It’s Back And It’s Bittersweet

Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp can now be experienced by IOS and Android users alike. Differentiating dramatically from the console version, it’s still very similar. You as the player get to customize your character and play as you would in the console, performing tasks for residents to gain materials to build up your campsite! Unlike many other mobile games, this one doesn’t seem to rely heavily on purchases to advance in the game.

That’s right, as with many mobile games in order to progress quickly, you would usually have to buy “tickets” to speed up the process. Many mobile games fall in “real time,” saying many tasks take a certain amount of minutes or hours based on your phone's internal clock. Sure there were hacks to get around this, but they weren’t ideal. Luckily, Nintendo played this really smart by rewarding you Leaf Tickets, the currency used to speed up processes in real time as well as purchase cool “exclusive” items to upgrade your campground and make playing the game a pleasant experience.

Much like the console versions you can still fish to collect, well... fish, go out and catch bugs, collect seashells, harvest fruits, and all sorts of other weird things. You can find and trade them with your neighborhood campers to gain supplies you need to call up your ol’ Friend Cyrus so he can craft new items for your campsite! The goal is to impress all the campers and have them come over to hang out at your super cool tent. Appeasing everyone’s needs to gain the supplies and bells (another type of currency used to buy clothes, furniture, etc) to deck out your new pad is the point of the game. They also remembered the famous loan system! Remember upgrading your house for a small fee? Yep, it’s here, too!

You can upgrade your camper, which is separate from your campsite, to make it bigger and cooler by visiting OK Motors! You receive a no-interest loan which you must pay off either in full or over time. In return, they make a super snazzy new place for you to travel in, just like in the original game when you could make your house bigger and bigger!

Being as it’s small differences than the console version, it’s still completely (in my opinion) enjoyable to play, bringing in some of the classic favorites K.K (the dog with the guitar) and Tom Nook (the owner of the store in the town of Animal Crossing) to give you the taste of nostalgia but leaving them mostly out of the main story line to add in some new characters. Pretty smart, if you ask me.

You can also play with your friends (sorta) as you can find them in random parts of town doing random things, such as just standing by the river while you’re fishing, and you can visit their campsite and see how they’ve decorated their sweet new R.V. Introducing a way to buy and sell items you’ve collected in the market place, when you visit one of your friends, you can also buy an orange from them if they have one up for sale instead of harvesting. It’s a fun and interactive way to have your friends maybe help you out on your mission.

Nintendo really outdid themselves here, and I am obsessed! I included my actual character I.D so if you’re also playing this game and you wanted to see if I have anything useful in my market place, you could join me on this adventure into my childhood! It’s not only super enjoyable and easy, but just overall addictive. Everything about this game makes it a win in my book.