Animal Crossinghas introduced hundreds of villagers to the franchise over the course of its history. With so many cute critters, manyAnimal Crossingplayers are obsessed with collecting villagers. While these animal friends may be the franchise’s hook, including too many could also be toAnimal Crossing’s detriment.
The originalAnimal Crossinggame released exclusively for Japan in 2001, included 215 villagers. This number has increased in almost every installment since this initial release,withAnimal Crossing: Wild WorldandAnimal Crossing: City Folkacting as exceptions. Villagers have almost doubled in count since the titular first game, building on a fun feature that delights players with not just returning characters, but new ones.
The Pros to Adding More Villagers to Animal Crossing
The freshness of new villagers is obviously a hook for anyAnimal Crossinginstallment.Much likePokemon,Animal Crossingoften encourages a “Catch ‘em all!” mentality. With the number of villagers inAnimal Crossingincreasing constantly, the next installment will likely be no exception. Players will have new villagers to become attached to, or vehemently hate.
New types of villagers could be introduced in thenextAnimal Crossinginstallment. The most obvious expansion for villagers would be to introduce a new species of animal into the game. There are thirty-five different species of villagers in theAnimal Crossingfranchise, with rabbits, mice, dogs, and cats, featuring the most characters. It would be unsurprising to see a newAnimal Crossingadd new species, especially since most villager species are mammals or birds. Octopi and frogs are the only two villager species that aren’t either of these classifications. Perhaps reptiles or fish will be the next category of additions.
Animal Crossing does feature the chameleon Flick, but as a bug-centric NPC, he’s not a standard villager fans can collect.
The same can be said for personality types in the franchise. There are far fewer personality types than species, withonly eight personalities included inAnimal Crossing. Expanding into more bizarre territories like “crybaby” or even more mundane categories like “shy” could be fun for players. All villagers have their own quirks. With more of these kooky characters being added to the game, it only makes sense that new personality traits could be introduced as well.
These additions would also make this hypothetical newAnimal Crossinggame stand out from its predecessors. The gameplay and mechanics ofAnimal Crossingare rather simple. Therefore, each entry into the franchise has to have a hook to make it stand out. In thecase ofAnimal Crossing: Pocket Camp, players decorate a campsite rather than an island or a town. These new villager species and personalities could be one such hook for a new installment.
The Cons to Adding More Villagers to Animal Crossing
Of course, for every pro to adding more villagers toAnimal Crossing, there is a con. While collecting all the game’s villagers is an undertaking that some players choose to take on, other players have their hearts set on specific villagers only. By increasing the number of villagers in the game, players have a lower chance of finding their favorites. Buying villagers and villager hunts became huge trends due to the success ofAnimal Crossing: New Horizons. If players latch onto specific villagers introduced in this new game,like withAnimal Crossing:New Horizons’ Raymond, these trends could return in full force.
Additionally, a bigger quantity of villagers won’t necessarily lead to higher quality among them. If new species andpersonality types aren’t added toAnimal Crossing, there’s a high chance that players will keep spawning villagers of the same species and personality over and over. For example, Stinky, Rudy, and Kid Cat, are all Jock-type cats.
The true pros and cons of adding villagers to the nextAnimal Crossinginstallment won’t be completely revealed until the game is actually released and fans know what context new villagers will exist in. Until then, players can continue to hunt for their favorite villagers and collect them all inAnimal Crossing: New Horizons.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons
WHERE TO PLAY
Escape to a deserted island and create your own paradise as you explore, create, and customize in the Animal Crossing: New Horizons game. Your island getaway has a wealth of natural resources that can be used to craft everything from tools to creature comforts. You can hunt down insects at the crack of dawn, decorate your paradise throughout the day, or enjoy sunset on the beach while fishing in the ocean. The time of day and season match real life, so each day on your island is a chance to check in and find new surprises all year round.Show off your island utopia to family and friends—or pack your bags and visit theirs. Whether playing online** or with others beside you***, island living is even better when you can share it. Even without hopping on a flight, you’ll meet a cast of charming animal residents bursting with personality. Friendly faces like Tom Nook and Isabelle will lend their services and happily help you grow your budding community. Escape to your island getaway—however, whenever, and wherever you want.
