How to time travel in Hello Kitty Island Adventure, and why it’s risky

You can time travel in Hello Kitty Island Adventure, and while it’s one way to supercharge your playthrough, doing so comes with risks — to the degree you might not want to avoid time traveling altogether.

Much of the game progression in Hello Kitty Island Adventure is tied to the Frienship Level you reach with characters. The better friends you become with all the Sanrio cuties, the more quests and items you can unlock. You can level up your friendship with characters by giving them gifts, but the game limits the number of items you can give away every 24 hours in real time.

Time traveling is a way to circumvent this limitation, but the developers of Hello Kitty Island Adventure highly discourage time traveling, warning that it could restrict certain features of the game.

The game doesn’t explain much along these lines, so this guide will teach you how time works in Hello Kitty Island Adventure and show you how to time travel, along with a broader explanation about the risks if you choose to do so.

How time works in Hello Kitty Island Aventure

Hello Kitty Island Adventure uses a time system that combines a short in-game day cycle with a 24-hour daily clock based on the actual time. Each clock regulates different features in the game.

As you play, the time of day on the island changes, as indicated by the amount of sunshine and the little sun and moon icons just above the minimap. The time of day in the game determines factors like what kinds of critters and fish spawn in a certain area. According to Polygon’s testing, one in-game day lasts one hour in real time. If you have a quest that’s dependent on the in-game time and you don’t want to wait, you can go to a cabin with a bed and select a specific time to wake up.

The game also uses a 24-hour timer based on the real-world date and time set in your gaming system. This timer is much more important because it restricts the number of gifts you can award to a specific character without using special items. You can also unlock daily rewards based on real-world time. For the real-world timer, a new day starts at 2:00 a.m. EST.

How to time travel in Hello Kitty Island Adventure

If you want to get around the restrictions placed by the real-world 24-hour clock, you will need to “time travel.” This is the term used to describe the process of editing the system clock in your PC or Nintendo Switch to “trick” the game into thinking a day has passed in the real world.

Hello Kitty Island Adventure is extremely sensitive to time travel. If you do it, you risk comprising your game save for future events. According to the developers, you will also lose access to multiplayer functionality if the game detects it. There is no “right” way to time travel, since it tampers with the game.

If you still want to do it — despite the risks — here are some tips to keep in mind:

Here is how to time travel in Hello Kitty Island Adventure on the Nintendo Switch:

Here is how to time travel in Hello Kitty Island Adventure on Windows PC:

Next, see how to unlock the Net and the Fishing Rod in Hello Kitty Island Adventure.