The Animal Crossing video game series is a series of communication simulation games, exclusively for Nintendo consoles. The game is non-linear, in the sense that it has a somewhat set beginning, a middle, and no end. The Player takes the role of a human in a village of animals. The game is non-violent, and rated 'E' for Everyone by the ESRB (3+ by PEGI). The player may take on tasks from villagers, pay off their mortgage, garden, fish, catch bugs, and more. As progress improves throughout the Animal Crossing series, up to the point of Animal Crossing: New Leaf. The Player now becomes the Mayor after Mayor Tortimer retires as he now resides at the Island. The Player would now have a bit more objectives but must keep the town in shape and in order, along with a few more advantages.

Objectives of the game

As an open-ended life simulation, the Animal Crossing series does not have a set objective - as such, after an introductory sequence at the beginning of the games, players are free to do as they like. The only "objective" in the game, if any, is to pay off the mortgage placed upon the player's house. But, like most things within the game, this is entirely optional, and does not incur any consequences other than having less space to store items. The Player will eventually become Mayor once they create their town and now being to cover the land with Public Works Projects, being the only two more objectives that have been added.

Villagers

In every town in the Animal Crossing, the village itself is entirely composed of a populi of animals (excluding the Player, who is the only human being in the whole series along with other Players). Villagers serve as interactable characters, who are assigned personalities and traits, and this affects the way they communicate with you and among themselves. Villagers are capable of speech (despite being animals), and live in their own domains within the villages. Villagers, in the later games, are also capable of playing games, such as hide and seek, and most often than not, they will usually ask you to perform tasks for them (which ranges from delivering presents to sending a message to another human player), which can incur a reward if executed in the set time. Villagers are also anthropomorphic, and as such, they are able to walk in a humanoid state, and can also wear clothes. Villagers move in and out regularly due to certain factors (eg. because you have exchanged animals with another village over Wi-Fi, or simply because they aren't satisfied with their current life). It is also said that they enjoy receiving letters, and if sent a gift, they will usually send one back.

Customization

Although the earlier games offered little or no service in terms of customization, more recent games feature the ability to not only customize your own clothes, but it also wallpaper, flooring, and even paintings. It is also possible to decorate the ground in-game with your own patterns. The term 'customization' can also include the variety of items and furniture available to collect, allernsowing the user, in a sense, to "customize" their houses and themes.

Activities

Despite being an open-ended game, Animal Crossing does provide some activities to pass the time and help 'complete' certain aspects of the gameplay (such as completing the bug exhibit within the town museum). Some of these said activities include bug-catching, fossil-hunting, and even item-collecting (the latter an objective to complete the player's catalog). Players can also interact in games of hide-and-seek with villagers, participate in festivals and town events, and generally do as they like within the game.

Games

Boxart	English language titles	Original titles	System release	Release date(s)	Notes
	Animal Forest	Dōbutsu no Mori	Nintendo 64	2001	The first game of the series.
	Animal Forest +	Dōbutsu no Mori +	Nintendo GameCube	2001	A remake of the original.
	Animal Crossing	N/A	Nintendo GameCube	2002 2003	First released in English.
	Animal Forest e+	Dōbutsu no Mori e+	Nintendo GameCube	2003	Enhanced version of Animal Crossing.
	Animal Crossing: Wild World	N/A	Nintendo DS	2005 2006	First released worldwide, first on a handheld.
	Animal Crossing: City Folk (NA) Animal Crossing: Let's go to the City (EU)	N/A	Nintendo Wii	2008 2010	First game to include the City.
	Animal Crossing: New Leaf (NA, EU) Animal Crossing: Jump Out (JP)	Tobidase Dōbutsu no Mori	Nintendo 3DS	2012 2013 2013	First Game where the player is the Mayor, also a larger range of customization.