It has been over five years since we received a proper Animal Crossing release when New Leaf landed on the 3DS in 2012 and nearly a decade since it released on a home console. At long last the newly announced mobile iteration, Pocket Camp, finally released today worldwide a day ahead of schedule. However, will this be enough to satisfy the appetite of fans of the series as we wait for the next console release?
Most of us expected something along the lines of a Happy Home Designer type of experience when Nintendo originally announced they were working on a mobile Animal Crossing game. Though it appears that there are aspects of that in this game, Pocket Camp appears to be much closer to a full fledged release and a nice evolution for the series.
While it comes with a downgrade in your job title, having been the mayor in one iteration, camp director will have you focusing on relationship building with the characters we’ve come to know and love in recent releases. While the social experience has been an aspect of the game in the past it appears to be the focus this time around.
It will be interesting to see how the microtransactions take place with the game having multiple types of in-game currency which you need in order to buy various items or to speed up timed events. Microtransaction has become a dirty word this year, but when the game is free to play they seem to get more of a pass.
Touted by some as the biggest release of the Holiday season, can Animal Crossing Pocket Camp live up to the hype? We’ll soon know with a release date just in time for families to come together at their camp sites as they sit around their Thanksgiving tables together.
You can download Pocket Camp at the links below.