members waiting for the show to start, if you want!), and take a seat to watch the performance.  Dr. Shrunk is usually the main player, but sometimes Master Frillard will be filling in!

• If you don’t want to ‘learn’ the emotion, you don’t have to!  If you’ve already learned 4 emotions, you can still watch a show and just decline to ‘keep’ it.  But if you don’t have 4 emotions saved to your character, any shows you see will automatically add themselves.
• After the Marquee closes for the night, you will see a little light on in a room above the entrance of the Marquee.  This usually happens at or before midnight.  It doesn’t do anything, but I just figured I’d mention it.

ABD Machine

Here you can access your bank account.  This machine is exactly like the one located in Town Hall.  You can even pay your mortgage from here (although I don’t know why you would).

Crazy Redd’s Shop

Membership Fee:  3000 Bells

Cost:  Somewhat Expensive

Crazy Redd has moved his shady establishment to the far left side of town, behind some old crates.  At first, you will try to get through the door and will be stopped by a mysterious voice telling you they can’t let you in because they don’t know who you are.  You need to get an invitation to be able to enter Redd’s Shop.  The easiest way to do this is to just have a WiFi friend send you one.  But if you don’t have WiFi friends, that’s ok!  Just talk to the mysterious voice behind the door, and then go back to your town.  The next day, talk to the animals in your town and one of them will offer to send you an invitation.  Once you have your invite, bring it along with 3000 bells to cover the membership fee, and then you are suddenly a part of the Crazy Redd family!

Crazy Redd’s store restocks every Wednesday.  That’s why I always go to the city on Wednesdays (and on the weekends I check out the Auction House).  He will ALWAYS have one painting on sale, as well as two other items.  BE CAREFUL when making a purchase at Redd’s Shop.  This fox is a sly one, and is always looking to rip you off!  Some of the stuff he sells in his store is ridiculously over priced, and usually you can buy it in Nook’s shop for a lot cheaper.  However, some items are Crazy Redd exclusives, which you can’t buy anywhere else.  Here is a list of all the Redd’s exclusive items.

• I recommend buying the painting on sale every week.  It might be a risk, but this is pretty much the only place to buy rare paintings.  Yes, a lot of the time it will be a forgery.  But sometimes you get lucky!  So always buy the painting on sale and bring it directly to Blathers, who will determine if the painting is legitimate or not.
• Redd will give you 1000 bells for every friend who joins using an invitation that you sent.

Phineas and Other Notes

On random sunny days in the city, a character named Phineas will be in the city.  You’ll know he’s there because you will see him standing right next to the fountain with a large calliope at his side.  The circus-like music will put you into a trance and you will run directly to him and demand that he gives you a prize!  He’s a very generous guy, he will give you a prize for free!  But you only get one prize per day.  The prize options are:  Bunny Balloon, Classic Balloon, Pinwheel, or Bubble Wand.  Your character holds these prizes like a tool, and you can run around the city with any of those items.  Plus you can bring them home and show them off to your friends!  🙂

Other random notes:

• There is a fountain in the city with a statue of Serena on top.  Don’t try to throw an axe into this fountain.  First of all, you can’t take your regular tools out in the city anyway, and second of all, Serena doesn’t live in that fountain so don’t bother!
• Talk to the animals wandering around the city.  Sometimes they will gossip about what your friends have done lately in the city, like if they saw a show or had their fortune read.  They also will tell you little tidbits of info about the city, but most of the time they are just blabbing about how there should be a restaurant, or how they are scared to go to the sketchy parts of town.

How Do I Get Back Home?

If you want, you can save and end the game right from the city.  Just point and click on the Pen icon in the upper right corner and select to save and end your game.  But if you want to just go home and continue playing in your town, then walk down to the street level, and look at the Bus Stop sign.  This will call the Bus back, but you will have to endure Kapp’n blubbering on while he drives you home.

So, did I leave anything out?  Please post a comment if you thought of something I had overlooked and forgot to mention in this guide!  Hope you liked it!