Being able to display your emotions through reactions is one of the neat social features introduced in Animal Crossing New Horizons. These reactions can be unlocked through a number of ways including performing tasks for the NPC villagers on your island.
You will be able to express how you currently feel using these emoji-like reactions that are like small emotional snapshots of expressions. In case you want to learn how to express yourself more efficiently in Animal Crossing New Horizons, you have come to the right place. I will guide you on how to unlock all of these reactions with relative ease in this guide.
How to unlock Reactions in Animal Crossing New Horizons
You will be able to unlock your Reactions ability on Day 3 while exploring your Island in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. You will hear a random NPC villager calling out your name as you walk past them. Simply go up to that villager and talk to them. In our case, this villager was Phoebe.
During your conversation with the NPC, the villager will ask you if you have been told about Reactions and will then display those reactions, such as joy, and describe them to you.
The villager will also guide you on how you can access the reactions by simply pressing the XR button in ACNH. At the end of the conversation that specific villager will ask you to meet other villagers so that you can learn about other reactions as well. Once your conversation ends you will be able to use Reactions in Animal Crossing New Horizons to express your feelings.
You can open the Reactions menu and there you will notice that you have access to 4 reactions at the start of your adventure. These will include Joy, Delight, Geeting, and Surprise. Moreover, the 2.0 Update for ACNH added 11 additional Reactions for you to experience and use.
You can purchase event-related reactions from the Nook Stop. If you don’t have the required amount of Nook Miles to purchase these reactions you can always indulge in other activities such as Group Stretching. This way, you will be able to learn newer reactions at the start of your adventure.
How to use Reactions in ACNH
You will be able to unlock more than 40 reactions in your pocket in Animal Crossing New Horizons. These reactions can include day-to-day reactions such as; ‘greet’ and ‘laughter’ and can move to emotions that are a bit more complex such as ‘aggravation’ and ‘distress’. If you use these reactions close to another person, you will be able to interact with them.
You can use these reactions according to what’s happening in your environment. Use the fearful reaction if you see a tarantula or the glee reaction for a butterfly, etc. It is very easy to make a collection of these reactions as it can be done by simply talking to the villagers close to you.
Once you have learned the reaction for a Villager, you will be able to access all your reactions by pressing XR on your Nintendo Switch controller. This way you will open a quick access wheel that will have eight reactions that you can use.
Just select the reaction you wish to express, use your left joystick, and then press A to express it. If the number of reactions you own has increased then then press Y, and all of them will be visible to you.
All reactions and how to get them
There are a total of 88 reactions that you can unlock and access in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. You will be able to learn 44 of these Reactions by speaking with different types of NPC Villagers. You can find all of them listed in the table below:
| Reactions | NPC Villager (Type) |
| Greeting | Speak with any Villager |
| Agreement | Speak with a Cranky Villager |
| Disagreement | Speak with a Sisterly Villager |
| Pleased | Speak with a Normal Villager |
| Happiness | Speak with a Peppy Villager |
| Joy | Speak with any villager |
| Glee | Speak with a Normal Villager |
| Laughter | Speak with a Sisterly Villager |
| Love | Speak with a Snooty Villager [Tier 5 Friendship] |
| Confident | Speak with a Sisterly Villager [Tier 5 Friendship] |
| Showmanship | Speak with a Smug Villager [Tier 5 Friendship] |
| Flourish | Speak with a Jock Villager [Tier 5 Friendship] |
| Pride | Speak with a Lazy Villager [Tier 5 Friendship] |
| Encouraging | Speak with Jock Villager |
| Delight | Speak with any Villager |
| Apologetic | Speak with Sisterly Villager |
| Bewilderment | Speak with Cranky Villager |
| Curiosity | Speak with Peppy Villager |
| Surprise | Speak with any Villager |
| Amazed | Speak with Snooty Villager |
| Inspiration | Speak with Cranky Villager [Tier 5 Friendship] |
| Shocked | Speak with Jock Villager |
| Mistaken | Speak with Lazy Villager |
| Bashfulness | Speak with Lazy Villager |
| Shyness | Speak with Lazy Villager |
| Sheepishness | Speak with Cranky Villager |
| Smirking | Speak with Smug Villager |
| Mischief | Speak with Peppy Villager [Tier 5 Friendship] |
| Resignation | Speak with Smug Villager |
| Daydreaming | Speak with Normal Villager [Tier 5 Friendship] |
| Thought | Speak with Snooty Villager |
| Sleepy | Speak with Peppy Villager |
| Dozing | Speak with Smug Villager |
| Worry | Speak with Cranky Villager |
| Sighing | Speak with Snooty Villager |
| Sadness | Speak with Normal Villager |
| Heartbreak | Speak with Smug Villager |
| Sorrow | Speak with Lazy Villager |
| Intense | Speak with Snooty Villager |
| Aggravation | Speak with Peppy Villager |
| Cold Chill | Speak with Sisterly Villager |
| Distress | Speak with Jock Villager |
| Fearful | Speak with Normal Villager |
| Sneezing | Speak with Jock Villager |
How to get extra reactions in ACNH
You can get those nine extra reactions in ACNH by performing some actions and indulging in certain activities.
| Extra Reactions | Activities |
| Haunt | Gift Candy to Jack during Halloween |
| Scare | Gift Candy to any Villagers during Halloween. |
| Posture Warm-Up | 50 Days of Group Stretching |
| Arm Circles | 50 Days of Group Stretching |
| Side Bends | 50 Days of Group Stretching |
| Body Twists | 50 Days of Group Stretching |
| Wide Arm Stretch | 50 Days of Group Stretching |
| Upper Body Circles | 50 Days of Group Stretching |
| Jump | 50 Days of Group Stretching |
Purchasing Reactions in ACNH
The rest of the 35 (extra reactions) can be acquired by visiting the Nook Stop in Nook’s Cranny. You will be able to purchase certain collections such as the Hip Reaction Collection, Viva Festivale Reaction, etc. to get these extra reactions in ACNH.
These will also include the new reactions that have been added as part of the 2.0 Update, along with the Happy Home Paradise DLC for Animal Crossing New Horizons. You can learn all about these extra reactions in the table below:
| Nook Shop | Price (Nook Miles) | Extra Reaction |
| Hip Reaction Collection | 2700 | Ta-da, Sit Down, Wave Goodbye, Take a Picture, Excited, Sniff Sniff, Work Out, Yoga, Here You Go |
| Viva Festivale Reaction Set | 19800 | Confetti, Viva, Let’s Go, Feelin’ It |
| New Reaction Notebook (Update 2.0) | 3300 | Flex, Work It, Act Natural, Double Wave, Stretch, Jammin’, Listening Ears, Say Cheese, Behold, Eager |
| Rolling Credits (DLC: Happy Home Paradise) | – | Hula, Grooving Hop, Grove Right, Grove Left, Soak It In, Side to Side, Island Stomp, Airplane, Twisty Dance, Shimmy, Turnip Patch, Arm Swing Dance |
