Animal Crossing (series)

International logo for the Animal Crossing series

This article is about the series. For the game of the same name, see Animal Crossing.

Animal Crossing is a series of social simulation video games developed by Nintendo and created by Katsuya Eguchi and Hisashi Nogami. The series revolves around a human player character living in a town inhabited by animals and performing tasks such as fishing, catching bugs, socializing with the villagers, or collecting items. Animal Crossing is open-ended and uses the system's internal clock to simulate taking place in real-time, with the gameplay changing based on the time of day and year.

Gameplay

Objectives

As an open-ended life simulation game, the Animal Crossing series does not have a set objective. As such, after an introductory sequence at the beginning of the games, players are free to do as they like. The only 'objective' in the game, if any, is to pay off the mortgage placed upon the player's house—but, like most activities within the game, this is entirely optional and does not incur any consequences, other than having less space to store items.

Villagers

In every town in the Animal Crossing series, the village itself is populated entirely by animals (excluding the player, who is the only human shown in the entire series). Villagers are anthropomorphic, and as such, are able to speak, walk in a humanoid manner, use tools, and wear clothes. They serve as interactive characters who are assigned personalities and traits, and this affects the way they communicate with you and among themselves. Villagers are capable of conversation, have unique interests and catchphrases, and live in their own domains within the town.

Villagers will often ask the player to perform tasks for them (ranging from delivering presents to sending messages to another human player). Players can incur a reward if tasks are executed in the set time. In later games, they are also capable of playing games with the player, such as hide-and-seek. Villagers move in and out of the town regularly due to certain factors (e.g. because the player has exchanged animals with another village over Wi-Fi), or simply because they are not satisfied with their current life). It is said that they enjoy receiving letters, and if sent a gift, they will usually send one in return.

Customization

Although earlier games offer few options in terms of customization, more recent games feature the ability to not only customize appearance, but also wallpapers, carpets and furniture in their home, as well as the home's exterior. It is also possible to decorate the ground outdoors with designs.

Activities

Despite being an open-ended game, Animal Crossing does provide some activities to pass the time and help "complete" certain aspects of the gameplay (such as completing exhibits within the museum). Some of these activities include bug-catching, fishing, fossil-hunting, and even item-collecting (the latter an objective to complete the player's catalog). Players can also interact in games of hide-and-seek with villagers, participate in festivals and town events, and generally do as they like within the game.

Games

Mainline series

Boxart	English title	Japanese title	Platform	Release date(s)	Notes
	Doubutsu no Mori	どうぶつの森 Dōbutsu no Mori lit. Animal Forest	Nintendo 64 iQue Player	Nintendo 64: April 14, 2001 iQue Player: June 1, 2006	The first game in the series, released on the Nintendo 64 exclusively in Japan. The game was later released in China for the iQue Player.
	Animal Crossing	どうぶつの森+ Dōbutsu no Mori+ lit. Animal Forest+	Nintendo GameCube	December 14, 2001 September 16, 2002 October 17, 2003 September 24, 2004	Released in Japan as a Nintendo GameCube port of the original game. The port was localized internationally as Animal Crossing, the first game to be released in the west, with numerous aesthetic and gameplay changes and added regional events.
	Doubutsu no Mori e+	どうぶつの森e+ Dōbutsu no Mori e+ lit. Animal Forest e+	Nintendo GameCube	June 27, 2003	Japanese version of localized Animal Crossing with additional changes and updates, including new villagers and enhanced e-Reader support. Released exclusively in Japan.
	Animal Crossing: Wild World	おいでよどうぶつの森 Oideyo Dōbutsu no Mori lit. Animal Forest: Come Here	Nintendo DS Virtual Console	November 23, 2005 December 5, 2005 December 8, 2005 March 31, 2006 December 6, 2007	First game released on a handheld console, first to be released worldwide, first to feature online multiplayer (via Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection)
100px	Animal Crossing: City Folk	街へいこうよどうぶつの森 Machi e ikouyo: Dōbutsu no Mori lit. Let's Go to the City: Animal Forest	Wii	November 16, 2008 November 17, 2008 December 4, 2008 December 5, 2008 January 28, 2010	Some copies of the game were bundled with Wii Speak.
100px	Animal Crossing: New Leaf	とびだせどうぶつの森 Tobidase Dōbutsu no Mori lit. Jump Out Animal Forest	Nintendo 3DS	November 8, 2012 February 8, 2013 June 9, 2013 June 14, 2013 June 15, 2013	First game to utilise stereoscopic 3D visuals. The first player to move to town takes on the role of mayor.
	Animal Crossing: New Leaf Welcome amiibo	とびだせ どうぶつの森 amiibo+ Tobidase Dōbutsu no Mori amiibo+ lit. Jump Out Animal Forest amiibo+	Nintendo 3DS	November 23, 2016 November 24, 2016 November 25, 2016 December 1, 2016 December 8, 2016	Expansion update for New Leaf, adding new villagers, furniture, areas and amiibo functionality. Also released as a standalone updated version of the game.
100px	Animal Crossing: New Horizons	あつまれ どうぶつの森 Atsumare Dōbutsu no Mori lit. Animal Forest: Gather	Nintendo Switch	March 20, 2020	First main Animal Crossing series game to be in high-definition. The player lives on a deserted island.

Spin-off titles

Boxart	English title	Japanese title	Platform	Release date(s)	Notes
	Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer	どうぶつの森：ハッピーホームデザイナ Dōbutsu no Mori: Happī Hōmu Dezainā	Nintendo 3DS	July 30, 2015 September 25, 2015 October 2, 2015 October 3, 2015	Based on New Leaf, this spin-off focuses on designing homes and gardens. First game in the series to use amiibo.
100px	Animal Crossing: amiibo Festival	どうぶつの森amiiboフェスティバル Dōbutsu no Mori: amiibo Fesutibaru	Wii U	November 13, 2015 November 20, 2015 November 21, 2015 November 21, 2015	A multiplayer party game that utilizes amiibo.
	Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp	どうぶつの森 ポケットキャンプ Dōbutsu no Mori: Poketo Kyanpu	iOS Android	October 25, 2017 (Beta) November 21, 2017 November 21, 2017 November 21, 2017	First game to be released on mobile devices. Receives regular content updates.

Other media

Various media based on the Animal Crossing video games has been released, including soundtracks, manga series, and a feature-length film.

Soundtracks

Image	Title	Release date	Music from	Tracks
100px	Doubutsu no Mori: Totakeke Myūjikku		Doubutsu no Mori
100px	Doubutsu no Mori: Totakeke Myūjikku 2		Doubutsu no Mori
100px	Animal Crossing Sound CD: K.K. Choice! Mix	November 21, 2005	Animal Crossing: Wild World	6
	Gekijōban Doubutsu no Mori: Original Soundtrack	December 13, 2006	🎬 Gekijōban Doubutsu no Mori	51
	Machi e Ikō yo Doubutsu no Mori: Mori no Ongakkai		Animal Crossing: City Folk	39
	Animal Crossing: Your Favourite Songs - Original Soundtrack	December 2009	Animal Crossing: City Folk	39

Film

Image	Title	Release date	Directed by	Length
	Gekijōban Doubutsu no Mori	December 16, 2006	Jōji Shimura	87 minutes

Manga

Image	Title	Original run/Release date	Written by	Volumes
100px	Doubutsu no Mori+: Purin-Mura Nikki	April 12, 2003	Noboru Matsuyama	1
	Doubutsu no Mori: Hohinda Mura Dayori	2005 – 2015	Abe Sayori	12
100px	Oideyo Doubutsu no Mori: Shiawase Tsūshin	2006 – 2008	Mako Morie	2
	Minna no Doubutsu no Mori	December 25, 2008	Mayuki Koyama	1
100px	Machi e Ikō yo Doubutsu no Mori: Tanpopo Murada Yori	August 2010	Mako Morie	1
	Tobidase Doubutsu no Mori	2014 – 2015	Kōhē	2
	Tobidase Doubutsu no Mori: Harikiri Sonchō Ippē!	2014 – 2019	Ryohei Osaki	7
	NookTails	2019 – present	Cho Hanayo	7
100px	Atsumare Doubutsu no Mori: Mujintō Diary	2020 – present	Coconas Roomba	2

Gallery

Artwork

The following artwork is not known to have been used to promote any specific game and is instead used to promote the series as a whole.

• 

  Banner artwork showcasing the four seasons as well as various characters.

• 

  Banner artwork featured on the North American Animal Crossing series website.

• 

  Spring

• 

  Summer

• 

  Fall

• 

  Winter

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  Isabelle

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  Timmy and Tommy

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  Timmy and Tommy

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  Apple tree

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  Cedar tree

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  Bulletin Board

External links

Animal Crossing (series) on other wikis

• SmashWiki
• Wikipedia

• North American series website
• Japanese series website

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Please help improve this article if you can. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page.