Every month 11 million people log in to play Animal Crossing – the game has sold over 60 million units worldwide. What may be surprising, however, is that the majority of players, particularly for Animal Crossing New Horizons, are adults, and an equal split between men and women. It is extremely popular with people in their 20s and 30s, who enjoy the task-based challenges and the routine of playing.
If you want to get started playing Animal Crossing, the Nintendo Switch is the easiest device that you can play on, although there is also Animal Crossing Pocket Camp available on iOS and Android. You will soon find that in a week you will be completely immersed in the world, and enjoying interacting with all the cute characters – it’s definitely escapism away from the real world.
First choices
In Animal Crossing, you will be spending time establishing a village, farming, and acquiring the basic tools to succeed in growing your community spaces. It will help you if you begin your game with a good map – the maps are randomly generated and you will get a choice of four when you first start playing. Choosing a map that is surrounded by a river, with a large open area near the sea will give you access to the resources that you need.
At the start of the game, if you don’t like the look of the map options, quit out, and then you will get a choice of four new maps. Your next task will be placing tents to live in, both for you and your neighbors. Your tent will become your home, and you can expand this later into a house, so make sure that you space the tents out, so you have room to grow.
Talk to the islanders
Every day when you log in, you will have certain tasks and objectives that you need to complete. Whilst you are doing this, and exploring the island, don’t forget to talk to the other animals – they can be surprisingly helpful (and also very entertaining). Tom Nook is always your go-to guy if you get stuck or lost. He will often give you some simple fetch quests. and you will get clothing or home items as a reward. Talking to Cookie is always good fun, she has a delightful personality and her dialogue often relates to movies and music. If you give Cookie a gift, you will increase friendship levels with her.
Collecting items
One of the first objectives in Animal Crossing is to pay back the loan for your tent. You can do this by collecting items and then selling them on to Tommy and Timmy Nook. The Nook brothers will buy anything – even weeds, so collect everything that you can. The only exception to this is any items that you can use for crafting, including wood, clay, and iron nuggets. These can be used in bulk to build homes.
Animal Crossing is a fun and rewarding game for all ages. You can build your own village, enjoy the challenges and meet some wonderful characters along the way.
