Tool

Tools are items held by the player and are used to manipulate objects in the town. Basic tools, and some silver tools can be bought from Tom Nook, but golden tools need to be earnt.

History
Tools first appear in the Gamecube version of Animal Crossing when the player is asked to deliver an axe to a villager while working part-time. Following the end of the part-time tutorial, the player is able to purchase tools from Tom Nook.

How to Obtain
Here is how to obtain them in each game.

Axes

 * Axe - 400 Bells from Tom Nook's store.
 * Golden Axe - Have a perfect town for 2 weeks by talking to the Wishing Well.

Fishing Rods

 * Fishing Rod - 500 Bells from Tom Nook's store.
 * Golden Rod - Catch every fish species.

Nets

 * Net - 500 Bells from Tom Nook's store.
 * Golden Net - Catch every insect species.

Shovels

 * Shovel - 500 Bells from Tom Nook's store.
 * Golden Shovel - Bury a shovel in a 'shiny' spot where you dug up 1,000 Bells. A tree bearing a golden shovel will grow in its place.

Animal Crossing: Wild World
The slingshots, timers, and watering cans were introduced in this game.

Axes

 * Axe - 400 Bells from Tom Nook's store.
 * Golden Axe - Complete the Golden Axe Trading Event.

Fishing Rods

 * Fishing Rod - 500 Bells from Tom Nook's store.
 * Golden Rod - Catch every fish species.

Nets

 * Net - 500 Bells from Tom Nook's store.
 * Golden Net - Catch every insect species.

Shovels

 * Shovel - 500 Bells from Tom Nook's store.
 * Golden Shovel - Bury a shovel and dig it up 24 hours later.

Slingshots

 * Slingshot - 500 Bells from Tom Nook's store.
 * Golden Slingshot - Shoot down 14 items. The 15th item to fall maybe a golden slingshot.

Watering Cans

 * Watering Can - 500 Bells from Tom Nook's store.
 * Golden Can - Achieve perfect town status for 16 days.

Timers

 * Timer - 500 Bells from Tom Nook's store.

Animal Crossing: City Folk
Animal Crossing: City Folk has all of the tools from previous games with a new twist: Silver Tools. Silver tools are slightly easier to obtain than Golden Tools but their effects differ.



Axes

 * Axe - 400 Bells from Tom Nook's store.
 * Silver Axe - Throw an axe in the town fountain (obtained through donating to the Town Fund). Once thrown in, sweet-talk Serena in hopes of getting one. One try per day.
 * Golden Axe - Same as Silver Axe but harder to get.

Fishing Rods

 * Fishing Rod - 500 Bells from Tom Nook's store.
 * Silver Rod - Rarely sold at Tom Nook's store.
 * Golden Rod - Catch every fish species.

Nets

 * Net - 500 Bells from Tom Nook's store.
 * Silver Net - Rarely sold at Tom Nook's store.
 * Golden Net - Catch every insect species.

Shovels

 * Shovel - 500 Bells from Tom Nook's store.
 * Silver Shovel - Visit Mr. Resetti's Surveillance Center in the City after 8pm on a random day. The center is on the right side of the city, normally blocked off by orange cones.
 * Golden Shovel - Bury a shovel and dig it up 24 hours later.



Slingshots

 * Slingshot - 500 Bells from Tom Nook's store.
 * Silver Slingshot - Rarely sold at Tom Nook's store.
 * Golden Slingshot - Shoot down 7 items. The 8th item to fall may be a golden slingshot (it's attached to 3 balloons).

Watering Cans

 * Watering Can - 500 Bells from Tom Nook's store.
 * Silver Can - Buy 50 seeds from Tom Nook's store. It will arrive in the mail.
 * Golden Can - Achieve perfect town status for or 15 days.

Timers

 * Timer - 500 Bells from Tom Nook's store.

About the Tools
This is what all tools do. In some games, they do different things but they have the same basic gameplay.

Axes
Axes can chop down trees. Axes can break from wear and tear over time, but overall, they are useful tools. Silver and Golden Axes are NOT breakable and can chop down faster than normal Axes.

Fishing Rod
These are used to catch fish. Catching fish is very essential to the game if you want to complete the Museum. Silver and Golden Fishing Rods lure better and catch better than the normal rod.

Net
Another essential tool for filling the museum, the net is used to catch insects as well as arachnids and sometimes, crustaceans. The silver and gold net catches better than the regular and is shiny. The reason why they catch better is the simple fact that the better they are, the wider the radius for the hole on the net.

Shovel
Shovels are used to bury and dig. They are also essential for filling the museum. The shovels are also used to dig up tree stumps left over from cutting trees with the axes. The Silver Shovel can get more money from money rocks but the Golden Shovel can plant money trees.

Slingshot
Slingshots are used to knock presents down from balloons. Everybody wants presents so everybody wants slingshots. The Silver and Golden Slingshots can shoot more pebbles at balloons, increaing your chance of knocking them down.

Watering Can
The gardener's best friend, the watering can. They are used to revive dead plants to life, such joy only insects can be happy about it... Silver Cans can revive red turnips back to life but sadly, only the golden watering can produce golden roses by reviving dead, black roses.

Timer
This tool isn't very essential, but it is a useful tool. You can set a time on it, and it will act as a timer. It can time 3, 5, 10, and 15 minutes. During wifi, if someone starts a timer, another person can stop it. Also during wifi, when a timer is finished timing time, a thought bubble appears, revealing how much fish and bugs somebody caught.