Museum

This is Blathers, the owl that is the head of the Museum in animal crossing. He evaluates the fossils that the player finds as well as accepting the donations in which include fish, bugs, fossils, and artwork. He is usually seen sleeping during the day, the player startles him into waking up when they talk to him. He hates bugs but still manages to tell the player facts about bugs when they donate an item to him. He does not accept donations of items that are already in the museum.

This is Celeste, Blather's little sister who also works in the museum. In earlier games she heads the observatory and teaches the player about constellations. In New Leaf she manages the gift shop on the second floor of the museum. She also rents rooms for museum exhibits for the player to use. She is one of the most adorable characters in the game in my opinion.

The gift shop has items such as silver versions of the bug catching net and the silver fishing rod. Unlike the versions bought in the Nookling store they increase the accuracy of the player in fishing or catching bugs. The gift shop also has special wallpapers and floors that can only be bought there. The player also has the option of going into exhibits to see all the fish, fossils, bugs, and art that they have donated to the museum. The museum is an essential part of the game, completing your collection is one of the goals of the game!

The roost

This is Brewster, he is a pigeon who heads the roost cafe in the Animal Crossing series. Here the player can once a day buy a coffee. In New Leaf the player may even work in the cafe in which they are to remember the coffee orders of their villagers. As well they may serve special visitors to the cafe.

Brewster has a very reserved personality and initially will not talk much to the player. After becoming close to the player Brewster will remember the players coffee order and will offer to sometimes put pigeon milk in the players coffee, which is a bit disturbing if you think about it. In the earlier games he will hold the players gyroid collection.

K.K. Slider performs in the Roost up until New Leaf where he performs in club lol. K.K. Slider performs in The Roost on Saturdays nights and will give the player a copy of the first song he plays that the player does not already own. In New Leaf the player needs to fund the cost of building the Roost but in earlier games it is located inside the museum. The Roost is  a place every player should check out.

Phineas

This is Phineas, he is a very mysterious character within the Animal Crossing game. He was introduced to players in Animal Crossing City Folk as a character who on the plaza will give the player balloons or bubble wands to the player on sunny days.

In New Leaf, Phineas is still very mysterious. He will randomly go to the players town and give them badges after they complete certain tasks. Among them are for catching all fish, catching all bugs, keeping villagers happy, and writing letters to villagers,

Phineas does not provide any information about himself to the player but acts as if they are the players grandfather. Phineas is a very kind character and does not seem to ever be mad at the player. Any player can encounter Phineas if they work hard enough!

Turnips

This is Joan, every Sunday morning from 6:00 AM to 12:00 PM she sells turnips to the player. You may be wondering why you would want to buy turnips but in fact turnips in Animal Crossing works like the stock market. 

From Monday to Saturday the player can resell the turnips in the Re-tail shop, but the prices vary by day. Everyday there are two prices for the player one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Just like the real stock market sometimes you can get extremely lucky and sell at a high price and sometimes the prices will just keep dropping all week long. The prices in which you buy the turnips from Joan also vary every week.

After making certain amounts of profits from turnips the player can earn badges. I personally enjoy turnips in the game, but it is better to have friends that also play. That way you can compare prices and sell it in the town that has the highest price for turnips.

Gracie!

This is Gracie, she has a boutique called GracieGrace in Animal Crossing. She is very snooty and looks down on all clothing not designed by her. In Animal Crossing New Leaf she will only open her shop in the players town after they are ready for the last upgrade of the Nookling store and if four of her fashion checks are passed.

The fashion checks have a theme in which Gracie wants the player to dress in. If you pass she will give you a piece of furniture from her store and if you fail she gives you nothing. Passing her tests are not too complicated and not all your items actually have to be in the exact same theme. After four times she opens up her store on the third floor of the Nookling department store.

Gracie's items are often very overpriced with furniture pieces costing at least 240,000 bells and shirts that cost 8,000 bells. It is not a place to shop in when you do not have many bells but it is a great way to earn more house points from the happy home academy because her furniture is worth many points. Her items change by the season thus in certain seasons she has better items than in others. She also holds a sale at the end of the season which is a great way to buy all items from a set without over spending.

Fishing Tourney

This is Chip, he is the judge for the fishing Tourney's on Animal Crossing. These are held from October to May on every third Saturday of the month. Apart from judging the Tourney he also gives the player a golden fishing rod when they have donated every type of fish to their museum. Chip gives the player furniture when they break the record of the current first place fish. But beware that Chip eats every fish that he evaluates with the exception of sharks which he takes home to eat since they are too big.

Sometimes the tournaments have a theme in which only one kind of fish can be entered in the Tourney. Depending on the rarity of the fish it depends on how easy it is to become first place. I have been beaten by villagers in the past when it is a themed tourney since I did not have the patience to catch the same fish so many times.

I think that Fishing Tourney's are a fun way to bond with villagers. I encourage all animal crossing players to join in on the fun.

Festivale

Festivale is an event that occurs in Animal Crossing either in February or March. This event is lead by Pavé, a colorful peacock who loves to dance. During this event the players town will have feathers flying through their town. Pavé randomly picks a color for the player to have o obtain three of to obtain special Pavé furniture that can only be obtained during this day. This event lasts all day unlike other time sensitive events.

There are also special rainbow feathers in the game which give the player a prize from Pavé right away without having to obtain a set of three. Pavé is feared by some villagers because of his very spicy personality and flashy ways. Pavé is actually my favorite of the special event characters. I find the dances that Pavé does for the player when you give him a set of feathers to be one of the best things in the game. I think every animal crossing player should experience Pavé.

Bug off!

This lovely fellow is nat. Every third saturday from June to September he holds the bug off. The bug off is an event in which the player and villagers compete to catch the best bugs and win the first prize trophy. Not all villagers participate in the contest, it is completely random. The villagers that do not compete stay in their homes and will have normal dialogue with the player while those that do participate will only talk about the bug off with the player until the bug off ends.

Bugs are judged in criteria rating their size and color. For example beetles will earn the player higher points since they are big in size and colorful. While a snail will not get the player many points since they are too small and lack colors. Nat also eats all the bugs that are given to him to evaluate. Nat also gives the player a prize every time they give him a bug that puts them into first place. 

Bug off's are one of the many seasonal events that are held on Animal Crossing. They bring out the competitive side in villagers. I personally love them since they make the game much more fun. They motivate the player to catch more bugs than they would catch without such a motivation. 

Fruits!

One of the first things you may notice when you start playing animal crossing is that there are many trees. Among those trees you find that you only have trees with one certain type of fruit, that is your towns native fruit. Selling fruit is the simplest way to earn the initial money to start construction on your home. Foreign fruit sells much higher but if you are just starting out and have no friends it may be difficult to get any. The types of fruits available in the game are oranges, apples, pears, lemons, peaches, cherry, banana, persimmon, mango, durian, lychee, and coconuts.

Each towns native fruit is assigned randomly, thus if you have friends that also play the game you could all have different ones and exchange fruits with each other. Planting the fruit will produce a tree. Coconuts is a fruit that you could get randomly by one washing up on your shore. Unlike most trees that produce three fruits the coconuts and banana trees only produce two. One way to get the fruits is to play a game on the island, in certain games you can bring things back with you such as fruits.

There are also perfect fruits in the game. Each player starts out with a tree that is filled with perfect fruit, I actually did not realize this and sold that fruit when I started playing. Perfect fruit sells for a bigger amount of money. Villagers like asking the player for perfect fruit but it is way too rare to give away. Fertilizers in the game increase the chance of getting perfect fruit but it is completely random. It is easy to tell when you have a perfect fruit because the color will be much different than the original fruit tree.

The Island

The Island on Animal crossing first appeared in the original game but was not present in other games until the latest game New Leaf. The Island is a special place where it is always summer where the player can catch bugs, fish, fruits, and go diving. The Island is place in which the player can catch valuable things and earn a good amount of money. Kapp'n the turtle drives the boat that gets the player to the island and it costs 1,000 bells for the ride which is worth it since you can make about 400,000 in one trick by catching beetles and sharks and selling them.

Kapp'n the boat driver is an interesting character in the game. He sings the player a song when driving the player to the island and when driving the player back to their town. His songs are always very funny, he even has one about farts. Kapp'n has a wife and daughter who help out on the Island. 

The Island features a gift shop with many items and Island only tree seedlings that can be taken back to town. The Island has it's own currency and thus one has to play games such as hide and seek, bug catching, and fishing in order to earn enough currency to buy the items in the gift shop. The player gets a box with a limited amount of slots in which they can put the stuff they caught or bought in the Island to take back to their town. If the player does not do this the Island buys it for a very small amount of bells, you will lose more than win if you sell things in the Island. 

Using Nintendo Wi-fi Connection you can invite up to 3 friends to go to your Island with you. You can play games with your friends that can earn you more Island currency than it would if you were playing alone. I personally like going to the Island with a friend because the lack of your villagers in the Island makes it a bit boring. I think the island is really the easiest way to make money in the game.

Sitting

As a new player of Animal Crossing, one of the most surprising things you will witness is a villager sitting down. You get very used to seeing villagers fishing, walking around, and inside their houses. Sitting is one of the random things that villagers do not do too often. 

Building a bench as a town project near one of the villagers homes is one great to witness a villager sitting down. They could also end up falling asleep in a bench which is very amusing when playing the game. Benches are not very expensive projects in the game and do not take up too much space when compared to others. 

Another way to see a villager sitting down is by gifting them a sofa or selling one to them. While you cannot make them sit down they will every once in a while while appear sitting down when you go inside their homes. I think this is a great feature which makes the characters seem like real villagers in a town. Many times when you talk to a villager that is sitting down they will prompt you to take a seat next to them and relax. The fact that they do not always sit down makes it feel special when you do so. 

Quiz Time

Villagers love interacting with the player, in fact every once in a while they will quiz you about very random things such as your favorite flower, favorite food, favorite way to eat a potato, and more.

Like the picture above the answers make absolutely no sense for the most part but they are funny and makes the villagers friendship level increase towards the player for playing along with them. I think that the quizzes were added into the game so that the player feels like the villagers are getting to know them. For the young children that play the game it is also a way for them to feel like they are "talking" to the villagers instead of the usual dialogue that gets very repetitive at times.

Quizzes are very random, thus there are times when villagers may quiz me one day and then not quiz me again for another two months or more. I think that this is a fun element of the game is the interactiveness of being able to choose from certain options. This also a feature that was added for New Leaf, there were not any interactions like this in the previous games. 

Popular Villagers

Like many other games there are always characters that standout, in Pokemon it is Pikachu, but in Animal Crossing there are a few villagers that are in a completely different level than the rest of the villagers for better or for worst. Here is a list of top five most popular villagers in Animal Crossing.

1. Ankha - This cat villagers is very sought after, in fact if you go to an animal crossing village trading sub-reddit you will probably run into a few people willing to pay millions of in game currency for her. Why is she so special? you may ask, truthfully I have no idea but I do have a few theories. Compared to other cat villagers she is dressed as an Egyptian cat, thus making her unique. Her house also features Egyptian themed items thus making her house very unique. Her personality is "snooty" thus at times she can be rude. I have a friend with her in their town and she apparently tells my friend that she does not like me after I visit their town.

2. Stitches - This bear villager is very well liked by many people since he looks like a bear that has been stitched up and is very colorful. He is considered a "lazy" villager and thus his personality is very normal but well liked. I actually do not see the hype for this villager other than it being cute.

3. Marshal - This villager is extremely well liked, he appears angry but is actually a "smug" type villager meaning that he is quite friendly to the player and flirts with them.  I can see why this type of villager is popular as it is the type of character that has very human like qualities. He also sends the player very strange confession like letters.

4. Lucky - This villager is similar to appearance to Ankha as they both seem to be mummies. Thus many people like to have Lucky along with Ankha in their town. Lucky is a "lazy" villager, as one might expect of someone either healing or dead. I actually do not understand why this character is so popular, in fact lucky freaks me out. I would not enjoy having him in my town.

5. Merengue - This villager is super popular among all ages of players of animal crossing, and how could she not be. She is an adorable rhino with a strawberry shortcake on her head. She is a "normal" villager and thus is very kind to the player and gets along with most types of villagers in the town. This is one villager I would not mind having in my town.

Nicknames

Villagers of Animal Crossing are very colorful. Every interaction with every villager is very different but one thing that they all share is their love of nicknames. After you start your town and being building a friendship with your villagers they randomly will start asking you if they can call you by a certain nickname. Many nicknames can be endearing in the game such as "cupcake" or "sweetie" or very uncreative such as "Super G".

I personally love that the villagers do this, it makes it feel like you're making an actual friend, makes the whole interaction less informal. The villagers will suggest a nickname but the player can also reject the nickname and input their now. Now don't get any dirty thoughts, only pg rated nicknames as this is a game for any age and nintendo heavily filters what you can input. There are many players out there who enjoy coming up with funny nicknames without violating the sensors. I actually do not input my own nicknames as I think that it makes it a much more fun gaming experience when the villagers come up with them, although "shmoopy" is a terrible nickname. The villagers nicknames can be a very hit or miss situation.

What is Animal Crossing?

Looking at a promotional picture for Animal Crossing one might be confused as to what the game is about. Animal Crossing is an interactive game in which the player moves to a town where animals are able to talk and have personalities such as humans. In earlier versions of the game the player was a normal town villager who had to work to pay off their home loan. In the latest installment of Animal Crossing the player becomes the town mayor whom apart from paying off their home loan and making villagers happy also has to keep the town in shape by building projects, planting flowers, and planting trees; all which happen to cost money in the game.

The game is more complex than meets the eye as you are constantly judge on your skills as the mayor. The game measures skills by a village popularity system, if one fails to build projects and keep the town clean the popularity drops and the villagers become less friendly. The game also features it's own stock market by buying and reselling turnips at a higher price, which like in the real stock market prices vary according to the day. Like a real town the game features shops including a hair salon, clothing store, convenience store, and a store in which you can resell items to your town villagers. The player can make money by fishing, catching bugs, digging up fossils, and selling the fruit in the town initially, as well as selling clothing and furniture.

The villagers in the game all vary depending on their personality types, there are villagers who are peppy, angry, smug, like an older sister, snooty, and jolly. This makes the villagers unique as their dialogue depends on what type of villager they are, this also determines the type of furniture that is displayed at their homes and the types of tasks that they will ask you to assist them with. Just like the player the villagers can also change their clothing and will also give the player clothing, furniture, and fruit when they help them complete a task. The villagers will also hold birthday parties when it is their birthdays as well as throwing a party for the player on their birthday.

Animal Crossing can be played at any age since the game is extremely customizable. The player has the power to change villagers catchphrases when they request it, they can make clothes, and choose which public works projects to built. Because of the amount of customization in the game everyone has a different experience when playing animal crossing, the initial villagers one receives are random. After that villagers may ask to move out and a random villager moves in, a visitor from a campsite could be asked to move in, or if you know a villager in a friends town is moving out you can choose to visit them and ask them to move to your town.

This initial post is to briefly explain how Animal Crossing works and what the concept of the game is. In the following posts to come I will introduce some villagers, special events within the game, and strategies to have a successful town within the game. I look forward to informing you on the joys of Animal Crossing.