Animal Crossing: New Horizons -- May Day Hedge Maze Guide

Animal Crossing: New Horizons' May Day event is here, giving players a chance to earn an exclusive item....if they can navigate their way through a tricky hedge maze. For the next week, Animal Crossing: New Horizons players can visit a special island by exchanging a May Day Ticket at the Airport. To unlock the May Day Ticket, players simply need to speak to Tom Nook at Resident Services and then head over to the Airport and speak to Orville to get their May Day Tour started. Once players arrive at Nook's May Day island, they have to travel through a hedge maze filled with trees, shrubs, and rocks to reach Rover at the top of the island. If they can successfully find Rover, players will earn the special Rover's Briefcase item. Players can also snag up to nine Bell Vouchers from the maze as bonus, giving them an extra 27,000 Bells per visit.

One tricky part to the hedge maze is that players won't have any of their items to clear away obstacles, which means you'll have to rely only on the resources found on the island. Luckily, the hedge maze's layout is identical for every visit and players can reset the maze by calling Resetti on the Nook Phone and having him "rescue" you if you reach a dead end.

If you don't want to waste time trying to figure out the maze on your own, here's a step by step guide to clearing the hedge maze:

Step 1: Grab the Shovel

When you reach the island, you'll see a shovel sitting on the ground at the entrance of the maze. Pick it up and then use it to dig up the bush on your left. Then, eat the fruit sitting on the ground so that you can dig up the tree blocking your path in front of you.

Step 2: Collect Supplies

Now that you've opened up the maze, walk down as many paths as you can and grab all of the tree branches, stone, and wood you find. You'll also have the opportunity to get the Worn Axe, which allows players to cut down exactly one tree before breaking.

Step 3: Chop Down the Upper Left Tee

Once you've collected the Worn Axe and resources, head to the upper left part of the maze to find a tree blocking two pieces of fruit and a tree branch. Use your Worn Axe to cut down the tree, and then eat the fruit and pick up the tree branch.

Step 4: Break the Lower Left Rock

Once you've collected (and eaten) the fruit, head down to the lower left part of the maze to break a rock blocking off an Iron Nugget. Once the rock is gone, pick up the Iron Nugget.

Step 5: Break the Lower Right Rock

After collecting the Iron Nugget, head to the lower right part of the maze and use your remaining fruit energy to break the rock blocking off access to a piece of fruit and a tree. After the rock is broken, eat the fruit and dig up the tree to gain access to a DIY Workbench.

Step 6: Build an Axe

Use the DIY Workbench to build a Flimsy Axe, and then a regular Axe. This will let you cut down the remaining trees in the hedge and clear your way to Rover.

Step 7: Collect More Fruit

Once you have the axe, you can head left to chop down a tree blocking off two more pieces of fruit. After that, head to the lower left area of the island to cut down another tree and pick up a third piece of fruit. You'll use these fruit later to get all of the Bell Vouchers on the island.

Step 8: Clear the Remaining Trees to Find Rover

Once you've gathered all of the fruit, head over to the set of three trees in a row and cut them down to find Rover. He'll give you the Rover's Briefcase if it's your first time clearing the maze.

Step 9: Get the Bell Vouchers

There are a total of nine Bell Vouchers on the island. The first four can be found right by Rover's campsite and can be accessed by digging up the bush blocking your path. The remaining vouchers can be found by digging up the bushes north of Rover's campsite and then following the outer ring of the island to an area with three rocks. Use your fruit energy to break the rocks and collect the remaining five vouchers.

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Players can visit the hedge maze once per day, and the maze doesn't change after you leave. You'll have until May 7th to master the maze and claim your Briefcase as a reward!