Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is a main installment in the  for the Nintendo Switch, that released on March 20, 2020. It's the first new installment in the main since 2012's, and the first for a home console since 2008's.

In a departure from previous titles in the series, the player lives on a deserted island rather than in a town (referred to as the "Nook Inc. Deserted Island Getaway Package"). Crafting from has also returned in this installment.

Development and unveiling
The game was teased during a Nintendo Direct on September 13, 2018, and was originally intended to be released in 2019.

During E3 2019 on June 11, 2019, the gameplay (from trailer and Treehouse interview) and title were shown. It was revealed that the game had been delayed to March 20, 2020, stating that "to ensure the game is the best it can be, we must ask that you wait a little longer than we thought." Later, President of Nintendo of America Doug Bowser said the following: "The crunch point is an interesting one, for us, one of our key tenets is that we bring smiles to people's faces, and we talk about that all the time. It's our vision. Or our mission, I should say. For us, that applies to our own employees. We need to make sure that our employees have good work-life balance. One of those examples is, we will not bring a game to market before it's ready. We just talked about one example (means this game delay). It's really important that we have that balance in our world. It's actually something we're proud of."

This title is expected to support more languages than all previous entries in the series, being the first to support the Chinese language since, which was ported to the iQue Player with simplified Chinese support exclusively for mainland China in 2006. This is also the first main series title since to have two separate Spanish language localizations; one for Spain and the other for Latin America. It has been erroneously reported to be the first title, in general, to do so, albeit it will be the first title to include all localizations collectively regardless of regional release. This is the first main series title to ever include Dutch and Russian languages.

An Animal Crossing Nintendo Direct took place on February 20, 2020, showcasing multiple new features of the game such as terrain editing, additional house customization and much more.

Update history
will be regularly updated with new content and special events. Unlike previous games, most events do not exist in the game's data until they are added through an update. These events are not available to experience in the game until the first real-world date on which it occurs, therefore time-travelling cannot be exploited to experience them ahead of time. An online date verification is required to experience the event for the first time, at which point they will reoccur offline indefinitely.

Gameplay
Tom Nook has a new business venture selling the Nook Inc. Deserted Island Getaway Package, which is sold to the player. The game begins on a nearly deserted island where the player can explore, collect resources, and craft various items (including tools and furniture). Resources can be collected through various methods, such as chopping at trees with an axe for several types of wood, or hitting rocks with a shovel for clay, stone, and ores. Several different types of weeds appear, which can also be used as materials once plucked. Crafting is done through either Tom Nook's workbench, or a bench crafted by the player. With these mechanics, the player is able to build and develop the island over time. Players are also able to dig up clams in the sand, which can then be used as fishing bait, or as crafting materials. Additionally, trees and flowers can be shoveled up to be stored in the pocket, while picking flowers will leave the stems, with the flowers being usable as materials.

As in, the game features the ability to place furniture outside. A new Vaulting Pole tool can be created, giving the ability to vault over rivers, as well as a ladder, allowing the player to climb up cliffs.

The player can earn an Island Designer Construction Permit. This allows them to pave roads (instead of having to place patterns on the ground), as well as modify rivers and cliffs.

Up to eight players can live in the player's island, however, the island remains the same for one Nintendo Switch.

Player
Players can fully customize their characters, similar to and. This includes skin tones, gender-neutral hairstyles, and nose shapes. The player characters' overall design is slightly more detailed than in previous titles, featuring a more subdued color scheme and clear hair physics and shaders. The players also appear more expressive, showing a thoughtful expression when selecting items in their pocket, and moving their eyes around to look at nearby villagers and bugs.

The player also possesses a new item called the NookPhone, which features multiple different applications that the player can use such as Nook Miles, Rescue Service, Local Play and many more.

The player can purchase a variety of clothes from the Able Sisters shop and presumably other shops. Able Sisters now includes a fitting room allowing the player to try on clothes.

Multiplayer
An island can support up to eight players. For the first time in the series, four players can play at the same time on a single system, and up to eight can play together through online multiplayer or local wireless. Online play requires a Nintendo Switch Online subscription.

In local multiplayer, the screen boundaries will follow player 1; however, they may transfer their "leadership" to any other players. The lead player is the only player to be able to see text prompts after catching bugs or fish. In online play, all players have equal abilities, as in previous games.

This marks the first game where a player's friend cannot modify the island unless they are marked as a best friend.

Villagers
This is the first game where villagers no longer wear their tops sleeveless. Villagers can also be seen wearing dresses. Sheep now wear normal tops instead of the scarves that were worn up to. Additionally, villagers can move their eyes to look at nearby villagers and bugs, as well as sitting down on the grass, making them more interactive with their surroundings.

The players start with two villagers, who always have Jock and Uchi personalities respectively. If the player dislikes the spot chosen, they can move the villager's house location to wherever they see fit. There are no new personality types introduced in this game.

Exactly 383 villagers from (not including amiibo-exclusive ones) plus eight new have been confirmed.

Special Characters
Tom Nook and his nephews Timmy and Tommy appear in this game. They both initially work in the Resident Services building, but once the player pays their first debt back, Timmy and Tommy will open Nook's Cranny.

Isabelle appears in the game as well. She will work in Resident Services once the player has paid their first debt back.

Mr. Resetti's appearance, while implied, is in question, due to the auto-save feature that allows the game to automatically save in some occasions. There is evidence that Mr. Resetti will be in charge of the new Rescue Service Nookphone App, which was revealed in the Animal Crossing: New Horizons Direct on February 20, 2020. His usual theme song was played during the rescue cut-scene, hinting that he is the one rescuing the player.

K.K. Slider is confirmed to appear at the start of and at other parts of this game, assuming the same role as he does in previous games. His persona as DJ K.K. will not be available in the game at launch however.

Three new characters, a beaver named C.J., a lizard named Flick, and a young boar named Daisy Mae makes their debut in this game, taking over the roles previously established by Chip, Nat, and Joan respectively.

Two Dodos named Orville and Wilbur makes their debut, in which they run an airport called Dodo Airlines.

Blathers, Celeste, Mabel, Sable, and Saharah return offering their usual services while Gulliver can once again be found washed up on the beach.

Label, Kicks, Harvey, and Wisp are confirmed to appear in the game. Their roles in the game are currently unknown.

Connectivity
Players having and  linked on the same account can redeem rewards via the My Nintendo screen in the mobile app. The rewards are 50 Leaf Tickets to use in and a 16-digit download code for Nintendo eShop used to access special furniture and clothing items orders in

Reception
received positive reviews from critics, with many praising how the new entry retained the soul of other titles in the series while providing enhanced visuals and new mechanics.

Ratings include:
 * Famitsu: 38/40
 * IGN: 9/10
 * Metacritic (an average of 51 reviews): 91%
 * Forbes: 100%
 * Telegraph: 100%
 * Nintendo Life: 100%
 * Pocket Gamer UK: 100%