He first appeared in the Nintendo 64 game Dōbutsu no Mori, released in Europe and North America on the GameCube as Animal Crossing.

Nook sells a house to the player at the beginning of each title in the series (with Animal Crossing: New Leaf and Animal Crossing: New Horizons being an exception, as Nook sells the player a tent at the start of those games), giving a set mortgage for them to pay, and offering to upgrade it after the mortgage is paid off.

Rich Amtower and Reiko Ninomiya, members of Nintendo's Treehouse localization team, described him as "that first boss you ever had", adding that, "despite him being all business and not always having the time for pleasantries, Nook isn't a bad person; because he hired someone new to town.

[2] Tom Nook first appears in the Nintendo 64 title Dōbutsu no Mori (ported to the GameCube as Animal Crossing in non-Japanese regions) as the town's main shop owner, and continues his job in the next two installments.

In addition to being the main shop owner, Nook will also sell the player a house at the beginning of the game for around 19,800 Bells (the in-game currency).

They describe him as devious, diabolical, and sinister, commenting that while he may not be a good fighter due to being from a video game without any fighting, they would enjoy seeing him get beaten up.

By condensing all of the environment's financial transactions into one flow between the player and Tom Nook, the game proceduralizes the redistribution of wealth in a manner even young children can understand.

IGN listed him among the top 100 video game villains, suggesting that Tom Nook has a nice face, but the "cold, dead heart of a megalomaniac whose sole desire is to make a quick bell".

[18] Fellow IGN editor Patrick Kolan described Nook as the Animal Crossing equivalent of Al Swearengen, a pimp from the 1800s, due to his business sense, as well as both the character's position and disposition.

[21] In a satirical article written by GamesRadar, they suggest that the cast of Animal Crossing, most importantly Tom Nook, were setting the player up into a "furry cult".

[24] In the TV show Robot Chicken, Tom Nook is parodied in the sketch The Raccoon of Wall Street, where he is portrayed as a business tycoon who made trillions of bells by using illegal practices.