Animal Crossing (series)
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![]() English series logo since 2002 | ||||||
Primary developer(s) | Nintendo | |||||
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Publisher(s) | Nintendo | |||||
First entry | Doubutsu no Mori Nintendo 64, 2001 | |||||
Latest entry | Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp Complete Android/iOS, 2024 | |||||
Genre(s) | Simulation[1] Communication[2] | |||||
Key people | Katsuya Eguchi Aya Kyogoku Isao Moro Hisashi Nogami |
Animal Crossing[nb 1] 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. The Animal Crossing games are open-ended and use the game console's internal clock to simulate taking place in real-time, with the gameplay changing based on the time of day and year.
After beginning in Japan in 2001 with Doubutsu no Mori for the Nintendo 64, the Animal Crossing series made its international debut in 2002 with Animal Crossing for the Nintendo GameCube. A total of five mainline Animal Crossing games have been released outside of Japan, with the latest being Animal Crossing: New Horizons for the Nintendo Switch in 2020.
Creation[edit]
The Animal Crossing series was created by Katsuya Eguchi and Hisashi Nogami. Eguchi got the idea for Animal Crossing when he moved to Kyoto to work at Nintendo. Speaking to Edge in 2008, he said:
- "Animal Crossing features three themes: family, friendship and community. But the reason I wanted to investigate them was a result of being so lonely when I arrived in Kyoto! Chiba is east of Tokyo and quite a distance from Kyoto, and when I moved there I left my family and friends behind. In doing so, I realised that being close to them – being able to spend time with them, talk to them, play with them – was such a great, important thing. I wondered for a long time if there would be a way to recreate that feeling, and that was the impetus behind the original Animal Crossing."[2]
Gameplay[edit]
Each Animal Crossing game begins with the player, a human, moving into a town of anthropomorphic animals; in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, the player instead settles on a deserted island alongside multiple animals. Upon arriving, Tom Nook, a raccoon business-owner, offers them a house. He then gives them a home loan which they can optionally pay off to expand their home. As an open-ended series, the Animal Crossing games do not have a defined goal once their respective tutorials are completed. Instead, the player is free to perform activities as they wish, such as socializing with the town's villagers, decorating their home with items, or catching creatures to donate to the town's museum.
Real-time clock[edit]
The Animal Crossing games utilize the console's real-time clock, with time passing in the game regardless of whether it is being played. There is a day-night cycle that affects the environment and other aspects of the town; for example, shops open in the morning and close at night. Additionally, the seasons change throughout the year, which affects the town's flora and the catchable creatures that are available. Events, often based on real-world holidays, take place throughout the year.
All games before Animal Crossing: New Horizons follow the seasons of the northern hemisphere, while New Horizons gives the option to choose between the northern and southern hemisphere at the beginning of the game.
Characters[edit]
Villagers[edit]
The towns in the Animal Crossing series are populated by eight to 15 villagers, depending on the game. There are dozens of species of villagers, and each villager has one of eight (six prior to New Leaf) personality types that dictate their dialog. The player can speak to villagers, which can simply lead to idle conversation, or result in other outcomes such as the villager asking to play a game or requesting a favor from the player. During a favor, a villager asks the player to perform a task for them, such as delivering an item to another villager, and they typically give the player an item in return. Villagers also occasionally send the player letters, sometimes containing gifts; the player can also write and send letters to villagers.
Villagers live in their own houses which the player can visit, and they regularly move to town until the limit is reached, after which they can move out and be replaced with new ones. When villagers are not at home, they walk around outside, and they can sometimes interact with each other.
Special characters[edit]
Special characters are non-villager animals who offer services to the player. Examples include Mabel and Sable, hedgehogs who operate the Able Sisters clothing store; and Blathers, an owl who curates the museum. In addition to the permanent residents of the town, there are occasionally visitors, such as K.K. Slider, a dog who performs music on Saturday nights. There are also characters who only appear during events, such as Jack on Halloween and Jingle on Toy Day.
Shops and items[edit]
Each town has a main shop, owned by either Tom Nook or Timmy and Tommy depending on the game, which sells various types of items, such as furniture that can be used to decorate the player's house. The Able Sisters is a secondary shop that, beginning in Animal Crossing: Wild World, sells clothing that the player can wear. The stock of these shops changes daily. The main shop is remodeled and expanded as the player shops there more.
Items can be bought with Bells, the currency of the Animal Crossing games. Most items appear in the catalog, which keeps track of the items the player has collected and allows them to order certain ones at will. Outside of shops, items can be obtained in various ways, such as by talking to villagers, participating in events, and using tools. Tools are handheld items that can be used by the player. For example, a shovel can be used to dig up and bury items, an axe can be used to cut down trees, and a watering can can be used to water flowers.
Customization[edit]
The player can customize their home with various items, such as furniture, wallpaper, and flooring. The player's clothing, and in later games, their appearance (such as their face type, hairstyle, and skin tone) can also be changed. In certain games, decorative structures can be built outside in the player's town, and in New Horizons, furniture can be placed outside. New Horizons introduces the ability to alter the landscape of the town, as well as the ability to move buildings around.
Beginning in Doubutsu no Mori+, custom 32×32-pixel designs can be created. These designs can be worn as clothing, spread across the player's walls and floors, placed on the ground outside, or used as the town's flag.
Catching creatures[edit]
There are various types of creatures that can be caught with tools. The creatures that are available change with the seasons and times of day. Fish can be caught in the town's bodies of water with a fishing rod, bugs can be caught in various locations with a net, and, beginning in New Leaf, sea creatures can be caught by diving in the sea with a wet suit. The game keeps track of which creatures the player has caught, and beginning in Doubutsu no Mori+, they can be donated to the town's museum, which is initially empty.
Events[edit]
Throughout the year, various events are celebrated in town. They are often based on real-world holidays. For example, Halloween is celebrated on October 31, Turkey Day (an analog of Thanksgiving in the United States) on the fourth Thursday of November, Toy Day (an analog of Christmas Eve) on December 24, and the Countdown to New Year's Day on December 31. Major events such as these have unique gameplay and objectives that result in the player receiving exclusive, event-themed items. Minor events generally have the player speak to a special character (Tortimer before New Leaf, Isabelle in New Leaf) to receive a unique piece of dialog along with an event-themed item.
In addition to holidays, there are other events such as the Fishing Tourneys and Bug-Offs, where players and villagers compete to catch fish and bugs, respectively.
Multiplayer[edit]
In every Animal Crossing game, up to four players (eight in New Horizons) can live in a single town; each individual player plays separately, though players can interact through a town bulletin board or through letters. Players can also travel to the towns of other players on other consoles, either locally, or over the internet beginning in Wild World. In New Horizons, a local co-op mode is introduced where multiple residents of the same town can play simultaneously.
In New Leaf and New Horizons, players can upload a "dream" version of their town to the internet, which can then be visited by others at any time, frozen in the state it was uploaded in.
List of games[edit]
Main series[edit]
There are five main entries in the Animal Crossing series, or seven if the primary first-generation titles (Doubutsu no Mori, Animal Crossing, and Doubutsu no Mori e+) are counted separately.
Box art | Title | Platform(s) and release date(s) | Description |
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Doubutsu no Mori[nb 2] | Nintendo 64 |
Doubutsu no Mori is the first entry in the Animal Crossing series. It would serve as the basis for several ports and localizations on the Nintendo GameCube.
It was localized for China and released on the iQue Player as Dòngwù Sēnlín in 2006, although it otherwise was never released outside of Japan. |
iQue Player | |||
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Animal Crossing[nb 3] | Nintendo GameCube |
Animal Crossing is an expanded port of Doubutsu no Mori, released for the Nintendo GameCube initially in Japan as Doubutsu no Mori+ in December 2001, eight months after Doubutsu no Mori. It was later extensively localized and released in North America in 2002. New additions include the museum, Able Sisters, Animal Island, several events, and more. |
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Doubutsu no Mori e+[nb 4] | Nintendo GameCube |
Doubutsu no Mori e+ is an expanded port of Animal Crossing, released for the Nintendo GameCube only in Japan. It retains many of the localization changes made for the North American version of Animal Crossing, while introducing many new features and changes, such as new villagers, creatures, and expanded e-Reader support. |
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Animal Crossing: Wild World[nb 5] | Nintendo DS |
Animal Crossing: Wild World is the first handheld entry in the Animal Crossing series. It introduced simultaneous multiplayer to the series, allowing players to visit other towns by connecting to other Nintendo DS systems either locally or over the internet. Additionally, many new features were introduced, such as The Roost, flower breeding, and hairstyle customization. Since the game was developed with a worldwide audience in mind, all of the events based on real-world holidays in the previous games were removed.
Animal Crossing: Wild World was re-released on the Wii U through the Virtual Console in 2015. |
Wii U (Virtual Console) | |||
Animal Crossing: City Folk[nb 6] | Wii |
Animal Crossing: City Folk is similar in presentation and content to Wild World, with the addition of the city, a shopping center that the player can travel to from their town. Many of the holidays that were removed in Wild World return, alongside new ones such as Festivale and Bunny Day. | |
Animal Crossing: New Leaf[nb 7] | Nintendo 3DS |
In Animal Crossing: New Leaf, the player assumes the role of mayor of their town. As mayor, they can enact ordinances and build public works project decorations around town. The city from City Folk has been adapted into Main Street, which lies just beyond the train tracks in town. Two new villager personality types, smug and big sister, have been added.
In November 2016, Animal Crossing: New Leaf received a free update known as Welcome amiibo, which added amiibo support, the campground, returning villagers from the first-generation games, and new crossover villagers based on other franchises. | |
Animal Crossing: New Horizons[nb 8] | Nintendo Switch![]() |
In Animal Crossing: New Horizons, the player moves to a deserted island alongside Tom Nook, the Nooklings, and two villagers. As the island is settled, more villagers move in and character set up shop, culminating in a visit from K.K. Slider to perform. New Horizons expands the amount of customization available, with the player now able to customize the island's terrain, place furniture items outside, and relocate certain buildings.
New Horizons received regular content updates from its release in March 2020 until November 2021. Alongside the final major update was the paid Happy Home Paradise DLC, a successor to the spin-off entry Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer where the player designs vacation homes for characters. |
Spin-offs[edit]
The spin-off entries in the Animal Crossing feature different gameplay from the main series games.
Box art | Title | Platform(s) and release date(s) | Description |
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Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer[nb 9] | Nintendo 3DS |
Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer is a sandbox game where the player designs houses for villagers and special characters. It was the first Animal Crossing to utilize amiibo, and it launched alongside four series of Animal Crossing amiibo cards.
Some of this game's design mechanics were carried over into the Welcome amiibo update for Animal Crossing: New Horizons, and the game's concept was revisited with the Happy Home Paradise DLC for Animal Crossing: New Horizons. |
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Animal Crossing: amiibo Festival[nb 10] | Wii U |
Animal Crossing: amiibo Festival is a party game that requires the use of Animal Crossing amiibo. Its main mode is a board game based on a town from Animal Crossing: New Leaf, and it also features eight minigames. |
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Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp[nb 11] | Android/iOS |
Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp was a free-to-play game that loosely followed the gameplay of the main series games. The player would manage a campsite where various villagers would reside, and they could visit various other maps, such as one for shopping and one for catching bugs, via their camper. The game had in-app purchases and required a constant internet connection to play, with various updates released and real-time events held throughout its seven-year life. Its servers were shut down on November 28, 2024, and it was replaced by Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp Complete on December 2, 2024. |
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Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp Complete[nb 12] | Android/iOS![]() |
Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp Complete is a paid, offline version of Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp that was released shortly after Pocket Camp's shutdown. In addition to removing in-app purchases and most online functionality, Pocket Camp Complete adds new content, such as Whistle Pass and Camper Cards. |
Non-game applications[edit]
The following digital releases in the Animal Crossing series feature little to no gameplay, instead focusing on one specific application or utility:
Box art | Title | Platform(s) and release date(s) | Description |
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Animal Crossing Calculator[nb 13] | Nintendo DSi |
Animal Crossing Calculator is a themed calculator app released for the Nintendo DSi as DSiWare. |
Nintendo 3DS | |||
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Animal Crossing Clock[nb 14] | Nintendo DSi |
Animal Crossing Clock is a themed clock and alarm app released for the Nintendo DSi as DSiWare. |
Nintendo 3DS | |||
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Animal Crossing Plaza[nb 15] | Wii U |
Animal Crossing Plaza is a social application that utilized Miiverse. |
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Photos with Animal Crossing[nb 16] | Nintendo 3DS |
Photos with Animal Crossing is an augmented-reality photography application. It was only released in Japan and Europe. |
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Animal Crossing: New Horizons Island Transfer Tool[nb 17] | Nintendo Switch![]() |
The Animal Crossing: New Horizons Island Transfer Tool is a utility for transferring Animal Crossing: New Horizons save data between Nintendo Switch consoles. |
Other media[edit]
Gekijōban Doubutsu no Mori[edit]
Gekijōban Doubutsu no Mori is an animated film based on Animal Crossing: Wild World. It was produced by OLM, Inc. and released in Japan in 2006. The film follows the events of the game, with a young human girl moving into a town of animals and adapting to life there. The film was never released outside of Japan.
Manga[edit]

Every mainline Animal Crossing game since Doubutsu no Mori+ has been adapted to manga. These manga are often in the slice-of-life genre and feature gag comedy, and most have only been released in Japan.
Soundtracks[edit]
Many of the Animal Crossing games have had soundtrack releases, primarily on CD. Most of these soundtracks were never released outside of Japan.
Crossover appearances[edit]
Super Smash Bros. series[edit]

Animal Crossing has been featured in every entry of the crossover fighting series Super Smash Bros. since Super Smash Bros. Melee on the Nintendo GameCube in 2001 with three trophies based on characters from Doubutsu no Mori. Stages based on Animal Crossing have appeared in every entry since Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Villager (a representation of the player character) was introduced as a playable fightable in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U, and Isabelle in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
Mario Kart 8[edit]
A 2015 DLC pack to the 2014 Wii U racing game Mario Kart 8 added an Animal Crossing race course along with Villager and Isabelle as playable characters. This content was later included by default in the game's Nintendo Switch port, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.
Nintendo Land[edit]
An Animal Crossing minigame known as Animal Crossing: Sweet Day in the crossover party game Nintendo Land, which was released for the Wii U as a launch title in 2012.
Sales[edit]
Game | Sales (millions) |
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Doubutsu no Mori | 0.21[3] |
Animal Crossing | 2.27[nb 18][4] |
Doubutsu no Mori e+ | 0.39[5] |
Wild World | 11.75[6] |
City Folk | 4.32[4] |
New Leaf | 13.06[7] |
Happy Home Designer | 3.51[4] |
amiibo Festival | 0.49[8] |
New Horizons | 47.44[9] |
Total | 83.44 |
Every mainline Animal Crossing game released outside of Japan has sold over one million copies. Animal Crossing, Wild World, New Leaf, and New Horizons are all among the top 10 best-selling games on their respective consoles, and the latter three have all sold over 10 million copies.[4][6][7][9]
At 47.44 million copies sold as of December 2024, New Horizons is the best-selling Animal Crossing game, surpassing the sales of all other entries combined, and it is the best-selling video game of all time in Japan.[10] At 213,800 copies sold, the lowest-selling Animal Crossing game is the Japan-only Doubutsu no Mori;[3] the lowest-selling title released internationally is Animal Crossing: amiibo Festival, at around 490,000 copies sold.[8] As of December 2024, the approximate total copies sold of all Animal Crossing games is 83.44 million.
Gallery[edit]
Artwork[edit]
The following artwork is used to promote the series as a whole rather than a specific game.
Apple tree
Notes[edit]
- ↑ Japanese: どうぶつの森 Hepburn: Dōbutsu no Mori, Animal Forest
- ↑ Japanese: どうぶつの森 Hepburn: Doubutsu no Mori, Animal Forest
- ↑ Japanese: どうぶつの森+ Hepburn: Doubutsu no Mori+, Animal Forest+
- ↑ Japanese: どうぶつの森e+ Hepburn: Doubutsu no Mori e+, Animal Forest e+
- ↑ Japanese: おいでよどうぶつの森 Hepburn: Oideyo Doubutsu no Mori, Animal Forest: Come Here
- ↑ Japanese: 街へいこうよどうぶつの森 Hepburn: Machi e Ikou Yo Doubutsu no Mori, Animal Forest: Let's Go to the City
- ↑ Japanese: とびだせどうぶつの森 Hepburn: Tobidase Doubutsu no Mori, Animal Forest: Jump Out
- ↑ Japanese: あつまれ どうぶつの森 Hepburn: Atsumare Doubutsu no Mori, Animal Forest: Gather
- ↑ Japanese: どうぶつの森:ハッピーホームデザイナ Hepburn: Dōbutsu no Mori: Happī Hōmu Dezainā, Animal Forest: Happy Home Designer
- ↑ Japanese: どうぶつの森amiiboフェスティバル Hepburn: Doubutsu no Mori: amiibo Fesutibaru, Animal Forest: amiibo Festival
- ↑ Japanese: どうぶつの森 ポケットキャンプ Hepburn: Doubutsu no Mori: Poketo Kyanpu, Animal Forest: Pocket Camp
- ↑ Japanese: どうぶつの森 ポケットキャンプ コンプリート Hepburn: Doubutsu no Mori: Poketo Kyanpu Konpurīto, Animal Forest: Pocket Camp Complete
- ↑ Japanese: ニンテンドーDSi電卓 どうぶつの森タイプ Hepburn: Nintendō DSi Dentaku Doubutsu no Mori Taipu, Nintendo DSi Calculator Animal Forest Type
- ↑ Japanese: ニンテンドーDSi時計 どうぶつの森タイプ Hepburn: Nintendo DSi Tokei Doubutsu no Mori Taipu, Nintendo DSi Clock Animal Forest Type
- ↑ Japanese: どうぶつの森 こもれび広場 Hepburn: Doubutsu no Mori Komorebi Hiroba, Animal Forest: Komorebi Square
- ↑ Japanese: いっしょにフォト どうぶつの森 Hepburn: Isshoni Photo Doubutsu no Mori, Photos Together with Animal Forest
- ↑ Japanese: 『あつまれ どうぶつの森』島ごと引越しサービス Hepburn: "Atsumare Doubutsu no Mori" Shima-goto Hikkoshi Sābisu, Animal Forest: Gather - Island Moving Service
- ↑ Includes Doubutsu no Mori+ sales.
References[edit]
- ↑ Nintendo of America. "Animal Crossing™: New Horizons". My Nintendo Store. Archived from the original on November 25, 2024. Retrieved December 21, 2024.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 James Newton (December 14, 2011). "Celebrating 10 Years of Animal Crossing". Nintendo Life. Retrieved October 24, 2023.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 ginioさん (March 14, 2014). "NINTENDO64ソフト累計売上ランキングベスト50まとめ". NAVER. Retrieved January 1, 2025.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Celine. "Nintendo software and hardware sales data from 1983 to present". Install Base. Retrieved January 1, 2025.
- ↑ "GCN all through the week of 2012-12-10". Garaph. Archived from the original on February 18, 2013. Retrieved January 1, 2025.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Nintendo. "Top Selling Title Sales Units (Nintendo DS)". nintendo.co.jp. Retrieved January 1, 2025.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Nintendo. "Top Selling Title Sales Units (Nintendo 3DS)". nintendo.co.jp. Retrieved January 1, 2025.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Animal Crossing: amiibo Festival". VGChartz. Retrieved May 3, 2024.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Nintendo. "Top Selling Title Sales Units (Nintendo Switch)". nintendo.co.jp. Retrieved February 4, 2025.
- ↑ Adele Ankers-Range (November 9, 2022). "Animal Crossing: New Horizons Has Become Japan's Best-Selling Game of All Time". IGN. Retrieved November 9, 2022.
External links[edit]
Animal Crossing series | ||||||||||||||
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