Animal Crossing - do you need to be able to read to play?

[BuckellsTrunshon]

My 5 year old (nearly) has asked for this for his birthday. Is it suitable for this age? Will he need a lot of help to play? He gets frustrated easily... any other recommendations would be great too

There is a lot of reading involved.
If someone set it up, he could then run around and do the fishing and bug hunting but that's probably about it tbh.

I agree, you need someone to read/set up the tent etc first then let him wander. My niece is 3/4 and loves to go around the island and stuff on mine when she visits. Another game she adores is mario kart! Such a good family game they can play on their own or with you as well.

Most of the game involves reading, bartering etc. The language is often a bit nonsensical as well.
I would only buy it if you would play it with him, with him being able to do a bit of wandering around the island but he won't be building much. He could have his own avatar though, would probably love choosing hair and clothes etc

Thanks all. He's mentioned it several times so guess I better find out how to play . Am I better off setting myself as the lead player or just setting him up but doing the tasks for him?

Set yourself up as the lead player and him as another player. Definitely.

my kids learnt to read because I refused to read the Switch to them

You have to read when communicating with other people on the island but it’s a great game for children.