Cockroaches are a nuisance in anyone's home -- and they're prone to invading the homes of inactive Animal Crossing: New Horizons players, too. After a few weeks away (or a lot of time travel), roaches will begin spawning in players' homes and the only thing to do is kill them. However, there's a more efficient way than running around trying to find them.
On the off chance players don't want to interact with the cockroaches in any way or prefer having them scurry around -- perhaps for thematic reasons, like if their house is supposed to be haunted or abandoned -- there is some good news. Cockroaches in the game aren't nearly as destructive as the real thing. Furniture and housing structures will not be damaged, characters will not get sick or bitten and no eggs or droppings will be left behind.
However, it's recommended to get rid of cockroaches as quickly as possible, for a few reasons. Not only do they make player characters squeamish and make the player house look disgusting, but they drastically lower players' Happy Home Academy scores.
Unlike with most other terrifying insects in the game -- like scorpions, tarantulas and wasps -- cockroaches cannot be caught, because players cannot take out their tools when they're indoors. Unfortunately, this also means they also can't be donated to Blathers at the museum.
The most common strategy for getting rid of cockroaches in Animal Crossing: New Horizons is to run around and squash them. Simply walking or running over a roach will kill it. Their deaths are signaled by a small, ghostly spirit rising up from where the insect once was.
This method works, but depending on the amount of roaches, where the roaches are hiding and how good the player is at timing their run with the roaches' scurrying, it can be tricky. These bugs are fast and have a knack for hiding under furniture, forcing players to move the furniture or wait for the bugs to come out of hiding. Leaving any number of roaches alive results in more roaches coming back.
Players would have to check under every piece of furniture in their homes by moving or storing them to ensure no stragglers have managed to escape being squashed. However, there is a more effective strategy to getting rid of cockroaches that not only saves time, but is also very satisfying.
Instead of moving that heavy bed or table, then running to squash a roach, it is much simpler to just drop that heavy piece of furniture on top of the bugs while in design mode. After pressing the down arrow to enter design mode, players can pick up any piece of furniture and hold it in the air using A, then drop it on any roaches that scurry across the floor. Furniture covers more space and players do less running. This also helps eliminate a potential hiding spot for the roaches. With this method, players will effectively take out multiple roaches with minimal effort.