New Horizons Bug Gives Mabel a New Job

A strange Animal Crossing: New Horizons bug gives Mabel from the Able Sisters shop a new job locale that differs from her clothing service.

Highlights

  • A rare bug in Animal Crossing: New Horizons places Mabel in Nook’s Cranny instead of her usual spot at Able Sisters.
  • This glitch has been experienced by one player for two years, even after moving Able Sisters’ location.
  • Visiting players can move Mabel back to the correct location, but it’s unclear how the Able Sisters shop functions without her.


An Animal Crossing: New Horizons player has discovered an unusual bug that places the NPC Mabel in Nook’s Cranny. Nook’s Cranny is typically staffed by Timmy and Tommy Nook, but this glitch adds a third NPC to the Animal Crossing: New Horizons shop.

Since the first Animal Crossing was released for the GameCube, the Nook’s Cranny store has been a central part of the game. While some iterations have Tom Nook working at the shop, the role has since been given to his nephews Timmy and Tommy. Unlike other games in the series, New Horizons‘ version of the shop only upgrades from the initial iteration once. Players can make purchases at Resident Services before a shop opens after three days of buying and selling. Although the shop is usually just tended by Timmy and Tommy, this player has a bug that places Mabel in the building instead of where she’s supposed to be.

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Reddit user DetectiveNervous7426 recently shared a screenshot from Animal Crossing: New Horizons showing Mabel in Nook’s Cranny. Mabel normally works with her sister Sable at Animal Crossing: New Horizons‘ Able Sisters store. Sable is normally working in the back of the clothing shop, while Mabel helps players access the changing room and completes orders. Instead of working at the Able Sisters, this player has only encountered Mabel at Nook’s Cranny for two years. According to the gamer, this continues even after moving the Able Sisters’ location. Despite this issue, when playing with other people the Reddit user has discovered that Mabel will return to where she’s supposed to be.

Though DetectiveNervous7426 has confirmed that visiting players will move Mabel, it’s unclear how the Able Sisters shop works without the NPC. Animal Crossing: New Horizons villagers can often be spotted shopping at the Able Sisters and Nook’s Cranny, but NPCs don’t unless affected by bugs like this. When players have a fully upgraded island, NPCs can occasionally be spotted at The Roost in the Museum. During these appearances, players can speak to the characters to get dialogue they may not otherwise see. Animal Crossing Amiibo can also be used to bring in characters like Celeste, Joan, and Mabel with Sable.

While other Animal Crossing: New Horizons bugs have been reported, this one affecting Mabel is very rare. Given that DetectiveNervous7426 never explained how Mabel ended up in this position, it’s currently not known how others can replicate the glitch.

animal crossing new horizons

Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is the fifth major game in the Animal Crossing series. This slice-of-life simulation game tasks the player with developing an abandoned island into a small town for its resident villagers. The game was released at the start of worldwide lockdowns amid the COVID-19 pandemic, which catapulted it into massive success. It’s currently the best selling game of all time in Japan.

Developer(s)
Nintendo EPD