Animal Crossing (video Game) - Gameplay

Gameplay

Animal Crossing is a social simulator that has been dubbed a "communication game" by Nintendo. It is open-ended, and the player's character can live a separate life with little preset plot or mandatory tasks. Players assume the role of a new resident to the town. The gender and looks of the character depend on answers given to a cat named Rover, whom the player meets on the train the character takes to the town. There are also tasks that players can complete and goals they can achieve. The game is played in real-time, observing days, weeks, months and years using the GameCube's internal clock. Many real-life events and holidays span the year, including Independence Day, Halloween, the Harvest Festival (Thanksgiving), and Toy Day (Christmas). Other activities such as fishing tournaments and early-morning fitness classes occur on a regular schedule. When players stop playing, they can talk to their Gyroid, a creature next to their house, to save their progress. If the player turns off the game or resets the GameCube without saving first, a mole called Resetti appears in front of the player's house the next time they play to scold them for resetting; what they achieved during the previous unsaved game is lost, but everything else is kept.

One of the main goals of the game, given to the player during the game's opening cut scenes, is to increase the size of the player's character's house. This house is the repository for furniture and other items acquired during the course of the game. It can be customized in several ways, such as roof color, furniture, music, wallpaper and flooring. These customizations are judged by the Happy Room Academy (HRA) every Sunday. Players are given the choice to receive HRA letters at the start of the game; however, the HRA letters are mandatory later in the game.

Tom Nook, a tanuki in the Japanese version and a raccoon in the American and European versions, runs the local store. At the beginning of the game, he gives the player their first house with a mortgage of 19,800 Bells (the in-game currency). After paying the debt, part of which is done through a part-time job with Nook, the house is expanded, prompting another debt from Nook. The house is expanded several times during the course of the game.

The Animal Crossing village initially contains six villagers, and more villagers move in or out depending on the player's actions. All villagers are animals and each has a home that the player can visit. There are many possible interactions between the player and the villagers, including talking, trading items, completing tasks, writing letters, and, in Doubutsu No Mori e+, buying medicine for when they get sick. Villagers also interact with each other independent of player control.