A home rammed with stuff is a Happy Home
A recurring part of Animal Crossing is the ability to have your home evaluated and judged by a panel of experts known only as the Happy Home Academy. If your home meets their (seemingly) arbitrary requirements then BANG!, you got a good number appear in a letter in your postbox. Hooray for you.
Expanding the lore of this shadowy SPECTRE-like organisation into its own game, Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer was born. This 3DS spin-off behaved entirely differently to the main games, and instead of tending to a town in real time you were instead tasked with designing and building (wait for it) happy homes. And classrooms. And other things. Basically, if it was any type of room, you could take a run up and design the heck out of it, according to your client’s requirements.
Although clients have various specifications and wishes, most can be completely ignored and they’ll still love it. The game wasn’t terribly strict with you and instead allowed you to get away with doing as much or as little as you wanted, and better yet it didn’t even have to make much sense. Unsurprisingly, this laid-back attitude caused some players to feel the game had little challenge, but we still enjoyed it and collecting the associated NFC-chipped amiibo cards became a mild obsession.
However, the game did introduce undeniable improvements when it came to the object management in and around your humble abode; you could design gardens, move objects in ‘half grids’, and there was a lot more in terms of item variation and styles. Thankfully, New Leafers didn’t have to wait until the next series entry to enjoy these features in the main games – they were included in the Welcome amiibo update, and very welcome they were, too.
Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer released in the latter half of 2015 to a mixed response from fans and critics, although it wasn’t the only Animal Crossing spin-off we got that year…
Animal Crossing: The Bored Game
Around the same time as Happy Home Designer, there was another Animal Crossing project brewing, one that had single-handedly dragged Nintendo’s 2015 E3 showcase down from ‘pretty meh’ to ‘why are you doing this to us?!?’. Animal Crossing: amiibo Festival, the first high definition game in the series is a party game. A party game that used amiibo, to the point that you actively had to own amiibo in order to play the game, no exceptions. You’d tap your amiibo on the Gamepad, you’d move a randomly selected number of spaces, and then something either good, bad, or uninspiring would happen. You’d lose or gain bells or happiness, and the person with the highest total at the end wins.
an excuse to manufacture the adorable Animal Crossing amiibo line...and for that we are thankful
You do get these admittedly charming little mini-cutscenes whenever you land on a space. It’s really quite pleasing the first three times you see it, but it’s not long before dark thoughts cloud your mind: oh god is this all the game has to offer?
Essentially, yes. The game was heavily criticised for being mindless, uninteresting, and no more than a vehicle to sell amiibo which can now be bought for an absolute pittance. The game was almost universally panned, and there honestly isn’t a lot else to say about it. It’s something most fans would rather forget. Animal Crossing: amiibo Festival provided an excuse to manufacture the adorable Animal Crossing amiibo line (the cute figurine ones, not the card series), and for that we are thankful.
Lining Nintendo's pockets
And that wasn’t the end of the spinoff train either. In late 2017 Nintendo released the free-to-play Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp for Android and iOS smart devices and everyone immediately lost their minds fearing this is the direction the series was going to take forever.
Pocket Camp was and still is a strange beast, taking notes from the main series but stripping most of the game back to a simpler form, likely because you don’t have a controller to guide your character around, only one of your filthy digits. This is also the first (and currently only) game in the series to include the option of in-game purchases or microtransactions. That’s right, you can spend your hard-earned real-life currency if you so wish, or you could be a chump and be ‘patient’.
as a free game, there’s much to like about Pocket Camp
The response to this vastly different way to play was met with some criticism, but constant updates and the introduction of new things to do have resulted in a game that most players rate as ‘fine’, with a few muttering a well-enunciated ‘meh’ and a handful declaring the arrival of the apocalypse, as heralded by this vile cash-grab in the guise of an Animal Crossing game.
For our money, it’s simple enough to not engage with the systems you don’t like and as a free game, there’s much to like about Pocket Camp, although it’s nothing like the full-fat experience fans have been clamouring for since Switch was launched back in 2017. Happy Home Designer, amiibo Festival and Pocket Camp were merely stepping stones to a new destination...
Broadened Horizons
Animal Crossing characters have appeared in a variety of other places as well, most notably the Super Smash Bros. and Mario Kart series and from humble, local beginnings the series has blossomed. Its importance in Nintendo’s library these days cannot be understated, and its popularity continues to soar.
The delay of the upcoming Switch entry Animal Crossing: New Horizons from its original 2019 release date to 20th March 2020 has created a fervent hype the kind of which is usually reserved for mainline Mario or Zelda releases, with fans ravenous for New Horizons details since the title was first revealed. After years of diligent work Animal Crossing has quietly become one of Nintendo’s biggest franchises, an evergreen money-spinner and a joyful series that brings people together like few others are able.
Not bad at all for a game born of loneliness.
Can't wait for New Horizons? Can't understand what all the fuss is about? Feel free to share your thoughts and feelings in the comments box below, macmoo. And if you're interested to find out our personal ranking of every game in the series so far (released in the West, that is), check out our list of the best Animal Crossing games ever.
Comments 24
I am an AC virgin and am looking forward to popping my (furry?) Cherry with the Switch release 😀
Animal Crossing is one of the most unique franchises ever. It might be the only series that I get excited for when they release a new screenshot of a sofa.
Seriously though with all of the issues going on in our world right now, I cannot think of a better time to get lost in a new AC game with all of my gaming buddies.
I remember when this game came out on the gamecube, it was kind of a cult thing that I never got into. I remember how the game was sold with it's own memory card because it took up so much space for the time. Wild World for the DS is when the series really blew up it seems, that is the first version of the game I really got into and having it on a portable made it the kind of experience where you could easily just check in all the time. I have never been the biggest fan of the series but I think it's got a lot of charm and I am looking forward to checking out this latest Switch version. I think it's the kind of game that I sort of grow to appreciate as I get older, now a days I really enjoy these slower paced games.
@Dayton311 I actually withdrew to a lifestyle in a cabin in the woods, surrounded by animals.
No joke. It's the only way I can find SOME peace.
Now the government is trying to bully me out, make me destroy my tiny little home, or pay €1150 -that I don't have, let alone want to give to them- EXTRA tax extortion every year on top of that which I already pay.
Gone peace.
Why? "To demotivate living in forest areas, and protect forests and living in the city". Also, "if you have a house in a forest you must be rich". The only reason it's still a forest here, the animals and trees here have nothing to fear, and have not been killed and cut down and built upon in concrete and steel, is because I live here... And I may FEEL rich on a good day, but by their standards, I live way below the limits of poverty.
I always love reading about Animal Crossing.
@Dayton311 I get how you feel. I came into the series around New leaf and Im still playing it still till this day, and I love the game series, so when I found out they had New Horizons I was like I can't wait. But ya playing with your friends is awesome specially since New Horizons is four players, can't wait. I havn't played anything before New Leaf but I have been trying to find the games especially the one on gamecube because I have my gamecube ready to pop the game in and start.
This was fun to read, always like reading about the history of any game series.
My first venture into the series was New Leaf and I was instantly hooked. New Horizons looks like a significant step up in every way. Gonna be a fun time. 😀
I'm ready to spend several hundred more hours in my favorite feng shui simulator.
This is gonna the best game of the year. Nobody develops such unquie franchises like Nintendo. I don't understand how they can develop so many games. Sony and Microsoft make like one game a year.
Can't wait for New Horizons! Got the limited edition console pre ordered. Wild World was my first animal crossing game and I'm so glad I got it all those years (14!) ago. Introduced me to such a lovely series 😊
Ahh, Animal Crossing, the original Virtual Console.
My first timer
@mesome713 A little presumptuous seeing as we're only in March, but I'm sure they definitely appreciate the spirit! And yeah, I agree on the MS and Sony front. Number of dev teams aside, Nintendo makes a quality software product that MS and Sony's first-party teams can't even touch. Sure, ARMS or amiibo Festival are on par with Knack or LittleBigPlanet as far as concepts go, but Nintendo's gameplay is rock-solid compared to theirs.
@AlienX & @JayJ, The playable NES games on the GC version were a great bonus. Good times!
I got into animal crossing by accident. I grabbed the happy home designer new 3ds bundle that released in North America because I wanted a new 3ds with a white interior and that was the first one available. Figured what the heck might as well try the game it came with, downloaded new leaf a week later
Been playing Nintendo since the beginning and I have never paid any attention to the Animal Crossing series. It's just not for me. But...my wife just got herself a Switch Lite and she's intrigued. So I read this article to find out what the big deal is and...I guess I get it.
She likes easy going, slice-of-life creative games like the Sims and what not, so I'm thinking she might find this charming.
I only vaguely knew the series existed prior to New Leaf. Though I suspect I would have liked it had I tried it. My best friend talked me into getting New Leaf after she got it and I have loved the series since. Though people have told me there is little reason to go back and try older titles.
Animal Crossing New Leaf 3DS was my first time i got hyped with the game after 1 - 2 weeks i played. 😀
I remember this game coming out on the GameCube. I remember looking at it as yet another reason to be disappointed in Nintendo. The GameCube is my least favorite Nintendo system. I thought the game sounded silly. My thinking back then was, if it wasn’t the Sims, why bother? This, along with Pikmin, havr surprised me with their fandom and longevity. I still haven’t played one single AC game, but it’s fun to read about the games and the fans reaction. Like when people lost it over some character being featured at the end of one of Nintendo’s announcement videos. I think it was a female character and she was sitting in an office setting.
I've only played New Leaf - only started playing it from January last year - and am still going. I wasn't planning to get New Horizon day one because of the season in the south is heading into winter and camping would seem miserable and was satisfied to experience New Leaf through autumn and summer again. Now I changed my mind.
Since I never played Wild World, City Folk was my first Animal Crossing game and I have some fond memories of it. Playing Animal Crossing on a home console feels more immersive, even if you can't take it with you-
Wow, suddenly Animal Crossing on Switch felt more perfect
"The DS packed quite a punch features-wise including in-built features that the GameCube didn’t possess, like a microphone that you could use to scream at other villagers to find out where they were. Parents loved that." hahaha
What I nice article. I highly enjoyed reading it.
@kalosn Yeah, although I never got to play either of the console versions as New Leaf was my first Animal Crossing experience, I always imagined it would feel quite different to be playing the game on a big tv rather than a handheld, especially since I've always been more of a console than a handheld guy. In that way the Switch almost feels like it was custom made for Animal Crossing. You get both experiences in one system. Although I'll likely be doing most of my New Horizons playing on the big tv at home, I imagine I'll also take frequent advantage of the handheld mode simply because it's kind of game that encourages daily play and you don't always have the time or the ability to dedicate to playing at home.
I remember having to choose between this and NFS:UG. I got this and was immediately hooked.
There was no pressure to beat anybody or anything, there was a real sense of freedom and there was so much to do. It was relaxing in a way no other game had been before.
I can’t wait to jump back into AC after not having played since the first one.
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