Animal Crossing: New Horizons -- How Mario Warp Pipes Work

A new Mario-themed update will release in Animal Crossing: New Horizons on Nintendo Switch later this week, in case you missed it. During last week's Nintendo Direct, a number of features from the update were showcased, including Mario costumes, coins, mushrooms, and more. The coolest feature, however, might be the option to add warp pipes that allow players to travel around their island in style. These pipes will offer a practical benefit as well as some amazing potential for new island designs. At the time, the Nintendo Direct did not reveal specific details about how they work, but Nintendo has now revealed some new information on how all that shakes out.

According to Nintendo, players will be able to place warp pipes in a variety of places, including the player's house. Players can place more than two warp pipes on their island, but doing so will result in the destination being randomly chosen. In other words, players won't be able to assign a specific location to each pipe. Mario-themed items will be available for purchase in the game starting March 1st.

Place two Warp Pipes on your island to warp between them, even with one in your home! If you place more than two, the warp location will be chosen randomly. The #AnimalCrossing: New Horizons update arrives 2/25, with #SuperMario items for purchase at Nook Shopping on 3/1. pic.twitter.com/JOmKNd19XZ

— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) February 22, 2021

Previous Animal Crossing games offered Nintendo-themed items from franchises such as Zelda, Metroid, and Splatoon, but they were purely decorative. That's definitely not the case for the Mario update, and it would be interesting to see how Nintendo would integrate those items into New Horizons. Perhaps Nintendo will look for practical opportunities for those, as well!

As of this writing, Nintendo has not announced any items based on the company's other franchises. This year does mark the 35th anniversary of The Legend of Zelda though, so this would be the perfect chance to bring back some of the missing Zelda-themed items. Perhaps fans could finally see the long-awaited return of Wolf Link, as well!

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is available exclusively on Nintendo Switch. You can check out all of our previous coverage of the game right here.

Are you a fan of Animal Crossing: New Horizons? Are you looking forward to the game's Mario update? Let us know in the comments or share your thoughts directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp to talk all things gaming!