‘Animal Crossing: New Horizons’ Snow Guide: 3 Tips to Make the Perfect Snowboy Every Time

A blanket of snow has fallen over Northern Hemisphere islands in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. The scenery change means one thing: it’s time to build some snowfolk. Taking from real-life snowman-building traditions, the Nintendo game allows players to create one snowboy a day. The goal is to get a perfect snowboy, but that’s often easier said than done. If one snowball is just a fraction too small, it won’t count. Here are some tips to ensure you get a perfect snowboy in Animal Crossing: New Horizons every time.

What is a perfect snowboy in ‘Animal Crossing: New Horizons’?

From Dec. 11 to Feb. 24, you can find two snowballs on your island every day to build a snowboy. But nobody’s perfect, so why does the snowboy have to be? Technically, you can roll the snowballs to whatever sizes you’d like without penalty, but getting them just right comes with gifts.

Every time you make a perfect snowboy, the sentient creation will give you a Frozen DIY, plus a Large Snowflake to make the recipe. After that, he’ll give one Large Snowflake per day until he melts. In addition to talking to the snowboy, you can also catch small Snowflakes falling from the sky. You can use snowflakes in the Frozen series, as well as some other snow-related recipes.

Most of the Frozen DIYs in 2021 are the same as 2020, but Animal Crossing: New Horizons Update 2.0 added one new recipe. Here’s the full list of Frozen DIYs from snowboys, per Animal Crossing World:

• Mini Snowperson (new)
• Arch
• Bed
• Chair
• Counter
• Partition
• Pillar
• Sculpture
• Table
• Tree
• Frozen-Treat Set
• Ice Flooring
• Ice Wall
• Snowperson Head
• Ice Wand
• Three-Tiered Snowperson

How to make a perfect snowboy using your villager as a reference

One common way to make sure you build a perfect snowboy is to use your Animal Crossing: New Horizons villager as a height guide. Roll your first ball in the snow until it grows to the biggest possible size. Then, you can roll the second snowball until it reaches about the bottom of your villager’s ear.

To check the proportions, you can shift the camera angle to a head-on view of your villager beside the snowball. If you think you found the right height, roll the second snowball up to the first, and they’ll stack automatically.

Many players have found success with this method, but it can be tricky to visually judge the proportions. After some practice, you should become a pro at eyeballing the right height.

How to make a perfect snowboy using ‘Animal Crossing: New Horizons’ paths

Players have found another method that might have a better success rate. This one involves paths or custom designs on the ground. It’s best to create a big, open space to ensure you have room to work, so remove any items or flowers/weeds.

Like the villager method, you’ll roll your first snowball until it’s as big as it can get. Then, next to the snowball, set down 10 dirt/tile paths or custom designs in a row. Essentially, you need a long strip of land without snow.

After that, find your second snowball and roll it as big as it gets. Roll it to the other side of the path strip. Then, roll it down the strip in the direction of the first snowball. This will cause the snowball to shrink back down. By the time you reach the other end, your second snowball should be the right size to make a perfect snowboy. Check out this video to see the path method in action.

What to do if you break snowballs or roll too much

Snowballs are fragile, so they’ll break if you accidentally roll them into objects. They also disappear if they fall into the water. If this happens, you can still make your daily snowboy! Simply enter a building and the snowballs will respawn, likely in different places than you found them the first time.

You might also find that you’ve rolled a snowball too big. To make it smaller, roll the ball into an area without snow, such as the plaza.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is available now on Nintendo Switch.