Animal Crossing: New Leaf facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Animal Crossing: New Leaf |
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Packaging artwork for all territories
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| Developer(s) | Nintendo EAD |
| Publisher(s) | Nintendo |
| Director(s) | Isao Moro Aya Kyogoku |
| Producer(s) | Katsuya Eguchi |
| Designer(s) | Koji Takahashi Ryuji Kobayashi Akito Osanai |
| Programmer(s) | Gentaro Takaki |
| Artist(s) | Ryuji Kobayashi |
| Writer(s) | Makoto Wada |
| Composer(s) | Manaka Kataoka Atsuko Asahi Kazumi Totaka |
| Series | Animal Crossing |
| Platform(s) | Nintendo 3DS |
| Release date(s) | New Leaf
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| Genre(s) | Social simulation |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
Animal Crossing: New Leaf is a fun social simulation game made by Nintendo for the Nintendo 3DS. It first came out in Japan in 2012. Then, it was released around the world in 2013. This game is the fourth main one in the popular Animal Crossing series.
In Animal Crossing: New Leaf, you play as a human character. You unexpectedly become the mayor of a town. This town is full of friendly anthropomorphic animals. Your job is to make the town a great place to live. You can do many activities like catching bugs or fishing. You also get to befriend the animal villagers.
This game keeps the fun parts of older Animal Crossing games. But it also adds new things. As mayor, you can make new rules for the town. You can also start big building projects. Your secretary, Isabelle, and the townsfolk help you. The game was very popular and got great reviews. An updated version called Animal Crossing: New Leaf - Welcome amiibo was released in 2016. It added new features and amiibo support.
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Playing the Game: Your Role as Mayor
Just like in other Animal Crossing games, you move to a new town. When you arrive, everyone thinks you are the new mayor. So, you get the job! You can explore your town and talk to the animal residents. You can also do fun activities like fishing and catching bugs.
When you do activities or sell items, you earn Bells. Bells are the money in the game. You can use Bells to buy furniture or clothes. You can also pay off loans to make your house bigger. The game follows real time. This means shops open at certain hours. Also, different animals and special events appear depending on the time of day and season.
New Features in New Leaf
Animal Crossing: New Leaf brought many new things to the series. You start by living in a tent. Soon, your house is built, and you can make it bigger. You can customize your character's look even more. You can change your pants, shirt, shoes, hat, and accessories. You can also hang furniture on your walls.
Some cool features from an older Japanese game returned. These include benches and lamp posts. You can also swim in the ocean around your town if you wear a swimsuit. Players used to visit each other's towns online. Up to four players could travel to Tortimer Island. There, they played mini-games and earned medals. You can also take pictures almost anytime. These save to your Nintendo 3DS Camera.
Being the Town Mayor
A big new part of New Leaf is being the mayor. This lets you customize your town more than ever before. You don't have to do mayoral duties, but it adds two new features: Public Works Projects and Ordinances.
- Public Works Projects: You can collect Bells from townsfolk and visitors. These funds help build new things like bridges, fountains, or streetlights. You can also add new places like campsites or cafés.
- Ordinances: These are like laws you can pass. They change how your town works. For example, you can make the town richer. Or you can encourage citizens to plant more flowers. You can also make shops open earlier or later. Only the first person to start a game on each copy can be the mayor.
Using Nintendo 3DS Features
New Leaf uses many features of the Nintendo 3DS. Some become available over time. You can visit other players' towns locally or online with friends. The Dream Suite lets you visit "dream" versions of other towns. You can explore them freely without affecting your own game.
The Happy Home Showcase lets you see homes of players you meet using StreetPass. You can even order some of their furniture. In the Able Sisters shop, you can create QR codes of your designs. Other players can then download them with their 3DS camera. You can also use Play Coins to buy fortune cookies. These give you special prizes, sometimes based on other Nintendo games.
Characters in Your Town
The game adds new animal types for regular villagers: hamsters and deer. There are also two new personality types for characters. "Smug" is one, and "uchi" is another. "Uchi" characters are like a "big sister type."
Many new special characters appear:
- Isabelle: A friendly dog who is your personal assistant.
- Digby: Isabelle's twin brother. He runs the Happy Home Showcase.
- Leif: A sloth who runs a gardening center.
- Reese and Cyrus: A pair of alpacas who run "Re-Tail." This is a shop where you can sell items or customize furniture.
- Tom Nook: He returns as a real-estate agent. His nephews, Timmy and Tommy, now run his old shop.
- Kicks and Labelle: A skunk and a hedgehog. They sell shoes and accessories.
- K.K. Slider: A dog who is a DJ at a nightclub called "Club LOL."
- Dr. Shrunk: An axolotl who runs Club LOL and is a comedian.
- Tortimer: The former mayor. He runs a tropical island you can visit.
How the Game Was Made
Animal Crossing: New Leaf was first announced at E3 2010. It was the first game in the series for the Nintendo 3DS. The game was produced by Katsuya Eguchi. It was directed by Isao Moro and Aya Kyogoku. They both worked on the previous Animal Crossing game for the Wii.
The idea for the player to become mayor came about a year into development. The creators wanted to give players more freedom. They wanted players to design and shape their town. Giving players the power to pass ordinances helped. This allowed the game to fit different schedules while still using real-world time. The main music for the game was created by Manaka Kataoka. Kazumi Totaka was the sound director. Monolith Soft also helped with the game's development.
Because the game was for a 3D screen, the design team had to be careful. They paid extra attention to how things looked with lighting and shadows. They wanted to make sure everything looked good from different angles. It was hard to think of new animal species for villagers. The team wanted to use animals people knew. Alpacas were chosen because they were popular in Japan at the time.
To make New Leaf special for players worldwide, the team researched customs and holidays. They worked with Nintendo offices in different countries. This helped them include local events in the game. For example, New Year's Eve celebrations were different in each version. Japanese players ate New Year noodles. North American players drank sparkling cider. Spanish-speaking players ate twelve grapes at midnight.
The English translation of New Leaf began in March 2012. Nintendo of America's "Treehouse" team worked on it. They worked with the main Nintendo office in Japan. The North American and European versions had an extra feature. Players could download example homes from Nintendo using SpotPass. This was added because it was harder for players in these regions to meet others using StreetPass.
Promoting the Game
In October 2012, Nintendo Japan made an official Animal Crossing: New Leaf Twitter account. It featured tweets from Isabelle, giving updates and promotions. English versions of the account were made in 2013. Nintendo of America also made videos about the game's development. These were posted on YouTube and social media.
Nintendo Japan worked with the 7-Eleven store chain. They offered special in-game items like signs and food displays. These could be downloaded at Wi-Fi hotspots in stores. Two Animal Crossing-themed clothing items were also available as downloads in another 3DS game, Style Savvy: Trendsetters.
Nintendo released a special Animal Crossing: New Leaf-themed Nintendo 3DS XL. It came with a digital copy of the game. This bundle was released in Japan, North America, and Europe. The game was also available to download from the Nintendo eShop. Some stores offered a special figurine of the town hall with Isabelle if you pre-ordered the game.
In August 2013, an app called Animal Crossing Plaza was added to the Wii U. It let players talk with other Animal Crossing fans. This feature was available until the end of 2014. In Europe and Australia, Nintendo had a promotion. If players registered their game, they could get a free download code for a friend. In September 2016, Nintendo and Sanrio announced that Hello Kitty characters would come to the game in Japan.
A big update called Welcome amiibo was released on November 2, 2016. It added support for amiibo figures and cards. You could use them to call villagers and vendors to a new campsite. The update also let you use touchscreen controls for furnishing.
Game's Impact
Animal Crossing: New Leaf characters have appeared in other games. In the 2014 fighting game Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U, Isabelle appeared as an Assist Trophy. Tortimer Island was also a playable stage in the 3DS version. Isabelle later became a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate in 2018. In 2019, the website Polygon called New Leaf one of the best games of that decade.
See also
In Spanish: Animal Crossing: New Leaf para niños
