Animal Crossing
Review

Animal Crossing (2001) is a quirky life simulation game where you live in a small village and build your dream home. You develop relationships with the animal townsfolk, collect fossils, fish and insects and build a home to help the village grow. It's a simple simulation of village life where collection and conversations are king.

You play a new arrival to an isolated village and must pay off your mortgage by collecting materials and selling them. It's a simple concept, but it offers you the freedom to play your own way - talk to the locals and get to know their stories, collect insects or even go fishing.

Play progresses with real-world time; seasons change, plants grow, and the island slowly evolves as you play. Special occasions, such as Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Easter all happen in the game, as well as events that occur more regularly like fitness classes and tournaments. This means that there's always something new to come back to, whether it's to water your plants, experience the first snow of winter, or catch that special fish that only appears at a certain time of day or maybe even only one day a year.

The result is a controllable fantasy escape, but one that's intimately connected to the ticking of the real-world clock. It's a place to visit for short bursts each day over the course of years.

Our examiner, Jo Robertson, first checked Animal Crossing 10 weeks ago. It was re-examined by Andy Robertson and updated 11 days ago.