Animal Crossing is a series of quirky life-simulation and role-play games on Nintendo systems, starting with the GameCube. In each game, you play a new arrival to a village, and get to know the comedic animal locals while designing your house, gathering things to sell, and doing whatever activities you choose. The time of day, season, and year progresses along with the real world, so you can always go back and find something new to do or see, making them the sorts of games you play in short bursts over a long time.
Although the series has always been popular for its low-stakes, whimsical fantasy escape, it was the release of Animal Crossing: New Horizons in March 2020, right at the start of Covid-19 lockdowns, that the series exploded in popularity, as people used the game to connect with friends they couldn't see in person by visiting each other's islands and writing letters to each other. It went on to become one of the best-selling Nintendo Switch games.
- Animal Crossing (2001) GameCube
- Animal Crossing: Wild World (2005) DS
- Animal Crossing: City Folk (2008) Wii
- Animal Crossing: New Leaf (2012) 2DS|3DS
- Animal Crossing: New Horizons (2020) Switch.
There have also been several spin-off games:
- Animal Crossing Plaza (2013) for Wii U let players write letters to each other and communicate with Animal Crossing: New Leaf players. It was discontinued in 2014.
- Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer (2015) for 3DS is focused purely on designing houses for the villagers, and features a large variety of different items you can use to decorate each room.
- Animal Crossing: Amiibo Festival (2015) for Wii U is a party game similar to the Mario Party games, with a strong focus on Amiibo support.
- Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp (2017) for iOS and Android is an adaptation of the series for mobile devices, where you decorate a campsite rather than a town. The game is free to play, but has lots of in-game purchases for items and decorations.
There have been 5 games in the Animal Crossing franchise.
The first game was released in 2001 on GameCube and the most recent release was Animal Crossing: New Horizons in 2020 on Nintendo Switch.
The most popular game in the franchise is Animal Crossing: New Horizons with 405 likes. The franchise as a whole has 447 likes on the database. Unfortunately, Animal Crossing: New Horizons is not available on Android, Mac, PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox X|S or iOS. However, there are other games similar to Animal Crossing: New Horizons on these platforms that offer an equivalent experience.