Nintendo’s flagship cozy series is Animal Crossing, and fans have been diving into the games for over two decades. The latest entry in the series, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, proved to be one of the best games on the Nintendo Switch, and previous entries have had similar success on their respective platforms. The series has seen many changes over the years, mostly for the better, but some features have been pulled from previous games when going forward. Fans are eager to see what the next Animal Crossing game holds for the series’ future on Nintendo Switch 2 and what improvements will be made.
Comparing each game in the Animal Crossing series shows that some games are better than others, though almost all of them are good. That said, we have listed and ranked which Animal Crossing games are the best in the series below.
8) Animal Crossing: amiibo Festival
Animal Crossing: amiibo Festival was a great idea with a lot of potential. It could have rivaled the Mario Party series, but instead, it faded into obscurity almost immediately. While it captured the charm and cozy feelings of the series, its gameplay was boring and cumbersome. So many things held this game back from being successful, and Nintendo could potentially revive it with a sequel if significant changes are made. The visuals and identity are all set, but everything else about Animal Crossing: amiibo Festival needs to be tweaked.
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An amiibo Festival sequel absolutely needs to improve on mini-games. More variety would be a good start, but they need to be fun and engaging. Players also need to be able to encounter these more often. Another change is removing the clunky implementation of amiibo. Requiring such a heavy use of amiibo makes the game agonizingly slow and difficult. A sequel could still use amiibo, but remove the need to use them as a rolling device. Animal Crossing: amiibo Festival is a disappointing entry in the series, but it doesn’t mean it can’t work if done right. Giving it the full treatment like Mario Party on Nintendo Switch 2 would make for an amazing sequel.
7) Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer
As far as spin-off titles go, Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer does a better job of succeeding than amiibo Festival. So much so, it was added as an expansion to Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Instead of running a town or village, players were in charge of designing Villagers’ homes in this game. While it had some good ideas, it ultimately fell short when compared to mainline games and didn’t offer enough to keep players returning.
The creative freedom of Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer brought a breath of fresh air to the series, even if it did limit the scope of how players could use this freedom. Sacrificing the wider pool of simulation features for a specific avenue allowed Nintendo to showcase this feature, and players loved it. However, the gameplay loop quickly became repetitive and didn’t offer enough rewards or challenges. This was expanded on in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, and paired with the main gameplay of the series, showed the potential of this spin-off.
6) Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp
Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp was one of Nintendo’s first ventures into mobile gaming, and it largely worked. The daily routine of Animal Crossing is perfect for quick sessions on mobile devices. At launch, Pocket Camp was fairly bare-bones, but updates greatly expanded the game’s content and offered new ways to play. However, players also criticized the microtransactions of the game and the delayed nature often seen in mobile games.
Nintendo has since launched Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp as a fully paid game. This has seen both positive and negative reviews, with many feeling the price is set too high. Pocket Camp is full of features and offers a robust experience, which may be why Nintendo priced it as such. As a free-to-play title, Pocket Camp was well worth its time, but now that fans have to pay for entry, it feels like a missed opportunity.
5) Animal Crossing: City Folk
Animal Crossing: City Folk was an ambitious entry on the Wii, bringing multiplayer features to the series like never before. With the ability for four players to each have a house in a single village and a city to visit, City Folk almost seemed like an MMO. However, Nintendo went a little too hard on the multiplayer aspects, which ultimately caused those playing alone to suffer. It also marked the return of Animal Crossing to a home console, which did detract from some of the quick sessions the series is known for.
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While Animal Crossing: City Folk expanded with multiplayer, many of the other core pillars of the series didn’t see much improvement. Many saw this as a simple port of Animal Crossing: Wild World with a fresh coat of paint and multiplayer tacked on. It would set the stage for Animal Crossing: New Horizons multiplayer features, but did little to stand apart on its own. This isn’t to say it’s a bad game, but Animal Crossing has many other titles that outclass it.
4) Animal Crossing
It all started with Animal Crossing on the GameCube or the Nintendo 64 in Japan. While it largely doesn’t hold up today, this title set the template for the rest of the series and made it as popular as it is today. On release, its charm and simple gameplay enraptured players, and many still hold it as their favorite Animal Crossing title to this day.
While Animal Crossing may be considered basic compared to recent entries, it was revolutionary when it was first released. When ported to America, it came with extra features that further expanded the game. The fundamentals of Animal Crossing made it a relaxing and cozy experience that players could enjoy playing at their own pace. The unlockables and sense of progression brought players back day after day.
3) Animal Crossing: Wild World
Animal Crossing: Wild World was the biggest change to the series yet, allowing players to play on the go. The Nintendo DS was the perfect platform for Animal Crossing’s relaxing gameplay loop. Mobility allowed players to check in to their village anywhere, whether to complete a few tasks or make a lot of progress. Players had freedom like never before and this made Animal Crossing: Wild World a special entry for many.
The touchscreen added a new element to the game, and the permanent day and night skyline brought an amazing ambiance. The touchscreen opened up so many new options, like organizing the inventory, writing messages, and even drawing designs for clothes. Animal Crossing: Wild World set the tone for all future games. It increased the available customization and allowed players to modify the environment. Animal Crossing: Wild World even introduced online play for the first time.
2) Animal Crossing: New Leaf
There is no doubt that Animal Crossing: New Leaf is one of the best games in the series. There is even a lot of debate that it is the #1 Animal Crossing game, but this is subjective to what players want in their game. New Leaf took everything that Animal Crossing had so far and made it better. For the first time, players were the mayor of a town and not working for Tom Nook, at least not directly.
The municipal power allowed players to shape their village as they saw fit for the first time. Player customization was the best it had ever been thanks to these new powers, and players went wild. New activities accompanied new characters, including the new fan-favorite Isabelle. In addition to this, the number of events had increased, and players could even take advantage of the Nintendo 3DS’s SpotPass feature to interact with their friends. New Leaf still holds up to this day, and many fans are still playing their starter village.
1) Animal Crossing: New Horizons
The most recent game in the series, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, is without a doubt the best yet. It does suffer from some issues, like repeated dialogue and general repetition, especially when compared to Animal Crossing: New Leaf, but the quality-of-life features and new additions more than make up for this. New Horizons is the biggest and most ambitious game yet, giving players an entire island they can mold to their liking.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is the most featured full game yet, giving players so much to do. While the experience was a little barebones at launch, the multiple free updates and paid DLC increased the amount of content to a staggering level. The multiplayer aspects also make the game incredible and more cozy while playing with friends. Another major aspect of Animal Crossing: New Horizons’ success is launching during the pandemic, solidifying itself in many fans’ hearts. Nintendo plans to let players bring their New Horizons data to the Nintendo Switch 2, increasing the lifespan of this game further.
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