What You Need to Know about Mushrooms in Animal Crossing
Animal Crossing was the perfect game for 2020 — it lets you create alternate worlds and construct various social situations starring anthropomorphic animals. The game is open-ended but also allows for time to pass because it uses the system’s internal calendar and clock. Though the Nintendo game is nearly 20 years old (seriously — it was first released back in 2001), it really took off in the last few years. And this year, when so many people are staying safe at home, 11 million of us picked up the game, according to the British newspaper The Guardian.
Our favorite part of the game: The Animal Crossing mushrooms options! While we haven’t seen any Reishi for relaxation support in the game, we do love that you can build things out of mushrooms. That’s just like in real life, since mushrooms are used for everything from insulation and a plastic substitute to scaffolding for growing new organs.
What are the Animal Crossing Mushrooms?
Can’t get out to forage your favorite mushrooms? Pick up your Switch and find some Animal Crossing mushrooms instead. In the New Horizons game, you can find mushroom “recipes” only during specific times based on where you live. Once you shoot down balloons with your slingshot, you can check out the mushrooms.
As in real life, look for them around hardwood trees. Some rare mushrooms also pop up. (Ha, also like real-life foraging!) Only some of the mushrooms are edible (again, Animal Crossing imitates real life!) and there’s a limited amount.
- Flat mushrooms cost 200 bells. To us, these look like Shiitake or Chanterelle mushrooms.
- Round mushrooms cost 200 bells. We’re pretty sure these are white buttons.
- Skinny mushrooms cost 300 bells. These closely resemble Beech mushrooms.
- Elegant mushrooms cost 10,000 bells. Baby bellas or porcinis look like “elegant” mushrooms.
- Rare mushrooms cost 16,000 bells. These look like truffles!
Once you’ve amassed an Animal Crossing mushrooms collection, you can start construction on projects. These include forest flooring, mushroom walls, mush lamps, mush low stools, mush parasols, mush partitions, mush tables, and more. Wreaths, logs, and even wands — with the right combination of Animal Crossing mushrooms, you can make your mushroom dreams come true. (You know that our team here was pretty excited to see these ‘shrooms!)
Learn more about the different kinds of Animal Crossing mushrooms “recipes.”
What Would We Add to the Animal Crossing Mushrooms?
We love that so many of the Animal Crossing mushrooms look like real-life, edible varieties, including many of the ones that we use. You’ll see mushrooms that look like those we voted 10 of the best mushrooms for your health, based on traditional use and modern scientific research.*
Too often in pop culture, we see poisonous mushrooms portrayed as cute and common — when in fact they can be dangerous if ingested.
For example, fly agaric or Amanita muscaria, is the “classic fairy tale toadstool.” With a bright red cap, white spots, and a white stem, you find these in real life underneath birch trees in the fall. But in cartoons — like the Smurfs — these are the iconic mushrooms. When most people think “mushroom,” they think of this toadstool.
However, that can be troublesome if a child or someone unfamiliar with mushrooms picks one and eats it raw. These mushrooms cause upset stomach — they can cause severe stomach cramping and hallucinations are more often the side effects. Squirrels can snack on them without consequence, but humans should always be mindful about ingesting them. Respect nature — she’s powerful!
So what would we like to add to the Animal Crossing mushrooms line-up? Well, Nintendo developers, if you’re reading, we think players would love some adaptogenic mushrooms to support healthy responses to occasional stress* — or maybe some to support immune function.* Even our Animal Crossing alter-egos would thank you!
Next time they upgrade the game, how about adding some Lion’s Mane for brain support, Reishi for relaxation support, Cordyceps Militaris for energy support, or any of the mushrooms in Daily 10 for immune support?*
Playing Animal Crossing is a fun and downright wholesome way to pass the time when we’re staying home more, especially in winter. It’s good self-care to have some fun and find ways to divert our attention from “doom-scrolling.”
Another way we recommend taking care of yourself these days? By adding a mushroom supplement to your healthy habits.* Our mushrooms are always 100% Certified Organic, and we use only 100% fruiting bodies, extracted in both hot water and 190-proof alcohol. We recommend Cordyceps Militaris for late-night gaming, Reishi for winding down after — and Lion’s Mane for planning your next move in the game.*
