How to Get a Slingshot in Animal Crossing

Ready to take your shot? In Animal Crossing, it's easy

By
Ruben Circelli
Ruben Circelli
Ruben Circelli
Editor
  • University of Massachusetts, Boston
Ruben Circelli has been a freelance technology writer and editor since 2014. His work has appeared on dozens of sites, including Komando.com, Twinfinite, and TheGamer.
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Updated on March 26, 2021
Reviewed by
Jessica Kormos
Jessica Kormos
Reviewed by Jessica Kormos
  • Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College
Jessica Kormos is a writer and editor with 15 years' experience writing articles, copy, and UX content for Tecca.com, Rosenfeld Media, and many others.
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Without the slingshot in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, all those colorful balloons floating overhead will remain unpopped forever. Plus, the items they carry will be lost, too. Fortunately, acquiring a slingshot is easy, and even if you haven't played much of the game and only have a few bells to spare.

How to Get a Slingshot in Animal Crossing

You have two options for acquiring a slingshot: You can either buy a slingshot outright from Timmy for 900 bells or purchase a slingshot DIY crafting recipe from Timmy for 300 bells craft one. Though, if this is your first slingshot, you'll have to pick up the recipe first.

While the DIY recipe is cheaper and will come in handy for replacing your slingshot once it breaks, it requires five hardwood to craft each slingshot.

  1. Head on over to Timmy, and see what he has for sale.

  2. You'll find a Slingshot for sale for 900 bells and a Slingshot DIY Recipe for sale for 300 bells in the Miscellaneous tab. If this is your first slingshot, you'll need to purchase the DIY recipe and craft a slingshot.

    Animal Crossing: New Horizons Timmy's shop

  3. If you purchased a slingshot outright, select the slingshot like any other tool to equip it, and if you purchased the recipe, hit a workbench to craft yourself a slingshot. Then, equip it.

Note

You need five hardwood to craft a slingshot. Hardwood is different from wood and softwood but is acquired the same way. Whack a tree with a flimsy axe, and there's a chance it'll drop some hardwood, which is rarer than normal wood, as is softwood.

How to Use a Slingshot in Animal Crossing

Once you have a slingshot, equip it as you would any other tool, like the axe you'll need to use to harvest hardwood to craft slingshots yourself. To use your slingshot, stand under a balloon and press A to shoot.

Animal Crossing Balloon Colors

Balloons in Animal Crossing: New Horizons come in a variety of different colors. There isn't a guarantee for what each balloon will drop after being popped, but there are some trends.

  • Red balloons are more likely to drop furniture.
  • Yellow balloons are more likely to drop bells.
  • Blue balloons are more likely to drop crafting materials.
  • Green balloons are much more random with their drops.

Animal Crossing's Golden Slingshot

After you shoot down 300 balloons in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, you can obtain the Golden Slingshot recipe, which is exactly what it sounds like: a DIY recipe for a gold slingshot. After 300 balloons, look for a golden balloon, which will drop the recipe when popped.

However, the Golden Slingshot will not last forever, though it will last much longer than the regular slingshot and requires two gold nuggets and a slingshot to craft.

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