Animal Crossing players’ favorite coffee-slinging pigeon is moving into the New Horizons museum in November, Nintendo confirmed during Thursday’s September 2021 Direct presentation. Of course, we don’t yet have a ton of information, but Nintendo gave us a peek into Animal Crossing’s newest expansion through a new sign posted at the museum in its short clip: The Roost, open 24/7.
Nintendo offered an early look into what is presumably the new space, albeit blurred with with text overlaid on top. Longtime Animal Crossing fans immediately knew what this was hinting at: Brewster is opening up his coffee shop, The Roost, on your island.
Image: Nintendo
If New Horizons is your first Animal Crossing game, you may be wondering: Who is Brewster? What is The Roost? And why is everyone so dang excited for him to get here? We’ve got answers so you can get acquainted with the bird before Nintendo’s upcoming Animal Crossing Direct in October.
Who is Brewster and what is The Roost?
Brewster is beloved, a longtime fan favorite since his first appearance in 2005’s Animal Crossing: Wild World. Since then, he’s run a coffee shop inside the various game’s museums until New Leaf, when he opened his own store. You can find him behind the counter; he’s the pigeon with small, circular glasses and a fancy waistcoat with an apron. Naturally, he’s very passionate about coffee — and that’s stayed consistent throughout Wild World, City Folk, and New Leaf.
Though his specific behavior is slightly varied depending on what game we’re talking about, Brewster typically starts out a little bit shy — sort of like Sable from the clothing shop. You’ll get more familiar with him the more you step in for coffee, and he’ll start getting more friendly. Sometimes you can get special drinks like pigeon milk. (He is also particular about how players drink coffee: If you don’t drink it hot, you’ll get on his bad side.)
Image: Nintendo EPD/Nintendo
Brewster is also pretty into gyroids, Animal Crossing’s unique little cactus-esque figures that are sometimes alive. In City Folk, players could store their collection in The Roost.
In New Leaf, Brewster’s role became a bit more involved. He’s still there slinging coffee, but players who befriend him will get options to order take-out, and then, eventually, get a part-time job at The Roost, so you, too, can make coffee for villagers. Regulars at The Roost can get specialized coffee, too.
What’ll he be like in New Horizons?
Well, the short answer is that we don’t know yet. Nintendo will host an Animal Crossing Direct in October — it doesn’t even have an exact date yet — before he arrives with a new, free content update in November.
However, it’s implied that The Roost will move back inside the museum. The logo, a green pigeon holding a red cup of coffee, was shown on the sign posted up in the museum, and following the clip, Nintendo had a screen showing his face. The blurred image showed briefly during Thursday’s Direct could also be the inside of The Roost. Wherever it is, it sure does look cozy!
Given how consistent Brewster’s role has been in past entries in the franchise, it seems likely that he’ll be serving up coffee. Of course, there is always the chance things get switched up: In Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp, the mobile game, Brewster hosted an event called Brewster’s Sweet Harvest, which passed out “vineyard” themed gifts to participants — stuff like a barrel of grapes, and a trellis.
What’s the big deal?
It might sound like Brewster hasn’t added a ton of gameplay to other games in the Animal Crossing franchise, and that’s partially true. The coffee he serves doesn’t add any specific benefit to a character that purchases it; the incentive is that you’re able to befriend another character in the game’s world. For me, Brewster’s presence felt so natural given the sense of daily ritual that attracts me to the Animal Crossing franchise. I’ll pull up weeds, water my garden, and get a coffee from Brewster. The Roost itself also feels like a community gathering spot, another place where you can have new interactions with other villagers. Plus, K.K. Slider often performs there! Get that dog out of the rain and into The Roost.
Plenty of folks also really enjoyed having that part-time job at The Roost in New Leaf. Serving up coffee is a fun little minigame that feels unlike anything else currently offered in New Horizons, and a lot of fans are eager to see what Nintendo might iterate on there.
Others are excited by the prospect of gyroids returning to the game, too. Because The Roost was a place for gyroid storage in City Folk, some fans are hoping Nintendo will put this series staple back into the game with New Horizons. If that happens, it means a load of new items to find and collect across the island — and a bunch of new gameplay objectives.
Is anything else coming alongside Brewster?
Image: Nintendo EPD/Nintendo
It seems likely! Given how long Nintendo has gone without a substantial New Horizons update, players are eager for something more to sink their teeth into. During the Nintendo Direct on Thursday, Nintendo hinted that there’s more to the update than just Brewster — alongside the image of Brewster, there’s some text that reads “and more!”
As for what that “and more!” is referring to is anyone’s guess, but we’ll learn more at the Animal Crossing Direct in October. We’ll keep you updated on an exact date for that event.