Animal Crossing[a] is a social simulation video game series developed and published by Nintendo.
[1][2][3][4][5] The player character is a human who lives in a village inhabited by various anthropomorphic animals and can do various activities like fishing, insect catching, and fossil hunting.
The series is notable for its open-ended gameplay, cute dialogue, hourly music, and use of the console's internal clock and calendar to simulate real passage of time.
Paid DLC for the Nintendo Switch game Animal Crossing: New Horizons was also released, named Happy Home Paradise.
Gameplay is open-ended: players have no defined objectives but are instead encouraged to spend their time in the village performing any number of activities which include collecting items, crafting items, planting plants, insect catching, fishing, and socializing with the village's residents.
[7] One notable feature of the Animal Crossing series is the high level of customization available, some of which affects the outcome of the game.
Players collect objects to obtain more Bells, which can then be used to buy furniture and clothing, purchase home expansions, and play games.
The player can choose to socialize with the other animal residents by engaging in conversation, sending and receiving letters, bartering, or playing hide-and-seek.
Slider is a canine traveling musician, based on series composer Kazumi Totaka, who plays on certain nights in the player's town.
[25] Happy Home Designer is a community simulation video game for the Nintendo 3DS and the first spin-off of the Animal Crossing series.
By scanning Amiibo cards, players can unlock the ability to design special characters' houses.
[35] In October 2021, Nintendo announced a paid DLC for Animal Crossing: New Horizons named Happy Home Paradise.
On August 21, 2024 the Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp X account posted a statement informing players about the end of service for the game on November 28.
[57] New Horizons grossed an estimated $2 billion in its first year as of March 2021[update], the fifth highest ever first-year revenue for any video game.
[58] This brings combined gross revenue to over $2.15 billion for New Horizons and Pocket Camp as of March 2021[update].
In reaction, the game, although not officially unavailable in mainland China, has been removed from online stores such as Taobao, but parallel import copies continue to remain on sale.
[62][63] In the Wii game WarioWare: Smooth Moves, released in Japan in 2006 and Europe, North America and Australia in 2007, there is a minigame that is modeled after Animal Crossing: Wild World.
Most prominent is a stage based on the animal village, called "Smashville", which changes its scenery in accordance with the Wii system clock[64] and features a number of songs remixed or extracted from the original game.
[65] Mr. Resetti and a pitfall seed, which appear in all Animal Crossing games, are available as an Assist Trophy and an item respectively.
The character's moves include the ability to catch other players in a net and firing Lloid the gyroid as a missile.
[76] The two racers, along with the Animal Crossing track, were also included in the Nintendo Switch version of the game, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe along with a racing suit based on the series for the Mii.
In June 2015, Isabelle and Mr. Resetti-themed cosmetics were added as costume options for the player's "Palico" companion in Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate.
[77] An anime film adaptation of Wild World, titled Dōbutsu no Mori, was released in Japan on December 16, 2006.
[78] In June 2020, a manga adaptation written and illustrated by Kokonasu Rumba and based on New Horizons, titled New Horizons-Deserted Island Diary, began serialization in Shogakukan's Monthly CoroCoro Comics magazine.