97 Fun Facts About Animal Crossing

What does Dōbutsu no Mori, the original Japanese title of Animal Crossing, literally mean?

Animal Forest is the literal meaning. Nintendo of America renamed the game for the West, and Nintendo of Japan was so impressed with that version that it was translated back and released at home.

The first Animal Crossing reached the West on GameCube, but on which system did it debut in Japan in 2001?

Nintendo 64 was its first home: the Japan-only cartridge had a clock built in, the only one on the system, so village life could follow real time. The GameCube port followed months later.

In the GameCube Animal Crossing, the player's looks depend on answers to which cat met on the train?

Rover's small talk has consequences: the face his questions produce can never be changed, so a player who answers with random nonsense is stuck with the result.

In the first Animal Crossing, how does the player start paying off their house debt?

A shop job is how Tom Nook has newcomers start repaying him: chores like planting flowers, writing letters and meeting the neighbours double as a tutorial for the controls.

What kind of animal is Mr. Resetti, who scolds Animal Crossing players for quitting without saving?

Mole is his species, hence the hard hat and the pop-up entrances. His scolding made some young children cry, so New Leaf made his visits optional.

What is the name of Mr. Resetti's calmer brother, who sometimes turns up in his place?

Don keeps his warnings short where Sonny rants at length. New Horizons' autosave left both brothers nothing to police, so they are implied to staff its Rescue Service instead.

The traveling musician K.K. Slider is a caricature of which Nintendo composer?

Kazumi Totaka hides a short signature tune in the games he scores, and K.K. Slider plays it on request as K.K. Song. K.K. is Totakeke in Japan, a name thought to contract 'Totaka K.'

On which night of the week does K.K. Slider traditionally play his live show in Animal Crossing?

Saturday night is showtime: K.K. Slider takes requests and hands over a recording of the song for the player's stereo at home.

Which vegetable do Animal Crossing players buy on Sundays and gamble on in the 'stalk market'?

Turnips are for selling, not eating: prices shift through the week and the crop goes bad after seven days, so players must cash in before the following Sunday.

The island reached by Game Boy Advance link in the GameCube Animal Crossing grew which exclusive fruit?

Coconuts could be carried home and planted along the beach. Players could also download the island to a GBA, feed its lone resident fruit, then return to collect the Bells it dropped.

What retro bonus could players collect and actually play inside the GameCube Animal Crossing?

NES games came as furniture: put the little console in your house and it runs the real thing, and a linked Game Boy Advance could even borrow the game to play on the go.

Co-creator Katsuya Eguchi says Animal Crossing grew out of which experience of his own?

Moving far from family and friends, from Chiba to Nintendo's Kyoto headquarters at 21, left Eguchi lonely. The letters from mum, the first job and the empty house to fill all come from that move.

Animal Crossing: Wild World was released for which handheld?

DS owners could visit each other's towns online, and Nintendo dropped real-world holidays from Wild World so the same game could ship in every region.

In New Horizons, what marks the spot where buried Bells grow into a money tree?

A glowing patch appears somewhere on the island each day and hides a bag of Bells. Bury Bells back in that hole and a money tree sprouts with three bags, so the stake can come back tripled.

The 2008 Animal Crossing game for the Wii was sold under what subtitle in Europe?

Let's Go to the City is a straight translation of the Japanese title, Machi e Ikō yo. North America went its own way and called the game City Folk.

Animal Crossing: City Folk was the first Wii game to support which voice-chat accessory?

Wii Speak launched alongside the game, even in a bundle with it. The speakerphone-like microphone sat by the TV and picked up the whole room, so a family could chat with friends visiting their town.

In Animal Crossing: City Folk, who drives the bus that takes players from their town to the city?

Kapp'n has also rowed a boat and driven a taxi in other games. English versions call him a turtle, but in Japan he is a kappa, a river imp from folklore.

What official role does the player take on in Animal Crossing: New Leaf?

Mayor powers grew out of a developer's own gripe about getting home too late to find Tom Nook's shop open, so a mayor can pass an ordinance that keeps the shops open at night.

Isabelle, the assistant introduced in Animal Crossing: New Leaf, is what breed of dog?

Shih Tzu is the breed, and her tied-up hair is the clue. The team wanted the player to have a loyal, 'very affectionate' helper, so they made her a dog who is 'a little bit clumsy' but cute.

What is Isabelle's name in the Japanese versions of Animal Crossing?

Shizue is how Japan knows her. Whatever the name, she takes the job to heart: turn down the ceremony she offers after a public works project and she becomes visibly dejected.

What is the name of Isabelle's twin brother, who runs the Happy Home Showcase in Animal Crossing: New Leaf?

Digby mans the entrance to the Showcase. Pass another player in real life with StreetPass on and their house appears inside, ready to tour and to order furniture from.

Which stand-up comedian runs the Club LOL nightclub in Animal Crossing: New Leaf?

Dr. Shrunk trades in 'Reaction Jokes': bring the axolotl a treat before Club LOL opens and his routine teaches the player a new emotion to act out.

What was the free 2016 update that added figure scanning and a campground to Animal Crossing: New Leaf called?

Welcome amiibo arrived free in November 2016: tap a figure or card and that villager pulls into the new campground in a camper van, and can even be talked into moving to town.

Which character runs the tropical minigame island that Animal Crossing: New Leaf players reach by boat?

Tortimer spends his retirement there in an aloha shirt, handing out medals for minigame tours. Save up 50 and Club Tortimer membership opens the island to strangers online.

New Horizons shared its launch day, March 20, 2020, with which very different shooter?

Doom Eternal's demon slayer and Isabelle became unlikely best friends in fan art, and GameStop began selling Doom a day early so the two crowds would not pack its stores at once.

What must a New Horizons island have before K.K. Slider will play there?

A three-star rating is the bar Tom Nook sets before K.K. Slider will visit. Only after that first concert does he hand over the Island Designer app, which lets players carve their own cliffs and rivers.

Orville and Wilbur, who run the airport in New Horizons, are what kind of bird?

Dodos, flightless and long extinct, staff the island's airline: Orville works the desk and Wilbur flies the plane, and their names salute the Wright brothers.

What is the name of the secondary currency in New Horizons earned by completing everyday tasks?

Nook Miles work as a rewards programme: small goals such as catching fish earn miles, and those buy tickets from the airport to mystery islands where new neighbours can be recruited.

Which April 2020 holiday was the first seasonal event added to New Horizons by update?

Bunny Day ran from April 1 to 12. Seasonal events now arrive by online update, so players who jump ahead by changing the console's clock cannot reach one early.

In New Horizons, the island's seasons are set according to what?

The player's hemisphere is chosen during check-in before the flight out, so islands south of the equator get summer in December and snow in July, matching the weather outside.

Which New Horizons visitor buys bugs at a premium and hosts the Bug-Off?

Flick, a chameleon, took the Bug-Off over from Nat, its host in earlier games. Hand him three of the same insect and he sculpts a model of it, which arrives in the post the next day.

In which category did New Horizons take home the trophy at The Game Awards 2020?

Best Family was its only win that night. The cosy island sim was also up for Game of the Year, which went to the bleak The Last of Us Part II, and for Best Multiplayer, which went to Among Us.

What reason did Doug Bowser give for delaying New Horizons from 2019 to 2020?

Avoiding crunch for employees cost Nintendo on paper: its shares closed 3.5% lower after the delay was announced, wiping more than $1 billion off its market value.

Wardell, who sells furniture in New Horizons' Happy Home Paradise DLC, is what kind of animal?

Manatee, not walrus: that is Wendell, the wandering artist of earlier games. Wardell works the counter at Paradise Planning, where furniture is bought with Poki, the pay for designing holiday homes.

Which 2020 US presidential campaign released official digital yard signs for New Horizons islands?

Joe Biden's campaign offered four sign designs to scan in by QR code, then opened an island of its own. That November, Nintendo asked organisations to 'refrain from bringing politics into the Game'.

Who directed Animal Crossing: New Horizons?

Aya Kyogoku had co-directed New Leaf, where she and her producer built a team that was nearly half women, a mix they both credit for that game's success.

Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp, launched in 2017, took the series to which platform?

Smartphones got the series a year late: Nintendo held Pocket Camp back so that Super Mario Run could launch first, then released it in Australia a month ahead of the rest of the world.

What premium currency in Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp could be bought with real money to skip timers?

Leaf Tickets could also be earned by playing. They went away in 2024, when Nintendo closed the free game and replaced it with a paid offline version that has no in-app purchases at all.

Concerns over loot boxes led Nintendo to revoke access to Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp in which country from August 2019?

Belgium's gaming commission had ruled in 2018 that some loot boxes broke its gambling laws, so Nintendo shut down Pocket Camp and Fire Emblem Heroes there and said similar games would skip the country.

Which studio, known for Mario Party, co-developed Animal Crossing: amiibo Festival with Nintendo?

NDcube built the board game, and its director was frank about why it exists: 'Honestly, we just wanted Animal Crossing amiibo', and a game was the way to get the figures made.

In Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer, players design villagers' houses as an employee of which business?

Nook's Homes hires the player as its newest designer, and here Tom Nook is only the employer, not the lender: there is no house loan to pay off and no Bells to earn.

Tom Nook is a raccoon in English, but which creature is he in the Japanese versions of Animal Crossing?

Tanuki or raccoon, he has a defender on Nintendo's own localisation team: pressed by an interviewer on Nook's greed, Rich Amtower called his prices 'quite reasonable' beside those of the big-city shops in City Folk.

What is the name of Tom Nook's fully upgraded shop in the early Animal Crossing games?

Nookington's Department Store is earned, not bought: the shop grows as Bells change hands at Tom Nook's counter, and this last upgrade adds a second floor staffed by his apprentices.

Blathers, the museum curator in Animal Crossing, is what kind of animal?

Owl habits explain his odd hours: Blathers dozes at his post by day and has to be woken to take a donation. For a curator, he is also oddly terrified of the bugs players bring him.

Animal Crossing's Villager first became a playable fighter in the Super Smash Bros. game for which system?

Nintendo 3DS owners got Villager first in 2014, weeks before the Wii U version followed. Director Masahiro Sakurai had earlier dropped the character from Brawl's plans because he 'wasn't suited for battle'.

The Mario Kart 8 DLC that added Villager and Isabelle as racers introduced the Bell Cup and which other cup?

Crossing Cup includes the Animal Crossing course itself, which changes season every time it is raced, so the same lap can come round in spring blossom or winter snow.

In New Horizons, which building do Timmy and Tommy run once the player helps them set up shop?

Nook's Cranny was the name of Tom Nook's own first shop in the original game. In New Horizons it passes to his twin apprentices, once the player has gathered the wood and iron to build it.

Activists from which city staged protests in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, leading Chinese stores to pull it?

Hong Kong activists including Joshua Wong used their islands as a protest platform, and the game soon vanished from Chinese online stores such as Taobao, where it had sold on the grey market.

In Spanish-language copies of Animal Crossing: New Leaf, the New Year is welcomed by eating which fruit at midnight?

Grapes arrive by the plateful at midnight in that version, while the Japanese game serves New Year noodles and the English North American one pours sparkling cider.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons became Japan's best-selling game ever by overtaking the first games in which series?

Pokémon's first generation was the only release ahead of it in Japan by August 2020, and New Horizons finally took the all-time record in November 2022.

Blathers, the curator of the Animal Crossing museum, accepts every donation but is repulsed by which kind?

Insects disgust him so much that he takes each one only reluctantly; in City Folk he blames a mantis egg case that burst open on his writing desk when he was young.

How often does the background music change in a mainline Animal Crossing game as the real-world clock ticks on?

Every hour brings its own tune, one of the series' trademarks alongside its use of the console's internal clock and calendar to mirror the real passage of time.

Which toy brand launched five construction sets based on Animal Crossing characters in March 2024?

Lego released the five sets in March 2024, and the partnership later ran the other way, with collaboration items from the brand arriving in New Horizons' version 3.0 update.

Which Animal Crossing collectibles are based on haniwa, clay figures buried with the dead in ancient Japan?

Gyroids are simply called haniwa in the Japanese games, and each one sells for 828 Bells because the Japanese reading of that number contains the word's syllables.

In Animal Crossing: City Folk, placing furniture by which practice earns a higher home score and better luck?

Feng shui pays off twice: it earns more points from the Happy Room Academy, and the added luck makes rare catches turn up more often.

In Animal Crossing: New Leaf, players share custom clothing designs by scanning what with the console's camera?

QR codes come from a sewing machine in the Able Sisters shop, which converts any design into a pattern that other players can download.

In the Animal Crossing series, which holiday on December 24 stands in for Christmas?

Toy Day falls on December 24, when Jingle the black-nosed reindeer delivers presents to villagers and players alike.

Reese and Cyrus, the married couple who run the Re-Tail shop in Animal Crossing: New Leaf, are what kind of animal?

Alpacas were chosen because they were enjoying a burst of popularity in Japan, at a point when the designers felt they had pretty much used up the most familiar species.

Mabel and Sable, the sisters behind the Able Sisters clothing shop in Animal Crossing, are what kind of animal?

Hedgehogs, and there is a third sister too: Label, a fashion designer who also goes by the name Labelle.

Which pigeon serves coffee at The Roost, the café found inside the museum in Animal Crossing: New Horizons?

Brewster's name is a pun on brew, and since the free 2.0 update a cup of coffee at his counter in the corner of the museum costs 200 Bells.

Which sly fox in the Animal Crossing series sells paintings that can turn out to be counterfeit?

Redd calls every customer his cousin while passing off fakes, a deceitful streak likely borrowed from the kitsune, the trickster foxes of Japanese folklore.

Which sailor washes ashore in Animal Crossing and rewards helpers with souvenirs from around the world?

Gulliver swaps the sea for the sky in Wild World and City Folk, where he is an astronaut whose UFO players can shoot down over town.

Shaking a tree in Animal Crossing: New Horizons can release a swarm of what, leaving the player with a swollen eye?

Wasps were simply called bees in every earlier game, and a second sting before taking medicine makes a New Horizons player faint and reappear outside their house.

What does every newcomer live in at the start of Animal Crossing: New Horizons, before any house is built?

A tent is among the essentials Tom Nook hands over with his getaway package, and the idea of starting out under canvas was carried over from New Leaf.

Which tool was added in Animal Crossing: Wild World mainly to bring down presents carried by balloons?

Slingshot pellets can also knock Pete the postman out of the sky, and in New Horizons the tool breaks after a number of shots and must be crafted again from hardwood.

Pete the mail carrier and Phyllis the night clerk at the Animal Crossing post office are what kind of bird?

Pelicans run the whole mail service: Phyllis works the night shift, her sister Pelly takes the day shift, and Pete makes the deliveries.

Which stargazing sister of Blathers wanders Animal Crossing: New Horizons islands on nights with meteor showers?

Celeste gives first-time visitors a star wand recipe and explains how to wish on a shooting star; in earlier games she worked in the museum beside her brother.

Which turkey once hid from Animal Crossing villagers planning to serve him as the Harvest Festival's main course?

Franklin may be named after Benjamin Franklin, who supposedly preferred the wild turkey as America's national bird; since New Leaf he hosts the feast without fear, as its chef.

In Animal Crossing: Wild World, what vehicle carries the player to their new town during the opening questions?

A taxi, small and black, is where the driver's questions settle the character's name and appearance, much as a chat on a train does in the first game.

Animal Crossing: Wild World let players design what and then see their creations appear in the night sky?

Constellations drawn by the player showed up overhead, and the game's two screens kept the ground and the sky in view at the same time.

Animal Crossing: amiibo Festival, a Wii U spin-off, turns village life into a virtual version of what?

A board game in the style of Mario Party, it generally needed amiibo figures to play and was a critical and commercial failure, selling under 90,000 copies in Japan.

In Animal Crossing: New Leaf, what name is given to town-wide laws such as keeping shops open later at night?

Ordinances can also make the town wealthier or encourage villagers to plant more flowers, and the idea came back in New Horizons' 2.0 update.

Which rare ocean fish in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, worth 15,000 Bells, can be caught only while it is raining?

Coelacanth can bite at any time of year as long as the weather obliges, and in New Horizons fish bait makes the typically rare catch much more common.

Which pumpkin-headed character, the self-styled Czar of Halloween, hands out spooky furniture in Animal Crossing?

Jack claims in Pocket Camp that the pumpkin is his actual head and cannot be removed, and his name may come from the jack-o'-lantern.

Which Animal Crossing co-creator later became the producer of Nintendo's Splatoon series?

Hisashi Nogami joined Nintendo in 1994 as an artist on Yoshi's Island, and he also directed development of the Wii's Mii Channel.

Nookazon, the fan-made Animal Crossing marketplace, was built to replace messy trading channels on which chat app?

Discord's New Horizons server had trading threads so crowded that software developer Daniel Luu built the site with two friends, launching it in April 2020.

Gary Whitta built a set inside Animal Crossing: New Horizons in 2020 to livestream what kind of programme?

A talk show called Animal Talking ran for two seasons on Twitch, with guests appearing as avatars on a set furnished with items that viewers had made or gifted.

Which otter, the niece of Lyle, works the front desk and trains the player in Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer?

Lottie's own home is the first one the player designs, serving as the tutorial, and she later led the induction at Paradise Planning in the Happy Home Paradise expansion.

Which beaver, the son of longtime host Chip, runs the Fishing Tourney in Animal Crossing: New Horizons?

C.J. is also a regular island visitor between tourneys, and he commissions collectible fish models for the player.

Daisy Mae, a Sunday-morning visitor in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, inherited her job from which grandmother?

Joan ran the stalk market in the earlier games; Daisy Mae calls her Gram-Gram and has a bad habit of eating the stock she is supposed to be selling.

Which tapir runs the Dream Suite in Animal Crossing: New Leaf, letting players tour other towns in their sleep?

Luna takes her name from the link between a night's sleep and the moon, and the towns she offers are dream versions that visitors can explore freely.

Which wolf in Animal Crossing: New Horizons may be named after a grandmother who played New Leaf for 3,580 hours?

Audie is the name an 87-year-old player called Audrey gave her New Leaf character; a video of her playtime went viral in 2019, though Nintendo has never confirmed the link.

In Super Smash Bros., the Villager from Animal Crossing fires which helper character at opponents like a missile?

Lloid, who ran the auction house in City Folk and later worked construction, is one of several everyday items in the fighter's kit, alongside a net for catching rivals.

In Nintendo Land's Animal Crossing minigame, what are players racing to collect while dodging the Gatekeepers?

Candy is the prize in the minigame, called Sweet Day: up to four players stash it in their heads while one more steers both Gatekeepers with the GamePad's two analog sticks.

Which convenience store chain gave out exclusive Animal Crossing: New Leaf furniture at its shops in Japan?

7-Eleven branches across Japan beamed out company-brand signs, shirts and food displays to players who connected at their Wi-Fi hotspots between May and August 2013.

Which treats, bought with Play Coins in Animal Crossing: New Leaf, can be traded for Nintendo-themed prizes?

Fortune cookies hide a paper fortune that Timmy or Tommy will swap for an item from another Nintendo game; the Play Coins to buy them are earned by walking with the console.

Which peacock hosts Festivale, the Animal Crossing event based on Carnival, and trades prizes for feathers?

Pavé first appeared in City Folk, and his event falls in February or March, two days before Ash Wednesday, with confetti falling while the villagers dance.

The Switch 2 edition of Animal Crossing: New Horizons uses the console's microphone for which villager-finding tool?

A megaphone picks up the player's voice through the system's microphone to locate villagers; the same edition added mouse controls for decorating and 4K resolution.

Which toy company announced an Animal Crossing: New Horizons collection of plush toys in March 2021?

Build-A-Bear Workshop revealed its plush line two months after ColourPop had released a makeup collection inspired by the game's characters.

Which museum of play inducted the original Animal Crossing into its World Video Game Hall of Fame in 2021?

The Strong National Museum of Play added it in 2021, two decades after a debut that had won three Interactive Achievement Awards, including one for innovation in console gaming.

Which buried prank item in Animal Crossing traps any villager or player who walks over it?

Pitfall seed traps look like any other buried item, and a player who falls in escapes by rapidly tapping a button, while a trapped villager rattles on about it before jumping out.

At the 6th Interactive Achievement Awards, the first Animal Crossing won console game of the year in which genre?

Role-playing honours came alongside wins for innovation and for game design, and the game was also nominated for the overall Game of the Year prize.

After each live performance in Animal Crossing, what does K.K. Slider hand the player free of charge?

A copy of the song is his parting gift because he insists his music should cost nothing; some fans took that as support for piracy, which Nintendo denied.

Animal Crossing: New Leaf added which activity, done in the ocean bordering the town while wearing a special suit?

Swimming arrived in New Leaf, and New Horizons kept it, sending players into the ocean to catch deep-sea creatures.

The roaming seller of exclusive rugs, wallpaper and flooring in Animal Crossing is what kind of animal?

Camel is right: the seller is Saharah, a name that likely nods to the Sahara Desert, and the character is male in the Japanese and Korean games but female in every other version.

Animal Crossing: New Leaf introduced two new villager species: deer and which small pet rodents?

Hamsters and deer arrived together with two new personality types: smug, and one described as a big sister type.

Which Nintendo president noted that most people ordering Animal Crossing: New Leaf with a console were female?

Satoru Iwata put the figure at 56%, and he found the game's success with women between the ages of 19 and 24 particularly noteworthy.