Idiot's guide to Animal Crossing

[MeanwhileTime]

Can anyone give me a brief description of how animal crossing works? Have seen lots of good reviews about it. Considering getting it for the DCs (9 and 7) for Christmas but really don't understand exactly what the game is is or how it works Have watched a couple of YouTube videos but they're not really that informative.

What exactly is the aim of the game or is there not really one? Does it have different levels? Is it like SIMS for kids? Not that I've ever played SIMS but I think it's just game where you create your own world/characters.

Would a 9 year old and 7 year old enjoy it do you think?

We only have one switch - can the two of them both play it on the same switch or would we need more than one?

Can they play alongside other friends who also have it (and is that safe to do so)?

Any simple explanations would be gratefully received

You can only have one island per switch, but they could have a house and a character each on it- but it could cause arguments if one changes/builds/does stuff that the other one didn't want to do, depends how well they usually play together I suppose!

There is sort of an aim but sort of not, when you start you are given tasks to collect items etc, but once that's done and you have collected some essential items etc you can do what you like and there isn't really a way to 'win'. You essentially create an island, you grow fruit, you get a shop, a clothes shop and a museum, and have to collect animals and fossils; make bells (money) to be able to pay for your house, buy things etc; invite other characters to come and live on your island and earn friendship points. You can also go diving and collect sea creatures and stuff like that. You get star rating for your island based on how well it's decorated and the aim is to reach 5. You can also grow plants etc and travel to mystery islands.

I don't know about the age range really, you have to wait 'real time' for stuff and they might not have the patience (you can time travel but it does ruin it imo), but if they like getting engrossed in a game and playing a bit each day it'll keep them entertained for a while. It's not fast paced though, so if they like going on and just getting straight into exciting game play then I wouldn't recommend.

You can go to visit other people's islands with Nintendo online, but as always no guarantee of who people are or what they'll say so wouldn't do that at their age tbh.

Ah thank you Backbee that's exactly the kind of info I was after. It does sound interesting, I just have to decide whether it's worth the potential arguments. Reminds me of Minecraft where they spend 90% of their time playing beautifully together and the other 10% rowing and killing each other in survival mode !

One of my kids talked the others into splitting the cost and I agreed because he said it was two player. All above info is correct, but it's a bit rubbish playing it with two as one is the leader and the other follows so it's a bit boring imho.

Playing it one player is nice, it's a gentle little game, and my children are ten and eight enjoy it.

I don't have kids so I wouldn't know how they'd play on it together, but I can tell you it's one of the nicest, most relaxing, satisfying games ever invented. No shooting, no loud noises, no killing, no wobbly running about, no vehicles. You grow fruit trees and flowers, build houses, dig up fossils and amass coins. The weather follows the seasons and the insects and fish you catch do too. You can swim about and catch sea creatures too. Your little avatar can wear all sorts of natty outfits and you can furnish and decorate your house to your heart's content. You can create and build things too.

if you have a nintendo account for each child then they can have their own home on the same island so can design their house their own way

Two can play it on the same device but one is the lead character and has control of the game. During the first lockdown we played a lot all on different devices (which we bought specifically for lockdown!) and had big family meet ups on each other islands. My 9 year old nephew on the other side of the family had it after I persuaded my sister in law to get it for him. He needed quite a lot of guidance to get started and we supplied him with a lot of the virtual materials to build out his island. We managed this using FaceTime etc but I’m not sure how far he would have got without us steering him so you might need to assist a bit. It’s such a gentle game though!

@reducingfootprint

if you have a nintendo account for each child then they can have their own home on the same island so can design their house their own way

Does this solve the problem of one being the leader or would that still be the case?

Also, in terms of other devices, could one of them play on an iPad (and would they then be playing in completely separate worlds or in the same one?

Sorry if these are really obvious questions, I am pretty clueless as to how it works. Thank you all for replying, so much useful information.

Two accounts would not solve the leader problem.

Not possible to play on an iPad.

If funds allow I’d get a second switch and a copy of the game each.