Nintendo’s 'Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp' To Arrive In November On iOS, Android

During yesterday’s Nintendo Direct live stream, Nintendo officially announced “Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp” for iOS and Android devices. Nintendo’s newest mobile game will be free-to-play with support for in-app purchases and will be available sometime in late November.

Nintendo’s main “Animal Crossing” series tasks players in managing their own village which is populated by anthropomorphic animal characters. The games really don’t really have a story nor an end-goal, but players will mainly focus on helping villagers by collecting fruit, building structures and a lot more. Users can customize their own characters and build their own houses.

For “Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp,” Nintendo decided to change it up a bit. Instead of managing a small village, players are tasked to manage a single campsite. As pointed out by Android Police, this iteration of the game is more like the spin-off, “Happy Home Designer.”

“As our past mobile games have proved, we love taking established and well-loved franchises and transforming them for the ways players use their devices,” Nintendo of America senior VP of sales and marketing Doug Bowser said. “‘Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp’ is great for newcomers to the series as well as longtime fans, and ideal for people playing on a mobile device.”

Players of “Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp” will have to gather resources like fruit and wood to craft items for their campsite. Items that players can craft include furniture and decorative items. Players will have to speak to the classic "Animal Crossing" character Cyrus to place an order to craft an item, according to GameSpot. Once an item is crafted and ready, players will be able to place it around their campsite or decorate the interior of their camper.

Since players have a camper, they can also use it to travel to other locations in the game. Other areas that players can visit include a beach, a forest, a river and an island. Unfortunately, players won’t actually be able to build a camp in those areas.

Like previous “Animal Crossing” games, the main in-game currency are Bells. Bells can be used to purchase furniture, decorations, clothing and other customization items. Bells can only be earned by helping animals and completing other tasks in the game. Players will be able to purchase items through in the game’s Market Place, which is run by classic “Animal Crossing” characters like Timmy, Tommy and the Able Sisters.

“Pocket Camp” also features another in-game currency called Leaf Tickets. These can be earned through gameplay or purchasing it with real-life money. Leaf Tickets can be used to shorten the time to craft items or make it easier to acquire items to decorate the exterior of the player’s camper.

“Pocket Camp” also has a progression system called Friendship Level. Chatting with animal friends or fulfilling their requests will raise the player’s Friendship Level. If a player manages to level up their Friendship Level for one of their animal friends, he or she could visit the player’s camper.

Speaking of friends, “Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp” also lets players invite their real-life friends using their Player ID. This will allow them to visit the player’s campsite. Nintendo also says that random player avatars will also be able to visit the campsite from time to time. When another player visits the campsite, they will be able to exchange items for Bells.

“Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp” doesn’t have an exact release date, but it will be available in late November. Nintendo says that it will be offering seasonal events and software updates to keep the experience fresh.