It’s May Day this Saturday, and to Animal Crossing: New Horizons players, this means the return of the May Day Maze.
Last year’s maze was one of the first seasonal events in the still-young game. This year the May Day Maze will once again be running between April 29th and May 7th — but other than that, things are a little bit different. The 2021 event boasts a brand-new maze and some different rewards, so even long-time ACNH players should see something new if they take the time to play again.
Once again the event will be hosted by Rover, the wanderlust-filled blue cat who was a major NPC in several previous Animal Crossing games. His role in ACNH is sadly reduced, and this nine-day event is the only opportunity you’ll get to see him all year — so get on it, Rover fans!
How to get and use May Day Tickets
The first time you play Animal Crossing: New Horizons on or after April 29th, Isabelle will mention the May Day celebrations in her morning announcement. If you talk to your animal villagers, chances are good they’ll be pretty excited for it too. They all urge you to go to your island’s Airport and pick up a May Day Ticket.
So head into the Airport and talk to Orville at the counter. He’ll inform you that there’s a ticket for a special May Day Tour back there with your name on it, courtesy of Tom Nook. You can use it any time between April 29th and May 7th by speaking to Orville. Just say “I wanna fly!” and, when he asks you where you want to go, select “Use May Day Ticket”.
Who can play the May Day Maze 2021?
The new maze is described as being available to “veteran” players. Players who didn’t start their save until after 7th May 2020, or who just didn’t complete last year’s event, will be doing the original maze first. You can read our guide to its solution here.
We don’t know at the moment whether newer players will be able to do the 2021 maze straight away afterwards, or if you’ll need to wait another year to catch up.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons — May Day Maze 2021 Solution
The new May Day Maze for 2021 can be split up into three stages: building a ladder, finding Rover, and collecting Bell Vouchers.
We’ll tackle each of these in turn. But first, a few words of advice about what you need to know before you begin.
May Day Maze: Things to know before you begin
Due to the nature of the May Day Maze challenge, you’ll be leaving everything in your inventory behind with Orville at the airport when you fly out. Don’t worry, you get them back automatically once you arrive back on your island.
Once you arrive at the maze island, you can return to Wilbur at his station near the plane at any time and speak to him to receive hints if you’re stuck. However, these hints — while useful — are fairly generic advice on how to navigate obstacles. Don’t expect him to provide you with the solution. Furthermore, on this trip you won’t be able to buy replacement tools from Wilbur like you usually would.
Finally, you can use your Nook Phone at any time to call the Rescue Service. While you’re unlikely to become physically trapped, calling them will reset the maze, so they’re very handy if you mess up and need to start again. Just be aware that it costs 100 Nook Miles per rescue/reset — though since this maze is only available to players who’ve been playing ACNH for a year or more, I’m guessing that scraping that amount together won’t present much of a problem.
And with that, you’re ready to begin the maze.
May Day Maze 2021, Part 1: Building a ladder
First, pick up shovel and use it to dig up shrub to the right. Pick up the Fruit.
Eat the fruit and dig up the tree that is blocking the path. You can now enter the maze proper.
Collect everything that’s immediately accessible: 2x Wood directly ahead and 2x Fruit to the right (for the latter, you need to hop over the water pit).
Next, go all the way to the left and dig up the shrub there. Continue left, jumping over water hazard, and pick up 1x Softwood (and the Ladder recipe if you need it — which, let’s be real, you almost certainly don’t). There’s a workbench just north of you, but you can’t craft anything just yet.
Eat 1x Fruit and break the rock with your shovel. Go up and right, cross the water pit, and pick up 2x Softwood.
Then eat some Fruit and dig up the tree. This clears a path downwards. Jump over the water pit and collect another 2x Fruit.
Loop all the way back around, navigating the water pits, until you are back at the central clearing where you entered the maze. Go back to the right-hand side. Eat some Fruit and break the rock that blocks the path.
Pick up another 1x Fruit (you should now have two in total), eat one, and dig up the tree. Pick up the 2x Hardwood. Then hop over the water pit, eat your last Fruit, and dig up the tree.
In the new area, pick up 1x Fruit and 2x Wood — the latter are semi-hidden between hedges and can be hard to spot, so don’t miss them!
Return to the start of this area, hop over the water pit, and collect 1x Softwood from the square clearing.
Instead of carrying on in this area, retrace your steps all the way back to the left-hand side. This will involve a bit of looping around water pits, but eventually you will reach the workbench you saw earlier. Eat some Fruit, break the rock next to the workbench, and grab the 2x Hardwood.
Now you have four of every type of wood. Return to the workbench and craft a Ladder.
May Day Maze 2021, Part 2: Finding Rover
Now you have a ladder, you can move between ground level and cliff level. You probably noticed a tool up on the cliff just above where you picked up that ladder recipe earlier (just below the workbench). Use your new ladder to climb up there and pick up the Worn Axe.
Tempting as it is to chop down the two nearby trees, don’t do that. The Worn Axe is only good for three swings (i.e. one felled tree) before it breaks, and you can’t get another one, so you need to make it count — or you’ll have to call in the Rescue Service and restart the whole maze!
Instead, retrace your steps all the way back to the right-hand side. In the central strip of this area, jump across the water pit to the tree on the left that’s blocking the path.
You don’t have any Fruit right now, so you can’t dig it up. Instead, use your Worn Axe to chop it down. The axe will break afterwards, but you don’t need it any more. Use your shovel to dig up the stump.
Use your ladder to climb up on the cliff and collect the 2x Fruit up there. Then dig up the shrub and climb down back to ground level in the spot it was blocking. You’re now back in the area just south of the workbench.
Head up past the workbench to the two trees that are blocking your path. Eat the 2x Fruit you just picked up and dig them both out of the ground.
Follow the path, climb up the cliffs that are blocking the way and pick up the 3x Fruit you find there. Then climb down the other side.
Dig up the shrub and hop over the water pit. You’re once again back in a familiar part of the maze.
This time, loop around the water pits (using the square clearing to turn around in) until you reach the tree at the very top of the maze. Eat 1x Fruit and dig that tree up!
Use your ladder to climb up the cliff and speak to Rover. He’ll ask how you’ve been in the year since he last saw you: you can either put a brave face on things, or take the opportunity to pour your heart out. Either way, he’ll be very pleasant and promise to write to you soon.
Optional: Climb down the cliffs to Rover’s right, so you’re on the beach. Run all the way back to the beginning and dig up three shrubs, hopping over the water pit in the middle.
This will bring you back to the beginning of the maze, right next to Wilbur and the plane. However, don’t leave yet! This just makes it easier to explore the island and go back to chat to Rover again without having to run through the maze every time.
May Day Maze 2021, Part 3: Collecting Bell Vouchers
You can exit the maze after speaking to Rover it will count as completed. But if you do this, you’ll miss out on several Bell Vouchers that are still waiting to be picked up within the maze. Instead, use your ladder to climb down the cliff to the left of Rover’s campfire. The placement of shrubs here might look like you can’t get down there, but you can.
Dig up the shrub to the left and pick up the 4x Bell Vouchers.
Go to the top of the island. Run all the way along until you reach the upper left-hand corner of the maze. Eat 1x Fruit, break the rock, and pick up 2x more Fruit.
Leave this area again and head left, onto the beach. Run all the way down to the bottom of the maze. Eat all your remaining Fruit (you should have three left) and break the three rocks with your shovel. Pick up the five Bell Tokens in the area you just opened up.
Dig up the three shrubs to the right, hopping over the water pit in the middle. You’re now back at the start of the maze, just above Wilbur and the plane.
Congratulations, you did it! You’re now free to explore the maze island (although there’s not much left to see, since you’ve dug up just about everything save one lonely shrub).
But you can head back up top and chat to Rover some more; or you could even call the Rescue Service to re-try the maze if you like. However, this will cause everything to reset, including your inventory, so you can’t use it to farm Bell Vouchers I’m afraid.
Once you’re ready to leave, talk to Wilbur. He’ll give you the usual spiel, but with the additional reminder that he’s clearing out your inventory. While your tools and resources from the trip will be gone for good, he promises to mail you your Bell Vouchers.
What are the rewards for completing the May Day Maze 2021?
Once you get back from the maze island, you can head to resident services and talk to Tom Nook. This won’t get you any physical rewards, but you’ll get a special bit of dialogue where he thanks you for taking part in the May Day celebrations, and expresses his gratitude for all that you do for the island and its community. It’s a rare sweet moment where he doesn’t try to sell you anything, so make the most of it!
However, if you’re all about more tangible rewards, you’ll need to wait a day or two and then check your mailbox. Wilbur will be mailing those nine Bell Vouchers, so once they arrive you’ll be able to take them at Nook’s Cranny and exchange them for a cool 27,000 Bells.
You’ve also got that letter from Rover to look forward to. We haven’t seen it yet, but thanks to data miners, we’ve had a sneak peek at its probable contents. It looks like this year’s reward item is going to be Rover’s Photo, which you can display in your home alongside pictures of your favourite villagers.
For more Animal Crossing: New Horizons guides — including more event guides like this one — check out our guide hub page.